Duke Energy wins license renewal for Robinson Nuclear Plant until 2050

Duke Energy has locked in another quarter-century of operation for H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant Unit 2, after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission renewed the Hartsville, South Carolina reactor’s license through July 2050. The decision keeps a 759-megawatt pressurized-water reactor on the grid in Darlington County, about 26 miles northwest of Florence, and extends one of the Carolinas’ most important baseload assets well into the middle of the century.

The renewal matters far beyond the reactor site. Duke says Robinson can power about 570,000 homes, supports nearly 500 jobs and sends about $28 million a year in local taxes into the region. The company has also said it has invested about $1.7 billion in capital upgrades at the plant, a number that strengthens the case that Robinson is not an aging liability but a long-lived asset already modernized for continued service.

For Duke, the approval fits a broader strategy of stretching existing nuclear plants rather than replacing them before advanced reactors and other new supply options are ready at scale. The company says its nuclear fleet provides about 51 percent of customer energy needs in the Carolinas, making the Robinson decision a reliability play as much as a licensing milestone. Keeping the unit online preserves carbon-free generation that is already built, already operating and already integrated into the regional grid.

The NRC said the review was the fastest license-renewal process in agency history and the first completed under new federal timelines. Duke filed the subsequent renewal application on April 1, 2025. The agency issued the final supplemental environmental impact statement on March 12, 2026, followed by the safety evaluation on April 1, 2026, and said the review showed Duke met the requirements of 10 CFR 54.29(a). The prior renewed license had been set to expire on July 31, 2030, before this second renewal pushed authorization out to 2050.

Robinson’s history now spans more than five decades. The NRC issued the original operating license on July 31, 1970, and the first renewed license on April 19, 2004. The new approval makes Robinson the second Duke Energy nuclear facility to receive subsequent license renewal, following Oconee Nuclear Station in 2025, and underscores how license extensions are becoming one of the fastest ways to preserve firm clean power while the U.S. waits for the next generation of reactors to arrive.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said the extension preserves a reliable, affordable source of nuclear energy the state depends on and supports jobs across the Pee Dee region. Rep. Russell Fry said Robinson has been the backbone of the state’s nuclear fleet for 50 years. With this renewal, Duke has secured a major anchor for its Carolina generation mix and a long-term source of power, payrolls and tax revenue for the region.