NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA

No. 05-045 March 8, 2005

NRC EXTENDS REVIEW SCHEDULE FOR NINE MILE POINT

NUCLEAR POWER PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL REQUEST

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is extending its review of Constellation Energy’s

application to renew the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant’s operating license for an additional 20

years. The agency’s action will allow a thorough review of information submitted to the NRC.

Constellation submitted the license renewal application May 26, 2004, and NRC staff have

been reviewing the application since that time. The staff concluded the review schedule must be

extended due to issues with the application’s information. Following extended discussions with NRC

staff, Constellation, on March 3, requested a grace period of up to 90 days in order to address the

issues. Nine Mile Point continues to operate safely; the issues raised by NRC staff relate to how

Constellation would maintain the plant if the license is renewed.

“Since the NRC is committed to public health and safety, we must have complete and up-todate information on Nine Mile Point before we can reach a decision on whether the operating license

can be renewed,” said David Matthews, Director of the Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs

in the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

In a March 7 letter responding to the company’s request (attached), the NRC has made it clear

Constellation must thoroughly re-review the application’s supplements and other supporting

documents. Any additions or revisions highlighted by that review must be submitted for further NRC

review. As long as the total revised application passes the staff’s review and audit activities, the NRC

will extend the review schedule, taking into account staff resources and other license renewal reviews.

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Mr. James A. Spina

Vice President Nine Mile Point

Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC

P.O. Box 63

Lycoming, NY 13093

SUBJECT: EXTENSION OF STAFF REVIEW SCHEDULE FOR NINE MILE POINT

NUCLEAR STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2, LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION

Dear Mr. Spina:

We are in receipt of the Nine Mile Point (NMP) letter dated March 3, 2005, wherein NMP

addressed the staff’s concerns previously communicated to you on various occasions. In

addition, the NMP letter requested a grace period not to exceed 90 days to recover the quality

of your license renewal project. We acknowledge your commitment to address quality issues,

including those we have discussed on the telephone. We have stopped our review in response

to your request. However, as a result of this delay, we will not meet the standard 22 month

review schedule.

As part of your recovery efforts, we request that you perform a thorough review of your license

renewal supplements, responses to staff’s audit questions, and responses to staff’s requests

for additional information. Upon receipt of your submittal confirming the completion of your

recovery efforts, the staff will resume our review and audits. Assuming a satisfactory submittal

and adequate support from your staff for these review and audit activities, we will extend the

review schedule, as appropriate, to accommodate the additional time needed to complete the

NMP review and in consideration of competing priorities posed by other concurrent license

renewal reviews.

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact the NRC Project Manager,

Tommy Le, at 301-415-1458; or by e-mail at NBL@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director

License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program

Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Docket Nos.: 50-220 and 50-410