Reactor Status

A brief controversial history of new reactor licensing Beginning in 2006, driven by directives from the United States Congress, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the US nuclear power industry embarked upon an application and licensing process for a “Nuclear Renaissance” of new commercial atomic power plant projects. The industry lobby and government regulatory revival…

See NRC Information Digest (2021-2022) Appendix C, “Permanently Closed and Decommissioning US Nuclear Power Stations” Decommissioning is the process of decontaminating and dismantling permanently closed commercial nuclear power stations. Decommissioning involves the burial of the radioactive waste including contaminated materials (concrete, metals, components, soil, water, etc.) and the long-term management of those burial sites to…

The “bridge to the future” for the US commercial nuclear power industry is now less apparent in new reactor construction than it is through the federal government’s ramping up of a license renewal program for existing reactors. License renewal is overseen by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The original operating license for US nuclear…