[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 81 (Tuesday, April 28, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22874-22875]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08200]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-261; NRC-2025-0076]
Duke Energy Progress, LLC; H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant,
Unit 2; Subsequent License Renewal and Record of Decision
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued
Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-23 to Duke Energy
Progress, LLC (Duke) for H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit 2
(Robinson). In addition, the NRC has prepared a record of decision
(ROD) that supports the agency's decision to issue Subsequent Renewed
Facility Operating License No. DPR-23.
DATES: The NRC issued Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License No.
DPR-23 on April 23, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2025-0076 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-2025-0076. 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: Mark Yoo, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-8583; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
Notice is hereby given that the NRC has issued Subsequent Renewed
Facility Operating License No. DPR-23 to Duke for Robinson. Duke is the
operator of the facility. Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License
No. DPR-23 authorizes Duke to operate Robinson at a reactor core power
level not in excess of 2,339 megawatts thermal, in accordance with the
provisions of the Robinson license and technical specifications. Notice
is also given that the ROD that supports the NRC's decision to issue
Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-23 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 13, Second
Renewal, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal
of Nuclear Plants Regarding Subsequent License Renewal for H.B.
Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit No. 2, Final Report,'' dated March
2026, the final SEIS documents the NRC staff's environmental review,
including the recommendation that the adverse environmental impacts of
subsequent license renewal (SLR) for Robinson are not so great that
preserving the option of SLR for energy-planning decision-makers would
be unreasonable. This recommendation is based on (1) the analysis and
findings in the NRC's Generic Environmental Impact Statement for
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, (2) information provided in the
environmental report submitted by Duke, (3) the NRC staff's
consultation with Federal, State, and local governmental agencies and
Indian Tribes, (4) the NRC staff's independent environmental review,
and (5) the NRC staff's consideration of public comments received
during the scoping process and on the draft SEIS.
Robinson consists of one Westinghouse three-loop pressurized-water
reactor located near Hartsville, South Carolina. Duke submitted its SLR
application for Robinson on April 1, 2025, which it supplemented by
letters through October 1, 2025 (see the ``Availability of Documents''
section of this document). The NRC staff has determined that Duke's SLR
application complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the NRC's regulations. As
required by the Act and NRC regulations in title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Chapter I, ``Nuclear Regulatory
Commission,'' the NRC has made appropriate findings, which are set
forth in the subsequent renewed license.
Notice of the NRC's acceptance for docketing of the SLR application
and an opportunity to request a hearing was published in the Federal
Register on May 8, 2025 (90 FR 19535). A notice of intent to conduct
environmental scoping was published on May 22, 2025 (90 FR 21952). In
April 2026, the NRC staff issued its safety evaluation concerning the
Robinson SLR application. In December 2025, the NRC staff published a
draft SEIS for public comment, providing the preliminary results of the
staff's environmental review of the Robinson SLR application. A notice
of availability of the draft SEIS was published in the Federal Register
on January 9, 2026 (91 FR 1007). In March 2026, the NRC staff published
the final SEIS; a notice of issuance was published in the Federal
Register on March 20, 2026 (91 FR 13644).
For further details with respect to this action, see (1) Duke's SLR
application for Robinson, dated April 1, 2025, as supplemented by
letters dated through October 1, 2025, (2) the NRC's safety
[[Page 22875]]
evaluation, dated April 2026, (3) the NRC's final SEIS, dated March
2026, and (4) the NRC's ROD, dated April 23, 2026.
II. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through ADAMS, as indicated.
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Document description ADAMS accession No.
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H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit 2, ML25091A290 (Package).
Application for Subsequent Renewed Operating
Licenses, dated April 1, 2025.
NUREG-1437, Revision 2, ``Generic Environmental ML24087A133 (Package).
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear
Plants,'' Volumes 1-3, dated August 2024.
Supplement No. 1--Changes to the Robinson Unit 2 ML25240B656.
Subsequent License Renewal Application, dated
August 28, 2025.
Supplement No. 2--Changes to the Robinson Unit 2 ML25274A131.
Subsequent License Renewal Application, dated
October 1, 2025.
``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for ML25344A144.
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supplement
13, Second Renewal, Regarding Subsequent
License Renewal for H.B. Robinson Steam
Electric Plant, Unit No. 2, Draft Report for
Comment,'' dated December 2025.
Safety Evaluation Related to the Subsequent ML26089A378 (Package).
License Renewal of H.B. Robinson Steam Electric
Plant, Unit 2, dated April 2026.
``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for ML26062A118.
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supplement
13, Second Renewal, Regarding Subsequent
License Renewal for H.B. Robinson Steam
Electric Plant, Unit No. 2, Final Report,''
dated March 2026.
Record of Decision, Subsequent License Renewal ML26044A014.
Application for H.B. Robinson Steam Electric
Plant, Unit 2, dated April 23, 2026.
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Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.
Dated: April 23, 2026.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michele Sampson,
Director, Division of New and Renewed Licenses, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2026-08200 Filed 4-27-26; 8:45 am]
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