Unresolved Issues Again Delay Nuke Relicensing

The oft-delayed ruling on Seabrook Station nuclear power plant's preemptive 20-year license renewal has again been pushed back, as still-unresolved issues are expected to delay the timeline by roughly another eight months.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Public Affairs Officer Neil Sheehan recently released a revised timeline for the hearing on the controversial 20-year relicensing application, which would extend the NextEra Energy-owned plant's operating license from 2030 to 2050.

The timeline states that the environmental impact statement (EIS), a document in which NextEra must explore the possible risks of the license extension and how the plant will remedy the ongoing concrete degradation issues that have created the licensing controversy, won't be finalized until December.

The previous timeline, issued in June 2012, called for the statement's issuance in April 2013, although Sheehan said NextEra still needs to revise the document, which also pushes back public hearings and other steps of the process that are required before the EIS is finalized.

The final safety evaluation report is still unscheduled according to the new timeline, and that'll also contribute to the delay in a decision on the activist-opposed relicensing application. Sheehan previously speculated the decision might not come until 2014, and the new schedule places 2014 as the earliest a ruling could be issued.

Seabrook Station and NextEra officials have previously insisted they will address any and all problems that NRC requires them to. Despite the fact that the relicensing process could take roughly two more years than originally thought, Seabrook Station spokesman Al Griffith has stated that he and other plant officials weren't seeking or anticipating a "quick" ruling when NextEra submitted the application in 2010.