Group appeals NRC licensing board decision on NextEra Energy's Seabrook

摘要

A non-profit group that has questioned the safety of concrete degradation at NextEra Energy's Seabrook plant in New Hampshire wants an NRC licensing board to strengthen and clarify certain license conditions ordered last month. That group, the C-10 Research and Education Foundation, Aug. 31 filed a motion for partial reconsideration of an NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board decision to impose a stricter monitoring plan for cracks in concrete structures at Seabrook. The ASLB in a ruling Aug. 21 upheld NextEra's license amendment outlining methods to manage aging impacts on infrastructure at Seabrook, including degradation of concrete, but the board added conditions requiring NextEra to monitor concrete degradation more closely and frequently, as recommended by C-10. The concrete cracking became an issue in the license renewal of the Seabrook station, with NRC issuing the license amendment on the concrete methodology and then renewing the plant's operating license for an additional 20 years. NRC said it could retroactively modify the license amendment and the renewal pending completion of the C-10 challenges.