SLR application for Summer accepted for review

Submitted on August 17 of this year, the application seeks to renew the operating license of the 966-MWe pressurized water reactor, located near Jenkinsville, S.C., for an additional 20 years. The NRC granted an initial 20-year license renewal for the unit in 2004, allowing operation through August 6, 2042.

According to the NRC, with the SLR application docketed, agency staff now begins its safety and environmental reviews of a second life extension for the unit, with the goal of completing those reviews in 22 months, “providing Summer addresses information requests in a timely manner.”

Dominion has two additional units under SLR review as well—its two 973-MWe PWRs at the North Anna plant in Mineral, Va.

Hearing from the opposition: The FR notice also announced an opportunity to request a hearing and to petition for leave to intervene in the matter by December 15. Instructions for filing petitions were included in the notice.

Ammunition for the opposition? Earlier this month, the NRC issued a preliminary “yellow” finding to Dominion for failing to resolve a two-decade-long problem with cracks in the piping of the Summer plant’s emergency diesel generator fuel oil system. (A yellow inspection finding is the second most serious category in the NRC’s color-coded system for licensee safety performance.)

Because the NRC’s finding is only preliminary, a notice of violation was not issued. Dominion has been given the standard opportunity to attend an NRC regulatory conference to discuss the matter or submit in writing its take on the agency’s finding before a final determination is made.