Nuclear R and D

Within the next 20 years, licenses will expire for 42 of the 113 nuclear power plants licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). At NRC's request, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences examined the future role of NRC's regulatory research, including research on the aging of nuclear power reactors and the possibility of extending their operating licenses for 20 years beyond the normal 40-year term. The Council issued a report in 1986 containing many recommendations on revitalizing nuclear safety research; only four of these recommendations were directed at research related to license renewal. This paper discusses the actions NRC has taken to implement the Council's recommendations on the need for NRC research on reactor aging to support its license renewal efforts; the research on reactor aging completed by the Department of Energy and the industry in response to the Council's recommendation that research be done to prove that license conditions set by NRC can be met, and whether the results have been provided to NRC; and NRC's plan to refine the estimates of risks (or the probability of accidents) created by extending the life of the present generation of reactors