Status of power-reactor projects undergoing licensing review

The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 gives the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) authority over the licensing of atomic energy facilities under conditions that will protect the health and safety of the public from excessive exposure to radiation hazards. As an aid in fulfilling this responsibility, the NRC has developed regulations that are contained in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Under the Act and these regulations, the NRC is required to make certain safety findings before a construction permit or an operating license for a facility can be issued. These findings are based on extensive technical analyses and environmental assessments that are carefully reviewed by the NRC staff. The safety evaluation is also reviewed by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), an independent board set up for such reviews. In addition, a public hearing is required before a construction permit can be issued and must also be held at the operating-license stage if any person or organization whose interests may be affected requests it. Recent regulatory and other actions relating to US power reactors undergoing these steps toward licensing are summarized in Table 1 for the fourth quarter of 1986. The NRC documents referenced in this section are generally available at the NRC Public Document Room, 1717 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20555. This section also contains brief reports of regulatory actions and other significant events relating to reactor projects in the licensing stage that were received during the period covered by this report, namely, the last quarter of 1986