ML25007A001
| ML25007A001 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 02/07/2025 |
| From: | Russell Felts, Aida Rivera-Varona Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML23353A201 | List: |
| References | |
| OMB 3150-0270, RIS-2025-02 | |
| Download: ML25007A001 (6) | |
Text
ML25007A001 OMB Control Number: 3150-0270 Expiration Date: 12/31/2027 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION WASHINGTON, DC 20555-0001 February 7, 2025 NRC REGULATORY ISSUE
SUMMARY
2025-02 PLANNED POWER UPRATE-RELATED LICENSING SUBMITTALS FOR ALL POWER REACTOR LICENSEES ADDRESSEES All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power reactors under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities, or holders of a combined license under 10 CFR Part 52, Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants, except those that have permanently ceased operations and have certified that fuel has been permanently removed from the reactor vessel.
INTENT The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this regulatory issue summary (RIS) to request information on planned power uprate-related licensing submittals for all power reactor licensees. Submittal of the requested information is strictly voluntary. No specific action or written response is required.
The NRC is issuing this RIS to assist the NRC in the following:
determining resource and budget needs with respect to future licensing action submittals pertaining to power uprates anticipated under 10 CFR Part 50 and 10 CFR Part 52 planning the technical resources needed to review power uprate-related licensing activities This RIS is intended to promote early communication with NRC licensees regarding planned power uprate-related licensing activities. This information will assist the NRC in budgeting for and allocating its resources. This RIS does not transmit requirements, imply new requirements, change requirements, or amend any staff position on current requirements. Although no specific action or written response is required, submission of the requested information will enable the agency to more efficiently and effectively plan its licensing work.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION The NRC has an integrated planning, budgeting, and performance measurement process. This process applies the business principles of goal setting, strategy development, resource
RIS 2025-02 Page 2 of 6 allocation, and performance measurement to NRC activities. Among other benefits, the integrated process strongly ties the agencys budget and resource allocation process to its strategic plan, strategic arenas, performance goals, and performance measures. In addition, to ensure that performance measures and corresponding resource allocations are as accurate as possible, the NRC periodically assesses the appropriateness of the information and assumptions used in the budget development process.
The NRC formulates its budget by projecting several years beyond the current fiscal year. To help the NRC plan its resources appropriately, information from licensees regarding their intentions to submit licensing actions assists the NRC in planning necessary resources as well as any schedule needs in preparation for the review before the submittal of the licensing action.
SUMMARY
OF THE ISSUE During the budget development process, the NRC allocates resources based on an assumed number of licensing actions of certain types (e.g., license amendments, exemptions, relief requests) that will be submitted for that fiscal year. To the degree that these assumptions do not correlate to incoming requests, the agencys budget estimates can be significantly incorrect in allocating total resources, specific skill sets, or both. This ultimately impedes the NRCs ability to process licensing actions on a timely basis and can cause a significant delay in processing licensing actions when the required resources are not available.
The NRC understands that there is a potential for an increased number of power uprate submittals from licensees resulting from the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. To more accurately forecast the resources needed to complete requested licensing actions, the NRC is asking that all power reactor licensees voluntarily provide information regarding power uprate-related licensing actions they plan to submit for NRC review. The responses to this request are not binding and can be updated as needed. The response should take no more than 20 hours2.314815e-4 days <br />0.00556 hours <br />3.306878e-5 weeks <br />7.61e-6 months <br /> to process. This information will enable the agency to better meet its performance and timeliness goals under the agencys strategic plan.
To adequately capture the resource impact of the potential power uprate-related licensing reviews, the NRC is requesting that licensees provide the information detailed below. Based on the information received, the NRC will determine the complexity of the review and the technical skill set needed to perform the review and develop preliminary review schedules. The NRC will use this information in planning for future workload and as the basis for allocating future technical resources.
The NRC encourages continued communication between licensees and site-specific NRC project managers regarding planned power uprate-related licensing actions and other scheduled licensing actions.
VOLUNTARY RESPONSE If an addressee chooses to provide a voluntary response, the NRC would like to obtain the information within 90 days of receipt of this RIS. The questions below and the table in the enclosure guides licensees in providing the information in a format useful to the NRC.
Addressees may submit responses electronically to the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) contact and to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
RIS 2025-02 Page 3 of 6 For planned power uprate licensing actions, the licensee is requested to provide the following information:
plant name description of the licensing action, including the type of power uprate requested (e.g., measurement uncertainty recapture, stretch, or extended power uprate) projected submittal date and requested completion date (month/year) (if the month is not yet known, please provide an anticipated quarter with the year) planned increase from the current licensed thermal power (CLTP) limit in megawatts thermal requested percentage increase in power from the CLTP limit expected date for power ascension with uprated conditions (month/year) additional details and comments to assist the staffs planning efforts, such as related significant licensing actions needed to support the power uprate, such as alternate source term amendments or accident tolerant fuels amendments whether the NRC staff can make the above information publicly available A licensee may submit an affidavit pursuant to 10 CFR 2.390(b) to have information withheld from public disclosure if the licensee determines that information about power uprate related licensing actions submission is proprietary because it represents confidential financial or commercial information. The affidavit should contain the basis for withholding the information from public disclosure.
BACKFITTING AND ISSUE FINALITY DISCUSSION This RIS asks licensees to inform the NRC of planned licensing action submittals. This RIS requires no action or written response. Any action on the part of the addressees to collect and transmit planned future licensing actions on power uprates in accordance with this request is strictly voluntary. Therefore, this RIS does not represent backfitting as defined in 10 CFR 50.109(a)(1), nor is it otherwise inconsistent with any issue finality provision in 10 CFR Part 52. Consequently, the NRC staff did not perform a backfit analysis for this RIS or further address the issue finality criteria in 10 CFR Part 52.
FEDERAL REGISTER NOTIFICATION The NRC published a notice of opportunity for public comment on this RIS in the Federal Register on April 29, 2024 (89 FR 33402). The agency received one comment in support of this RIS.
CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW ACT STATEMENT This RIS is not a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 801-808).
RIS 2025-02 Page 4 of 6 PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT STATEMENT This RIS contains voluntary information collections that are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved these information collections (approval number 3150-0270, expiration 12/31/2027). The burden to the public for these information collections is estimated to average 20 hours2.314815e-4 days <br />0.00556 hours <br />3.306878e-5 weeks <br />7.61e-6 months <br /> per response. Send comments regarding this information collection to the FOIA, Library, and Information Collections Branch, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Mail Stop: T6-A10M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by e-mail to Infocollects.Resource@nrc.gov, and to the OMB reviewer at: OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-0270), Attn: Desk Officer for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503.
Public Protection Notification The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control number.
CONTACT Please direct any questions about this matter to one of the technical contacts listed below.
/RA/
/RA/
Aida Rivera-Varona, Deputy Director Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Russell Felts, Director Division of Reactor Oversight Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public website, https://www.nrc.gov, under NRC Library/Document Collections.
Technical Contacts: William Orders, NRR Thomas Byrd, NRR 301-415-3329 301-415-3719 Email: William.Orders@nrc.gov Email: Thomas.Byrd@nrc.gov
Enclosure:
Table of Estimated Power Uprate Licensing Actions
RIS 2025-02 Page 5 of 6 NRC REGULATORY ISSUE
SUMMARY
2025-02, PLANNED POWER UPRATE-RELATED LICENSING SUBMITTALS FOR ALL POWER REACTOR LICENSEES, DATE: February 7, 2025 ADAMS Accession: ML25007A001 OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOEB NRR/DRO/IOEB NRR OCIO/GEMSD OE/EB NRR/DORL/LPL4 OCIO/GEMSD NAME BBenney PClark JRankin DCullison JPeralta TByrd DCullison DATIE 12/20/23 1/2/24 1/3/24 1/12/24 1/16/24 1/25/24 2/2/24 OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOEB NRR OGC NRR/DORL/LPL4 NRR/DRA NRR/DRO/IOEB NRR/DRO/IOEB NAME LRegner JRankin JWachutka TByrd TNakanishi PClark IBetts DATE 3/14/24 7/18/24 1/28/25 1/28/25 1/28/25 2/5/25 2/5/25 OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOEB NRR/DRO NRR/DRO NAME BBenney ARivera PMcKenna DATE 2/6/25 2/7/25 2/7/25 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Enclosure Table of Estimated Power Uprate Licensing Actions Plant Name and Unit Number(s)
Power Uprate Type (MUR,
- Stretch, EPU)
Expected Schedule for Filing (MM/YYYY)
Planned CLTP Increase (MWt)
Power Increase from CLTP
(%)
Expected Date for Power Ascension (MM/YYYY)
Additional Details or Related Significant License Actions Can the NRC Staff Make This Information Public?
(Yes/No)
MUR = measurement uncertainty recapture, EPU = extended power uprate, CLTP = current licensed thermal power, MWt = megawatts thermal