Entergy moved a step closer to receiving a new license to operate its Pilgrim nuclear station when the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff asked the five-member commission to authorize renewal in a paper made public Wednesday.
Commissioners will have to vote whether to allow staff to issue the renewed license, which is the longest-pending nuclear power license renewal. There is no timetable for a vote by commissioners, NRC spokewoman Diane Screnci said.
Entergy submitted an application for a 20-year license renewal in early 2006 for the 728-MW unit in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and NRC completed its safety and environmental reviews in 2007.
The process has been held up while NRC administrative judges considered a series of contentions and appeals filed by the non-profit interest group Pilgrim Watch and the Massachusetts attorney general. One of those contentions, filed in March. is pending before NRC and an earlier challenge is on appeal to commissioners following a ruling by an administrative judge panel.
The commissioners will have to decide whether they agree with NRC staff that the license can be renewed before the contentions are resolved, Screnci said.
Normal license renewal reviews are completed in between 22 and 30 months, NRC says on its website.
Pilgrim's original 40-year operating license expires in June, but the unit can keep operating while NRC completes its license renewal review.
