The license renewal will enable Tennessee Valley Authority to operate the Units 1 and 2 at the Sequoyah power plant from its original operating licenses, which were set to expire in 2020 for Unit 1 and 2021 for Unit 2.
The new licenses will conclude on 17 September 2040 for Unit 1 and 15 September 2041 for the Unit 2.
TVA chief nuclear officer Joe Grimes said: "This milestone is a direct reflection of our ongoing commitment to safely operate Sequoyah to benefit the people we serve every day.
"Extending Sequoyah operations will play an integral role in reducing our carbon emissions while reliably supplying electricity at the lowest possible cost."
The Tennessee Valley Authority applied to renew the Sequoyah operating licenses for an additional 20 years, on 7 January 2013.
Located about 16 miles northeast of Chattanooga, the Sequoyah plant comprises two pressurized water reactors, each with a generation capacity of 1,160MW. In total these units produce enough electricity for more than 1.3 million homes a day.
The Sequoyah operating licenses renewal marks the 78th commercial nuclear power reactors with renewed licenses by the US NRC, which is also reviewing an additional 16 renewals.
In May 2014, The TVA has conducted a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage at the Sequoyah 2 nuclear plant.
Image: The Sequoyah power plant is located about 16 miles northeast of Chattanooga in Tennessee. Photo: courtesy of Tennessee Valley Authority.
