ML25287A011
| ML25287A011 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05200051, 05200052, 05200053, 05200054 |
| Issue date: | 10/14/2025 |
| From: | Gleaves W NRC/NRR/DNRL |
| To: | Jardaneh M NRC/NRR/DNRL |
| Gleaves W | |
| References | |
| Download: ML25287A011 (5) | |
Text
October 14, 2025 MEMORANDUM TO:
Mahmoud Jardaneh, Acting Chief Licensing and Regulatory Infrastructure Branch Division of New and Renewed Licenses Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM:
William (Billy) Gleaves, Senior Project Manager /RA/
Licensing and Regulatory Infrastructure Branch Division of New and Renewed Licenses Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
SUBJECT:
AUDIT PLAN FOR THE STAFF REVIEW OF THE FERMI AMERICA, PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP ADVANCED ENERGY AND INTELLIGENCE CAMPUS, UNITS 1-4, COMBINED LICENSE APPLICATION By letters dated June 17, 2025 (ML25169A394) and August 20, 2025 (ML25232A200), Fermi America (FA) transmitted a combined license (COL) application (COLA) including general information and a design-specific final safety analysis report. For the COLA, the staff intends to use a regulatory audit as part of its review. A regulatory audit is a process by which the NRC staff examines and evaluates information provided by the applicant with the intent to gain understanding, verify information, and/or identify information that will require docketing to support the basis of a licensing or regulatory decision.
The result of this audit will be increased review efficiency with a more predictable schedule, in that issues will be readily and easily identified, discussed, and resolved. The audit also achieves a more effective and efficient review by allowing the staff to review and discuss supporting material with the objective of improving communication and eliminating unnecessary requests for additional information. The staff plans to audit material to verify that information exists that supports the licensing basis. If the NRC staff identifies information that is needed to support a finding, FA will have the option to submit that information on the application docket or the NRC will issue a request for additional information.
The audit will start on November 7, 2025 and is estimated to end on August 28, 2026. The audit will be conducted primarily via an Electronic Reading Room, at FAs offices in Amarillo, TX, or at NRC headquarters office in Rockville, MD. The contents of the audit plan are provided as an enclosure.
Docket Nos. 05200051, 05200052, 05200053, 05200054
Enclosure:
Audit Plan cc w/enclosure: GovDelivery CONTACT: W. Gleaves, NRR/DNRL/NLIB 301-415-5848
- via email NRR-106 OFFICE DNRL/NRLB: PM DNRL/NLIB: LA DNRL/NRLB: BC NAME WGleaves SGreen MJardaneh SJoseph for DATE 10/14/2025
/ /2025 10/14/2025
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AUDIT PLAN COMBINED LICENSE APPLICATION FOR FERMI AMERICA, PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP ADVANCED ENERGY AND INTELLIGENCE CAMPUS, UNITS 1 THROUGH 4 DOCKET NOS. 05200051, 05200052, 05200053, 05200054 APPLICANT: Fermi America (FA)
CONTACTS: Chief Nuclear Construction Officer, Musut Uzman DURATION: October 31, 2025, through August 28, 2026 LOCATION:
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Headquarters or via FA Electronic Reading Room (eRR))
or FA offices 10777 Strait La Dallas, TX, 75229 NRC AUDIT TEAM*:
MJ Jardaneh (Branch Chief)
William (Billy) Gleaves (Project Lead)
Allen Fetter (Project Co-Lead for siting)
Mary Richmond, NMSS Sarah Tabatabai, NRR
- Subject matter experts and their branch chiefs will be consulted as needed to participate in audit meetings and reviews.
I.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES By letters dated June 17 and August 20, 2025 Fermi America (FA) submitted a partial combined license application (COLA) for the Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus, Units 1-4. The submitted documents can be found at ADAMS Accession Nos. ML25169A394 and ML25232A200.
The purpose of this audit is for the NRC staff to conduct the staffs safety review of the COLA in such a manner that identified issues can readily and easily be discussed and resolved in order to provide a more predictable review schedule. The audit also achieves a more effective and efficient review by allowing the staff to review and discuss supporting material with the objective of improving communication and eliminating unnecessary requests for additional information.
The staff plans to audit material which may be needed to make a reasonable assurance finding that the design protects public health and safety. If the NRC staff identifies information that is needed to support a finding, the applicant is expected to submit that information on the application docket or the NRC will issue a request for additional information.
II.
REGULATORY AUDIT BASIS The bases for the submittal follow the regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities specific to the requirements of a construction permit application. The regulations under 10 CFR 2.101, Filing of application; 10 CFR 50.4, 10 CFR 54.17, Filing of application; and 10 CFR 52.3, Written communications; require applications for permits and licenses, amendments to applications, and applications for amendment of permits and licenses to be sent to the NRC. The appendices to 10 CFR Part 52, Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants, and 10 CFR 50.71, Maintenance of records, making of reports, require that records connected to licensed or regulated activities be maintained by the licensee. NRR provided information supporting the regulatory action in Office Instruction LIC-111, Revision 2, Regulatory Audits.
III.
REGULATORY AUDIT SCOPE Generally, the audit covers the COLA, the associated programs and final safety analysis report (FSAR) (both design-specific and site-specific parts), associated technical and topical reports, exemptions and variances and site characterization activities, such as core borings (e.g., see ADAMS Accession No. ML22019A083), if requested by FA (IMC 2501 no longer requires geotechnical inspection but supports it).
The types of information that the NRC staff may audit include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) process information, (2) procedures, (3) calculations, (4) design basis information, and (5) computer/software code(s) and input/output files. The staff can review computer code and simulation files through visual examinations or walk-in demonstrations by the licensee.
Alternatively, the staff may request that the executable code and input/output files be submitted on the docket for further examination and confirmatory runs.
IV.
INFORMATION AND OTHER MATERIAL NECESSARY FOR THE REGULATORY AUDIT The applicant should be prepared to provide documents, reports, calculations, computer code verification, and other material, as applicable, supporting the analyses documented in the respective FSAR chapters and technical reports. The NRC staff may request that the applicant make these additional materials available in the eRR and/or as a file to be submitted on the docket under oath and affirmation (O&A).
V.
SPECIAL REQUESTS The NRC and applicant have discussed and agreed upon the following audit logistics:
eRR for document viewing during audit.
Weekly schedule for audit activities o audit meetings, as needed NRC to track status of audit issues (internal spreadsheet).
o NRC to provide a copy of the current tracker on Mondays.
Applicant and NRC to track status of audit issues.
o Ensure mutual alignment Applicant to develop responses to audit questions.
o Throughout the week - responses to audit questions posted in eRR. Expectation is < 14 days for response to be posted to eRR o NRC PMs will be notified via email when responses are available.
o documents requested in the audit will be available in eRR for viewing.
NRC approval or rejection of audit issue responses documented in tracker.
o If issue response is approved, the NRC staff determines if the response needs to be submitted on the docket. The NRC to send email request for docketing.
o Applicant to send letter under O&A to docket responses. Applicant may consider weekly or monthly batch response letters.
NRC will allow two audit responses before moving unresolved requests to formal RAI process.
NRC will send formal RAI to applicant via email.
The RAI response default deadline is 30 days from the date of draft RAI submitted to the applicant to respond to the following three questions:
o Does the RAI contain proprietary, Export-Controlled Information (ECI), Security-Related Information (SRI) information?
o Is clarification call needed?
o Is the 30-day response timeline achievable?
VI DELIVERABLES The NRC audit team is expected to consist of the project managers along with a core team of NRC technical reviewers with support from subject matter experts and contractors. The NRC staff acknowledges the proprietary nature of the information requested and will handle it appropriately throughout the audit. While the NRC staff will take notes, the NRC staff will not remove hard copies or electronic files from the audit site(s).
An audit report will be generated at the completion of the audit. If necessary, any circumstances related to the conductance of the audit will be communicated to Billy Gleaves at Bill.Gleaves@nrc.gov or Allen Fetter at Allen.Fetter@nrc.gov