[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 224 (Monday, November 24, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53006-53009]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20792]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-318; NRC-2025-1700]
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; Calvert Cliffs Nuclear
Power Plant, Unit 2; License Amendment Request
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Opportunity to comment, request a hearing and to petition for
leave to intervene.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an amendment to Renewed Facility Operating License (RFOL)
No. DPR-69, issued to Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (CEG, the
licensee) for Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 2 (CCNPP). The
proposed license amendment would extend the completion time (CT) for
Technical Specification 3.8.1, ``AC [alternating current] Sources-
Operating,'' Action D.3. For this amendment request, the NRC proposes
to determine that it involves no significant hazards consideration.
DATES: Submit comments by December 24, 2025. Comments received after
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before
this date. Requests for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene
must be filed by January 23, 2026.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website.
Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2025-1700. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Bridget Curran;
telephone: 301-415-1003; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop:
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sam Bina, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-3425; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2025-1700 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2025-1700.
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 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737,
or by email to [email protected]. The amendment request is available
at ML25275A565.
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.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2025-1700 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of an amendment to RFOL No. DPR-69
for Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 2, located in Calvert,
Maryland.
The amendment would allow a one-time extension of the CT for
Technical Specification 3.8.1, Action D.3, as described in their
submittal dated October 2, 2025.
Before issuance of the proposed license amendment, the NRC will
need to make the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended (the Act), and NRC's regulations.
The NRC has made a proposed determination that the license
amendment request involves no significant hazards consideration. Under
the NRC's regulations in section 50.92 of
[[Page 53007]]
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), this means that
operation of the facility in accordance with the proposed amendment
would not (1) involve a significant increase in the probability or
consequences of an accident previously evaluated; or (2) create the
possibility of a new or different kind of accident from any accident
previously evaluated; or (3) involve a significant reduction in a
margin of safety. As required by 10 CFR 50.91(a), the licensee has
provided its analysis of the issue of no significant hazards
consideration, which is presented as follows:
1. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant increase in
the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?
Response: No.
The proposed TS change will not increase the probability of an
accident since it will only extend the time period that one qualified
offsite circuit can be out of service. The extension of the time
duration that one qualified offsite circuit is out of service has no
direct physical impact on the plant. The proposed inoperable offsite
circuit limits the available redundancy of the offsite electrical
system to a period not to exceed 14 days for Unit 2. Therefore, the
proposed TS change does not have a direct impact on the plant that
would make an accident more likely to occur due to the extended
completion time.
During transients or events which require these subsystems to be
operating, there is sufficient capacity in the operable loops/
subsystems and available but inoperable equipment to support plant
operation or shutdown. Therefore, failures that are accident initiators
will not occur more frequently than previously postulated as a result
of the proposed change.
In addition, the consequences of an accident previously evaluated
in the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) will not be
increased. With one offsite circuit inoperable, the consequences of any
postulated accidents occurring during this CT extension were found to
be bounded by the previous analyses as described in the UFSAR.
The minimum equipment required to mitigate the consequences of an
accident and/or safely shut down the plant will be operable or
available. Therefore, by extending the CT and extending the assumptions
concerning the combinations of events for the longer duration of the
extended CT, CEG concludes that at least the minimum equipment required
to mitigate the consequences of an accident and/or safely shut down the
plant will still be operable or available.
Therefore, the proposed change does not involve a significant
increase in the probability or consequences of an accident previously
evaluated.
2. Does the proposed amendment create the possibility of a new or
different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated?
Response: No.
The proposed TS change will not create the possibility of a new or
different type of accident since it will only extend the time period
that one of the offsite circuits can be out of service. The extension
of the time duration that one offsite circuit can be out of service has
no direct physical impact on the plant and does not create any new
accident initiators. The systems involved are accident mitigation
systems. All of the possible impacts that the inoperable equipment may
have on its supported systems were previously analyzed in the UFSAR and
are the basis for the present TS Action statements and CTs. The impact
of inoperable support systems for a given time duration was previously
evaluated and any accident initiators created by the inoperable systems
was evaluated. The lengthening of the time duration does not create any
additional accident initiators for the plant.
Therefore, the proposed change does not create the possibility of a
new or different kind of accident from any accident previously
evaluated.
3. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant reduction in a
margin of safety?
Response: No.
The present offsite circuit TS CT limits were set to ensure that
sufficient safety-related equipment is available for response to all
accident conditions and that sufficient decay heat removal capability
is available for a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) coincident with a
loss of offsite power (LOOP) on one unit and simultaneous safe shutdown
of the other unit. A slight reduction in the margin of safety is
incurred during the proposed extended CT due to the increased risk that
an event could occur in a 14-day period versus a 72-hour period. This
increased risk is judged to be minimal due to the low likelihood of an
event occurring during the extended CT and maintaining the minimum
ECCS/decay heat removal requirements.
The slight reduction in the margin of safety from the extension of
one offsite circuit current CT limit is not significant since the
remaining operable offsite circuit, the emergency diesel generators,
the Station Blackout (SBO) Diesel, and the FLEX diesel generators
provide an effective defense-in-depth plan to support the station
electrical plant configurations during the extended CT period.
Operations personnel are fully qualified by normal periodic
training to respond to, and mitigate, a Design Basis Accident,
including the actions needed to ensure decay heat removal while CCNPP,
Units 1 and 2 are in the operational electrical configurations
described within this submittal. Accordingly, existing procedures are
in place that address safe plant shutdown and decay heat removal for
situations applicable to those in the proposed CTs. Therefore, the
proposed change does not involve a significant reduction in a margin of
safety.
The NRC staff has reviewed the licensee's analysis and, based on
this review, it appears that the three standards of 10 CFR 50.92(c) are
satisfied. Therefore, the NRC staff proposes to determine that the
license amendment request involves no significant hazards
consideration.
The NRC is seeking public comments on this proposed determination
that the license amendment request involves no significant hazards
consideration. Any comments received within 30 days after the date of
publication of this notice will be considered in making any final
determination.
Normally, the Commission will not issue the amendment until the
expiration of 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. The
Commission may issue the license amendment before expiration of the 60-
day notice period if the Commission concludes the amendment involves no
significant hazards consideration. In addition, the Commission may
issue the amendment prior to the expiration of the 30-day comment
period if circumstances change during the 30-day comment period such
that failure to act in a timely way would result, for example, in
derating or shutdown of the facility. If the Commission takes action
prior to the expiration of either the comment period or the notice
period, it will publish in the Federal Register a notice of issuance.
If the Commission makes a final no significant hazards consideration
determination, any hearing will take place after issuance. The
Commission expects that the need to take this action will occur very
infrequently.
III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To
Intervene
Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any
person (petitioner) whose interest may be
[[Page 53008]]
affected by this action may file a request for a hearing and petition
for leave to intervene (petition) with respect to the action. Petitions
shall be filed in accordance with the Commission's ``Agency Rules of
Practice and Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should
consult 10 CFR 2.309. If a petition is filed, the presiding officer
will rule on the petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing
will be issued.
Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of
publication of this notice in accordance with the filing instructions
in the ``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document.
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).
If a hearing is requested and the Commission has not made a final
determination on the issue of no significant hazards consideration, the
Commission will make a final determination on the issue of no
significant hazards consideration, which will serve to establish when
the hearing is held. If the final determination is that the amendment
request involves no significant hazards consideration, the Commission
may issue the amendment and make it immediately effective,
notwithstanding the request for a hearing. Any hearing would take place
after issuance of the amendment. If the final determination is that the
amendment request involves a significant hazards consideration, then
any hearing held would take place before the issuance of the amendment
unless the Commission finds an imminent danger to the health or safety
of the public, in which case it will issue an appropriate order or rule
under 10 CFR part 2.
A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian
Tribe, or designated agency thereof, may submit a petition to the
Commission to participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h) no later
than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice.
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).
For information about filing a petition and about participation by
a person not a party under 10 CFR 2.315, see ADAMS Accession No.
ML20340A053 (https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML20340A053) and on the NRC's public website
(https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate).
IV. Electronic Submissions and E-Filing
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including
documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body,
Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that
requests to participate 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 further
discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions is
located in the ``Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC''
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056), and on the NRC's public website
(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: (1) request a digital identification
(ID) certificate which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing
system 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 is created, the participant must submit
adjudicatory documents in the 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. ET on the due
date. Upon receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps
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 in order 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 https://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., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal 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 otherwise excluded pursuant to an order of
the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID
certificate as previously described, click ``cancel'' when the link
requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the
NRC's electronic hearing docket where you will be able to access any
publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket.
Participants are requested not to include personal
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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
application for license amendment dated October 2, 2025 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML25275A565).
Attorney for licensee: Jason Zorn, Associate General Counsel,
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC 4300 Winfield Road, Warrenville,
IL 60555.
NRC Branch Chief: Hipolito Gonzalez.
Dated: November 20, 2025.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David Wrona,
Chief, Plant Licensing Branch II-2, Division of Operating Reactor
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2025-20792 Filed 11-21-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P