[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 41 (Friday, February 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11156-11157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3918]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 52-020]


AREVA NP, Inc.; Acceptance for Docketing of an Application for 
Standard Design Certification of the U.S. EPR

    By letter dated December 11, 2007, as supplemented by letters dated 
February 7, 2008 and February 20, 2008, AREVA NP Inc. (AREVA) submitted 
an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the 
Commission) for a standard design certification of the U.S. 
Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR). The application was submitted 
pursuant to section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act and Subpart B, 
``Standard Design Certifications,'' of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals 
for Nuclear Power Plants.'' A notice of receipt and availability of 
this application was previously published in the Federal Register (73 
FR 2286) on January 14, 2008.
    The NRC staff has determined that AREVA has submitted information 
in accordance with 10 CFR Part 2, ``Rules of Practice for Domestic 
Licensing Proceedings and Issuance of Orders,'' and 10 CFR Part 52 and 
that the application is acceptable for docketing. The docket number 
established for this application is 52-020.
    The NRC staff will perform a detailed technical review of the 
design certification application. Docketing of the design certification 
application does not preclude the NRC from requesting additional 
information from the applicant as the review proceeds, nor does it 
predict whether the Commission will grant or deny the application. The 
NRC staff anticipates that a notice relating to the rulemaking pursuant 
to 10 CFR 52.51 for design certification, including provisions for 
participation of the public and other parties, will be published in the 
future.
    The U.S. EPR design is an approximately 1600 megawatt electric 
evolutionary pressurized water reactor (PWR). The primary system 
design, loop configuration, and main components design are similar to 
those of currently operating PWRs. The U.S. EPR contains unique design 
features, such as four redundant trains of emergency core cooling; 
Containment and Shield Building; and a core melt retention system for 
severe accident mitigation. The U.S. EPR application includes the 
entire power generation complex, except those elements and features 
considered site-specific.
    Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public 
File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, and will be accessible electronically through the 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public 
Electronic Reading Room link at the NRC Web site http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who 
encounter problems in accessing documents located in ADAMS should 
contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-4209, 301-
415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected]. The application is also 
available at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/design-cert.html.


[[Page 11157]]


    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 25th day of February 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Getachew Tesfaye,
Sr. Project Manager, EPR Projects Branch, Division of New Reactor 
Licensing, Office of New Reactors.
 [FR Doc. E8-3918 Filed 2-28-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P