NRC ISSUES FINAL SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT FOR 

PALO VERDE 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 Palo Verde Nuclear Generating 

Station’s Units 1, 2 and 3 in Maricopa County, Ariz., and concluded that there are no open safety 

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 

appropriate 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. 

The staff has also completed the environmental review of Palo Verde’s license renewal 

application; the supplemental Environmental Impact Statement is available on the NRC website 

here: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supplement43/. 

 The SER and the license renewal application have been provided to the Advisory 

Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), an independent body of experts that advises the 

Commission on reactor safety matters. The ACRS will discuss the SER during its February

meeting, details of which will be posted on the NRC website at: http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/doc-collections/acrs/agenda/2011/. The ACRS will later issue a letter to the Commission 

discussing the results of its review. 

Arizona Public Service Company (APS) submitted an application to the NRC dated 

December 2008 to extend the Palo Verde Generating Station licenses by 20 years for each unit. 

The current operating licenses for Palo Verde’s Units 1, 2 and 3 expire on June 1, 2025; April 

24, 2026; and Nov. 25, 2027, respectively. 

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. 11-008 January 13, 2011
 In a letter dated Jan. 11, Brian Holian, director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation’s Division of License Renewal, provided APS with the SER. The SER will be 

available on the NRC’s website at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/palo-verde.html. 

 Documents related to the final SER will be available for public inspection at the 

following locations: Litchfield Park Branch Library, 101 West Wigwam Blvd., Litchfield Park, 

Ariz.; and Sam Garcia Western Avenue Library, 495 East Western Ave., Avondale, Ariz. 

 

 A copy of the Palo Verde license renewal application is available on the NRC’s website 

at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/palo-verde.html. 

Additional information on the NRC’s license renewal review process is available 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. 

### 

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE 

link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's website.