Oct 14 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Elizabeth Souder The Dallas Morning News

The new head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission thinks he can cut the time it takes to license a nuclear power plant in half, to about two years.

Chairman Dale Klein will have many opportunities to try: The commission expects applications for 29 new nuclear power plants ahead of the 2008 deadline to get federal incentives. That includes nine reactors in Texas.

If it takes about 48 months to actually build a plant, "42 months to license seems a bit long," Mr. Klein told reporters Friday. He said it's "not unreasonable" to cut that licensing time in half without compromising safety.

"We look at too many little things and miss the big things," said Mr. Klein, who was assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear and chemical and biological defense programs before taking his current job in July.

Cutting the time it takes to license a plant could help some companies put plants into production more quickly, especially those in the very early planning stages.

For consumers, it could mean getting the relatively cheap and clean nuclear electricity sooner. And it could also pressure the U.S. government to resolve the issue of where to store nuclear waste.

"We've been sort of counting on the more traditional time of 3 ½ years. If they can do it quicker, that's good news, but we'd rather everybody feel comfortable with it," said Steve Wynn, president of NRG Texas, which plans to build the next nuclear reactor in the state, by 2014.

The U.S. has 103 nuclear power reactors, which generate about 20 percent of the country's electricity.

It's been more than a decade since the most recent plants were built, and some of them took decades to build. One holdup was that each of those plants had a unique design.

Now, the NRC has certified a few standard equipment designs for the next generation of plants, so that the NRC staff doesn't have to approve the exact designs of every single plant.

For companies that use the standard designs, and turn in pristine, complete applications, the commission will try to accelerate things, said Mr. Klein, who has worked as a vice chancellor for the University of Texas System and still has tenure at UT Austin.

"When I say standardization, I mean standardization. I want to see the wallpaper the same color," he said.

Three companies have said they want to build Texas nuclear plants.

Planning plants

NRG Texas said in June it plans to build two more reactors at its South Texas Project and expects the first to be in production by 2014.

Last month, TXU Corp. announced plans to build up to six reactors at three sites across the state by around 2015 to 2020.

And on Friday, a spokesman for Exelon Corp. said the company plans to apply for a license to build one nuclear plant in Texas. Exelon spokesman Craig Nesbit said the company is evaluating eight sites in Texas, none of which has a nuclear plant now.

Mr. Wynn, with NRG Texas, said a quicker licensing process might shave about a year off his timeline, but it wouldn't shorten things substantially because he's on a waiting list for equipment.

He pointed out that there are only a few foundries that can make the large equipment nuclear plants use, and NRG secured its spot in line to meet its own timeline.

Mr. Wynn said a speedier licensing process would be most helpful for companies that haven't ordered equipment yet.

"If the objective of the country is to have a new nuclear fleet, for units No. 10 through 30, it's likely to accelerate when those plants come online," he said.

Mr. Klein agreed that the initial applications might not get the benefit of his goal. He said his staff might have to go through the licensing process a couple of times to find ways to work more quickly.

'Emotional issue'

As for what to do with the nuclear waste the new plants will generate, Mr. Klein declined to give an opinion. "The disposal of fuel is an emotional issue" as well as a scientific decision, Mr. Klein said.

The Department of Energy has said it will apply to the NRC for a license in 2008 for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. The commission would have three years to consider the application, Mr. Klein said.

That means some new plants may break ground before the commission licenses a site to dispose of the spent fuel, he said.

E-mail esouder@dallasnews.com