1.13.24 Ensuring safety key to extending Millstone life

Ensuring safety key to extending Millstone life
January 13, 2024 9:01 pm • Last Updated: January 13, 2024 9:01
pm
By The Day Editorial Board
When in 1970 power began pulsating from the first nuclear reactor
built at Millstone station, few people, if any, would have forecast
that the atomic-age technology would continue serving the region
for a century. It could very well happen.
While operation of that first reactor in Waterford ceased in 1998,
two reactors subsequently built at Millstone — unit 2 that began
operating in 1975 and unit 3 in 1986 — continue to provide a
steady flow of electricity, enough to power 2 million homes. Now
the operator of the two plants, Dominion Energy, has informed the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it plans to seek additional
license extensions for both. If granted, it could extend operations
well past midcentury.
For those interested in providing the power necessary to support
economic growth, while reducing dependence on fossil fuel, this is a
welcome development. Support for keeping the reactors operating
must come with a significant qualification, of course. Dominion
must demonstrate during the lengthy and comprehensive licensing
process that repair and replacement plans are in place to ensure the
continued safe operation of the plants.
Along with expansion of wind, solar and hydro renewable energy
sources, nuclear generation can lead to a future far less dependent
on oil and natural gas, which contribute to the atmospheric carbon
buildup that is driving rapid climate change and a warming planet.
A growing fleet of electric vehicles will reduce greenhouse
emissions only if the electric fuel that they are tapping is not fossil-
fuel dependent.
Congress should be moving more aggressively to support a new
generation of nuclear reactors. It is no secret, however, that nuclear

generation continues to face strong opposition, much of it from
some of the same environmentalists who decry the dependence on
fossil fuels. But history has proven that if done right, nuclear power
can provide safe and reliable electric generation.
When Dominion acquired Millstone station from Northeast Utilities
in 2000, the facility had just emerged from a dark period when
safety systems were not adequately maintained, when workers
feared speaking up about problems for fear of retaliation, and when
regulators were lied to. In the late 1990s the NRC shut down the
plants until Northeast Utilities could demonstrate it had corrected
its past deficiencies and instilled a culture that encouraged safe
operations.
While not problem free, prudent stewardship by Dominion over two
decades has restored public confidence.
In 2005, the NRC extended by 20 years the Unit 2 and 3 licenses, to
2035 and 2045, respectively. Under the process that is now starting,
the licenses could be extended to 2055 and 2065.
Granting the extensions does not ensure the plants would operate
that long. Perhaps the capacity of renewable energy sources will
exceed expectations, or new technological advancements will
provide a clean and economic energy future that we cannot now
foresee. If the Millstone reactors do not make a profit, the plants
will close. Many nuclear plants have.
But it makes sense for Dominion to keep its options open. And that
means preparing now, well in advance, to extend operating licenses.
It is the right decision.