Update: Arguments To Expand On Nuke Plant License Hearing

Update 12-19-11: 

Neil Sheehan, NRC Public Affairs, on Monday said the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Legal Scholars Law Firm, P.C. will challenge  license extension. 

The NRDC last month filed a petition saying Exelon didn't conduct a legally adequate environmental analysis.

A three-judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board panel will review requests for a hearing on the plant’s renewal application, Sheehan said via email.

The panel must first determine whether the NRDC has standing and merits further review. 

“There is no hard and fast deadline for doing so," Sheehan said. "It will give all of the parties involved -- NRDC, Exelon and NRC staff -- an opportunity to expand on the issues in writing and perhaps during an oral arguments session before it rules on the hearing request.”

Other plant issues

Exelon on Sunday shut down its Unit 1 plant for a "scheduled maintenance outage to allow workers to replace a valve on the plant’s steam piping system," the company said in a news release.

Station operators replaced the valve "to ensure reliable operation of the plant," the release states. "Plant personnel will complete the maintenance and then begin start up procedures to return the unit to service. The repairs can only be performed with the plant offline."

Meanwhile, Limerick Unit 2 operates at full power.  

"With both units at full power, the site can produce enough carbon-free electricity for two million homes," the release states. 

Earlier this month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said a safety breakdown at Exelon's Limerick Unit 2 nuclear power plant was "unacceptable." 

An NRC inspection earlier this year found "inadequate procedures" related to the operation of two main feed water system valves.

The issue -- classified as a low to moderate safety significance -- brings additional NRC oversight to the plant.