Study on institutional aspects of long term operation of nuclear power plants in the united states and the european countries

This report discusses institutional aspects of Long Term Operation (LTO) of nuclear power plants of the United States and the European countries. The U.S. NRC states that economic and antitrust considerations, not limitations of nuclear technology, determined the original 40-year term for reactor licenses. Therefore, the number of license renewal is not limited by laws and NRC regulations. More than 10 years before the first application, NRC started various preparations for subsequent license renewal, including related international workshops, meetings with operators and the public. The reason why NRC did so could be that NRC considered the necessity of integration of technical knowledge because of the first 'LTO beyond 60 years', and its preparation could need quite a long time. In the European countries which performs operation beyond 40 years, the original license period is indefinite term, excluding Finland. Continued operation is usually performed by reviewing safety conditions of plants. Most of the countries use periodic safety review for LTO. These periodic safety reviews generally do not necessitate environmental impact assessment. In case environmental regulations are strengthened in the European countries and environmental impact assessment is needed for LTO, additional effort will be required in most of the countries. (author)