MITSUBISHI APPLICATION TO CERTIFY US-APWR DESIGN
AVAILABLE ON NRC WEBSITE
Printable Version

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today made available the public version of a design certification application submitted by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for its U.S.-Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (US-APWR) standard plant design.

Mitsubishi submitted the application and associated information Dec. 31, 2007. The application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site here: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/design-cert/apwr.html.

The US-APWR design is a nuclear power plant capable of producing about 1,700 megawatts of electricity. The plant, currently being licensed and built in Japan, features redundant core cooling systems and refueling water storage inside the containment building, and fully digital instrumentation and control systems. It is designed for a 60-year operating life.

If the NRC certifies the US-APWR, a company applying for a license to build and operate a new nuclear power plant in the United States could choose to use the design and reference it in the application. Safety issues resolved within the scope of the design certification are not subject to litigation with respect to that individual license application, although site-specific design information and environmental impacts associated with building and operating the plant at a particular location could be litigated. NRC has certified four other standard reactor designs.

The staff is checking the application for completeness. If the staff finds the application acceptable, they will start their technical review and request any additional information they need. The staff will issue a Safety Evaluation Report after all technical and safety questions have been resolved. The NRC would then certify the design through an agency rulemaking, which includes an opportunity for public participation. The staff expects this process to continue through the year 2011.

The NRC’s regulations describe the certification process in Subpart B of Part 52, available on the agency’s Web site here: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part052/.

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Tuesday, April 08, 2008