On Thursday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
renewed the operating license for Dominion Resources’ Kewaunee nuclear plant
near Green Bay, Wis. The renewal extends its license until 2033.
First licensed in 1973, the plant on the shore of
Lake Michigan generates 556 megawatts from a Westinghouse two loop pressurized water
reactor, according to the NRC website. A release from the agency stated the
license renewal was submitted in 2008, followed environmental and safety
reviews, public hearings and approval by the independent Advisory Committee on
Reactor Safeguards on Jan. 7.
Dominion, which purchased the plant in 2005, issued
its own release welcoming the renewal and taking the opportunity to note that
all seven of its reactors at four sites have received NRC license extensions.
According to a report on the renewal in the
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the company sells power from the Kewaunee plant to
Green Bay’s Wisconsin Public Service Corp. and Madison’s Wisconsin Power &
Light Co, both of which formerly co-owned the plant.