WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should be able to review license applications for new nuclear plants faster than 42 months, which is the commission's current estimate for such evaluations, new NRC Chairman Dale Klein told Platts Energy Podium on Wednesday.
In his first news conference in Washington since joining the commission July 1, Klein said he believed the licensing process should not take almost as long to complete as plant construction. The nuclear industry estimates a new reactor could be built in 48 months.
"I believe we can accelerate the process after we go through the first few, with no compromise on safety," Klein said of the application process. NRC has received indications from 16 entities, representing a potential 27 new units, that they intend to apply to the commission for permission to build and operate new plants, Klein said.
Klein said that the NRC did not plan to review its 1990 "waste confidence determination," which could clear the way for new plants in the United States. The NRC is required to state its confidence that plans exist for safe disposal of nuclear waste before it can license new plants, or re-license existing plants.
Given existing storage at reactors and the potential for new interim storage facilities, Klein said he is comfortable that spent fuel can be handled adequately. He also said that the Department of Energy's plan to open a repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada offers an "ultimate, permanent solution to spent fuel."
Klein said the NRC can license interim facilities for storage of spent fuel from new and existing reactors, but noted that a congressional proposal to open such sites in all states with nuclear power plants could stretch the commission's resources.
He said a proposal by Senator Pete Domenici, Republican-New Mexico, in the DOE's fiscal 2007 spending bill to open interim storage sites would create a "heavy workload" for the NRC. The bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, but not by the full chamber.
Klein also expressed concern about finding replacements for the thousands of employees expected to retire from NRC and the nuclear industry in the next few years, particularly new nuclear and power engineers. He said the commission plans to hire as many as 200 persons in 2006 and add 200 more staff positions over the next two years.
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