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NRC extends Peach Bottom operating license to 2053-54
Atomic Power Station to operate for 20 years passed previous end date
March 6, 2020//
NRC extends Peach Bottom operating license to 2053-54
Atomic Power Station to operate for 20 years passed previous end date
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station’s two remaining reactors will continue operation until 2053-54, following approval of a second extension of its operating license by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Peach Bottom Township, York County-based nuclear energy plant was approved for an additional 20 years of operation, the federal commission announced on Friday. Previously, the plant’s reactors were set to begin closing in 2033 and 2034 after receiving its first extension in 2003.
The extension allows owner Exelon Generation Company to continue to operate plants two nuclear generators until Unit 2’s license expires on Aug. 8, 2053, and Unit 3’s expires on July 2, 2054. At that time, Exelon will begin the process of decommissioning both units.
Units 2 and 3 generate 2,770 megawatts of energy, enough to power 2.7 million homes, according to Exelon, which also owns the Three Mile Island Generating Station in Middletown, Dauphin County.
Peach Bottom’s first reactor went into operation in 1966 and created power until it was closed in 1974. That same year, then owner Philadelphia Electric Company, brought units 2 and 3 online.
Peach Bottom is the second nuclear plant in the country to be approved for a second license renewal. Turkey Point, a nuclear energy plant in Homestead, Florida, was the first.
Exelon ended operations at Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 this September.
