en.Wedoany.com Reported - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently announced that it has approved the license renewal for Units 1 and 2 of the Hatch nuclear power plant in Baxley, Georgia, in less than 12 months. The facility, which houses two boiling water reactors with a total installed capacity of 1,793 megawatts, is the second and third unit to receive a Subsequent License Renewal (SLR) under the NRC's new streamlined process for completing operating license renewals within 12 months or less. Previously, the average time to complete an SLR process was approximately two and a half years.
Southern Nuclear's application was accepted by the NRC in June 2025. Anna Bradford, Director of the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, stated in a press release that the agency was able to make timely decisions while maintaining rigorous safety oversight. By focusing on key factors necessary for long-term plant operation and implementing continuous learning, staff efficiently secured an additional 1.8 gigawatts of power for the grid and extended the operating period by 20 years.
This 20-year subsequent license renewal extends the operating licenses for both Hatch units from 60 to 80 years. The current license for Hatch Unit 1 is valid until August 2054, and for Hatch Unit 2 until June 2058. The NRC approved the initial 20-year license renewal for both units in January 2002, extending the license for Unit 1 to August 2034 and Unit 2 to June 2038. The NRC issued the final environmental assessment report for Hatch in March 2025 and the safety evaluation report in May 2025.
Just over a month before Hatch received SLR approval, the NRC approved Duke Energy's SLR application for the Robinson plant in Hartsville, South Carolina, within 12 months or less, marking the first reactor unit to undergo the accelerated review process.
A review of the status of initial license renewal and SLR applications shows that two additional plants are awaiting NRC decisions. The NRC accepted the SLR application for Nine Mile Point-1 in New York in April 2025 and the SLR application for the Cooper plant in Nebraska in early June 2025. Under the accelerated timeline, these two plants are expected to receive NRC decisions by or before April 2027 and June 2027, respectively.
According to the NRC's list of future application submissions, the Tennessee Valley Authority plans to submit an initial license renewal application for Watts Bar-1 in the last quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, Constellation Energy is expected to submit its SLR application for the Ginna plant by the end of June 2025.
According to the NRC, an additional nine SLR applications are expected to be received in 2027.
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