NRC ISSUES FINAL SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT FOR 

COOPER NUCLEAR POWER PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL 

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

for the proposed renewal of the operating license for the Cooper Nuclear Station in Nemaha 

County, Neb., 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. 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 issued its final Environmental Impact 

Statement in July 2010. 

 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 October meeting, details of which will be posted on the NRC 

Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/agenda/2010/. The ACRS will 

later issue a letter discussing the results of its review. 

 Nebraska Public Power District submitted an application to the NRC in Sept. 2008 to 

extend the Cooper license by 20 years. The plant, operated by Nebraska Public Power District, is 

located in Nemaha County, Neb. The current 40-year operating license for Cooper Nuclear 

Station expires Jan. 18, 2014. 

 In a letter dated September 1, 2010, Melanie Galloway, Deputy Director of the Office of 

Nuclear Reactor Regulation’s Division of License Renewal, provided Nebraska Public Power 

District with the SER. The SER will be available on the NRC’s website at: 

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

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 10-157 September 8, 2010
 Documents related to Cooper Nuclear Station are also located at Auburn Memorial 

Library, 1810 Court House Ave., Auburn, Neb. 

 Additional information concerning license renewal in general and the Cooper Nuclear 

Station application in particular can be found at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/fact-sheets/license-renewal-bg.html and 

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

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