The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has docketed, or accepted for review, a combined license (COL) application from Entergy for a new reactor at the River Bend site in Louisiana. Entergy's application, submitted Sept. 25, is the 14th COL request the agency has accepted for review.
The application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/river-bend.html. Entergy seeks approval to build and operate an Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) at the site, about 24 miles northwest of Baton Rouge, La.
The NRC currently is reviewing the ESBWR design for possible certification. The staff will consider any findings concerning the design during the review of the River Bend application. Information on the ESBWR application is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/esbwr.html.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has suspended the principal portions of its reviews of Combined License (COL) applications for the River Bend site near Baton Rouge, La., and the Grand Gulf site near Vicksburg, Miss., following a request from the applicant, Entergy.
The NRC has also cancelled a public meeting on the River Bend application originally planned for Thursday, Jan. 29, in St. Francisville, La.
Entergy applied to the NRC in February 2008 for Grand Gulf, and in September 2008 for River Bend, for COLs to build and operate an Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor at each site. Entergy informed the NRC in a Jan. 9 letter that the company is currently considering alternate reactor technologies for both sites, and asked the agency to halt its work on the COL applications. In honoring this request, the NRC is conducting an orderly closeout of environmental reviews done for the Grand Gulf COL. The NRC will also continue interactions with the Federal Emergency Management Agency regarding emergency preparedness issues associated with the potential of additional reactors at the sites.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced the opportunity for public participation in a hearing on a Combined License (COL) application for a new reactor at the Bell Bend site near Berwick, Pa. The site is adjacent to the existing two-reactor Susquehanna Steam Electric Station.
PPL Bell Bend submitted the COL application and associated information Oct. 10, 2008, seeking approval to build and operate an Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) at the site, approximately six miles northeast of Berwick. The NRC is currently reviewing the EPR for possible certification. The Bell Bend application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/bell-bend.html.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made available to the public the combined license (COL) application for a new reactor at the River Bend site near Baton Rouge, La.
The applicant, Entergy, submitted the application and associated information Sept. 25. The application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/river-bend.html.
The Entergy application seeks approval to build and operate an Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) at the site, approximately 24 miles northwest of Baton Rouge. The ESBWR is a General Electric-designed, 1,500 MWe natural-circulation boiling water reactor that incorporates passive safety systems. The NRC is currently reviewing the design for possible certification. More information on this design is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/esbwr.html.
Entergy asked NRC January 9 to suspend the review of the utility's two new plant license applications, citing difficulties in reaching an engineering, procurement and construction agreement with vendor GE Hitachi. Entergy had filed an application for a combined construction permit-operating license, or COL, in February for an additional unit at its Grand Gulf site in Mississippi and another COL application in September for a new unit at its River Bend station in Louisiana. An Entergy spokesman said the company has asked NRC to suspend the safety review for both applications and to temporarily defer the environmental portion of those reviews.
Increase would make power station's reactor largest in United States
The power to make electricity at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station could rise for the first time in its 24-year history by 2012 - though not from a second reactor.
A public hearing is set for Oct. 29 before the Mississippi Public Service Commission to increase the Claiborne County plant's capacity to 1,443 megawatts, which would make it the nation's largest single reactor. In a petition filed in May, shortages in long-term baseload generation for Entergy customers in three states who receive power from the plant are cited as reasons for the upgrade.
If you go
A public hearing to consider output increase at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station will be at 10 a.m. Oct. 29 at the Mississippi Public Service Commission located on the first floor of the Woolfolk State Office Building at 501 N. West St. in Jackson.
Separately, applications remain alive, at least on paper, for new reactors at Grand Gulf and at Entergy's River Bend Station in St. Francisville, La., though issues with component costs and design prompted Entergy Nuclear to suspend both efforts in January, Vicksburg-based spokesman Don Arnold said.
Increase would make power station's reactor largest in United States
The power to make electricity at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station could rise for the first time in its 24-year history by 2012 - though not from a second reactor.
A public hearing is set for Oct. 29 before the Mississippi Public Service Commission to increase the Claiborne County plant's capacity to 1,443 megawatts, which would make it the nation's largest single reactor. In a petition filed in May, shortages in long-term baseload generation for Entergy customers in three states who receive power from the plant are cited as reasons for the upgrade.
If you go
A public hearing to consider output increase at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station will be at 10 a.m. Oct. 29 at the Mississippi Public Service Commission located on the first floor of the Woolfolk State Office Building at 501 N. West St. in Jackson.
Separately, applications remain alive, at least on paper, for new reactors at Grand Gulf and at Entergy's River Bend Station in St. Francisville, La., though issues with component costs and design prompted Entergy Nuclear to suspend both efforts in January, Vicksburg-based spokesman Don Arnold said.
Entergy Corp. reportedly won't pursue new nuclear builds in the U.S. Southeast because of lower demand seen after Hurricanes Katrina and Ike, the recession, and abundant but unused independent power generation in the region, the company's CEO J. Wayne Leonard told reporters at this week's Edison Electric Institute financial conference.
"[Nuclear new builds are] not off the table, but the economics are really not supportive and not likely to be supportive in the near future," Reuters reported Leonard as saying on Tuesday. "There's no need to embark on the riskiest piece of the business."
At the end of last year, Entergy Nuclear asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to suspend reviews for potential projects at its nuclear sites at Grand Gulf, near Port Gibson, Miss., and River Bend, near St. Francisville, La.-even though Louisiana and Mississippi have passed legislation offering cost-recovery incentives to build the new reactors.
The company, the second-largest nuclear power generator in the U.S., had then said it had made the decision after "unsuccessful attempts to come to mutually acceptable business terms" with GE-Hitachi for its Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor.
Entergy Corp. reportedly won't pursue new nuclear builds in the U.S. Southeast because of lower demand seen after Hurricanes Katrina and Ike, the recession, and abundant but unused independent power generation in the region, the company's CEO J. Wayne Leonard told reporters at this week's Edison Electric Institute financial conference.
"[Nuclear new builds are] not off the table, but the economics are really not supportive and not likely to be supportive in the near future," Reuters reported Leonard as saying on Tuesday. "There's no need to embark on the riskiest piece of the business."
At the end of last year, Entergy Nuclear asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to suspend reviews for potential projects at its nuclear sites at Grand Gulf, near Port Gibson, Miss., and River Bend, near St. Francisville, La.-even though Louisiana and Mississippi have passed legislation offering cost-recovery incentives to build the new reactors.
The company, the second-largest nuclear power generator in the U.S., had then said it had made the decision after "unsuccessful attempts to come to mutually acceptable business terms" with GE-Hitachi for its Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor.
Entergy on Thursday filed an application for a combined construction permit-operating license for a 1,520-MW GE-Hitachi nuclear unit at its River Bend site in Louisiana. The application marks the company's second COL request. Entergy in February submitted an application for an new reactor that would also be supplied by GE-Hitachi at its Grand Gulf site near Port Gibson, Mississippi.
This is NRC's official timeline chart for reactor licensing by design:
AP1000 (Bellafonte, Lee Summer, Harris, Vogtle, Levy Cnty, Turkey Pt)
ESBWR (N Anna, Grand Gulf, River Bend, Victoria Cnty, Fermi)
EPR(Calvert Cliffs, Callaway, Amarillo Power, Bruneau, Nine Mile Pt)
ABWR (South Texas)
USAPWR (Commanche Peak)
