subsequent license renewals

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved a subsequent license renewal (SLR) for Duke Energy’s Robinson Nuclear Plant, clearing the 54-year-old reactor to continue generating electricity in the Pee Dee region through 2050. The decision, announced on Thursday, comes roughly a year after Duke Energy filed its renewal application in April 2025. It extends Robinson’s […]

The Atomic Energy Act authorizes the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to issue licenses for commercial power reactors to operate for up to 40 years. These licenses can be renewed for an additional 20 years at a time. The period after the initial licensing term is known as the period of extended operation. The decision to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission  (NRC) in a dramatic reversal on Feb. 24 threw out a key environmental review that staff applied to subsequent license renewal (SLR) approvals for units at Turkey Point and Peach Bottom nuclear plants in 2019 and 2020, deeming their applications “incomplete.” In a series of orders, the federal regulatory agency’s three […]

Nuclear power plants approaching license expiration are faced with three options: obtain initial license renewal to continue operations (nine U.S. units have not yet received an extension of their initial

The U.S. has 96 licensed-to-operate nuclear power reactors and two reactors under construction. But the average age of the nation’s 96 licensed nuclear units is about 39 years old. That has been of some concern to the nuclear industry, which has provided roughly a fifth of the nation’s power since the 1990s. About 88 of […]