On Thursday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted 20-year license extensions to all three reactors at Arizona’s Palo Verde nuclear plant – the largest power plant in the United States.
First brought online in the mid-1980s, the reactors’ licenses were not set to expire until 2025 through 2027. Based on a renewal application filed in 2008, the NRC’s decision will allow the units to operate into the late 2040s.
For nearly 20 years the plant 55 miles west of Phoenix had been the largest power generator of any kind in the U.S., according to plant operator APS. To achieve that, NRC records indicate the plant uses three 1,335 megawatt Combustion-Engineering System 80 pressurized water reactors.
Located in the Sonoran Desert, Palo Verde is the only nuclear plant in the country not adjacent to a body of water. The plant uses processed sewage from nearby cities for cooling water and it recycles 20 billion gallons of wastewater each year, according to APS.
The plant is owned by APS (also known as Arizona Public Service Company), Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, El Paso Electric Company, Southern California Edison Company, Public Service Company of New Mexico, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Southern California Public Power Authority.