ML25268A261
| ML25268A261 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 10/06/2025 |
| From: | Ballard B Plant Licensing Branch 1 |
| To: | Constellation Energy Generation |
| Poole J, NRR/DORL/LPLI, 301-415-2048 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML25268A263 | List: |
| References | |
| EPID L-2025-LRM-0018 | |
| Download: ML25268A261 (7) | |
Text
October 6, 2025 LICENSEE:
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC FACILITIES: Christopher M. Crane Clean Energy Center
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF JULY 31, 2025, AND AUGUST 6, 2025, PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETINGS ON THE POTENTIAL RESTART OF THE CHRISTOPHER M.
CRANE CLEAN ENERGY CENTER On July 31, 2025, and August 6, 2025, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff held public outreach meetings to discuss the potential restart of the Christopher M. Crane Clean Energy Center (Crane or CCEC) after permanently ceasing operation and entering decommissioning in 2019. Several representatives of the NRC staff and members of the public participated in person on July 31, 2025, at the Capital Union Building at Penn State Harrisburg, which is located at 151 O Street in Middletown, PA. A second meeting was held virtually via Microsoft Teams Webinar on August 6, 2025. The NRC staff presented the same information to the public at both meetings.
The purposes of these meetings were to 1) introduce the NRC Crane Restart Panel (CRP); 2) describe the Panels purpose and function; and 3) discuss licensing reviews, inspection activities, the environmental review, and decommissioning activities at Three Mile Island, Unit 2 related to the potential for the CCEC restart. A copy of the CRP Charter describing the panels responsibilities, objectives, oversight activities, and planned communications can be found in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at Accession No. ML25013A196. The meeting notice and agenda are available at ML25184A134. A list of in-person and virtual meeting attendees is provided as an enclosure to this summary. Only individuals that signed in at the in-person meeting are listed. The NRC staff estimates an additional 90+ people that did not sign in attended the in-person meeting. The NRC staffs presentation is summarized below and can be found at ML25210A355.
The NRC introduced the CRP members and discussed their role in the potential restart process, which includes overseeing regulatory activities, management of NRC oversight and inspections, identification and resolution of issues, and appropriate communication with all stakeholders. The NRC staff provided an overview of the licensing process and briefly discussed licensing actions received, as well as licensing actions anticipated, for the CCEC related to restoring the operating licensing basis for the plant. The NRC staff discussed the noticing process for license amendments, which allows a 30-day period for public comment and 60-day period to request a hearing, starting on the date the notice is published in the Federal Register. The NRC staff intends to notice all license amendments to restore the CCEC operating licensing basis in the same Federal Register Notice, after all actions are received and accepted for review. The NRC staff also explained that existing regulatory processes are being used to review the requests, and that the NRC staff will ensure that the changes meet all applicable requirements before granting approval of the associated changes. For the environmental review related to the potential for the CCEC to resume power operations, the NRC staff provided a high-level
overview of the review, which will assess the environmental effects of the restart as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, in consideration of many environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and others. The results of this review will be made publicly available.
In relation to the potential restart inspection and assessment discussion, the NRC staff provided information on Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 2562, Light-Water Reactor Inspection Program for Restart of Reactor Facilities Following Permanent Cessation of Power Operations, which will be used for conducting inspections and reviews throughout the CCEC potential restart efforts. IMC 2562 can be found at ML24033A299. This IMC also provides a framework for the NRCs final assessment of CCECs readiness to restart operations, which will be necessary before approval is granted to allow resumption of commercial power operations.
As part of the IMC 2562 discussion, the NRC staff outlined the inspection plan to assess the CCECs readiness to resume power operations. Specifically, the inspections will be risk-informed to focus on changes made to the plant, restoration of plant systems, structures, and components necessary to support safe operation, and conducted to verify the adequacy of the reimplementation of previously approved programs and procedures for the plant, and the establishment of new programs. The NRCs overall assessment of the CCECs readiness to restart will include insights from these inspections in conjunction with the ongoing licensing reviews to determine whether the CCEC is safe and can resume power operations.
Regarding the ongoing decommissioning activities at the site and Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2), the NRC staff emphasized that routine decommissioning safety and oversight inspections in accordance with IMC 2561, Decommissioning Power Reactor Inspection Program, will continue in parallel with the potential restart activities. The NRC staff also stated active decommissioning at TMI-2 can proceed in parallel with restart activities, in accordance with NRC regulations. However, the NRC noted coordination would be required between the licensees for the CCEC and TMI-2 throughout the restart process.
The NRC staff closed the presentation by providing a link to the NRCs public webpage for the CCEC (https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactors/ccec) and an email address to submit questions related to the potential restart of the CCEC (CraneRestartProject@nrc.gov).
There were several comments and questions from representatives of State and local governments and members of the public during the meetings, which the NRC staff addressed during the question-and-answer session of the meetings. The NRC received one Public Meeting Feedback Form.
There were several comments in favor of moving forward with CCEC restart activities. Those in favor of the restart provided comments focused on the need for clean, reliable, and carbon-free baseload energy, highlighted the economic and job benefits for the local community, discussed the industry improvements that increase nuclear plant safety, and emphasized that restarting the plant would be a precedent-setting action to advance U.S. energy leadership.
Opponents of restarting the CCEC raised concerns centered on health, environmental, and social justice issues. Several stated that radioactive emissions pose serious long-term health risks, especially to vulnerable populations, and that no level of radiation exposure is truly safe.
Some commenters said nuclear waste storage would only worsen with a restart, with no permanent disposal solution in place. Others criticized the renaming of the plant as deceptive and dismissive of past trauma from the TMI-2 accident in 1979. Environmental justice concerns
were also prominent, noting that local communities will bear the risks of operation while the benefits (power output) will be used for datacenters. Finally, some highlighted the plants heavy water usage and broader environmental impact, arguing that nuclear energy is not truly clean when considering its full lifecycle.
Please direct any inquiries to me at 301-415-0680, or via email at Brent.Ballard@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Brent T. Ballard, Project Manager Plant Licensing Branch III Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-289
Enclosure:
List of Attendees cc: Listserv
Enclosure List of Attendees July 31, 2025, and August 6, 2025, Public Outreach Meetings for the Potential Crane Clean Energy Center Restart Nuclear Regulatory Commission Jamie Pelton, Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), Division of Operating Reactor Licensing (DORL)
Blake Welling, Director, Region I, Division of Operating Reactor Safety (DORS)
Philip McKenna, Deputy Director, NRR, Division of Reactor Oversight (DRO)
Ray McKinley, Deputy Director, Region I, DORS Kimyata Savoy, Acting Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS), Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support (REFS)
Ilka Berrios, Acting Branch Chief, NRR/DORL/Plant Licensing Branch 3 (LPL3)
Erin Carfang, Branch Chief, Region I/DORS/Engineering Branch 1 (EB1)
Steve Koenick, Branch Chief, NMSS/REFS/Environmental Project Management Branch 1 Jessie Quichocho, Branch Chief, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR),
Division of Preparedness and Response (DPR), Reactor Licensing Branch (RLB)
David Hills, Branch Chief, Region III, Division of Radiological Safety and Security (DRSS),
ISFSI and Health Physics Branch Justin Poole, Project Manager, NRR/DORL/LPL3 Brent Ballard, Project Manager, NRR/DORL/LPL3 Marlayna Doell, Project Manager, NRR/DORL/LPL3 Katherine Warner, Senior Health Physicist, Region I/DRSS/Decommissioning Team Niklas Floyd, Senior Reactor Inspector, Region I/DORS/EB1 Khaing Hsu Wai, Reactor Engineer, Region I/DORS/EB1 Michael Smith, Reactor Engineer, Region I/DORS/EB1 Michael Greene, Student Co-op, Region I/DORS/Technical Support and Administrative Team Brian Kwiatkowski, Reactor Engineer, Region I/DORS/Projects Branch 3 Jeffrey Herrera, Senior Emergency Preparedness Specialist, NSIR/DPR/RLB Keith Miller, Emergency Preparedness Specialist, NSIR/DPR/RLB Kim Conway, Senior Environmental Project Manager, NMSS/REFS/Environmental Project Management Branch 1 Jill Caverly, Senior Environmental Project Manager, NMSS/REFS/Environmental Project Management Branch 2 Richard Turtil, Senior Financial Analyst, NMSS/REFS/Financial Assessment Branch Scott Burnell, Public Affairs Officer, Region I, Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
Brett Klukan, Regional Counsel, Region I/Office of the Regional Administrator Doug Tift, Regional State Liaison Officer, Region 1/Enforcement, Allegations & Government Liaison Team Mitch Hoskins, Congressional Affairs Officer, Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA)
Lynnea Wilkins, Congressional Affairs Officer, OCA April Nguyen, Team Leader, Region III/Palisades Restart Team Courtney St. Peters, Senior Project Engineer, Region III/Palisades Restart Team Julie Winslow, Senior Project Engineer, Region III/ Palisades Restart Team Prema Chandrathil, Public Affairs Officer, Region III/OPA
Viktoria Mitlyng, Public Affairs Officer, Region III/OPA Stefan Wolfe, Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Timothy Wilson, Audit Manager, Office of the Inspector General Christopher Tan, Management Analyst, Office of the Inspector General Vincent Holahan, Senior Advisor for Health Physics, NMSS/Division of Safety, Security, State, and Tribal Programs Jeff Rotton, Reliability and Risk Analyst, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES),
Division of Risk Analysis (DRA), Probabilistic Risk Assessment Branch Kelly Dickerson, Human Factors Psychologist, RES/DRA/Human Factors and Reliability Branch Yiu Law, Reactor Operations Engineer, NRR/DRO/Quality Assurance and Vendor Inspection (IQVB)
Eric Nour, General Engineer, NRR/DRO/IQVB Tiffany Lee, Reactor Systems Engineer, NRR/DRO/IQVB Carol Moyer, Senior Materials Engineer, NRR, Division of New and Renewed Licenses (DNRL), Vessels and Internals Branch Joel Jenkins, Materials Engineer, NRR/DNRL/Corrosion and Steam Generator Branch Ethan Adams, Nine Mile Point Resident Inspector, Region I/DORS/Projects Branch 1 Alexandra Terres, General Engineer, Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO)/Human Resources Learning and Development (HRLD)/Nuclear Regulator Apprenticeship Network Branch (NRANB)
Elias Haddad, General Engineer, OCHOC/HRLD/NRANB Ethan Tievy, General Engineer, OCHOC/HRLD/NRANB Andrew Scheuermann, OCHOC/HRLD/NRANB Constellation Energy Generation, LLC DeBoer, Joe Donaldson, Brandy Horton, Chandra Kefauver, Melissa Moore, Dennis Myers, Jeffrey Orphanos, Peter Pell, Hannah Rodgers, Mark Shoulders, Jacky Smith, Craig Stalker, Allison Woodford, Jason Members of the Public Aaron, Steve Akintaro, Akinwale Ali, Afreen Allard, Dave Arnold, Larry Auchincloss, Susan Bailey, Judy Barrett, Stephen Bellmon, Anthony Bergman, Jana Bieber, Ryan Black, Martha Boylan, Kathy Burgess, Stacy Case, Tyler Clark, Bruce College, Michael Colugia, Bill Corradi, Joyce Criscuolo, Julia Crist, Michelle Croci, Alexander Crow, Janie Cwietniewicz, Vince
Dahmus, Elizabeth D'Arrigo, Diane Davis, Daryl Davis, Michael Devik, Timothy Downie, Eli Drechsler, Jacquelyn Du, Lichao Dudziak, Andrew Egenrieder, Ed Ellsworth, David Enders, Jim Epstein, Eric Evans, Carol Evans, Chris Everett, Ed Feidt, David Fisher, Jack Fisher, Taryn Flem, Lauren Fleming, Justin1 Ford, Michael Frisby, Maria Gallier, Susan Gee, Beth Gellert, Sally Jane Glanzer, Thomas Granzow, Rob Gusler, Joe Hare, Leah Haste, Jennifer Hiester, Mark Hinkson, Scotty Irvin, Ian Jackson-Stone, Raquel Jakobsberg, Denise James, C Janati, Rich Jeffrey, Jeffrey Johns, Carolyn Juengling, Kenneth Kamps, Kevin Kaufman, Paul Keegan, Michael Kim, Dong Yoon Kimmett, Brian Kittel, Abreham Kline, Connie Knief, Ronald Krajsa, Matthew Kuhr, Ernestine Kunz, Ethan Laudenslager, Noah Lehman, Derek Lengyel, Christina Longenecker, Patricia Maceo, Antonio Maguire, Kyle Malone, James2 Matis, Lisa Meek, Jennifer Meredith, Eileen Meyer, Eric Meyer, Nick Mulligan, Maureen Murray, Dale Nauman, Sydney Nelson, Pamela Nolen, Darnell O'Connell, Jan Olah, Darren Papiernik, Richard Pena-Pabon, Angel Pinter, Sarah Pittman, Aaron Pomeroy, Brian Pontzloff, Mike Pope, Steven Portzline, Scott Praefcke, Lorenz Prasanna, Suda Pryciak, Jess Quick, Kevin Riordan, Matteo Robinson, Maggie Rose, Daniel S, Amanda Salada, Zachary Sato, Yushi Schroder, Madison Shandley, Aidan Shulski, Al Shultz, Brandon Small, Josse Smith, Dip Spading, Rob Spelman, Chris Stauffer, Todd Steele, Mandy Stilp, Gene Strickland, Martha Stuffick, Drew Sutton, Jim Thomas, Tyrone Thompson, Ian Toner, Keith Unger, Ryan Valdez, Maribel Vitto, Nicholas Walker, Woods Weil, Jenny Weinstock, Andrew White, Jaxon Willenbecher, Ellen3 Williamson, Alicia Willis, Jon Willson, Matthew Winters, Steve Zerby, Andrew Zito, Tisa 15XXXXXXX8 1 Elected Official - PA House Representative, House District 105 2 Elected Official - PA Senator, Senate District 36 3 Elected Official - Council Vice President, Borough of Middletown, PA
ML25268A263 (Package)
ML25268A261 (Meeting Summary)
ML25210A355 (Meeting Presentation)
- via eConcurrence OFFICE NRR/DORL/LPL3/PM NRR/DORL/LPL3/LA RI/DORS/EB1/BC NRR/DORL/LPL3/BC (A)
NRR/DORL/LPL3/PM NAME BBallard SLent ECarfang IBerrios BBallard DATE 9/25/2025 9/26/2025 10/3/2025 10/6/2025 10/6/2025