Insights from Siting New Nuclear Power Plants in the Central and Eastern United States

The staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed its review for four early site permits and for four standard reactor designs. It is currently reviewing applications for fourteen combined license applications and three additional reactor designs. The staff is applying lessons it has learned from the reviews to date to the review work going forward. The licensing process being used by current applicants differs significantly from that used by the current operating fleet. The previous process required two steps. First an applicant had to obtain a construction permit to build the plant. Then, near the end of construction, the applicant had to obtain an operating license. Under the process in Part 52, an applicant can apply for a combined license (COL) that allows construction and (once certain conditions are met) operation of a new plant - a one-step process. An applicant for a COL may reference an early site permit (ESP13), a standard design certification, both, or neither. In addition to developing Part 52, the NRC also revised CFR Part 100 by adding Subpart B, which includes sections 100.21, 'Non-seismic siting criteria', and 100.23, 'Geologic and seismic siting criteria'. The NRC staff also revised the Standard Review Plan (NUREG-0800) and developed Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.206, 'Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants (LWR Edition).' The NRC staff incorporated into the revision of NUREG-0800 and development of RG 1.206 some early lessons learned from its review of the first three ESPs. Staff work begins before the application is received, as the staff interacts with the applicant to identify issues that will require special treatment or specific staff resources. After the application is submitted, if the NRC finds the application acceptable, the safety and environmental reviews begin, proceeding in parallel. The safety review culminates in the issuance of a safety evaluation report (SER) after it has been reviewed by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. The environmental review results in an environmental impact statement (EIS). Both of these documents are then reviewed in an adjudicatory hearing by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. The Board makes an initial decision, after which the Commission will make its decision. (authors)