NRC Renews Operating Licenses for Brunswick Steam Electric Plant

July 3, 2006

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) renewed the operating licenses of the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Units 1 and 2, for an additional 20 years.

The Brunswick plant is located south of Wilmington, N.C., at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The licensee, Carolina Power & Light Co., submitted its license renewal application on Oct. 18, 2004. With the renewal, the license for Unit 1 is extended until Sept. 8, 2036, and the license for Unit 2 is extended until Dec. 27, 2034.

The NRC's environmental review for this license renewal is described in a site-specific supplement to the NRC’s Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants (NUREG-1437, Supplement 25), issued in April. The review concluded there were no environmental impacts that would preclude renewing the licenses for environmental reasons. Public meetings to discuss the environmental review were held near the plant Jan. 27, 2005, and Oct. 18, 2005.

After reviewing the plant's safety systems and specifications, NRC concluded that there were no safety concerns that would preclude license renewal, because the licensee had demonstrated the ability to manage the effects of plant aging. The Safety Evaluation Report Related to the License Renewal of the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Units 1 and 2 (NUREG-1856) was published in March. In addition, NRC conducted inspections of the plant to verify information submitted by the licensee.

On May 17, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards - an independent body of technical experts that advises the NRC - issued its recommendation that the operating licenses for Brunswick be renewed. That recommendation is contained in Report on the Safety Aspects of the License Renewal Application for the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Units 1 and 2.

The Brunswick renewals bring the total number of renewals to 44 reactor units. A complete listing of renewal applications can be found on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html.

Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).