Proceedings of the topical meeting on plant license renewal

Extension of nuclear plant operating licenses for an additional 20 years represents an important contribution to ensuring an adequate energy supply for the nation during the first half of the 21st century. This importance cannot be overstated. License renewal will enable the continued availability of a proven, reliable, and benign source of electric capacity. Economic benefits resulting from the deferment of new construction have been estimated to exceed $100 billion. From an environmental standpoint, license renewal could prevent increased fossil fuel emissions associated with replacement power. Many person-years of regulatory, research, and industry efforts have been devoted to refining initial concepts into a workable, practicable, and demonstrable process focused on continued safety and adequate public protection. Issues important to the license renewal process are becoming focused, and the process itself has been identified, at least in preliminary form. The lead U.S. plants, Yankee Rowe and Monticello, are well along in their application process. Insights from their technical work have provided considerable improvements to the process. In consideration of the timing of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rule-making efforts and industry initiatives, the Power Division of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) has sponsored this topical meeting on license renewal as a premier forum for the initiatives and issues. All participants are encouraged to exchange ideas and information to gain some insights into the issues and processes that are shaping the activities associated with their roles in the license renewal process. No single topical meeting could cover all of the issues in detail that are associated with license renewal at this time. This meeting will address many of the key issues and initiatives. The license renewal topical has been organized according to the following three areas: Regulatory Perspective: NRC perspectives on current rule-making activities and the review process being adopted to support license renewal application; Industry Perspective: The Nuclear Management and Resources Council's coordination of industry license renewal strategy, lead plant license renewal programs, and perspectives on the joint involvement and support of the strategy by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute. Supporting Technical Initiatives: The significant industry activities associated with strategic technical initiatives, international activities, and research being conducted to support license renewal