2000: First Decade

March 23, 2000 The NRC issues the first-ever license renewal to Constellation Energy’s Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant, allowing an additional 20 years of operation.

May 17, 2001 The George W. Bush administration unveils its proposed national energy policy, which calls for the expansion of nuclear energy, saying it must be “a major component of the United States fuel mix.”

Sept. 11, 2001 Terrorists attack on U.S. soil. The nuclear industry immediately places security at all nuclear power plants on highest alert.

Feb. 14, 2002 Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recommends to President Bush that the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada be developed as a geologic repository for used nuclear fuel and high-level defense waste. Abraham also announces a public-private partnership to explore potential sites for new nuclear power plants.

Feb. 15, 2002 President Bush recommends Yucca Mountain, Nev., as the site of a geologic repository for the disposal of used nuclear fuel and high-level defense waste.

Feb. 25, 2002 The NRC issues the first in a series of orders to the nuclear energy industry to heighten security readiness.

June 24, 2002 DOE awards funds to Dominion Resources, Entergy and Exelon to demonstrate early site permitting for potential new nuclear power plants.

May 8, 2002 The U.S. House of Representatives votes 307-117 to approve the resolution designating Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the site for a national used fuel repository. The U.S. Senate follows in early July with a 60-39 vote.

May 23, 2004 DOE announces it will cooperate with an industry team led by the Tennessee Valley Authority to study potential construction of a two-reactor, advanced-design nuclear power plant at the Bellefonte site in Alabama. DOE will fund 50 percent of the estimated $4.3 million study.

July 9, 2004 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit affirms Congress’ 2002 endorsement of the planned repository at Yucca Mountain. Ruling in a group of consolidated cases, the appellate court rejects all but one of the legal challenges raised by the state of Nevada. The one exception regards the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 10,000-year compliance period during which the repository design must be able to limit the presence of radionuclides within several miles of the site. The court rules that EPA’s standard improperly deviated from the National Academy of Sciences’ recommendation in a 1995 report that compliance should encompass a period longer than 10,000 years.

Aug. 10, 2004 Exelon Corp. reaches a settlement with the Department of Justice and DOE under which the federal government will reimburse the company for DOE’s contractual failure to begin accepting used nuclear fuel by Jan. 31, 1998, as required by the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Exelon receives $80 million immediately in reimbursements for storage costs already incurred, with additional amounts reimbursed annually for future costs.

Aug. 23, 2004 USEC Inc. submits a license application to the NRC to build and operate its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. The plant is expected to be operational by the end of the decade.

Nov. 4, 2004 DOE announces $13 million in awards to two utility-led consortia to test the NRC’s new process for combined construction and operating licenses (COL).

Nov. 22, 2004 DOE announces that it will not meet its schedule for filing a license application for the Yucca Mountain, Nev., used nuclear fuel repository with the NRC in December 2004.

2005 Several companies and a consortium announce their intent to file COL applications with the NRC.

Feb. 2, 2005 President Bush declares the need for “clean, safe nuclear energy” in his State of the Union address to Congress.

June 22, 2005 President Bush visits the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in Maryland and gives a major speech in support of nuclear energy. He is the first president to visit a nuclear power plant in more than 20 years.

July 28, 2005 The U.S. House of Representatives approves the Energy Policy Act of 2005 by a vote of 275-156. The U.S. Senate follows a day later with a 74-26 vote.

Aug. 8, 2005 President Bush signs the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. The bill contains several measures supporting new plants, including production tax credits, loan guarantees and “standby support” for the first six reactors to offset the financial impact of potential delays beyond industry control prior to plant startup. The legislation also extends the Price-Anderson Act for 20 years and authorizes $2.9 billion for nuclear energy programs.

Aug. 24, 2005 GE Energy’s nuclear business submits a design certification application to the NRC for its 1,500-MW Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor.

Sept. 16, 2005 Constellation Energy and AREVA Inc. announce the formation of UniStar Nuclear, a joint enterprise designed to provide the business framework through which new advanced-design nuclear plants can be built in the United States.

Sept. 21, 2005 USEC Inc. announces that the Megatons to Megawatts program has eliminated weapons-grade uranium equal to 10,000 nuclear warheads. The low-enriched uranium fuel produced through this U.S.-Russian program is used by commercial nuclear reactors to generate about 10 percent of U.S. electricity supplies each year.

Dec. 21, 2005 Seven northeastern states sign the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The agreement includes all nonemitting sources, meaning nuclear energy and renewables are treated equally.

Dec. 30, 2005 The NRC approves a final design certification rule for Westinghouse’s AP1000 advanced reactor design. The certification, which signifies the resolution of design safety issues, is valid for 15 years.

Jan. 31, 2006 President Bush unveils the Advanced Energy Initiative in his State of the Union address. A major component is the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), which supports international cooperation in nuclear fuel reprocessing.

May 24, 2006 President Bush delivers an energy and economic speech at the Limerick generating station—his second visit to a nuclear plant in less than a year.

June 23, 2006 The NRC issues a license to Louisiana Energy Services to construct and operate the National Enrichment Facility in New Mexico. This is the first license for a full-scale uranium enrichment plant.

Aug. 15, 2006 Southern Nuclear files an early site permit application with the NRC for a potential new reactor at the Vogtle nuclear plant. The company also plans to submit a COL application for two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at Vogtle in 2008.

Sept. 30, 2006 The U.S. Court of Federal Claims awards owners of three related companies—Maine Yankee, Connecticut Yankee and Yankee Atomic Electric—that own shutdown nuclear plants $143 million in damages over the federal government’s failure to remove used nuclear fuel from the sites.

Nov. 8, 2006 The NRC renews the operating license for the Monticello plant in Minnesota for an additional 20 years, until 2030. This brings the total number of reactors that have received renewed licenses to 47.

Dec. 9, 2006 Congress passes the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act. The bill would allow shipments of nuclear fuel and technology to India for use in its civilian nuclear power program.

March 27, 2007 The NRC grants early site permits for Entergy’s Grand Gulf plant and Exelon’s Clinton plant.

May 22, 2007 The Tennessee Valley Authority restarts Browns Ferry 1 after a $1.8 billion refurbishment is completed on schedule.

August 2007 The nuclear sector is the first to complete the Department of Homeland Security’s Risk Analysis and Management for Critical Asset Protection security review process, which analyzes plants’ abilities to withstand different threat modes and terrorist-attack scenarios.

Oct. 4, 2007 DOE issues final regulations for the clean-energy loan guarantee program authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The legislation allows the secretary of energy to provide loan guarantees for 100 percent of debt and up to 80 percent of total cost for projects that use “innovative technologies” to avoid, reduce or sequester greenhouse gas emissions. In December, President Bush signs H.R. 2764 into law, implementing DOE’s loan guarantee program and funding key nuclear energy programs totaling more than $970 million.

Oct. 19, 2007 DOE certifies the regulatory compliance of the Yucca Mountain Licensing Support Network, a massive electronic database of documents that all parties will use during the course of the repository’s licensing process.

Dec. 13, 2007 Duke Energy Corp. submits a COL application for two AP1000 reactors in South Carolina. The submittal brings the total number of complete COL applications to four, including South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Co. and NRG Energy Inc., the NuStart consortium with the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Dominion. UniStar Nuclear also submits a partial COL in July.

2008 Electric power companies file 10 applications for combined operating licenses to build nuclear power plants in the United States.

Oct. 14, 2008 The NRC updates its policy on advanced reactor design, identifying several characteristics reactor designers should consider.

March 27, 2009 The NRC expands its security requirements for nuclear plants, codifying in the regulations several requirements imposed by order since the terrorist attacks of 2001. The rule update also includes new requirements that evolved from the experience in implementing the orders and in preparing to license new reactors.

June 3, 2009 The NRC renews the operating licenses for the two reactors at the Vogtle nuclear power plant site in Georgia for another 20 years. Vogtle 1 and 2 are the 53rd and 54th nuclear reactors to receive a license renewal. License renewals for 18 reactors are being reviewed by the NRC, and 24 reactors plan to submit license applications by 2013.

June 30, 2009 Florida Power & Light Co. files a combined operating license (COL) application to build two reactors at its Turkey Point nuclear plant site. Two other companies continue preparing COL applications for submittal this year.