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The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has granted the request of PPL Susquehanna, LLC, (the licensee) to withdraw its March 28, 2008, application for proposed amendment to Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-14 and NPF-22 for the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The proposed change would have modified PPL Susquehanna, LLC, Units 1 and 2 (PPL) Technical Specifications (TSs) TS 3.6.4.1 ``Secondary Containment,'' and TS 3.6.4.3 ``Standby Gas Treatment System,'' as follows:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will discuss the results of an inspection of the proposed aging-management approach for the Susquehanna nuclear power plant on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at a meeting with the facility's management. PPL Susquehanna, LLC, which owns and operates the Salem Township (Luzerne County), Pa., plant, has applied for a 20-year license extension for each of the two units at the site. The inspection is part of an ongoing review of that application. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the Eagles Building, at 107 S. Market St. in Berwick, Pa. After a discussion of the inspection results, NRC staff will conduct a question-and-answer session regarding the review for interested members of the public.

BERWICK - The public will be able to comment at a May 28 meeting in Berwick on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's finding that renewing the Susquehanna nuclear plant's license for 20 years will not have an environmental impact, the NRC has announced. PPL Corp., the majority owner of the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station in Salem Township, has filed a license extension for both reactors, which, if approved, would allow reactors Unit 1 and Unit 2 to remain open until 2042 and 2044, respectively.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued an order banning a former senior reactor operator at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant from any involvement in NRC-licensed activities for three years. Susquehanna is a two-reactor plant located in Salem Township (Luzerne County), Pa., and operated by PPL. NRC took the action after Keith Davis failed to respond to an earlier order issued by the NRC. Davis was arrested on June 19, 2006, for driving under the influence of alcohol. Under plant procedures and NRC requirements, he was required to report the arrest to PPL upon his first day back at work, which was June 27, 2006. However, he failed to do so. After the arrest came to light, PPL moved Davis to another position with the company and subsequently dismissed him. His operating license was terminated.

Both units at PPL's 2,360-MW Susquehanna nuclear plant in northeastern Pennsylvania were continuing to run at full power Monday afternoon after the operators reported an unusual event at Unit 2's pump room. The company declared an alert, the second-lowest of four emergency classifications established by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final safety evaluation report (SER) for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1 and 2, and concluded that there are no open items that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation. The report documents the results of the NRC staff's review of the license renewal application and site audits of the plant's aging management programs to address the safety of plant operations during the period of extended operation. It represents the culmination of NRC's comprehensive review of the application and inspection of the plant to verify license renewal implementation is consistent with the application. Overall, the results show that the applicant has identified actions that have been or will be taken to manage the effects of aging in the appropriate safety systems, structures and components of the plant and that their functions will be maintained during the period of extended operation. Issuing the final SER is a significant milestone in the license renewal review process. This process proceeds along two tracks - one for review of safety issues and another for environmental issues. The SER marks the completion of the NRC staff's safety review that is published and subsequently reviewed and publicly discussed by the agency's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS). The staff concluded its environmental review in March of this year when it issued the final supplemental environmental impact statement.

PPL Corp.'s Susquehanna nuclear station in Salem Township failed to ensure two staff members met medical requirements, an inspection of the power plant found. The company could be cited for the "apparent violations" and receive additional future scrutiny, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced on Friday. The NRC, which performed the inspection, found that two senior reactor operators failed to meet the medical prerequisites for their individual licenses. One operator worked after failing an eye examination, PPL spokesman Joe Scopelliti said. The other worked for about three months after the deadline for a biennial medical exam had expired.

PPL Corp.'s Susquehanna nuclear station in Salem Township failed to ensure two staff members met medical requirements, an inspection of the power plant found. The company could be cited for the "apparent violations" and receive additional future scrutiny, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced on Friday. The NRC, which performed the inspection, found that two senior reactor operators failed to meet the medical prerequisites for their individual licenses. One operator worked after failing an eye examination, PPL spokesman Joe Scopelliti said. The other worked for about three months after the deadline for a biennial medical exam had expired.

PPL says an alert is over at the Susquehanna nuclear plant in northeastern Pennsylvania after oxygen levels returned to normal in a pump room following a nitrogen leak. The Allentown-based utility says a worker fixing a water line was evacuated Monday morning after higher-than-acceptable levels of nitrogen were detected inside the room. The worker had been using a device containing the gas at the time. PPL says workers used the plant's ventilation system and fans to return oxygen levels to normal. They were then able to get into the room and shut off the source of the nitrogen, and the alert ended at 5:26 p.m.

As PPL Electric Utilities prepares plans to construct its third nuclear power plant near Berwick, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reaching out to the public to explain the permit application process and offer opportunities for public comment on the proposal. The NRC held the first of many public meetings Tuesday at the Kehr Union Ballroom on the campus of Bloomsburg University. Approximately 50 area residents attended. In the fourth quarter of 2008, PPL and UniStar Nuclear Energy plan to submit an application to the NRC for a COL, or combined license, to construct and operate an "AREVA U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor" near PPL's Susquehanna nuclear power plant at Berwick.

Fasteners made for spent fuel storage devices at Oyster Creek Generation Station and several other power plants did not meet standards, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC Web site lists information by Transnuclear Inc. that reported "a potential Part 21 violation and has reason to believe that Hwa Shin Bolt Ind. Co. provided unsubstantiated certified material." Transnuclear is performing an evaluation and does not believe the issue has safety significance. However, the company is reporting this issue because Hwa Shin may have supplied parts that may have safety significance, the report stated. The firm also reported that in addition to Oyster Creek, affected plants include Millstone Power Station in Connecticut, Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, Ginna in New York, Brunswick in North Carolina and Cooper Nuclear Station in Nebraska. NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said that initial reviews by Exelon Nuclear, owners of Oyster Creek, have determined Oyster Creek is in possession of the fasteners in question. "However, none are in casks currently in use, that is, in casks loaded with spent fuel," he said.

Fasteners made for spent fuel storage devices at Oyster Creek Generation Station and several other power plants did not meet standards, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC Web site lists information by Transnuclear Inc. that reported "a potential Part 21 violation and has reason to believe that Hwa Shin Bolt Ind. Co. provided unsubstantiated certified material." Transnuclear is performing an evaluation and does not believe the issue has safety significance. However, the company is reporting this issue because Hwa Shin may have supplied parts that may have safety significance, the report stated. The firm also reported that in addition to Oyster Creek, affected plants include Millstone Power Station in Connecticut, Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, Ginna in New York, Brunswick in North Carolina and Cooper Nuclear Station in Nebraska. NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said that initial reviews by Exelon Nuclear, owners of Oyster Creek, have determined Oyster Creek is in possession of the fasteners in question. "However, none are in casks currently in use, that is, in casks loaded with spent fuel," he said.

The Susquehanna nuclear plant in northeastern Pennnsylvania is the nation's leader in anonymous allegations made by employees to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The agency says it believes some workers at the plant near Berwick are afraid to raise safety issues with their bosses because they fear retaliation. Regulators have issued a warning letter to Allentown-based PPL saying the company must take steps to preclude a "chilled" work environment at the power plant.

If there's ever another accident at TMI, the main source of information will be in Coatesville -- 55 miles away. That's where local reporters would have to go to speak to officials of the nuclear power plant near Middletown in Dauphin County. Plant owner AmerGen has merged the Susquehanna Twp. emergency communication center with one based in Coatesville, near the company's regional headquarters. That center serves two other plants.

Amergen Energy Company, LLC, Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1; Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplement 37 to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, and Public Meeting for the License Renewal of Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, Commission) has published a draft plant-specific supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants (GEIS), NUREG-1437, regarding the renewal of operating license DPR-50 for an additional 20 years of operation for Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (TMI-1). TMI-1 is located in Londonderry Township in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on the northern end of Three Mile Island near the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River. Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources.

Compounds used in medicine are making their way into the Broome County landfill and into the Susquehanna River. Some -- such as the nuclear medicine used for diagnostic imaging and fighting cancer -- are radioactive, and have set off radiation detectors at the landfill. Wastewater treatment plants aren't specifically designed to treat effluent for such substances. While fish downstream of the Binghamton-Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant haven't been tested, Bingham-ton University researchers found traces of hormones and drugs -- including antibiotics, estrogen and aspirin products -- in the plant's effluent prior to a new secondary treatment system that went online last year. The area hasn't been tested for drugs since.

PPL BELL Bend, LLC; Notice of Receipt and Availability of Application for a Combined License On October 10, 2008, PPL Bell Bend LLC (PPL) filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) pursuant to Section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act and Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' an application for a combined license (COL) for an evolutionary power reactor (US EPR) nuclear power plant at their Berwick site (adjacent to the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station) in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The reactor is to be identified as the Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently denied a petition requesting it comprehensively review nuclear plants' emergency plans when plants apply for license extensions. Eric Epstein, who filed the petition and leads the nuclear-watchdog group Three Mile Island Alert, said the denial effectively clears the way for PPL Corp.'s Susquehanna Steam Electric Station in Salem Township to have its license extended 20 years. The station's two units face a renewal hearing Sept. 30 at the NRC's headquarters in Maryland.

The office that AmerGen Energy will use to give out information about a nuclear emergency at Three Mile Island moves to Chester County next week. The move means local news organizations will have to send reporters to Coatesville, about 65 miles away, if they want face-to-face access to plant experts. AmerGen will close the center in Susquehanna Township off Interstate 81. The location is the same used by AmerGen's parent company, Exelon Corp., to handle emergencies at its Peach Bottom and Limerick plants.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced the opportunity for public participation in a hearing on a Combined License (COL) application for a new reactor at the Bell Bend site near Berwick, Pa. The site is adjacent to the existing two-reactor Susquehanna Steam Electric Station. PPL Bell Bend submitted the COL application and associated information Oct. 10, 2008, seeking approval to build and operate an Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) at the site, approximately six miles northeast of Berwick. The NRC is currently reviewing the EPR for possible certification. The Bell Bend application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/bell-bend.html.

Memo to NRC reveals the new practices at Salem Twp. plant in response to allegations. The PPL Corp. sent a letter Friday to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission assuring the agency that it has implemented new practices in response to an NRC letter in January that warned of a "chilling effect" on workers' willingness to report safety concerns at the Salem Township nuclear power plant. Related Document PPL response letter to NRC's request The response includes a few new measures and a description of efforts that were implemented at the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station before the NRC's letter, such as better recognizing workers for achievements and installing an ombudsman.

PPL Corp. might sell the Bell Bend nuclear reactor it's hoping to build in Salem Township if it can't secure enough federal nuclear loan guarantees, company chief Jim Miller told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Joe Scopelliti, the spokesman for the two-reactor Susquehanna nuclear plant that PPL operates in the township, confirmed Miller made the comments. But the spokesman said the comments might have been taken out of context "a bit" in The Energy Daily newsletter. The publication reported that "the license would be good for 40 years and that if PPL decided not to proceed with a new reactor, the license (according to Miller) 'could be sold to someone who might want to use it.'"