# Nuclear Reactors Request Extensions for Production Life While Industry Weathers Challenges

Published 2018-02-21 · Updated 2026-03-19 · Energy on MarketScale
Canonical: https://www.marketscale.com/industries/energy/nuclear-reactors-request-extensions-production-life-industry-weathers-challenges

> The Department of Energy is responding to pressure from utilities to investigate a means of creating nuclear reactors with longer production lives. Dominion Energy, Exelon Corp., and NextEra energy have requested extensions of operational licenses for a group of reactors built in the 1970s. They are aiming for license extensions into the late 2050s.  Although…

The Department of Energy is responding to pressure from utilities to investigate a means of creating nuclear reactors with longer production lives. Dominion Energy, Exelon Corp., and NextEra energy have requested extensions of operational licenses for a group of reactors built in the 1970s. They are aiming for license extensions into the late 2050s. 

Although nuclear reactors accounted for approximately 20% of the energy generated in the United States in 2016, the low cost of natural gas and a surge in renewable energies have made the situation difficult for nuclear plants. Many reactors have closed down, such as Westinghouse, who filed for bankruptcy in 2017. New reactors, like a pair in Georgia, ceased construction due to low demand and pricing challenges. 

The requests for license extensions therefore come during a tumultuous period for nuclear energy. Pressure from both the oil industry and anti-nuclear activists are bound to complicate the regulatory approval process.

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