LIFE EXTENSION | VISTRA’S FLEET MANAGEMENT


Fleet-wide life extension


Vistra is now completed a life extension programme across its entire nuclear fleet leaving each of its six units with an operating lifespan of at least sixty years.


WITH NEWS THAT THE NUCLEAR Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the life extension plans for Texas-based Vistra and its Perry Nuclear Power Plant, the company’s entire fleet has now been subject to at least one life extension. Each of Vistra’s six reactors is licensed to operate for a total of 60 years. Perry is a General Electric boiling water reactor (BWR-6)


located approximately 35 miles (55 km) Northeast of Cleveland, Ohio. The reactor is a nominal power rating of 3,758 MWth and 1,268 MWe following a previously approved power uprate. The existing Perry facility operating license, NPF-58,


expires on 7 November, 2026. It is operating under its initial 40-year license. With an additional 20 years beyond its original license now granted, Vistra is able to operate the plant until 7 November, 2046, having been first connected to the grid in 1986. The US Atomic Energy Act (AEA) specifies that licenses


for commercial power reactors can be granted for an initial period of up to 40 years and NRC regulations permit these licenses to be renewed beyond the initial term for an additional period of up to 20-years per renewal. This is based on an assessment to determine whether the nuclear facility can continue to operate safely during the proposed period of extended operation. There are no restrictions on the number of times a license may be renewed.


The application for license renewal was first submitted


to the NRC in July 2023 from Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 54, ‘Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants’. In December 2019 the NRC approved the transfer of


operating licenses for the Beaver Valley nuclear plant units 1 and 2, the Davis-Besse and the Perry nuclear power plants, as well as associated spent fuel storage facilities from FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company and FirstEnergy Nuclear Generation Company to Energy Harbor Corp., Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC, and Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp. This followed the completion of bankruptcy proceedings for FirstEnergy Solutions. The NRC staff’s review of the license transfer application


concluded that Energy Harbor Nuclear was financially qualified to own Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse, and Perry, and also financially and technically qualified to operate the plants. Furthermore, the NRC staff also concluded that, since the plants’ existing decommissioning funds will be transferred, the new licensees satisfy the NRC’s decommissioning funding assurance requirements and the facilities are not owned, controlled, or dominated by a foreign entity. In March 2024 the operating license was transferred


from Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC (owner) to Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC (owner) and Vistra Operations Company LLC (operator). Vistra then assumed the responsibility for all licensing actions. Vistra already operated the Commanche Peak two-unit plant, located around 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Fort Worth in Texas. The two Westinghouse PWRs came on-line in 1990 and 1993, respectively, and the plant is rated at 2400 MWe.


The company established itself as a major nuclear plant owner and operator by building the second-largest nuclear power plant fleet in the US with the acquisition. Together, the six reactors across four plants have a combined capacity of more than 6,500 MWe. Beaver Valley Units 1 and 2 are pressurised-water


reactors (PWRs) located approximately 17 miles (25 km) west of McCandless, Pennsylvania. The units were originally scheduled to shut down in May 2021 and October 2021, respectively. Davis-Besse is a single unit PWR located approximately 21 miles (32 km) southeast of Toledo, Ohio, and following an extension programme is now licensed to operate through to 22 April, 2037. An environmental impact statement (EIS) was prepared


Above: The NRC has approved a life extension for the Perry Nuclear Power Plant which is now licensed to operate for a total of 60 years Source: ANS


30 | December 2025 | www.neimagazine.com


for the renewed license for Perry and is produced regardless of any environmental impact associated with the life extension. The NRC considers the environmental


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