[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 178 (Friday, September 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63632-63633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19935]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-611 and 50-612; NRC-2023-0138]


Kairos Power, LLC; Hermes 2

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Construction permit application; acceptance for docketing.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff accepts and 
dockets an application for a construction permit for the Hermes 2 test 
reactor facility to be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

DATES: This action becomes effective on September 11, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0138 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-2023-0138. 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 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 1-800-397-209, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for 
each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the 
first time that it is mentioned in this document.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.
     NRC's Public website: The construction permit application 
is available under the NRC's Hermes Construction Permit Application 
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/non-power/new-facility-licensing/hermes2-kairos.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Orenak, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3229; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    On July 14, 2023, Kairos Power LLC (Kairos) filed, pursuant to part 
50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic 
Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,'' an application 
(ADAMS Package Accession No. ML23195A121) for a construction permit for 
the Hermes 2 test reactor facility (a ``testing facility'' as defined 
in 10 CFR 50.2), which would be located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The 
Hermes 2 facility would contain two fluoride-salt cooled, high-
temperature reactors that use solid tri-structural isotropic fuel in 
pebble form, intermediate liquid-sodium loops, and a common power 
conversion unit. A notice of receipt and availability was published in 
the Federal Register on August 4, 2023 (88 FR 51876).
    The Hermes 2 construction permit application consists of the 
following information:
     The general information required by 10 CFR 50.33,
     The Preliminary Safety Analysis Report required by 10 CFR 
50.34(a),
     The Environmental Report required by 10 CFR 50.30(f),
     Exemption requests to support issuance of a construction 
permit,
     Two technical reports, KP-TR-017 and KP-TR-022,
     A summary of the deletions from the Hermes Preliminary 
Safety Analysis Report, and

[[Page 63633]]

     A request to invoice the filing fee required by 10 CFR 
50.30(e) and 10 CFR 170.21.
    The NRC staff determined that the application is acceptable for 
docketing under Docket Nos. 50-611 and 50-612. The NRC staff provided 
Kairos notice of the acceptance and docketing determinations by letter 
dated September 11, 2023 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23233A167).
    The NRC staff will perform a detailed technical review of the 
construction permit application and document its safety findings in a 
safety evaluation report. Also, the NRC staff will perform an 
environmental review and document its findings in accordance with 10 
CFR part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic 
Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,'' and the National 
Environmental Policy Act.
    Docketing of the 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 construction permit application will be referred 
to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards for review and report 
consistent with 10 CFR 50.58, ``Hearings and report of the Advisory 
Committee on Reactor Safeguards.'' If, after holding an evidentiary 
hearing, the Commission finds that the construction permit application 
meets the applicable standards of the Atomic Energy Act and the 
Commission's regulations, and that any required notifications to other 
agencies and bodies have been made, the Commission will issue a 
construction permit, in the form and containing conditions and 
limitations that the Commission finds appropriate and necessary.
    The Commission will announce, in a future Federal Register notice, 
the opportunity to petition for leave to intervene in a proceeding on 
the construction permit application.

    Dated: September 11, 2023.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael D. Orenak,
Project Manager, Advanced Reactor Licensing Branch 1, Division of 
Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities, 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2023-19935 Filed 9-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P