AbstractIt appears likely that nuclear power plants can be operated safely in excess of the licensed 40 years. This conclusion is based on a systematic review of the plant systems and favorable experience in refurbishing old fossil plants, the Savannah River production reactors and the early British Magnox reactors. The technical areas that may present the greatest difficulty are the reactor pressure vessel, the electrical cable, and reinforced concrete structures. Utilities are also concerned about the difficulty of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s relicensing process, which has not as yet been defined. If license extensions can be obtained, utilities can afford to spend many hundreds of millions of dollars to achieve an additional ten or more years of operation. Nuclear plant life extension has favorable implications for the long-term price of electricity in systems containing nuclear power plants.