NRC ISSUES FINAL SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT FOR 

SUSQUEHANNA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final safety evaluation report (SER) 

for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, 

Units 1 and 2, and concluded that there are no open items that would preclude license renewal 

for an additional 20 years of operation. 

 The report documents the results of the NRC staff’s review of the license renewal 

application and site audits of the plant’s aging management programs to address the safety of 

plant operations during the period of extended operation. It represents the culmination of NRC’s 

comprehensive review of the application and inspection of the plant to verify license renewal 

implementation is consistent with the application. Overall, the results show that the applicant has 

identified actions that have been or will be taken to manage the effects of aging in the 

appropriate safety systems, structures and components of the plant and that their functions will 

be maintained during the period of extended operation. 

 Issuing the final SER is a significant milestone in the license renewal review process. 

This process proceeds along two tracks – one for review of safety issues and another for 

environmental issues. The SER marks the completion of the NRC staff’s safety review that is 

published and subsequently reviewed and publicly discussed by the agency’s Advisory 

Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS). The staff is in the process of reviewing the 

environmental part of the Susquehanna plant’s license renewal application. That review must be 

completed before a final decision is made on the renewal. 

 The SER and the license renewal application have been provided to the ACRS, an 

independent body of experts that advises the Commission on reactor safety matters. The ACRS 

will discuss the SER during its September meeting, details of which will be posted on the NRC 

Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/agenda/2009/. The ACRS will 

later issue a letter discussing the results of its review. 

 PPL Susquehanna, LLC submitted an application to the NRC in September 2006 to 

extend the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station licenses by 20 years for each unit. The plant is 

located in Salem Township about five miles northeast of Berwick, Pa. The current 40-year 

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No. 09-142 August 27, 2009
operating licenses for Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 are due to expire on 

July 17, 2022 and March 23, 2024, respectively. 

 In a letter dated Aug. 27, Brian Holian, director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation’s Division of License Renewal, provided PPL Susquehanna, LLC with the SER. The 

SER will be available on the NRC’s Web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/susquehanna.html. 

 Documents related to Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 are also located 

at the following locations: McBride Memorial Library, 500 N. Market St., Berwick, and at the 

Mill Memorial Library, 495 E. Main St., Nanticoke, Pa. 

 Additional information concerning license renewal in general and the Susquehanna 

Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2 application in particular can be found at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/license-renewal-bg.html and 

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html, respectively. 

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