Key Issues
Nuclear Power 2010: A Key Building Block for New Nuclear Power Plants
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An Improved but Untested New Reactor Licensing Process
Most nuclear power plants in the United States today were built between 1965 and 1985. Commercial nuclear energy was new then, and the federal regulatory process evolved along with the new industry. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 provided the framework for a new licensing process for nuclear power reactors. Today, through the Nuclear Power 2010 program, companies are testing the process in partnership with DOE.
The new licensing process has three parts:
The early site permit process allows an energy company to obtain federal regulatory approval for a new nuclear plant site before making a decision to build a plant. The permit can provide approval for siting a new reactor at an existing nuclear plant site or at a new site. If the proposed site is found suitable and the NRC grants an early site permit, the company can “bank,” or save, the site for up to 20 years until it is ready to build a plant. Advance site approval helps companies better plan how to meet their customers’ energy needs. With a pre-approved site, it then is a matter of choosing a power plant design and obtaining regulatory approval to build and operate it.
A company likely would choose a design from those the NRC has approved through a process called certification. NRC certification fully resolves all safety issues associated with a design.
An application for a combined license—to build and operate a nuclear plant—may reference a certified design, an early site permit or both. All siting and design issues resolved in connection with those earlier proceedings will be considered resolved for purposes of the combined license proceeding. Once a company has selected a site and a design, it applies for a combined license by adding operational and site-specific design details.
Ensuring an Effective, Efficient Licensing Process
The NRC’s new licensing process has never been used in its entirety, and there remains the potential for costly pitfalls for new nuclear plant projects. Through its Nuclear Power 2010 initiative, however, the Energy Department is funding a portion of the costs to support early site permit applications now under way. In addition, DOE is partially funding efforts to test the NRC’s new combined construction and operating license process. The objective is to demonstrate the new process so that construction can begin in 2010.
This work is essential. The industry believes that the NRC’s new licensing process will work as intended, but no one can be completely certain until it has been tested.
Delay in the regulatory process is a risk that the industry cannot control. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed into law in August 2005, provided an innovative form of insurance for the first six reactors while the new process is being tested. The federal government will sell insurance policies to cover debt service for the first six new plants ($500 million for the first two plants; $250 million for the next four) if commercial operation is delayed for reasons beyond the company’s control, such as litigation or a failure by the NRC to meet license review schedules.
An Improved but Untested New Reactor Licensing Process
Most nuclear power plants in the United States today were built between 1965 and 1985. Commercial nuclear energy was new then, and the federal regulatory process evolved along with the new industry. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 provided the framework for a new licensing process for nuclear power reactors. Today, through the Nuclear Power 2010 program, companies are testing the process in partnership with DOE.
The new licensing process has three parts:
- early site approval
- design certification
- combined license for construction and operation.
The early site permit process allows an energy company to obtain federal regulatory approval for a new nuclear plant site before making a decision to build a plant. The permit can provide approval for siting a new reactor at an existing nuclear plant site or at a new site. If the proposed site is found suitable and the NRC grants an early site permit, the company can “bank,” or save, the site for up to 20 years until it is ready to build a plant. Advance site approval helps companies better plan how to meet their customers’ energy needs. With a pre-approved site, it then is a matter of choosing a power plant design and obtaining regulatory approval to build and operate it.
A company likely would choose a design from those the NRC has approved through a process called certification. NRC certification fully resolves all safety issues associated with a design.
An application for a combined license—to build and operate a nuclear plant—may reference a certified design, an early site permit or both. All siting and design issues resolved in connection with those earlier proceedings will be considered resolved for purposes of the combined license proceeding. Once a company has selected a site and a design, it applies for a combined license by adding operational and site-specific design details.
Ensuring an Effective, Efficient Licensing Process
The NRC’s new licensing process has never been used in its entirety, and there remains the potential for costly pitfalls for new nuclear plant projects. Through its Nuclear Power 2010 initiative, however, the Energy Department is funding a portion of the costs to support early site permit applications now under way. In addition, DOE is partially funding efforts to test the NRC’s new combined construction and operating license process. The objective is to demonstrate the new process so that construction can begin in 2010.
This work is essential. The industry believes that the NRC’s new licensing process will work as intended, but no one can be completely certain until it has been tested.
Delay in the regulatory process is a risk that the industry cannot control. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed into law in August 2005, provided an innovative form of insurance for the first six reactors while the new process is being tested. The federal government will sell insurance policies to cover debt service for the first six new plants ($500 million for the first two plants; $250 million for the next four) if commercial operation is delayed for reasons beyond the company’s control, such as litigation or a failure by the NRC to meet license review schedules.
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