NRC renews Kansas Wolf Creek reactor license

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Thursday it approved the operating license renewal for the 1,166-megawatt Wolf Creek nuclear power station in Kansas for an additional 20 years.

The operator, Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp, submitted its renewal application Sept. 27, 2006. With the renewal, the license is extended until March 11, 2045.

With this decision, the NRC has now renewed the licenses of 49 of the 104 operating commercial power reactors in the United States.

The Wolf Creek station, which entered service in 1985, is located in Burlington, in Coffey County, about 70 miles south of Topeka, the state capital.

One MW powers 800 homes in Kansas.

Wolf Creek is owned by Great Plains Energy Inc's Kansas City Power & Light (47 percent), Westar Energy Inc (47 percent) and Kansas Electric Power Cooperative Inc (6 percent).

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Walter Bagley) Keywords: UTILITIES NRC/WOLFCREEK ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.