Bill could delay Seabrook nuclear plant relicensing

SEABROOK — The approval of a 20-year extension of the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant's operating license could be delayed until 2020 if a bill proposed by two Democratic federal legislators from Massachusetts is approved by Congress.

HR 6554 filed by Reps. Edward Markey and John Tierney would prohibit the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from granting a license extension to any current nuclear plant licensee that applies for it more than 10 years prior to the expiration of its current license. Seabrook Station has already petitioned the NRC for a 20-year extension of its operating license, which will not expire until 2030.

“Allowing the NRC to give a 60-year-long clean bill of health to reactors that are in their nuclear adolescence, especially one with documented safety issues such as Seabrook, is like allowing a doctor to assure a 20-year-old smoker they will never get lung cancer,” Markey wrote in a joint press release issued with Tierney dated Sept. 26, explaining the reason for filing the bill. “This legislation will help ensure that the effects of aging on America's nuclear power plants are more well-known before granting any license extensions, so nearby residents can have some confidence that the reactors' 'golden years' won't involve catastrophic aging-related safety failures.”

Doug Bogen, executive director of the Exeter-based Seacoast Anti-Pollution League, a local nuclear watchdog group, said this kind of legislation has been a long time coming.

Read More...