US regulators told to approve Calvert nuke relicense

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Friday March 3, 4:27 pm Eastern Time

US regulators told to approve Calvert nuke relicense

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
staff on Friday recommended to the agency's five commissioners that 
they approve the relicense application for the Calvert Cliffs nuclear 
plant in eastern Maryland.  

A spokesman for the NRC said the full commission would likely vote on 
the 20-year license renewal in the next week or two. One member of 
the commission, Jeffrey Merrifield, announced publicly on Friday he 
would support the relicense, the first such application made for an 
American nuclear plant.  

Nuclear operators across the country are watching to see how the 
agency handles the Calvert Cliffs application, viewing it as a 
benchmark for how scores of other license renewals are processed this 
decade.  

There are currently 103 operating commercial nuclear plants in the 
country, but original operating licenses for the facilities expire 
over the next two decades.  

Calvert Cliffs, owned by Constitution Energy (NYSE:CEG - news) -- and 
operated by its Baltimore Gas and Electric unit -- is located in 
Busby, Md., and consists of two 850-megawatt reactors.  

Licenses for Unit 1 expire on July 31, 2014, and those for Unit 2 on 
Aug. 31, 2016. The NRC said the relicense would be for 20 additional 
years for each unit.  

Besides Calvert Cliffs, the agency has two other applications pending 
for renewals: Duke Energy's(NYSE:DUK - news) Oconee plant in South 
Carolina and Entergy Corp's(NYSE:ETR - news) Arkansas facility in 
Russellville, Ark.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
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Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/scperle
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