NRC panel backs N.J. Oyster Creek license extension

NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A federal review board recommended the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission extend the operating license for Exelon Corp's (EXC.N) Oyster Creek nuclear power station in New Jersey for another 20 years.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board on Dec. 18 rejected a contention by public interest and environmental groups pertaining to the frequency of the testing of the plant's drywell.

The drywell is a steel shell shaped like an inverted light bulb that surrounds the reactor vessel. It is designed to confine steam that would be released during a severe accident and direct it downwards to a suppression pool, where it would be cooled and condensed into water.

In the 1980s, when GPU Nuclear operated the plant before AmerGen, now a subsidiary of Exelon, bought it, inspectors found water had corroded part of the steel drywell liner.

GPU fixed the corrosion by removing a sand bed, which surrounded the lower part of the liner, scraping off the rust and painting a coating on the liner. GPU and later AmerGen also increased the number of drywell inspections.

The three judge ASLB panel ruled that Exelon's plan to manage future corrosion of the drywell liner was sufficient to allow the plant to run through 2029.

Without a license extension, Exelon would have to shut Oyster Creek, the oldest operating reactor in the nation, in April 2009.

ONE JUDGE HAS RESERVATIONS

One ASLB judge, Anthony Baratta, however, joined with his colleagues in the decision but added an addendum that questioned whether Exelon gave assurance that the factor of safety required by the regulations will be met.

That addendum has given the group opposing the relicensing , the Coalition to Stop the Relicensing of Oyster Creek, some hope.

The ASLB decision will be final in 40 days. The relicensing opponents have 15 days to appeal the ASLB decision with the NRC or request an extension of the 15 day appeal deadline. They have already asked the ASLB for an extension but need to go to the Commission to seek that extension.

If the relicensing opponents appeal the ASLB decision and the Commission agrees with the ASLB decision, the relicensing opponents would then have to appeal in U.S. Federal Court.

In the meantime, the NRC could make a decision as soon as January 2008 on whether to approve of the license renewal application, according to the NRC web site - 30 months after the company submitted the application.

The NRC tries to make a decision decide on license renewal applications in 22 months (May 2007) without a hearing and in 30 months (Jan. 2008) with a hearing. AmerGen filed to renew the license in July 2005. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Christian Wiessner)