The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final safety evaluation report (SER) for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station’s Units 1, 2 and 3 in Maricopa County, Ariz., and concluded that there are no open safety items that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation.
In addition, an environmental impact review of the plan published in January was also positive. (It concluded that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for PVNGS are not great enough to deny the option of license renewal for energy-planning decision makers.)
The SER and the license renewal application have been provided to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), an independent body of experts that advises the Commission on reactor safety matters. The ACRS will discuss the SER during its February meeting. The ACRS will later issue a letter to the Commission discussing the results of its review.
Arizona Public Service Company (APS) submitted an application to the NRC dated December 2008 to extend the Palo Verde Generating Station licenses by 20 years for each unit. The current operating licenses for Palo Verde’s Units 1, 2 and 3 expire on June 1, 2025; April 24, 2026; and Nov. 25, 2027, respectively.
