Quarterly Nuclear Power Deployment Summary, October 2012
October 30, 2012
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Quarterly News
- On August 7, NRC issued an order halting issuance of any new construction licenses or license renewals until the commission can respond to a June 8 court ruling striking down the NRC’s waste confidence rule, which assumes that a waste repository will be available “when necessary”; reviews of license applications will continue and the order does not apply to design certifications.
- On September 6, NRC directed the agency’s staff to develop an environmental impact statement (EIS) and a revised waste confidence decision and rule on the temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel. The EIS and rule are to be completed within 24 months.
- Due to low natural gas prices and unfavorable economic conditions, Exelon has withdrawn its application for an early site permit for its Victoria County, Texas, site.
- On September 25, NRC issued a license to General Electric-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment LLC (GLE) to construct and operate a uranium enrichment plant using laser technology in Wilmington, North Carolina. The license authorizes U-235 enrichment of up to 8 percent by weight.
- On August 30, A panel for the Atomic Safety Licensing Board ruled that a license cannot be granted to Unistar for its proposed Calvert Cliffs reactor due to legal restrictions on foreign ownership; Unistar is wholly owned by EDF. The board has given Unistar 60 days to correct this violation.
Regulatory Status
- Eighteen Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) applications have been docketed, 10 of which (totaling 16 nuclear reactors) remain under active NRC review. NRC reviews of five applications were suspended due to utility economic considerations. Review of the Fermi and South Texas Project applications could continue after submittal of additional technical information; in addition, South Texas Project faces foreign ownership issues. The Reference COL (R-COL) application has been submitted for five reactor designs; subsequent COLs (S-COLs) will incorporate the corresponding R-COL application by reference, noting any site-specific departures. Southern Nuclear’s Vogtle Units 3 and 4 and SCE&G’s VC Summer Units 2 and 3 have received COLs.
| UTILITY | SITE/LOCATION | REACTOR/ NO. UNITS | COLA DATES | REVIEW PHASE IN PROGRESS | ||||||
| Submitted | Docketed | Issued | Safety 4 | Environ.5 | ||||||
| Issued | Southern Nuclear | Vogtle | GA | AP1000 | 2 | 03/31/08 | 05/30/08 | 02/10/12 | Completed | Completed |
| SCE&G | V.C. Summer | SC | AP1000 | 2 | 03/27/08 | 07/31/08 | 04/10/12 | Completed | Completed | |
| Active COL Applications | Progress Energy | Levy | FL | AP1000 | 2 | 7/30/08 | 10/6/08 | - | Ph. D | Completed |
| STP Nuclear Operating Co. | South Texas Project | TX | ABWR 1 | 2 | 9/20/07 | 11/29/07 | - | Ph. 2 | Completed | |
| Luminant (TXU) | Comanche Peak | TX | US-APWR 1 | 2 | 9/19/08 | 12/2/08 | - | Ph. 2 | Completed | |
| UniStar | Calvert Cliffs | MD | US-EPR 1 | 1 | 3/14/08 | 6/3/08 | - | Ph. 2 | Completed | |
| DTE Energy | Fermi | MI | ESBWR 1 | 1 | 9/18/08 | 11/25/08 | - | Ph. 2 | Ph. 3 | |
| Duke Energy | William States Lee | SC | AP1000 | 2 | 12/13/07 | 2/25/08 | - | Ph. B | Ph. 2 | |
| Florida Power and Light | Turkey Point | FL | AP1000 | 2 | 6/30/09 | 9/4/09 | - | Ph. A | Ph. 2 | |
| PPL (UniStar) | Bell Bend | PA | US-EPR | 1 | 10/10/08 | 12/19/08 | - | Ph. A | Ph. 2 | |
| Progress Energy | Shearon Harris | NC | AP1000 | 2 | 2/19/08 | 4/17/08 | - | Ph. B | Ph. 2 | |
| Dominion Energy | North Anna | VA | US-APWR | 1 | 11/27/07 | 1/28/08 | - | Ph. A | Ph. 2 | |
1 Reference COL Application (R-COL)
| 4 Safety Review: | R- COL® | Ph 1 Issue RAIs | Ph 2 SER w/Open Items | Ph 3 ACRS Review | Ph 4 Advanced SER/ No OI | Ph 5 ACRS Review | Ph 6 Final SER |
| S- COL® | Ph A Issue RAIs and supplemental RAIs | Ph B Advanced SER/ No OI | Ph C ACRS Review | Ph D Final SER | |||
| 5 Environmental Review Phases: | Ph 1 Environmental Scoping Report | Ph 2 Draft EIS | Ph 3 Public comment | Ph 4 Final EIS | |||
Small modular reactors are defined as having a capacity of less than 300 MWe. Nine SMR vendors have initiated contact with the NRC regarding their reactor designs. Four of these designs are domestic light-water-based designs. While all four will submit DC applications, B&W and Holtec have plans to submit construction permits under 10CFRPart 50, as well.
| Company | Reactor | Size (MWe) | Application | Expected Submittal Date | |
| Light Water Reactors | Babcock &Wilcox mPower, Inc. | mPower SMR | 180 | DC CP | Late 2013 March 2014 |
| Holtec International | SMR-160 | 160 | CP DC | Mid-2014 March 2015 | |
| NuScale Power, LLC | NuScale SMR | 45 | DC | Late 2014 | |
| Westinghouse Electric Co. | W-SMR | 225 | DC | Mid- to Late 2013 | |
| Advanced Non- LWRs | Department of Energy | NGNP | TBD | COL | FY2013 |
| GEH | PRISM | 311 | DC | TBD | |
| Gen4 Energy | G4M | 25 | DC | TBD | |
| PBMR Ltd. | PBMR | 165 | DC | FY2013 | |
| Toshiba | 4S | 10 | TBD | Mid-2012 |
DOE released a funding opportunity announcement on March 22, 2012, to support engineering, design certification and licensing of up to two SMR projects for construction and operation at a domestic site. DOE intends to fund the program over a five-year period through cost-share agreements with private industry partners that want to be the first-movers in the SMR arena.
Reactor Design Certification (DC)
Summary: Two reactor designs that are being considered for future builds are certified and two renewal applications are under NRC review.
- AREVA US-EPR – Submitted December 12, 2007, and docketed February 25, 2008; rulemaking expected in December 2014.
- GE ESBWR – Final design approval in March 2011; rulemaking expected 2013.
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries US-APWR – Submitted December 31, 2007, and docketed February 29, 2008; rulemaking expected in 2015.
- KEPCO APR1400 – Pre-application interactions began in January 2012. Design certification application anticipated March 2013.
- GE ABWR – Certified in 1997. Toshiba and GEH have also separately submitted Design Certification renewal applications that are currently under review.
- Westinghouse AP1000 – Amended design certified on December 30, 2011.
- B&W Mpower and NuScale are in pre-application meetings with NRC.
Early Site Permits (ESP)
Summary: Four ESPs issued; one under review:
- Exelon has withdrawn its application for an early site permit for its Victoria County, Texas, site.
- PSEG submitted an ESP application for its nuclear plant site in Salem County, New Jersey, on May 25, 2010. The final SER and EIS are expected in mid- to late 2014.
- NRC anticipates two further ESP applications at Blue Castle, Utah, and Callaway, Missouri.
- The following ESPs have been issued: Exelon – Clinton (IL), March 15, 2007; Entergy – Grand Gulf (MS), April 5, 2007; Dominion – North Anna (VA), November 27, 2007; Southern – Vogtle site (GA), August 26, 2009.