Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire - Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry. Nuclear Activities
Friday, April 3, 2026
NRC Issues 100th Renewed License with Diablo Canyon Approvals
26-039.pdf
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was created as an expert, technical agency to protect
public health, safety, and security, and regulate the civilian use of nuclear materials, including
enabling the deployment of nuclear power for the benefit of society. Among other responsibilities,
the agency issues licenses, conducts inspections, initiates and enforces regulations, and plans for
incident response. The NRC is collaborating with interagency partners to implement reforms
outlined in new Executive Orders and the ADVANCE Act to streamline agency activities and enhance
efficiency.
No: 26-039 April 2, 2026
CONTACT: Office of Public Affairs, 301-415-8200
NRC Issues 100th Renewed License with Diablo Canyon Approvals
ROCKVILLE, Md.—The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating
licenses of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant for an additional 20 years, marking the 99th
and 100th renewed commercial reactor operating licenses. Reaching this milestone reflects more
than two decades of sustained regulatory oversight and technical rigor under the NRC’s license
renewal program.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 are pressurized-water reactors
in Avila Beach, California. Unit 1’s operating license will now expire on Nov. 2, 2044, and Unit
2’s will expire on Aug. 26, 2045.
The NRC’s review of the application for renewal of the licenses addressed safety and
environmental matters. Both a safety evaluation and a final supplemental environmental impact
statement were issued in June 2025. The NRC issued the renewed licenses after receiving
documentation from PG&E of the required federal certifications under the Coastal Zone
Management Act and the Clean Water Act.
The NRC’s safety evaluation and final supplemental environmental impact statement, as
well as other information regarding the Diablo Canyon license renewal application, are available
on the NRC website, which also contains general information about the license renewal process.
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
From HEATMAP AM
Holtec prepares to restart Palisades reactor and begin work on building SMRs
Holtec International is about to complete its transition from the nuclear industry's undertaker — a manufacturer of casks to store radioactive waste and a decommissioner of defunct power stations — to the midwife of its rebirth. The company said Monday that it’s completed one of the last major steps in its process to bring the single reactor at the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan that Holtec originally bought to decommission back online. The unit went offline in 2022, right when Holtec purchased the plant. Before significant demolition took place, the company struck a deal with the Department of Energy to finance the restoration of the facility instead. But that required significant renovations that the previous owner declined to perform. The latest step was “passivation,” a chemical process that removes surface iron and contaminants from stainless steel to keep it from corroding. To perform the process, the team at Palisades brought the reactor to its normal operating temperature and pressure for the first time since its permanent shutdown four years ago. The work restored the system’s protective surfaces following what Holtec called “extensive maintenance, inspection, and component upgrades completed over the past two years.” With that work complete, Holtec said in a press release that its system “will now be cooled and prepared for additional testing, equipment upgrades, and preparations for fuel loading.” At the same time, the company said it will now begin laying the groundwork to expand the facility with a pair of its in-house 300-megawatt small modular reactor, which I reported on for Heatmap in December.
Once Holtec builds its first SMR-300s in Michigan, the company said last year it plans to build a hub in Utah to train workers on how to construct and operate more of the reactors throughout the region. But Utah Governor Spencer Cox wants more than just reactors. On Friday, the Republican held a press conference announcing the state’s bid to host one of the Department of Energy’s proposed nuclear campuses that the agency said in its request for information should “support activities across the full nuclear fuel life cycle, including fuel fabrication, enrichment, reprocessing used fuel, and disposition of waste.” The federal deadline to apply to host a campus is tomorrow.
Monday, March 30, 2026
Sunday, March 29, 2026
Saturday, March 28, 2026
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