U.S. ABWR design certification renewal (GE-Hitachi): NRC design certification review for General Electric-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC — issued, 127.3 months from docketing to decision. Sourced dates and schedule.
Background: NRC reactor licensing process, explained · The ADVANCE Act, explained: what changed and where the NRC stands
Current state
| Type | Design certification |
| Outcome | Issued |
| Applicant | General Electric-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC |
| Facility | U.S. Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) |
| Docket | — |
| Submitted | 2010-12-07 |
| Docketed (accepted for review) | 2011-02-18 |
| NRC planned schedule | — |
| NRC target date | — |
| Final safety evaluation | — |
| Decision | 2021-09-29 |
| Review time (docketed → decision) | 127.3 mo |
| Submitted → decision | 129.7 mo |
| NRC-reported review duration | — |
| NRC-reported resources vs estimate | — |
Review time is measured in average months from the date the NRC docketed the application to the decision. The NRC's own reported durations may measure to the final safety evaluation instead.
Notes
Outlier: ~10.8 years submittal-to-rule, largely applicant-paced (DCD Rev 6 in 2016, Rev 7 in Dec 2019). Toshiba's parallel ABWR renewal was withdrawn in 2016 (out of scope). Docketed: NRC page: 'NRC to issue Acceptance Review Determination Letter | 02/14/11 - A'. Final safety evaluation: NRC page gives month only: 'Phase 4 - Final SER with No Open Items | 03/20 - A' (March 2020).
Timeline
- 2010-12-07 — Application received: “On December 7, 2010, GEH submitted its application to renew the certification of the U.S.” (source)
- 2011-02-18 — Accepted for review (docketed): “On February 18, 2011, the NRC formally accepted the design certification renewal application for docketing (76 FR 9612).” (source)
- 2021-09-29 — Issued: “The NRC is confirming the effective date of September 29, 2021, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2021.” (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. See the NNN Data License Terms for reuse of the event history.
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