[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1441-1444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-00339]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 52-049; NRC-2020-0088]


Oklo Power LLC, a subsidiary of Oklo Inc.; Oklo Aurora Combined 
License Application Idaho National Laboratory

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Combined license application; denial, opportunity to demand a 
hearing and to petition for leave to intervene.

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SUMMARY: Oklo Power LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oklo Inc., 
submitted a custom combined license application for one Aurora reactor 
to be located at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho on March 11, 
2020. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has denied the Oklo 
Aurora custom combined license application for failure to provide 
information in response to NRC staff requests for additional 
information (RAIs). The agency is denying the application without 
prejudice, and Oklo is free to resubmit its application supplemented by 
additional information that was previously requested.

DATES: A demand for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene must 
be filed by February 10, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0088 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0088. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at

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https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select 
``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please 
contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-
397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS 
accession number for each document referenced is provided the first 
time that it is mentioned in this document. Oklo Power LLC, a wholly 
owned subsidiary of Oklo Inc., submitted the custom combined license 
application by letter dated March 11, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML20075A001). The custom combined license application is available in 
ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML20075A000.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Kennedy, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2313; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC staff has denied the custom combined license application 
for the Aurora reactor pursuant to the requirements of Part 2 of title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Agency Rules of 
Practice and Procedure,'' Section 2.108, ``Denial of application for 
failure to supply information.'' The staff denied the application 
because, as described below, Oklo Power LLC (Oklo), a wholly owned 
subsidiary of Oklo Inc., did not provide sufficient information within 
the time specified in NRC staff RAIs and has not otherwise provided 
sufficient information to address the specific questions identified in 
the RAIs. The NRC staff requested additional information to resolve key 
safety and design aspects of the licensing basis and establish a 
schedule for the full review of the proposed Aurora facility. Because 
Oklo has failed to provide substantive technical information necessary 
to respond to the NRC staff's RAIs, the staff can neither establish a 
schedule for conducting a detailed technical review of the application 
nor reach safety findings required to license the facility. 
Accordingly, the agency is ending its review of the Aurora custom 
combined license application and denying the application without 
prejudice. Oklo is free to resubmit its application supplemented by 
additional information in the areas described in this section.
    On March 11, 2020 (85 FR 19032), Oklo submitted a custom combined 
license application for one microreactor, designated the Aurora, to be 
located at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho. A custom combined 
license application submitted under 10 CFR part 52, subpart C, 
``Combined Licenses,'' must contain site-specific information needed 
for licensing as well as the same level of design detail that would be 
required for a design certification application so that the NRC can 
make final safety findings on the design. Since March 2020, when Oklo 
submitted its custom combined license application, Oklo has repeatedly 
failed to provide substantive information in response to NRC staff RAIs 
on the maximum credible accident (MCA) analysis for the Aurora; the 
safety classification of structures, systems, and components (SSCs); 
and other issues needed for the NRC staff to establish a schedule for 
its technical review and to complete that review. These information 
needs were identified and communicated to Oklo in letters dated June 5, 
2020 and November 17, 2020, in RAIs issued in September 2020, and at 
many additional times after the custom combined license application was 
submitted.
    In a letter dated June 5, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20149K616), 
docketing the custom combined license application, the NRC staff 
communicated its plans to complete the review of the Aurora design in a 
two-step process. In Step 1, which the staff estimated would last five 
months, the NRC staff planned to engage Oklo on four key safety and 
design aspects of the licensing basis: (1) The MCA analysis, which 
affects several aspects of the licensing basis for the Aurora; (2) the 
classification of SSCs, including performance requirements; (3) the 
implementation of Oklo's quality assurance (QA) program to the design; 
and (4) certain topics related to the applicability of regulations. At 
the conclusion of Step 1, NRC staff expected to have defined the scope 
of the full, detailed technical review and thus be able to develop a 
schedule to efficiently perform the review in Step 2.
    As part of the Step 1 custom combined license application review, 
in September 2020 the staff asked RAIs on the subjects of the MCA 
analysis, safety classification of SSCs, and QA program implementation 
(ADAMS Accession Nos. ML20265A121, ML20265A123, ML20265A346, and 
ML20267A529). Oklo submitted a reply on October 30, 2020, but its reply 
did not provide the detailed technical information needed to respond to 
the staff's questions (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML20305A582). On 
November 17, 2020, the staff issued two letters to Oklo; one letter 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML20300A593) closed out the portion of the Step 1 
review related to the applicability of regulations, which did not 
depend on the RAI reply, and the second letter (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML20308A677) identified areas where the RAI reply did not provide 
sufficient information on safety aspects of the Aurora design to enable 
the NRC to complete the Step 1 review and establish a schedule for a 
detailed technical review of the application. The second letter also 
stated that the NRC staff would treat the topic of QA program 
implementation together with safety classification of SSCs, given the 
relationship between the two topics, and summarized the technical 
information that Oklo would need to submit to support closure of the 
Step 1 review with respect to the MCA analysis and the safety 
classification of SSCs.
    Oklo subsequently informed NRC staff that it would submit two 
generic topical reports to address these topics, including the specific 
questions in the RAIs. By letter dated July 2, 2021 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML21184A001), Oklo submitted topical reports, ``Maximum Credible 
Accident Methodology,'' Revision 2 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21184A002), 
and ``Performance Based Licensing Methodology,'' Revision 0 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML21187A001), which Oklo provided to explain its novel 
approach to MCA analysis and SSC classification respectively. The NRC 
staff performed completeness reviews of the topical reports and 
determined that the topical reports were not sufficiently complete for 
the NRC staff to initiate detailed technical reviews. The NRC staff 
informed Oklo of the decision by two emails dated August 5, 2021 (ADAMS 
Accession Nos. ML21201A079 and ML21201A111), that included attachments 
describing the supplemental information needed for the NRC staff to 
begin the detailed review of each topical report (ADAMS Accession Nos. 
ML21201A094 and ML21201A113). At Oklo's request, the NRC staff also 
held public meetings with Oklo on September 1, 16, and 28, 2021 (ADAMS 
Accession Nos. ML21259A260, ML21266A428, and

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ML21293A329, respectively) to clarify the supplemental information 
needs. In response, Oklo submitted ``Maximum Credible Accident 
Methodology,'' Revision 3 on October 5, 2021 (ADAMS Accession Nos. 
ML21278B097 and ML21278B098), and ``Performance-Based Licensing 
Methodology,'' Revision 1 on October 19, 2021 (ADAMS Accession Nos. 
ML21292A326 and ML21292A327). The NRC staff performed completeness 
reviews of the revised topical reports and informed Oklo by letter 
dated January 6, 2022 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML21307A108) the 
topical reports still did not contain sufficient technical information 
for the NRC staff to initiate detailed technical reviews.
    The NRC staff has denied the Aurora custom combined license 
application because Oklo has repeatedly failed to submit the 
information needed to complete the Step 1 review of its MCA analysis 
and safety classification of SSCs. Oklo's October 30, 2020, RAI 
responses did not contain sufficient technical information. The topical 
reports Oklo submitted, in part, to address Step 1 of the review to 
support a predictable review schedule, contained information that is 
conceptual in nature and does not adequately describe Oklo's 
methodologies for the Aurora's MCA analysis or for safety 
classification of SSCs. Because of Oklo's repeated failures to provide 
sufficient information on safety aspects of the Aurora design in 
response to the NRC staff's RAIs, including information related to its 
MCA methodology, safety classification of SSCs (including Oklo's 
implementation of its QA program), and the specific matters identified 
in the September 2020 RAIs, the NRC staff cannot establish a schedule 
for conducting a detailed technical review and the NRC's review of the 
Aurora custom combined license application cannot move forward. Oklo 
was notified of the NRC's denial of the custom combined license 
application by letter dated January 6, 2022 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML21357A034).

II. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To 
Intervene

    Within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice, the 
applicant may demand a hearing with respect to the denial described 
above. A demand for hearing must be filed in accordance with the NRC's 
requirements specified in 10 CFR part 2, subpart C, except for 10 CFR 
2.309(f). If the applicant demands a hearing, the demand must identify 
each error of fact or law that the applicant asserts is material to the 
denial or identify any other reason why the denial should not have been 
issued. The applicant must further state in the demand the specific 
bases, whether factual or legal, for each asserted error or other 
reason why the denial should not have been issued. The demand must 
refer to the specific statements in documents on the docket that the 
applicant asserts respond to the RAIs.
    In addition, any person (petitioner) whose interest may be affected 
by this denial may, within 30 days after the date of publication of 
this notice, file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to 
intervene (petition) with respect to the denial. Petitions must be 
filed in accordance with the Commission's ``Agency Rules of Practice 
and Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. The NRC's regulations are accessible 
electronically from the NRC Library on the NRC's website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. Alternatively, a copy of 
the regulations is available at the NRC's PDR by appointment, located 
at One White Flint North, Room P1 B35, 11555 Rockville Pike (first 
floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852. To schedule an appointment to visit 
the PDR, please email [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209. If a 
petition is filed, the Commission or a presiding officer will rule on 
the petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
    As required by 10 CFR 2.309(d) the petition should specifically 
explain the reasons why intervention to contest the denial should be 
permitted with particular reference to the following general 
requirements for standing: (1) The name, address, and telephone number 
of the petitioner; (2) the nature of the petitioner's right under the 
Act to be made a party to the proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of 
the petitioner's property, financial, or other interest in the 
proceeding; and (4) the possible effect of any decision or order which 
may be entered in the proceeding on the petitioner's interest.
    The petition must also set forth the specific contentions which the 
petitioner seeks to have litigated in the proceeding. Contentions must 
be limited to matters within the scope of the proceeding, i.e., why the 
application should not have been denied under 10 CFR 2.108. Each 
contention must consist of a specific statement of the issue of law or 
fact to be raised or controverted. In addition, the petitioner must 
provide a brief explanation of the bases for the contention and a 
concise statement of the alleged facts or expert opinion which support 
the contention and on which the petitioner intends to rely in proving 
the contention at the hearing. The petitioner must also provide 
references to the specific sources and documents submitted on the 
docket on which the petitioner intends to rely to support its position 
that the application should not have been denied. The contention must 
be one which, if proven, would entitle the petitioner to relief. A 
petitioner who fails to satisfy the above requirements with respect to 
at least one contention will not be permitted to participate as a 
party.
    Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding, 
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene. 
Parties have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the 
hearing with respect to resolution of that party's admitted 
contentions, including the opportunity to present evidence, consistent 
with the NRC's regulations, policies, and procedures.
    Petitions must be filed no later than 30 days from the date of 
publication of this notice. Petitions and motions for leave to file new 
or amended contentions that are filed after the deadline will not be 
entertained absent a determination by the presiding officer that the 
filing demonstrates good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i) through (iii). The petition must be filed in 
accordance with the filing instructions in the ``Electronic Submissions 
(E-Filing)'' section of this document.
    A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian 
Tribe, or agency thereof, may submit a petition to the Commission to 
participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(1). The petition should 
state the nature and extent of the petitioner's interest in the 
proceeding. The petition should be submitted to the Commission no later 
than 30 days from the date of publication of this notice. The petition 
must be filed in accordance with the filing instructions in the 
``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document, and 
should meet the requirements for petitions set forth in this section, 
except that under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(2) a State, local governmental body, 
or Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof does not need 
to address the standing requirements in 10 CFR 2.309(d) if the facility 
is located within its boundaries. Alternatively, a State, local 
governmental body, Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof 
may participate as a non-party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
    If the applicant demands a hearing, the presiding officer grants a 
petition to intervene, or both, the proceeding will be conducted under 
10 CFR part 2, subpart L, unless (1) the presiding officer elects other 
procedures; (2) the

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presiding officer finds, upon motion of a party accompanying its demand 
or petition, that the circumstances satisfy the standards in 10 CFR 
2.310(d) for conducting the proceeding under 10 CFR part 2, subpart G; 
or (3) all parties jointly agree and request that the proceeding be 
conducted under the procedures of another subpart of 10 CFR part 2.

III. Electronic Submissions (E-Filling)

    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
demand for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any motion or 
other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a 
demand for hearing or petition to intervene (hereinafter ``petition''), 
and documents filed by interested governmental entities participating 
under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. 
The E-Filing process requires participants to submit and serve all 
adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in some cases to mail 
copies on electronic storage media, unless an exemption permitting an 
alternative filing method, as discussed below, is granted. Participants 
may not submit paper copies of their filings unless they seek an 
exemption in accordance with the procedures described below. Detailed 
guidance on electronic submissions is located in the Guidance for 
Electronic Submissions to the NRC (ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056) and 
on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the 
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by 
telephone at 301-415-1677, to request (1) a digital identification (ID) 
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal 
server for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise 
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or 
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the 
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the 
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the proceeding if the 
Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. After a digital ID certificate is 
obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory 
documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on submissions is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the 
time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be 
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system 
no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of 
a transmission, the E-Filing system timestamps the document and sends 
the submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing 
system also distributes an email that provides access to the document 
to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who have 
advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in 
the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those 
participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants 
(or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a 
digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are filed to 
obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic 
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's 
public website at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by 
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. 
and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government 
holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and 
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper 
format. Such filings must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner 
are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants. 
Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still 
meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1), 
unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10 
CFR 2.302(g)(1).
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID 
certificate as described above, click ``cancel'' when the link requests 
certificates and you will be automatically directed to the NRC's 
electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access any 
publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket. 
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information 
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone 
numbers in their filings unless an NRC regulation or other law requires 
submission of such information. With respect to copyrighted works, 
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory 
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants 
should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the letter 
from the NRC to Oklo denying the custom combined license application, 
dated January 6, 2022 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21357A034).

    Dated: January 6, 2022.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea D. Veil,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2022-00339 Filed 1-10-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P