ML20195A047
| ML20195A047 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/31/2020 |
| From: | Kristine Svinicki NRC/Chairman |
| To: | Lowey N, Shelby R US HR (House of Representatives), US HR, Comm on Appropriations, US SEN (Senate), US SEN, Comm on Appropriations |
| J. Quichocho, 415-0209 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20195A044 | List: |
| References | |
| CORR-20-0079 | |
| Download: ML20195A047 (7) | |
Text
ProgressonLicensing Applications ThirdQuarter inFiscal Year2020 1
TheU.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),
Office ofNuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR),
haseliminated the backlog oflicensing actions.
Inthefirst,
- second, andthird quarters offiscal year(FY)
- 2020, NRR successfully metall operating reactor performance indicators asdefined in theFY2020Congressional Budget Justification (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) AccessionNo.ML19065A279).
TheNRCOffice ofNuclear Material Safety andSafeguards (NMSS) continues tofocus on improving itsRequest for Additional Information (RAI) processes.
OnJanuary 24,2020,a memorandum wasprovided to all fuel cycle facility andspentfuel storage andtransportation staff outlining clear licensing program expectations.
Specifically, this memorandum emphasized focusing RAlsoninformation needed for thesafety evaluation, andthat RAIsshould provide a
justification andaregulatory basis and should bediscussedwiththeapplicant.
2.Status ofLicense Renewal Reviews PowerReactors TheNRCstaff isnotreviewing anyinitial license renewal applications atthis time.
During this reporting
- period, thestaff continued thereviewof one subsequent license renewal application (SLRA) forasite with twounits toextend operations from 60to80years.
Anappeal related toahearing request onanother SLRAalsoremains pending before theCommission.
OnMarch5,2020,theNRCstaff issued therenewed licenses foranadditional 20yearsto Exelon Generation
- Company, LLCforPeachBottom Atomic Power Station,Units 2and3 (ADAMS Accession No.ML20010F285).
Thestaff completed this action withinthe established 18-month review schedule fortheproject.
Theapplication wassubmitted onJuly10,2018,andinNovember 2018,apetition for leave to intervene wassubmitted byBeyond
- Nuclear, Inc.
OnJune20,2019, the Atomic Safety andLicensing Board(ASLB) found
- that, although BeyondNuclear had demonstrated standing tointervene, neither ofits twoproposed contentions wereadmissible.
Therefore, theASLBdenied BeyondNuclear's petition forleave tointervene andterminated the proceeding.
OnJuly 15,2019,BeyondNuclear appealed theASLB'sdecision tothe Commission.
Theappeal ispending before theCommission.
W OnOctober 15,2018,Dominion Energy Virginia (Dominion) submitted anSLRAforSurry Power
- Station, Units 1and2.Forthesafety
- review, theNRCstaff issued thefinal safety evaluation report (SER) onMarch9,2020(ADAMS Accession No.ML20052F520).
Fortheenvironmental
- review, thestaff issued thefinal supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) on April 6,2020(ADAMS Accession No.ML20071D538).
Oneoutstanding issue remains with respect toDominion's obligations under theCoastal zone Management Act(CzMA).
UndertheCzMA,theapplicant mustdemonstrate that theproposed Enclosure 1
license renewalisconsistent withandcomplies withenforceable policies oftheVirginia Coastal zone Management Program before theNRCcanissue arenewed license.
TheNRCstaff issued anRAIonthis issue onApril 11,2019,andnotedtheissue inthedraft andfinal SEISs.
OnFebruary 5,2020,thestaff issued another RAIrequesting information about actions taken byDominion tofulfillits CzMAobligations.
A response totheRAlwasreceived
- onMay20, 2020(ADAMS Accession No.ML20142A290).InitsRAlresponse, Dominion indicated that it hasnotyet secured a revisedCzMAconsistency determination fromtheCommonwealth of Virginia.
OnJune 15, 2020, theNRCstaff issued aletter toDominion (ADAMS Accession No.
indicating thatthestaff anticipates that itwill beabletocomplete itsreview of theapplication withinfour weeks ofreceipt oftheupdated information, butthat theactual time needed toreview the information will befact-dependent.
OnJune17,2020(ADAMS Accession No.ML20169A452),
Dominion provided aletter indicating that ithadnotyet secured arevised CzMAconsistency determination andthat itwill provide anupdate onthestatus ofits efforts within 30days.
OnJuly 15,2020,Dominion provided aletter (ADAMS AccessionNo. ML20198M669) toextend theupdate onthestatus of theongoing discussions ortheresponse to the RAIforanadditional 90days.Dominion informed theNRCstaff that itcontinues tocorrespond with theVirginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) andthe Virginia Department ofGameandInland Fisheries with thegoalofobtaining arevised CzMAconsistency determination fromtheVDEQ.Asindicated inthetable
- below, thelicensee's delay indemonstrating compliance with theCzMAhastaken thestaff beyondits estimated 18-month target schedule for completing thereview.
Surry pplication ReviewTimefromAcceptance Review(Months) 19 OriginalRevised Completion Milestone Schedule Schedule Date Receive SLRA 10/15/2018 10/15/2018 Publish Federal Register notice (FRN)
- SLRA 11/2018 11/01/2018 availabilit Publish FRN
- docketing acceptance/rejection andopportunity for 12/2018 12/17/2018 hearing Publish FRN
- notice ofintent toprepare an EISandconduct environmental scoping 12/2018 12/21/2018 process Public meeting
- overview ofsubsequent license renewal process andenvironmental 01/2019 01/08/2019 scoping rocess Environmental scoping process period ends 02/2019 01/22/2019 Deadline forfiling hearing requests and petitions forintervention 02/2019 02/15/2019 Issue draft SEIS 09/2019 10/2019 10/17/2019 Public meeting
- draft SEISmeeting 10/2019 11/2019* 11/07/2019 Issue draft SER 11/2019 12/27/2019 2
End ofdraftSEIScommentperiod 11'/201912/2019 12/10/2019 dvisory Committee onReactor Safeguards 02/2020 02/2019 02/05/2020 ACRSsubcommittee meetin CRSFullCommittee meeting 03/2020 04/2020 04/08/2020 Issue final SER 03/2020 03/09/2020 Issue final SEIS 03/2020 04/2020 04/06/2020 EPApublishes FRN availability offinal SEIS 03/2020 04/2020 04/17/2020 Decision
- Public meeting viawebinar.
Research andTestReactors TheNRCstaff isreviewing license renewal applications forfour research andtest
- reactors, and thereview ofoneapplication isonhold.
Thecurrent status ofthese reviews isprovided inthe table below.
Research andTest Reactors Facility Name Application Date Status exasA&MUniversit 07/22/1997 hereview ofthe TAMU AGN reactor license (TAMU)
Aerojet- (review onhold) renewal application ison hold pending relocation General Nucleonics ndreassembly ofthereactor.
Thelicense (AGN)
Reactor currently allows only possession ofthereactor.
heNRCstaff will resume itsreview ofthelicense renewal application oncethe licensee submits a
revised safet analsisreort.
University ofTexasat12/12/2011 hereview iscurrently scheduled tobe completed ustin (UTA)
(review inprogress) byJuly 2021.Theschedule maybeupdated oilowing anaudit oftheUTAneutronic and hermal-h draulic analses.
3
Research andTestReactors Facilit Name A plication Date Status University of 10/20/2015 Basedonitsoperational status (due tothe Massachusetts at (review inprogress)
COVID-19 public health emergency),
thelicensee Lowell informed theNRCthatitwouldsubmit, nosooner hanJuly 31,2020,itsapplication supplement ddressing openitems related toRAlresponses ndsupplemental information that thelicensee submitted in2019and2020.Byletter dated uly16,2020,theNRCstaff stated that itplans ocomplete itsreview within 4months ofreceipt fthesupplement, provided that thestaff identifies noopenitems orother issues.
(As ofAugust 5,2020,thelicensee hasnot provided theinformation tosupplement its pplication onJuly31,2020,duetolimited resources.
TheNRCwill provide astatus ofthe schedule onthenextuarterl reort.
North Carolina State 02/24/2017 helicensee submitted arevised safety analysis University (review inprogress) report(SAR) inAugust2019andrevised echnicalspecifications inSeptember 2019,and heNRCperformed a regulatory audit related to herevised technical specifications inNovember 019.Thestaff continues toreview therevised SAR,revised technical specifications, andaudit indings.
hereview iscurrently schedule forcompletion in October 2021 University of 06/11/2018 DuetotheCOVID-19 public health emergency California atDavis(review inprogress) ndconsistent with aschedule extension agreed uponinanNRCstaff letter dated
- May13, 2020, helicensee submitted its revised licenserenewal pplication, including anupdated final SAR,on uly6,2020.Thelicensee proposes toreduce helicensed powerlevel to1.0MWandeliminate pulsing capability atthefacility.
hereview iscurrently scheduled forcompletion inSeptember 2022.
3.M TheNRCreceives three typesofapplications toincrease thepoweroutput ofoperating nuclear powerplants:
1)extended poweruprate (EPU);
2)stretch poweruprate (SPU);
and 3)measurement uncertainty recapture poweruprate (MUR).
EPUs,SPUs,andMURshave beenapproved forpowerincreases ashighas20,7,and2percent, respectively.
TheNRCstaff hasnoEPUorSPUapplications under review.
4
The NRC staff iscurrently reviewing sixMURapplications.
ThesesixMURsareforJoseph M.
Farley Nuclear
- Plant, Units 1and2;WattsBarNuclear
- Plant, Unit 2;andOconeeNuclear
- Station, Units 1,2,and3.Thecombined increase inreactor output fromthesixMURswould be approximately 266megawattsthermal with anequivalent electrical generating capacity of approximately 89megawatts electric.
Thecurrent status ofthese reviews isprovided inthe table below.
PowerU rate A
lications UnderReview UnitName/No.
MWt Submittal Projected PowerUprate U rate Date Comletion Date T e Watts Bar,Unit 2
1.4 48 10/15/2019 8/2020 MUR Farle
, Unit1 1.6 46 10/31/2019 8/2020 MUR Farle
, Unit 2
1.6 46 10/31/2019 8/2020 MUR
- Oconee, Unit 1
1.6 42 02/19/2020 12/2020 MUR
- Oconee, Unit 2
1.6 42 02/19/2020 12/2020 MUR
- Oconee, Unit 3
1.6 42 02/19/2020 12/2020 MUR Additional information regarding thepower uprates andthestatus ofapplications isavailable at theNRCpublic website:
https)/www.nrc.gov/reactors/operatj.ng/licensing/p.ower:uprates.html.
4.M TheNRCemploys asix-phase schedule tomonitor progress towards completionofthesafety reviews fordesign certification (DC) applications.
These phases are:
Phase1-Preliminary SERwithRAlsissued toapplicant Phase2 - SERwith openitems issued Phase3
- Response totheACRSregarding SERwithopenitems issued Phase4 - Advanced SERwithnoopenitems issued Phase5
- Response toACRSregarding SERwith noopenitems issued Phase6
- Final SERissued TheNRCstaff iscurrently reviewing oneDCapplication andhassuspended onereview atthe applicant's request.
U.S.Advanced Pressurized-Water Reactor Mitsubishi HeavyIndustries, Ltd.(MHI) submitted its U.S.Advanced Pressurized-Water Reactor (US-APWR)
DCapplication onDecember 31,2007.Byletter dated November 5,2013,MHI initiated acoordinated slowdown ofNRClicensing activities inorder tofocus itsresources towards supporting therestart oftheMitsubishi-designed reactors inJapanfollowing the Fukushima event.Since that time,theNRCstaff hadbeenperforming thereview oftheDC application atareduced
- pace, hadcompleted Phase2forseveral
- chapters, andwasmaking progress onthePhase4review forsixDCchapters.
Inaletter dated March 3,2020,MHI askedtheNRCtosuspend thesafety review oftheUS-APWRDCapplication until further notice.
MHIdoesnotintend tomodify theUS-APWRdesign ortoupdate theDCdocument during thesuspension period.
5
NuScale OnJanuary 6,2017,NuScale submitted thefirst small modular reactor DCapplication for reviewby the NRC.OnMarch15,2017,theNRCcompleted its acceptance review and docketedthe application.
Thestaff thenissued theacceptance review letter toNuScale on March23,2017, and developed afull review schedule withpublic milestones, which was transmitted toNuScale onMay22,2017.OnApril 11,2018,thestaff completed Phase1ofthe review.
Thestaffcompleted Phase2ofthereview onJuly12,2019,except forChapters 15 and20oftheSER,which remained preliminary.
OnMay16,2019,theNRCstaff issued aletter toNuScale communicating thatthestaff hadnotmetthePhase2milestone because several issues remained unresolved without aclearly defined pathtoward resolution..
Thestaff further emphasized that tomeetthe overall 42-month target schedule forreview andPhase4 milestone, NuScale mustresolve the remaining issues andopenitems withtheNRCstaff.
TheNRCstaff worked with NuScale to complete Phase3ofthereview onJuly 12,2019,and completed Phase4ofthereview onDecember 12,2019.InFebruary 2020,NuScale informed theNRCthat NuScale hadidentified anissue withananalysis that wasnecessary forthestaff's safety finding.
OnMay1,2020,theNRCissued alettertoNuScale (ADAMS Accession No.ML20112F455),
updating thestatus andschedule fortheNuScale review.
OnMay20and May28,2020,NuScale submitted thefinal design changes andsupporting information tothe NRC(ADAMS Accession Nos.ML20141N012 andML20149M119 respectively).TheNRCstaff thencompleted itsanalysis ofthedesign changes inJune
- 2020, andengaged withtheACRSin July 2020.Thestaff completed Phase5ofitsreview onJuly 31,2020,andiscurrently ontrack forissuing thefinal safety evaluation andmeeting thePhase 6 milestone bySeptember 8,2020.
5.
TheNRCemploys a4-phase schedule tomonitor progress toward completion ofthesafety reviews forDCrenewal applications.
Thesephases are:
Phase1
- RAlsandSupplemental RAls Phase2
- SERwithout OpenItems Phase3
- ACRSReviewofSERwithout OpenItems Phase4 - Final SER TheNRCstaff iscurrently reviewing oneDCrenewal application.
A TheNRCcompleted itstechnical review andissued thefinal SERforthis renewal application on March30,2020.TheAdvanced Boiling-Water Reactor DCrenewal rulemaking isinprogress.
Thedirect final rule isscheduled tobecompleted inSeptember 2020.
6.W TheNRCstaff iscurrently reviewing onecombined license (COL) application.
OnMarch11,2020,OkloPowerLLC(Oklo) submitted aCOLapplication fortheAurora reactor totheNRC(ADAMS Accession No.ML20075A00).
OnJune5,2020,theNRCissued aletter toOklo(ADAMS Accession No.ML20149K616),
accepting theapplication fordocketing and indicating thatthestaff plans tocomplete thereview inatwo-step process.
InStep1,theNRC staff plans toengage Okloinpublic
- meetings, conduct regulatory
- audits, andissue RAlsto 6
efficiently align onfour keysafety anddesign aspects ofthelicensing basis:
1)maximum credible accident; 2) classification ofstructures, systems andcomponents; 3)applicability of regulations; and4)theQuality Assurance Program.
Thiswill
-help theNRCstaff todefine the scope of the full,detailedtechnical review anddevelop aschedule.
OnJuly 31,2020, 28nationalandregional environmental andcivic organizations filed an emergency petition requesting that theCommission reverse orsuspend thedocketing decision andhearing notice and return theapplication toOklo.Thematter remains pending before the Commission.
7.M Therearenoearly site permitapplications currently underreview.
8.
Forthetimeframe ofApril
- June2020,no major uranium recovery licensing applications were reviewed bytheNRCstaff.
Three uraniumrecovery facilitiesthat arelicensed tooperate are under NRCjurisdiction:
CrowButte Resources, Inc.'s CrowButte insitu recovery facility in
Inc.'s DeweyBurdock site inSouth
- Dakota, andNuFuels, Inc's Crownpoint site inNewMexico.
TheCrowButte facility remains inastandby status.
Powertech isintheprocess ofobtaining permits fromother regulators fortheDeweyBurdock site.
NuFuels isnotpursuing construction oroperation.
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