© 2024 New Hampshire Public Radio

Persons with disabilities who need assistance accessing NHPR's FCC public files, please contact us at publicfile@nhpr.org.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Win a $15k travel voucher OR $10k in cash in NHPR's 1st Holiday Raffle!
News from everywhere *but* Central New Hampshire.

Nuclear Reactor Safety Panel To Discuss Seabrook Concrete Degradation

Annie Ropeik
/
NHPR

A scientific panel will discuss cracks spreading in the concrete at Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant during a meeting Wednesday.

The independent committee advises the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on reactor safeguards.

They’ll hear from federal officials and from Seabrook’s owner, NextEra, on how they’re addressing the problem.

The concrete degradation is caused by a chemical reaction, known as ASR, and was found in 2010.

That was when NextEra first applied to extend the Seacoast facility's federal operating license through 2050.

Regulators don’t believe the cracks pose a safety threat. Seabrook is the only nuclear plant in the country known to be experiencing ASR.

Longtime opponents of the plant will get to weigh in on the issue as part of hearings on the license renewal next spring.

Seabrook will be one of two nuclear plants left in New England when Massachusetts’ Pilgrim Station shuts down next year. The other nuke still operating is Millstone in Connecticut.

New England’s electrical grid runs predominantly on nuclear power and natural gas.

Annie has covered the environment, energy, climate change and the Seacoast region for NHPR since 2017. She leads the newsroom's climate reporting project, By Degrees.
Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.