NRC Approves License for Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant

December 17, 2008

NRC NEWS, U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the operating
license renewal of the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1, in
North Carolina for an additional 20 years.

The Harris plant is a pressurized water reactor located about 20
miles southwest of Raleigh, N.C. The operator, Progress Energy,
submitted an application for renewal of the license Nov. 16, 2006. Their
current license would have expired on October 24, 2026; with the
renewal, the license is extended until Oct. 24, 2046.

The NRC's environmental review for this license renewal is
described in a site-specific supplement to the NRC's "Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power
Plants" (NUREG-1437, Supplement 33). Public meetings to discuss the
environmental review were held near the plant on April 18, 007 and Jan.
30. The NRC's review was published in August. The review concluded
there were no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the
license for environmental reasons.

After carefully reviewing the plant's safety systems and
specifications, the staff concluded that there were no safety concerns
that would preclude license renewal, because the applicant had
effectively demonstrated the capability to manage the effects of plant
aging. The "Safety Evaluation Report Related to the License Renewal of
Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1," was issued in August. In
addition, NRC conducted inspections of the plant to verify information
submitted by the applicant. The reports relating to the Shearon Harris
license renewal are available on the NRC Web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/har....

On Oct. 2, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards - an
independent body of technical experts that advises the Commission -
issued its recommendation that license renewal for Shearon Harris should
be approved. That recommendation is contained in "Report on the Safety
Aspects of the License Renewal Application for the Shearon Harris
Nuclear Power Plant." This document is available on the NRC Web site
at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/letters/2008/.

The Shearon Harris renewed license brings the total number of
renewals to 51 reactor units. A complete listing of renewal applications
can be found on the NRC Web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html.

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Marci R. Culley, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Community Psychology
Department of Psychology
P.O. Box 5010
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA 30302-5010

(404) 413-6266 (office)
(404) 413-6218 (fax)
[email protected]

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