Can nuclear plants operate beyond 60 years?

The United States clearly wants to lower emissions from power generation facilities and of the 104 operating emission-free nuclear reactors in the United States, about half of them are more than 30 years old. Nuclear plants in the U.S. are initially licensed for 40 years of operation and have the ability to receive a license extension for 20 additional years of power generation. While more than half of the reactors have received extensions, and most of the remaining plants are expected to as well, the question now is, “Can these nuclear power plants operate beyond 60 years?”

A survey conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute in early-2010 of executives representing 57 of the 104 operating units found that more than 60 percent believe there was a greater than 75 percent likelihood of extending operations beyond 60 years to 80 years and beyond.

Recognizing the challenges facing the extension of plant operation from 60 to 80 years and beyond, EPRI launched the Long-Term Operation project to “provide value by identifying and developing research and development activities that will provide the technical basis for license renewal beyond 60 years and for extended high-performance operation.” Along with EPRI, the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, some U.S. and international utilities and industry vendors are participating to modernize and improve plant operations, as an example.

Maria Korsnick, chief nuclear office and senior vice president of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, said the goal is to harness the “known benefits of nuclear power, which right now provides more than 70 percent of emission free electricity in the U.S.”

Korsnick said it is an opportunity for Constellation, as they still have very much life in their current license, to look ahead and understand what potential issues could be present. Constellation currently operates two of the oldest reactors in the fleet, Nine Mile Point 1 and Ginna, both of which turned 40-years-old last year.

Neil Wilmshurst, chief nuclear office and vice president of EPRI, said the LTO project “is around helping us all understand what challenges may be in front of us to secure continued operation of the existing fleet.”

He said technical issues have arisen and will continue to rise which has lead to EPRI deploying an Issue Tracking Table – a live document that is updated when new issues and questions come to light. Wilmshurst said that one key area that EPRI is gathering more information on is the issue of concrete aging. EPRI does not currently see concrete aging is a problem, but do acknowledge that they “need to understand what aging is in order to answer any questions regulators may have during the relicensing process.”

And the relicensing of a plant to extend its life to 80 years or beyond could be significantly more difficult than the first round of relicensing, according to Korsnick.
She said that unlike the first round of relicensing, which involved an inspection of the plant, she “would envision that going from a 60 to 80 year time frame would be an ongoing inspection of the plant to insure the fact they are aging as you have estimated.”

And she does have some experience in the field of relicensing as she was working with Calvert Cliffs when it became the first plant to submit for original license renewal.

Both Korsnick and Wilmshurst agree that nuclear has be a part of the generation mix in order to combat climate change and to achieve CO2 reduction.

“Nuclear can’t answer the whole problem,” said Wilmshurst. “But it is hard for us to envision CO2 reduction happening without sustained nuclear generation out into the future,” especially operating at 90 percent capacity.

Korsnick said the country still needs new nuclear plants to take shape, but did say they may be built at a slower rate perhaps than forecasted just a few years ago.

Nevertheless, “there is a compatibility, if you will, between the construction of new nuclear as well as the extension of our current operating assets,” she said. “A combination of extending the life of current assets as well as new technology positions us strategically as a nation for success.”