Three Mile Island License Up for Renewal

The Associated Press
The Houston Chronicle

Jan. 28, 2008

WASHINGTON - An application to renew an operating license for the Three Mile Island power plant, submitted by a unit of Exelon Corp., is open for public review, a government agency said Monday.

AmerGen Energy Co., an Exelon subsidiary, is seeking to renew the license for the island's Unit 1 nuclear plant until 2034, or 20 years beyond its current expiration date of 2014.

Three Mile Island's Unit 2 was shut down in 1979 after an accident led to a partial meltdown.

The application, submitted Jan. 8, is before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and available for public review on the NRC's Web site.

AmerGen said earlier this month that since purchasing the Londonderry Township, Penn. plant in 1999, it has spent more than $100 million upgrading Unit 1's equipment and facilities. The company plans to spend an additional $300 million in the fall of 2009 to replace the plant's steam generators.

The NRC is expected to take between 22 and 30 months reviewing the application, the company said.

The application comes as nuclear power is experiencing a revival. The NRC has predicted it will get new combined construction and operating license applications for as many as 29 reactors at 20 sites nationwide, most in the South, over the next three years.

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On the Net:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission: http://www.nrc.gov

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