NRC ISSUES FINAL SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT FOR 

 DUANE ARNOLD 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 Duane Arnold Energy Center 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 is in the process of reviewing the 

environmental part of the Duane Arnold 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 October meeting, details of which will be posted on the NRC 

website 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. 

 NextEra Energy Duane Arnold submitted an application to the NRC in October 2008 to 

extend the Duane Arnold license by 20 years. The plant, is located about 10 miles northwest of 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The current 40-year operating license for Duane Arnold is due to expire on 

Feb. 21, 2014. 

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. 10-159 September 8, 2010
 In a letter dated September 3, 2010, Melanie Galloway, Deputy Director of the Office of 

Nuclear Reactor Regulation’s Division of License Renewal, provided NextEra Energy with the SER. 

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

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/duane-arnold-energycenter.html. 

 Documents related to Duane Arnold are also located at the Hiawatha Public Library, 

150 W. Willman St., in Hiawatha, Iowa. 

 Additional information concerning license renewal in general and the Duane Arnold 

application in particular can be found at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/factsheets/license-renewal-bg.html and http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html 

respectively. 

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