[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 117 (Thursday, June 18, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36885-36887]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-12339]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-321 and 50-366; NRC-2025-0091]
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.; Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear
Plant, Units 1 and 2; Subsequent License Renewal
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 Nos. DPR-57 and NPF-5 to
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. (Southern) for Edwin I. Hatch
Nuclear Plant (Hatch), Units 1 and 2, respectively.
DATES: The NRC issued Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License
[[Page 36886]]
Nos. DPR-57 and NPF-5 on June 11, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2025-0091 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-2025-0091. 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 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 a 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 reader's convenience, instructions
about obtaining materials referenced in this document are provided in
the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
NRC 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: Brian Harris, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2277; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
Notice is hereby given that the NRC has issued Subsequent Renewed
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-57 and NPF-5 to Southern for Hatch,
Units 1 and 2, respectively. Southern is the operator of the facility.
Subsequent Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-57 and NPF-5
authorize Southern to operate Hatch, Units 1 and 2 at reactor core
power levels not in excess of 2,804 megawatts thermal, in accordance
with the provisions of the Hatch licenses and technical specifications.
The NRC staff documented the results of its environmental review of
the Hatch subsequent license renewal (SLR) application in an
environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact
(FONSI), which was issued and made publicly available in March 2026 as
``Environmental Assessment for Subsequent License Renewal of Edwin I.
Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2.'' On the basis of its EA and its
determination that the environmental impacts would be SMALL for each
potentially affected resource area, the NRC staff concluded that Hatch
SLR will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human
environment; accordingly, the NRC staff determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for that proposed action. The EA
included the NRC staff's recommendation that the adverse environmental
impacts of SLR for Hatch are not so great that preserving the option of
SLR for energy-planning decision-makers would be unreasonable. The NRC
staff based this recommendation on (1) the analysis and findings in the
NRC's Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of
Nuclear Plants, which the EA supplemented, (2) the applicant's
environmental report, (3) the NRC staff's consultations with Federal,
State, and local agencies and Indian Tribes, and (4) the NRC staff's
independent environmental review.
Hatch Units 1 and 2 are boiling-water reactors located near Baxley,
Georgia. Southern submitted its SLR application for Hatch on May 15,
2025, as supplemented by letters through February 26, 2026 (see the
``Availability of Documents'' section of this document). The NRC staff
has determined that Southern'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
licenses.
Notice of the NRC's acceptance for docketing of the Hatch SLR
application and an opportunity to request a hearing was published in
the Federal Register on June 20, 2025 (90 FR 26331). In May 2026, the
NRC staff issued its safety evaluation concerning the Hatch SLR
application. In March 2026, the NRC staff published the EA and FONSI,
and a notice of issuance of the EA and FONSI was published in the
Federal Register on April 2, 2026 (91 FR 16756).
For further details with respect to this action, see (1) Southern's
SLR application for Hatch, dated May 15, 2025, as supplemented by
letters dated through February 26, 2026, (2) the NRC's safety
evaluation, dated May 20, 2026, and (3) the NRC's EA and FONSI, dated
March 31, 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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NUREG-1437, Revision 2, ``Generic ML24087A133 (Package).
Environmental Impact Statement for License
Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' Volumes 1-3,
dated August 2024.
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and ML25135A390 (Package).
2, Application for Subsequent Renewal of
Operating Licenses, dated May 15, 2025.
Response to Request for Additional ML25356A532 (Package).
Information and Request for Confirmation
of Information, Set 1, dated December 22,
2025.
Supplement 1 to Application for Subsequent ML25356A511 (Package).
Renewal of Operating Licenses, dated
December 22, 2025.
Annual Update and Supplement 2 to the ML26057A455.
Application for Subsequent Renewal of
Operating Licenses, Including Consolidated
Implementation Actions Table, dated
February 26, 2026.
Environmental Assessment for Subsequent ML26063A016.
License Renewal of Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear
Plant, Units 1 and 2, dated March 31, 2026.
Safety Evaluation Related to the Subsequent ML26131A234.
License Renewal of Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear
Power Plant, Units 1 and 2, dated May 20,
2026.
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[[Page 36887]]
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.
Dated: June 16, 2026.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Victor Cusumano,
Director, Division of Licensing Projects II, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2026-12339 Filed 6-17-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P