[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58310-58312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22840]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-259, 50-260, and 50-296; NRC-2024-0030]
Tennessee Valley Authority; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1,
2, and 3; Subsequent License Renewal and Record of Decision
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued
Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-33, DPR-52, and
DPR-68 to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), for Browns Ferry Nuclear
Plant (BFN), Units 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In addition, the NRC has
prepared a record of decision (ROD) that supports the NRC's decision to
issue Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-33, DPR-
52, and DPR-68.
DATES: The Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-33,
[[Page 58311]]
DPR-52, and DPR-68 were issued on December 11, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0030 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-2024-0030. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Bridget Curran;
telephone: 301-415-1003; 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 ADAMS Public 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]. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marieliz Johnson, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5861; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
Notice is hereby given that the NRC has issued Subsequent Renewed
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-33, DPR-52, and DPR-68 to TVA for
BFN. TVA is the operator of the facility. Subsequent Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. DPR-33, DPR-52, and DPR-68 authorize operation
of BFN by TVA at reactor core power levels not to exceed 3,952
megawatts thermal for each unit, in accordance with the provisions of
the BFN subsequent renewed licenses and technical specifications.
Notice is also given that the ROD that supports the NRC's decision to
issue Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-33, DPR-
52, and DPR-68 is available, and its location is listed in the
``Availability of Documents'' section of this document.
As discussed in the ROD and the final supplemental environmental
impact statement (SEIS), published as NUREG-1437, Supplement 21, Second
Renewal, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal
of Nuclear Plants: Regarding Subsequent License Renewal of Browns Ferry
Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, Final Report,'' dated August 2025,
the final SEIS documents the NRC staff's environmental review,
including the determination that the adverse environmental impacts of
subsequent license renewal (SLR) for BFN are not so great that
preserving the option of SLR for energy planning decision-makers would
be unreasonable. The final SEIS conclusion is based on: (1) TVA's
environmental impact statement and environmental report, as
supplemented by additional information; (2) the NRC staff's
consultation with Federal, State, Tribal, and local government
agencies; (3) the NRC staff's independent environmental review, which
is documented in the final SEIS; (4) the NRC staff's consideration of
mitigation measures; and (5) the NRC staff's consideration of comments
received from other agencies, organizations, and the public.
BFN is a three-unit boiling water reactor site located in Athens,
Alabama. TVA submitted its application for subsequent renewal of the
renewed facility operating licenses, ``Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant,
Units 1, 2, and 3--Application for Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses,'' on January 19, 2024, as supplemented by letters through May
1, 2025 (see ``Availability of Documents'' section of this document).
The NRC staff has determined that TVA's application complies with the
standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended
(the Act), and NRC regulations. As required by the Act and NRC
regulations in title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
the NRC has made the appropriate findings, which are set forth in the
subsequent renewed licenses.
A public notice of the NRC's acceptance for docketing of the
subsequent renewed license application and an opportunity for a hearing
was published in the Federal Register on March 21, 2024 (89 FR 20254).
Further, a notice of intent to prepare a site-specific environmental
impact statement and conduct environmental scoping was published on
April 3, 2024 (89 FR 23056). On August 6, 2024, the NRC updated the
Commission's 2013 findings on the environmental effects of subsequent
renewal of the operating license of a nuclear power plant via
rulemaking. This final rule redefines the number and scope of the
environmental issues that must be addressed during the review of each
application for license renewal (LR) and specifically considers the
environmental effects of SLR. As part of this update, the NRC issued
Revision 2 to the LR generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) to
account for new information and to address the impacts of initial LR as
well as one 20-year period of SLR. The final rule became effective for
NRC staff on September 5,2024. Thereafter, on October 22, 2024, the NRC
staff noticed its intent to prepare a plant-specific supplement to the
LR GEIS for the BFN SLR application (89 FR 84401). In May 2025, the NRC
staff issued a draft SEIS for public comment, providing the preliminary
results of the staff's environmental evaluation of the BFN subsequent
license renewal application (SLRA). A notice of availability of the
draft SEIS was published in the Federal Register on May 30, 2025 (90 FR
23074). In July 2025, the NRC staff issued its Safety Evaluation (SE)
regarding the BFN SLRA. In August 2025, the NRC staff issued a final
SEIS, providing its final evaluation of the environmental impacts of
BFN SLR; a notice of issuance was published in the Federal Register on
August 29, 2025 (90 FR 42272).
For further details with respect to this action, see: (1) TVA's
SLRA for BFN, dated January 19, 2024, as supplemented by letters dated
through May 1, 2025; (2) the NRC's SE, dated July 18, 2025; (3) the
NRC's final SEIS (NUREG-1437, Supplement 21, Second Renewal) for BFN
SLR dated August 2025; and (4) the NRC's ROD, issued in September 2025.
II. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through ADAMS, as indicated.
[[Page 58312]]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Document description ADAMS accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Record of Decision--Subsequent ML25209A180.
License Renewal Application
Review--Browns Ferry Nuclear
Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, dated
December 11, 2025.
Final Safety Evaluation Related to ML25169A140 (Package).
the SLRA of Browns Ferry Nuclear
Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, dated
July 18, 2025.
NUREG-1437, Generic Environmental ML25133A156.
Impact Statement for License
Renewal of Nuclear Plants,
Supplement 21, Second Renewal,
Regarding Subsequent License
Renewal of Browns Ferry Nuclear
Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, Draft
Report for Comment, date published
May 2025.
NUREG-1437, Generic Environmental ML25230A077.
Impact Statement for License
Renewal of Nuclear Plants,
Supplement 21, Second Renewal,
Regarding Subsequent License
Renewal of Browns Ferry Nuclear
Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, Final
Report, date published August
2025.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML24019A009 (Package).
1, 2, and 3, Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
License, dated January 19, 2024.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML24022A292.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Supplemental
Information--Neutron Fluence
Analyses Methodology, dated
January 22, 2024.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML24306A203.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Second Safety
Supplement, dated November 1,
2024.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML24352A216 (Package).
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Third Safety Supplement,
dated December 17, 2024.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25043A035.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Fourth Safety
Supplement, dated February 12,
2025.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25063A184.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Fifth Safety Supplement,
dated March 4, 2025.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25106A149.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, 10 CFR 54.21(b) Update,
dated April 16, 2025.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25121A174.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Sixth Safety Supplement,
dated May 1, 2025.
NUREG-1437, Revision 2, Volumes 1, ML24087A133 (Package).
2, and 3, Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License
Renewal of Nuclear Plants, dated
August 2024.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML24283A091.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Response to Request for
Additional Information, Set #1,
dated October 9, 2024.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25008A150.
1, 2, and 3--Response to Request
for Additional Information, Set
#2, dated January 8, 2025.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25043A270.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Response to Proprietary
Attached--Request for Confirmation
of Information, Set #1, dated
February 12, 2025.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25085A283.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Response to Request for
Confirmation of Information, Set
#2, dated March 26, 2025.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25087A216.
1, 2, and 3--Response to Request
for Additional Information, Set
#3, dated March 28, 2025.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25104A172.
1, 2, and 3--Application for
Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, Response to Request for
Confirmation of Information, Set
#3, dated April 14, 2025.
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units ML25114A206.
1, 2, and 3--Response to Request
for Additional Information, Set
#4, dated April 24, 2025.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated: December 11, 2025.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele Sampson,
Director, Division of New and Renewed Licenses, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2025-22840 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P