ML25343A122
| ML25343A122 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Dresden  |
| Issue date: | 12/17/2025 |
| From: | Tanya Hood Reactor Decommissioning Branch |
| To: | Humphrey M Constellation Energy Generation |
| References | |
| EPID L-2025-LLA-0055) | |
| Download: ML25343A122 (0) | |
Text
Mark D. Humphrey Sr. Manager, Licensing Constellation Energy Generation, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555
SUBJECT:
DRESDEN NUCLEAR POWER STATION, UNIT 1 - ISSUANCE OF AMENDMENT NO. 51 RE: REQUEST FOR LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST TO REVISE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION 5.1.A TO ALIGN WITH UNITS 2 AND 3 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION 4.1.1 (EPID L-2025-LLA-0055)
Dear Mark D. Humphrey:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) has issued the enclosed Amendment No. 51 to Facility Operating License No. DPR-2 for Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1 (Dresden Unit 1). This amendment revises Technical Specifications (TSs) requirements in response to your application dated March 17, 2025 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25076A562).
The amendment modifies TS 5.1.A to align Dresden Unit 1 TS 5.1.A, Site and Exclusion Area with Dresden Units 2 and 3 TS 4.1.1, Site and Exclusion Area Boundaries, and removes the specific acreage value. Removing the specific acreage value does not change the site area boundary or exclusion area.
A copy of the related safety evaluation is also enclosed. A Notice of Issuance will be included in the Commissions monthly Federal Register notice.
In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 2.390, Public inspections, exemptions, requests for withholding, of the NRCs Agency Rules of Practice and Procedure, a copy of this letter will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRCs ADAMS. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
December 17, 2025
M. Humphrey If you have any questions concerning the above, please contact me at (301) 415-1387 or by e-mail to Tanya.Hood@nrc.gov.
Sincerely, Tanya E. Hood, Project Manager Reactor Decommissioning Branch Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket No. 50-10
Enclosures:
- 1. Amendment No. 51 to DPR-2
- 2. Safety Evaluation cc: Listserv Signed by Hood, Tanya on 12/11/25
ML25343A122 OFFICE NMSS/DUWP/RDB/PM NMSS/REFS/EPMB2/BC NMSS/DUWP/RDB/PM NAME THood RSun THood DATE 12/10/2025 12/10/2025 12/11/2025 OFFICE NMSS/DUWP/RDB/BC NAME MSutherland (Acting)
DATE 12/17/2025 CONSTELLATION ENERGY GENERATION, LLC DOCKET NO. 50-10 DRESDEN NUCLEAR POWER STATION, UNIT 1 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE Amendment No. 51 License No. DPR-2 1.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has found that:
A.
The application for amendment by Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (the licensee), dated March 17, 2025, complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commissions rules and regulations set forth in 10 CFR Chapter I; B.
The facility will be maintained in conformity with the application, as amended, the provisions of the Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission; C.
There is reasonable assurance: (i) that the activities authorized by this amendment can be conducted without endangering the health and safety of the public, and (ii) that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the rules and regulations of the Commission; D.
The issuance of this amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public; and E.
The issuance of this amendment is in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51 of the Commissions regulations, and all applicable requirements have been satisfied.
2.
Accordingly, the license is amended by changes to License No. DPR-2 and the Technical Specifications as indicated in the attachment to this license amendment and paragraph 2.C.(2) of Facility Operating License No. DPR-2 is hereby amended to read as follows:
(2)
Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A as revised through Amendment No. 51 are hereby incorporated in this license. The licensee shall maintain the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.
3.
This license amendment is effective as of the date of its issuance and shall be implemented within 60 days of issuance.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Michelle M. Sutherland, Acting Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
Attachment:
Changes to the Facility Operating License and Technical Specifications Date of Issuance: December 17, 2025 Signed by Sutherland, Michelle on 12/17/25
ATTACHMENT TO LICENSE AMENDMENT NO. 51 DRESDEN NUCLEAR POWER STATION, UNIT 1 AMENDMENT TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-2 DOCKET NO. 50-10 Replace the following pages of the Facility Operating License and Appendix A, Technical Specifications, with the attached revised pages. The revised pages are identified by amendment number and contain marginal lines indicating the areas of change.
Remove Insert License DPR-2 License DPR-2 Page 3 Page 3 Appendix A Appendix A Page 5-1 Page 5-1 Amendment No. 51 (5)
Pursuant to the Act and 10 CFR Parts 30, 40 and 70, to receive, possess and use in amounts as required any byproduct, source or special nuclear materials without restriction to chemical or physical form, for sample analysis or instrument and equipment calibration or associated with radioactive apparatus or components; (6)
Pursuant to the Act and 10 CFR Parts 30 and 70, to possess, but not separate, such byproducts and special nuclear materials which have been produced by the operation of the facility.
C.
This license shall be deemed to contain and is subject to the conditions specified in the following Commission regulations in 10 CFR Chapter I Part 20, Section 30.34 of Part 30, Section 40.41 of Part 40, Sections 50.54 and 50.59 of Part 50, and Section 70.32 of Part 70, is subject to all applicable provisions of the Act and to the rules, regulations and orders of the Commission now or hereafter in effect; and is subject to the additional conditions specified or incorporated below:
(1)
Deleted (2)
Technical Specifications The Technical Specifications contained in Appendix A as revised through Amendment No. 51, are hereby incorporated in the license. The licensee shall maintain the facility in accordance with the Technical Specifications.
(3)
Deleted (4)
Deleted (5)
Deleted (6)
Deleted (7)
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC shall provide to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation or the Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, as applicable, a copy of any application, at the time it is filed, to transfer (excluding grants of security interests or liens) from Constellation Energy Generation, LLC to its direct or indirect parent, or to any other affiliated company, facilities for the production, transmission, or distribution of electric energy having a depreciated book value exceeding ten percent (10%) of Constellation Energy Generation, LLCs consolidated net utility plant, as recorded on Constellation Energy Generation, LLCs books of account.
SITE 5.1 5.0 DESIGN FEATURES 5.1 SITE 5.1.A Site and Exclusion Area The site area boundary follows the Illinois River to the north, the Kankakee River to the east, a country road from Divine extended eastward to the Kankakee River on the south, and the Elgin, Joliet, and Eastern Railway right-of-way on the west. The exclusion area boundary shall be an 800-meter radius from the centerline of the Units 2 and 3 reactor vessels.
5.1.B Low Population Zone - {DELETED}
5.1.C Radioactive Gaseous Effluents Information regarding radioactive gaseous effluents shall be located in the OFFSITE DOSE CALCULATION MANUAL.
5.1.D Radioactive Liquid Effluents Information regarding radioactive liquid effluents shall be located in the OFFSITE DOSE CALCULATION MANUAL.
5.2 CONTAINMENT - {DELETED}
5.3 REACTOR CORE 5.3.A Nuclear Fuel shall not be loaded into the reactor core. This is to ensure that a critical assembly of nuclear fuel is no longer possible in the reactor core.
5.4 REACTOR COOLANT SYSTEM - {DELETED}
5.5
[INTENTIONALLY BLANK]
5.6 FUEL STORAGE 5.6.A Fuel assemblies shall not be placed in the spent fuel storage pool.
DRESDEN - UNIT 1 5-1 Amendment No. 51 SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS RELATED TO AMENDMENT NO. 51 TO FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. DPR-2 CONSTELLATION ENERGY GENERATION, LLC DRESDEN NUCLEAR POWER STATION, UNIT 1 DOCKET NO. 50-10
1.0 INTRODUCTION
By letter dated March 17, 2025 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25076A562), Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (the licensee) submitted a license amendment request (LAR) for changes to the Facility Operating License No.
DPR-2 for Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1 (Dresden Unit 1), Technical Specifications (TSs) to modify to remove the specific acreage value.
The proposed amendment would modify Dresden Unit 1 TS 5.1.A, Site and Exclusion Area to align with Dresden Units 2 and 3 TS 4.1.1, Site and Exclusion Area Boundaries, and removes the specific acreage value. Removing the specific acreage value does not change the site area boundary or exclusion area.
The NRC staff's initial proposed no significant hazards consideration determination was published in the Federal Register on July 8, 2025 (90 FR 30112).
2.0 REGULATORY EVALUATION
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff considered the following regulatory requirements, guidance, and licensing and design-basis information during its review of the proposed change.
The regulation under 10 CFR 50.36, Technical specifications, establishes the regulatory requirements related to the content of TSs. Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.36(c)(6), TSs involving safety limits, limiting safety system settings, and limiting control system settings; limiting conditions for operation; surveillance requirements; design features; and administrative controls will be developed on a case-by-case basis.
The regulation under 10 CFR 50.59, Changes, tests and experiments, contains requirements for the process by which licensees may make changes to their facilities and procedures as described in the safety analysis report, without prior NRC approval, under certain conditions.
The regulation under 10 CFR 50.71, Maintenance of records, making of reports, outline the requirements for submitting and periodically updating, the final safety analysis report (FSAR), to assure that the information included in the report contains the latest information developed. This submittal shall contain all the changes necessary to reflect information and analyses submitted to the Commission by the applicant or licensee or prepared by the applicant or licensee pursuant to Commission requirement since the submittal of the original FSAR, or as appropriate, the last update to the FSAR under this section.
The regulation under 10 CFR 50.82, Termination of license, paragraph 50.82(a)(6) establishes the regulatory requirements related to decommissioning activities that should not be performed regarding site release, environmental impacts, and adequate funding.
Appendix A to 10 CFR Part 50, General Design Criteria for Nuclear Power Plants (hereinafter referred to as GDC), establishes the minimum requirements for the principal design criteria for water-cooled nuclear power plants. The principal design criteria establish the necessary design, fabrication, construction, testing, and performance requirements for structures, systems, and components important to safety.
3.0 TECHNICAL EVALUATION
The NRC staff evaluated the licensees application to determine whether the proposed TS changes are consistent with the regulations, licensing and design-basis information, and regulatory guidance discussed in Section 2 of this safety evaluation.
Dresden Unit 1 permanently ceased operations on October 31, 1978, and is presently in SAFSTOR. SAFSTOR is a long-term storage condition for a permanently shutdown nuclear power plant. The proposed amendment modifies Dresden Unit 1 TS 5.1.A to align the verbiage between the Unit 1 and Units 2 and 3 TS. All three units share the same exclusion area.
Additionally, this change removes the specific acreage listed in the Dresden Unit 1 TS, which can change in the future with updated calculations.
The NRC staff determined that the proposed changes to align the verbiage between the units are necessary to minimize additional amendment submissions for administrative purposes only.
Removing the specific acreage value does not change the site area boundary or exclusion area but prevents the need for future amendments if the site acreage calculation changes with no change in boundary.
Based on the NRC staffs review of the information provided in the licensees application, the NRC staff concludes that the licensee will remain in accordance with the Dresden Unit 1 TS requirements and regulations. There is reasonable assurance that the proposed modification to TS 5.1.A will continue to meet the requirements of 10 CFR 50.36, 10 CFR 50.59, and 10 CFR 50.82(a)(6). Therefore, the NRC staff finds the proposed modification acceptable.
4.0 STATE CONSULTATION
In accordance with the Commissions regulations, the Illinois State officials were notified of the proposed issuance of the amendments on December 8, 2025. The State officials had no comments.
5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION
The amendment relates to changes in recordkeeping, reporting, or administrative procedures or requirements. Accordingly, the amendment meets the eligibility criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(10). Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or environmental assessment need to be prepared in connection with the issuance of the amendment.
7.0 CONCLUSION
The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed above, that: (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be endangered by operation in the proposed manner, (2) there is reasonable assurance that such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations, and (3) the issuance of the amendment will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.
Principal Contributors: T. Hood Date: December 11, 2025