Pathway 5.

Electricity Decarbonization → Nuclear Energy

5.4.5 Investments to Extend Nuclear Plant Life

LPDD Recommendation: “Congress should implement new policies to encourage licensees to make the potentially substantial investments necessary to refurbish or replace equipment in existing nuclear plants.”

LPDD Recommendation: “Congress should continue and increase funding to DOE and NRC to support research and licensing and regulatory process improvements to reduce the technical, economic, and regulatory uncertainty associated with operation beyond 60 years.”

6 Resources Found, Displaying 1 thru 6

Ontario’s Bruce Nuclear Power Station

Jurisdiction: Foreign

Ontario uses a contract for differences methodology to support lifetime extensions at the Bruce nuclear station.

IEA report, Nuclear Power in a Clean Energy System

Jurisdiction: Foreign

Emphasizes policy mechanisms necessary to keep existing nuclear online and spur investment in new nuclear, including small modular reactors.

Delivering the Nuclear Promise Initiative

Jurisdiction: Private Entities

Highlights industry efforts to deliver substantial cost reductions at existing nuclear plants through improved efficiency and increased reliability.

Report, Nuclear Power Plant Life Management and Longer-term Operation

Jurisdiction: Foreign

Outlines safety aspects of plant life management, technical limitations, and implications for nuclear capacity tests.

Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications

Jurisdiction: Individual Agencies

Offers high-resolution computer modeling of aging nuclear reactor equipment. By modeling how extending the life of a reactor impacts the materials it's composed of, VERA can help determine the safe conditions at which plant life can be extended.

EPRI Nuclear Power Action Plan

Jurisdiction: Private Entities

EPRI conducts a variety of programs studying technical best practices relating the management of aging nuclear equipment, including boiling water reactor vessels, corrosion, materials reliability, steam generator management, and more.