The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has amended the operating licences for the Limerick-1 and -2 nuclear power plants in Pennsylvania, granting approval to replace analogue safety-related instrumentation and controls (I&C) systems with a modern digital system.

These amendments enable owner and operator Constellation to install new I&C equipment as part of Limerick’s digital modernisation project.

The NRC said that as the nuclear industry advances towards next-generation power reactors equipped with state-of-the-art digital I&C systems, much of today’s operating fleet still relies on analogue controls.