Ameren Missouri's Callaway Energy Center won't have a final decision regarding its license renewal application from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) this month as it originally expected, according to an NRC spokesperson.
The Callaway plant's current operating license is set to expire in 2024. If granted, the license renewal would add another 20 years onto the nuclear facility's operating license.
Last week, NRC staff informed the Callaway plant that the decision on the plant's license renewal is on hold "due to the pending status of administrative hearing petitions before the Commission," according to NRC records.
The petition that put a delay in the process came from Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE). MCE filed a petition with the commission on Dec. 8 that requested a hearing and intervention in the NRC's license renewal process for Callaway Energy Center.
Dave McIntyre, NRC public affairs officer, said the NRC staff will respond to MCE's petition in the next few days. Then, the environmental group will have about a week to respond to the NRC staff. After that dialogue, McIntyre said the commission will decide what next step to take. That next step, he said, could be a hearing, but the commission could decide to take another course of action.
According to MCE's petition, the environmental group wants the NRC to hold off on the license renewal because the group challenges the "legal adequacy" of a recently issued NRC rule.
The NRC's revised and renamed Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Rule became effective Oct. 20. The revised rule was the NRC's response to a 2012 court ruling that led the NRC to take a hiatus from issuing new licenses and license extensions to nuclear facilities across the country.
It resumed issuing license renewals in October and has since issued one to the Limerick nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Callaway's plant was to be the second license renewal under the NRC's revised rule.
MCE recently joined a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals that challenges the NRC's newly revised rule. Ed Smith with MCE previously told the Fulton Sun that he thinks the NRC should wait to issue the Callaway plant's license renewal until after there is an outcome for the recently filed lawsuit.
McIntyre said the commission has not directed NRC staff to stop activities related to nuclear facility license renewals.
NRC's issuance of the Callaway plant's license extension will be on hold for the time being while the Commission works with MCE on its petition.
With the holidays and changes in the Commission - including a new chairman - McIntyre said it is hard to say how long the plant's license renewal will be on hold.
"There are a whole lot of things in play as far as the time goes," McIntyre said.
Lara Uselding with the NRC said schedule changes of nuclear plant license renewals due to public contentions is not unusual. NRC staff needed Commission permission to renew licenses for Oyster Creek nuclear plant in April 2009 and Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in March 2011.