ML25350C204
| ML25350C204 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Duane Arnold  |
| Issue date: | 01/13/2026 |
| From: | Ballard B Plant Licensing Branch III |
| To: | NextEra Energy Duane Arnold |
| Wall S | |
| References | |
| EPID L 2025 LRM 0021 | |
| Download: ML25350C204 (0) | |
Text
January 13, 2026 LICENSEE:
NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC FACILITIES: DUANE ARNOLD ENERGY CENTER
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF DECEMBER 10, 2025, MEETING WITH NEXTERA ENERGY DUANE ARNOLD, LLC, REGARDING A PLANNED LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST TO REVISE THE EMERGENCY PLAN TO SUPPORT REAUTHORIZATION OF POWER OPERATIONS (EPID L-2025-LRM-0021)
On December 10, 2025, an observation meeting was held between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and representatives of NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC (NEDA, the licensee) via Microsoft Teams Webinar. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a proposed license amendment request (LAR) to revise the emergency plan for the Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC) to support potential restart of the unit. The meeting notice and agenda, dated November 24, 2025, are available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML25329A135. A copy of NEDAs presentation for the meeting can be found at ML25339A112. A list of attendees is provided as an enclosure to this summary.
The meeting began with introductions and opening remarks from the NRC staff, followed by introductions of NEDA staff. The licensee then moved into their presentation for the meeting, which began with the purpose and goals for the meeting, and the status of the site emergency preparedness program. The licensee then discussed their plan to restore the last approved revision of the emergency plan, with proposed changes to the plan. Specifically, NEDA plans to request to implement the common NextEra/Florida Power & Light (FPL) Fleet Emergency Plan and add a DAEC annex, combine the current Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) only Emergency Action Levels (EALs) with the EALs from the previously approved emergency plan, upgrade the Alert and Notification System (ANS) using the Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS) as the primary means to notify the public of an emergency and Alert Iowa as the backup ANS. In addition, NEDA discussed their plans to relocate the Emergency Operations Facility (EOF) outside of the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) to a location yet to be determined. The licensee also discussed their plan to restore the other emergency response facilities for the site to the condition as previously approved by the NRC, provided a status on the Evacuation Time Estimate (ETE) study that is in progress for the site, and discussed the on-shift staffing analysis that is in progress to document the minimum shift crew needed for response prior to augmentation. The licensee closed the presentation with the timeline for submitting the LAR and other activities associated with reestablishing an emergency plan for an operational reactor.
The NRC staff asked the licensee several questions throughout the presentation. Specifically:
The NRC staff asked if the emergency response organization (ERO) will have remote positions, and if so, will those positions be assigned to and work at the DAEC. The licensee stated they intend to have remote positions consistent with the fleet plan that is in place for their other sites, which will be based out of the corporate headquarters. The NRC staff responded that remote staff based out of the corporate office should be knowledgeable of, or previously licensed at, the DAEC.
The NRC staff asked about the status of determining a new location for the EOF. The licensee stated that they are pursuing two paths for the new location. The preferred path is to locate the EOF within 25 miles of the site, but outside of the EPZ, at a new location.
The alternative path is to create a common EOF at the existing Point Beach Nuclear Plant EOF, which would be located greater than 25 miles from the site. The licensee stated they plan to decide within the next 2 months.
The NRC staff asked if NEDA plans for startup activities included sufficient time for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to review offsite response organization (ORO) plans and provide, at least, an interim finding of reasonable assurance to the NRC. The licensee stated they were working with OROs to submit plans to FEMA by the third quarter of calendar year 2026, and FEMA has been part of the planning process but they would need to follow up with the FEMA region to be sure they could meet the timeline. The NRC staff reminded NEDA that FEMAs finding is needed prior to approval of an operational emergency plan.
The NRC staff asked about the timeline for conducting the final evaluated exercise with FEMA, which is necessary for FEMA to make a final finding of reasonable assurance.
The licensee stated the exercise is tentatively planned for the third or fourth quarter of 2026, to which the NRC staff provided an approximate timeline of 120 days from the exercise for the NRC to receive FEMAs final finding.
The NRC staff asked if the license amendment request would provide justifications for all differences and deviations from the previously approved version of the emergency plan and other requirements, such as staffing, as part of their submittal. The licensee stated that the submittal will have justification for any differences.
The NRC staff asked the licensee to submit documents from OROs acknowledging the restart effort and their willingness to participate in emergency planning, exercises, and response, similar to those submitted by Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC (HDI), in response to an NRC staff request for additional information (RAI)
(ML24206A187) on a similar license amendment request for the Palisades Nuclear Plant.
Members of the public were in attendance. One comment was provided to the NRC staff expressing discontent with the restart process at the Palisades Nuclear Plant and requesting clarification on where to locate the RAI response from HDI cited by the NRC staff.
At this meeting, the NRC staff made no regulatory decisions. No Public Meeting Feedback Forms were received.
Please direct any inquiries to me at 301-415-0680, or via email at Brent.Ballard@nrc.gov.
/RA/
Brent T. Ballard, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch III Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-331
Enclosure:
List of Attendees cc: Listserv
Enclosure LIST OF ATTENDEES DECEMBER 10, 2025, MEETING WITH NEXTERA ENERGY DUANE ARNOLD, LLC, LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST TO REVISE THE EMERGENCY PLAN TO SUPPORT REAUTHORIZATION OF POWER OPERATIONS (EPID L-2025-LRM-0021)
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC):
Philip McKenna, Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), Division of Reactor Oversight (DRO)
Billy Dickson, Deputy Director, Region III, Division of Operating Reactor Safety (DORS)
Brett Klukan, Meeting Facilitator and Regional Counsel, Region I Ilka Berrios, Acting Branch Chief, NRR, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Plant Licensing Branch 3 (LPL3)
Justin Poole, Project Manager, NRR/DORL/LPL3 Brent Ballard, Project Manager, NRR/DORL/LPL3 Jessie Quichocho, Branch Chief, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR),
Division of Preparedness and Response (DPR), Reactor Licensing Branch (RLB)
Jeffrey Herrera, Senior Emergency Preparedness Specialist, NSIR/DPR/RLB Keith Miller, Emergency Preparedness Specialist, NSIR/DPR/RLB Michael Ziolkowski, Branch Chief, Region III, Division of Radiological Safety and Security, Security, Emergency Planning, and Incident Response Branch April Nguyen, Team Leader, Region III/DORS/Palisades Restart Team (PRT)
Courtney St. Peters, Senior Project Engineer, Region III/DORS/PRT Jeremy Wachutka, Senior Attorney, Office of the General Council Scott Burnell, Public Affairs Officer, Region I, Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
Prema Chandrathil, Public Affairs Officer, Region III, OPA Viktoria Mitlyng, Public Affairs Officer, Region III, OPA Deborah Piskura, Regional Government Liaison Officer, Region III Christopher Tan, Management Analyst, Office of the Inspector General Matthew Sunseri, Member, Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS)
Quynh Nguyen, Senior Staff Engineer, ACRS/Technical Support Branch NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC (and affiliates):
Ray Wheaton, Nuclear Director, Restart Operations - Duane Arnold Tony Daniels, Nuclear Emergency Preparedness Manager - Nuclear Fleet Mike Davis, Restart Project Manager - Licensing Bob Murrell, Restart Project Manager - Licensing Bill Orlove Maribel Valdez David Currier Kaitlyn Watkins Joshua Marcum, Executive Director, Nuclear Development, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC.
James Petro Sheryl Sweet Lane Witten Steven Hamrick Public 1561XXXXX97 1515XXXXX79 1305XXXXX31 1319XXXXX45 Ryan Keller Patricia Furio Patty Riesberg Spencer Toohill Jana Bergman Renee Johnston Jon Van Zante Michael Keegan Jeff Gromatzky Carlyn Greene Briana Wally Taylor Unnamed Guest
ML25350C218 (Package)
ML25329A135(Meeting Notice)
ML25339A112 (Slides)
ML25350C204 (Summary)
- via eConcurrence OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL3/PM NRR/DORL/LPL3/LA NRR/DORL/LPL3/BC(A) NRR/DORL/LPL3/PM NAME BBallard*
SLent*
IBerrios*
BBallard*
DATE 01/05/2026 01/08/2026 01/12/2026 01/13/2026