[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 117 (Thursday, June 18, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36883-36885]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-12233]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-334; NRC-2026-3070]
Vistra Operations Company LLC; Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation
LLC; Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 1; License Amendment Request
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Opportunity to comment, request a hearing, and petition for
leave to intervene.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission)
is considering issuance of an amendment to Renewed Facility Operating
License No. DPR-66, issued to Vistra Operations Company LLC and Energy
Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC, for the operation of Beaver Valley Power
Station, Unit No. 1. The proposed amendment would revise the technical
specifications to allow an alternative completion time for restoring
equipment to accommodate repairs.
DATES: Submit comments by July 20, 2026. Requests for a hearing or
petitions for leave to intervene must be filed by August 17, 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-2026-3070. 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-5-A85, 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: Dr. V. Sreenivas, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2597; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2026-3070 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-2026-3070.
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 license amendment request and its
supplement are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML26146A267 and
ML26161A366, respectively.
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-2026-3070 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 Renewed Facility
Operating License No. DPR-66, issued to Vistra Operations Company LLC
and Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC, for the operation of Beaver
Valley Power Station, Unit No. 1, located in Beaver County,
Pennsylvania.
The proposed amendment would revise the technical specifications
for the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) to allow a single, one-
time use of an alternative completion time for restoring a train of
ECCS equipment to operable status when one or more trains are
inoperable. The proposed amendment is needed for the licensee to
conduct on-line repairs of a safety injection pump.
Before any 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
[[Page 36884]]
significant hazards consideration. Under the NRC's regulations in
section 50.92 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
``Issuance of amendment,'' 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 below:
1. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant increase in
the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?
Response: No.
The proposed change allows a one-time extended Completion Time from
72 hours to 12 days to restore one train of Emergency Core Cooling
System (ECCS) to Operable. The proposed change does not affect accident
initiators or precursors. The ECCS will remain capable of adequately
responding to a design basis event or transient during the period that
the note is invoked. A probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) was
performed for this proposed change and determined that this has low
risk.
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 function of ECCS is to cool the core as well as provide
additional shutdown capability following an accident. ECCS operation is
not a precursor for any accident listed in Chapter 14 of the Updated
Final Safety Analysis Report. The proposed change allows a one-time use
extended Completion Time to return one train of ECCS to Operable. The
function of the ECCS is maintained during the period that the note is
invoked, and will continue to be operated in accordance with
established station procedures.
Therefore, the proposed amendment does not create the possibility
of a new or different kind of accident from any previously evaluated.
3. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant reduction in a
margin of safety?
Response: No.
The proposed amendment to extend the TS [technical specification]
3.5.2 Action A.1 Completion Time does not significantly reduce the
margin of safety for accident mitigation. During the proposed
maintenance, one train of ECCS will remain operable. Compensatory
measures will be implemented to minimize nuclear safety risk.
To support a scheduled 4 day maintenance period, Vistra OpCo
requests a Completion Time of 12 days. PRA analysis has determined a
Completion Time of 12 days remains within the Regulatory Guide 1.177
criterion. Therefore, the proposed amendment 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 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 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 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 license
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
license 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 designated agency thereof, may participate as a non-
party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
[[Page 36885]]
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 the NRC's public website
(https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate).
IV. Electronic Submissions (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 their 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 their 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 (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 (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 (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 on the
NRC's public website (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.
For further details with respect to this action, see the
application for license amendment dated May 26, 2026 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML26146A267), as supplemented by letter dated June 10, 2026 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML26161A366).
Attorney for licensee: Roland G. Backhaus, Senior Counsel, Nuclear,
Vistra Corp., 325 7th Street, NW, Suite 520, Washington, DC 20004.
NRC Branch Chief: David Wrona.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.
Dated: June 15, 2026.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Venkataiah Sreenivas,
Project Manager, Operating Reactor Licensing and Data Branch 1,
Division of Licensing Projects 1, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2026-12233 Filed 6-17-26; 8:45 am]
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