US nuclear power permits

Two companies have submitted applications to build new nuclear power plants in the US. If approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), they would be the first nuclear reactors in nearly 30 years. In September NRG Energy Inc applied for two reactor units at an existing NRG nuclear power plant in Bay City, Texas, 140 km southwest of Houston. A month later the NuStart Energy consortium applied to put two reactors in Bellefonte, Alabama. In both cases construction could start as early as 2010, and the plants could become operational in 2014.

As part of an energy bill passed by congress in 2005, the licensing process for new nuclear reactors in the US was overhauled so that one combined application would deal with both construction and operation of new plants instead of having two separate licensing procedures. The new licensing process, at a cost of $150 million to applicants, is faster and less expensive than the old procedure, says NRC chair Dale Klein, and is aimed at restarting reactor construction to replace aging nuclear plants (see Physics Today, February 2006, page 19 ).

The NRC is expecting to receive 17 more applications from 12 different companies in 2008.