[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 95 (Monday, May 18, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28629-28630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-09880]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-7513; NRC-2021-0193]
In the Matter of Kairos Power LLC; Hermes Test Reactor; Extension
of Latest Date for Completion of Construction
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Order; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the
Kairos Power LLC (Kairos) request to amend Construction Permit No.
CPTR-6 for the Hermes test reactor facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The approved amendment extends the latest date for completion of the
construction of the Hermes test reactor facility from December 31,
2026, to April 30, 2029.
DATES: The Order was issued on May 13, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0193 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-2021-0193. 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.
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]. The Kairos request to amend Construction
Permit No. CPTR-6 is available in ADAMS under Package Accession No.
ML26083A275.
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: Cayetano Santos Jr., Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7270; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.
Dated: May 14, 2026.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cayetano Santos,
Senior Project Manager, Advanced Reactor Licensing Branch 1, Division
of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization
Facilities, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
In the Matter of Kairos Power LLC (Hermes Test Reactor Facility)
Docket No. 50-7513
Construction Permit No. CPTR-6
Order
I.
Kairos Power LLC (Kairos, licensee, permit holder) is the holder
of Construction Permit (CP) No. CPTR-6, which the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) issued on December 14,
2023 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)
Package Accession No. ML23338A260), for the construction of the
Hermes test reactor facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. CP No. CPTR-6
includes December 31, 2026, as the latest date for completion of the
construction of the Hermes test reactor facility and expires on the
latest date of completion. The Hermes test reactor facility is
currently under construction.
By letter dated March 24, 2026 (ML26083A275), Kairos submitted
to the NRC a license amendment request in accordance with section
50.90, ``Application for amendment of license, construction permit,
or early site permit,'' of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) and 10 CFR 50.55(b). The license amendment
request seeks to extend the latest date for completion of the
construction of the Hermes test reactor facility from December 31,
2026, to April 30, 2029.
II.
Upon review of the license amendment request, the NRC staff
determined that Kairos had shown good cause for extending the latest
date for completion of the construction of the Hermes test reactor
facility from December 31, 2026, to April 30, 2029. The staff also
determined that the license amendment request involves no
significant hazards consideration. The staff prepared an
environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact for
the requested extension of the latest date for completion of
construction and published it in the Federal Register on April 21,
2026 (91 FR 21335). On the basis of the environmental assessment,
the staff concluded that the requested extension will not have a
significant effect on the quality of the human environment. The
findings set forth above are supported by an NRC staff safety
evaluation dated May 13, 2026, which is available at ML26085A103.
III.
Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any
persons (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action
may file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene
(petition) with respect to the action. The scope of this order
extending the latest date for completion of construction and any
proceeding hereunder is limited to direct challenges to the CP
holder's asserted reasons that show good cause for the extension.
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 a current copy of 10 CFR 2.309. 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.
Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of
publication of this notice in accordance with the filing
[[Page 28630]]
instructions in section IV 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).
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 at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate.
IV.
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'' (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. eastern
time (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
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.
The attorney for the permit holder is Ryan K. Lighty, Partner,
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington
DC 20004-2541.
V.
Accordingly, pursuant to Section 161 of the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended; 42 U.S.C. 2201; and 10 CFR 50.90 and 10 CFR
50.55(b), it is hereby ordered that CP No. CPTR-6 is amended to
extend the latest date for completion of the construction of the
Hermes test reactor facility from December 31, 2026, to April 30,
2029.
This order is effective upon issuance.
Dated: May 13, 2026.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jonathan Greives,
Director, Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power, Production
and Utilization Facilities, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2026-09880 Filed 5-15-26; 8:45 am]
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