EPRI program for nuclear plant license renewal

Past studies by the Electric Power Research Institute and the Department of Energy have concluded that nuclear power plants should have useful service lives substantially in excess of 40 years. This has led to a US utility initiative to establish a stable, predicable process for nuclear plant license renewal by 1995. The principal activities in support of this initiative include the preparation of a license renewal application for the Monticello boiling water reactor and the development of a series of industry technical reports on major PWR and BWR systems and structures which examine applicable age-related degradation mechanisms and identify effective programs for managing aging. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in the process of finalizing a rule for nuclear plant license renewal which should be published by the end of 1991. (author)