The Nuclear Regulator Commission said Tuesday that the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant east-southeast of Toledo, Ohio, had been granted a 20-year extension on its operating license. The single-reactor plant is now authorized to operate through April 22, 2037.
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. applied for a renewed license for the Babcock & Wilcox Raised Loop pressurized water reactor on Aug. 20, 2010, according to the NRC. The plant was first issued a license in April 1977.
The plant's supplemental environmental impact statement was issued in April 2015. The safety report, which proceeded that, was issued in September 2013 with a supplemental safety report issued in August 2015.
The approval brings the total of license extensions at U.S. nuclear reactors to 81, although two plants with 20-year extensions have been permanently closed down.
There are currently, 99 operating reactors in the United States, a number that will climb to 100 when the Watts Bar Unit 2 goes online in 2016. Meanwhile, there remains 13 additional plant license renewals currently under review.