Quarterly Updates

  • 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  • Due to low natural gas prices and unfavorable economic conditions, Exelon has withdrawn its application for an Early Site Permit for its Victoria County, Texas, site.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

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), 3/15/07; Entergy – Grand Gulf (MS), 4/5/07; Dominion – North Anna (VA), 11/ 27/07; Southern – Vogtle site (GA), 08/26/09.