The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses for all three units at Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Alabama.
Browns Ferry’s Unit 1 operating license will now expire in December 2053, June 2054 for Unit 2 and July 2056 for Unit 3.
“The subsequent license renewal at Browns Ferry marks a proud and historic moment for TVA and the communities we serve,” TVA’s President & CEO Don Moul said in its Dec. 12 press release. “This is more than a regulatory milestone – it affirms TVA’s continued commitment to nuclear power and the future of American families, jobs and energy independence.”
Browns Ferry, located in Athens, Ala., is TVA’s largest generating asset and the third-largest nuclear plant in the United States, according to the release. The plant, which consists of three boiling water reactors, produces 3,954 megawatts of electricity.
TVA began the process of applying for a subsequent license renewal for the Alabama plant in 2022.
Browns Ferry is the fifth nuclear power station where NRC has extended reactor licenses this year. Since Dec. 12, NRC approved two additional license renewals at the Clinton Clean Energy Center in Clinton, Ill. and Dresden Clean Energy Center near Morris, Ill.
“With today’s decision to renew the operating licenses for Clinton Unit 1 and Dresden Units 2 and 3, the NRC has now approved 20-year extensions for 13 reactors this year,” Jeremy Groom, acting director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation said in NRC’s Dec. 16 press release. “This milestone reflects our continued focus on improving efficiency in the license renewal process, while upholding the NRC’s high standards for safety and security. Equally important, these renewals help ensure that safe, reliable, and carbon-free electricity continues to supply our Nation’s electric power grid.”