The US energy company Constellation has submitted a request to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to extend by 20 years the operating licenses of its 1.1 GW Clinton and 1.8 GW Dresden nuclear power plants, both located in the US state of Illinois. If approved by the NRC, the Clinton plant could operate until 2047 and the Dresden plant could operate until 2049 (Unit 2) and 2051 (Unit 3). The Clinton plant is comprised of one reactor commissioned in 1987, and the Dresden plant comprises two 900 MW reactors commissioned in 1970 and 1971. Both plants are operated by Constellation Energy, which split from Exelon Energy in early 2022. The two Units at Dresden have already received an NRC license renewal in 2004.
In addition, the California-based company Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), has also submitted a request to the NRC to extend by 5 years the life of its 2.2 GW Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, located in San Luis Obispo, California. The Diablo Canyon plant comprises two units, commissioned in 1985 and 1986, which are currently scheduled to be decommissioned in 2024 (Unit 1) and 2025 (Unit 2). if the request is approved by the NRC, they could see their life extended to 2029 and 2030. The plant supplies about 9% of California’s power.
At the end of 2021, nuclear represented about 8% of the Unites States’ installed capacity with 100 GW and 19% of the country’s power generation with 811 TWh.
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