Nuclear plants do wear out for sure.
Pushing it much past fifty years might not be wise. The thing I think about after that long is neutron embrittlement of the reactor vessel.
Actual inspection of the reactor and all critical parts of this nuclear power plant should be done and then decision made whether the plant can continue operations and for how long. 50 years may not be the actual lifespan of a nuclear power plant.
A friend of mine just talked to one of the employees. This MLive article indicating that Whitmer is trying to save it is very likely propoganda. The employee said the plant is one of the best operating plants around, and that Whitmer has been sitting on her hands for a year in approving the funds to keep it. For some reason it’s not a priority.
The employee said he will be returning to work on the road.
as I mentioned elsewhere all nuclear facilities have a rolling five year maintenance plan that’s monitored and approved by the NRC, They don’t wear out in the sense of deterioration.
Coupons of the same material that was used to fabricate the 4” thick reactor vessel (RPV) are stored inside the RPV. During each refueling one is removed and tested for embrittlement.
If that occurred the plant would be shut down.
The TMI reactor involved in the incident was intended to be scrapped and replaced due to the extreme event. As a code vessel it was junk since the event was beyond what could be covered by code.