Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 127 / Wednesday, July 7, 2021 / Notices 35837 

Dated: June 30, 2021. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Joel S. Wiebe, 

Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing 

Branch III, Division of Operating Reactor 

Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14456 Filed 7–6–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2020–0266] 

Replacement Energy Cost Estimates 

for Nuclear Power Plants: 2020–2030 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: NUREG; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing NUREG– 

2242, ‘‘Replacement Energy Cost 

Estimates for Nuclear Power Plants: 

2020–2030.’’ This report updates 

previous estimates of replacement 

energy costs for potential shutdowns of 

U.S. nuclear electricity-generating units 

due to a temporary power reactor outage 

to implement safety modifications or the 

loss of generation associated with a 

possible severe reactor accident. The 

final NUREG largely, is unchanged from 

the draft issued for public comment but 

has been revised to reflect the recent 

change to retirement dates for Byron 

Units 1 and 2, and Dresden Units 2 and 

3. 

DATES: NUREG–2242 is available on July 

7, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2020–0266 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–2020–0266. Address 

questions about Docket IDs to Stacy 

Schumann; telephone: 301–415–0624; 

email: Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions, contact the 

individual 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 Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For 

problems with ADAMS, please contact 

the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) 

reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 

415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@

nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number 

for each document referenced (if it is 

available in ADAMS) is provided the 

first time that it is mentioned in this 

document. 

• Attention: The PDR, where you may 

examine and order copies of public 

documents, is currently closed. You 

may submit your request to the PDR via 

email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov or call 1– 

800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737, 

between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), 

Monday through Friday, except Federal 

holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Pamela Noto, Office of Nuclear Material 

Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415– 

6795, email: Pamela.Noto@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion 

The NRC has developed new 

replacement energy cost estimates for 

both short and long-term nuclear power 

plant outages. This NUREG–2242, 

‘‘Replacement Energy Cost Estimates for 

Nuclear Power Plants: 2020–2030’’ 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML21174A176), 

updates and replaces the replacement 

energy cost estimate information in 

NUREG/CR–4012, Volume 4, 

‘‘Replacement Energy Costs for Nuclear 

Electricity-Generating Units in the 

United States: 1997–2001,’’ and 

NUREG/CR–6080, ‘‘Replacement 

Energy, Capacity, and Reliability Costs 

for Permanent Nuclear Reactor 

Shutdowns’’ (ADAMS Accession Nos. 

ML20073J435 and ML20076F500). 

This report provides replacement 

energy costs that have been estimated 

for the U.S. electricity wholesale market 

regions with nuclear electricitygenerating units, over the 2020–2030 

period. These estimates were developed 

to assist the NRC in evaluating proposed 

regulatory actions that (1) require safety 

modifications that might necessitate 

temporary reactor outages and (2) 

reduce the potential for extended 

outages resulting from a severe reactor 

accident. Estimates were calculated 

using ABB’s PROMOD model and ICF’s 

Integrated Planning Model for North 

America. The models simulate 

dispatching a collection of generating 

units in merit order (i.e., lowest to 

highest incremental cost of dispatch) 

until the regional power demand is met. 

Each generating unit is characterized by 

the technology and fuel it uses to 

generate electricity, the unit’s heat rate, 

and the variable and fixed costs 

incurred in owning and operating the 

unit. To estimate the replacement 

energy cost, the report models a 

Reference Case, in which all operational 

nuclear power plants are generating, 

and an Alternative Case, in which a 

nuclear generating unit is taken offline 

so that the next unit in merit order is 

dispatched to replace the lost 

generation. The difference in market 

clearing prices between the two cases is 

the replacement energy cost. 

The resulting wholesale power price 

projections capture the dynamics and 

economics of the U.S. electricity 

markets that provide short and longterm replacement energy cost estimates 

on a market area basis. Factors that 

affect replacement energy costs include 

load growth, replacement sources of 

generation, fuel prices, air emission 

requirement outlooks and seasonal 

variations. 

II. Public Outreach 

Following development of the 

updated report, the NRC posted the 

draft NUREG–2242 to the Federal 

Rulemaking website at https://

www.regulations.gov for a 60-day public 

comment period (85 FR 82528; 

December 18, 2020). The comment 

period closed on February 16, 2021. The 

NRC received no comments on the draft 

NUREG. The NRC staff held a Category 

3 public meeting on November 18, 2020 

to discuss the updated replacement 

energy cost estimates. The NRC 

presentation can be found in ADAMS 

under Accession No. ML20322A003, 

and the meeting summary can be found 

in ADAMS under Accession No. 

ML20336A181. 

III. Backfitting, Forward Fitting, and 

Issue Finality 

The NRC’s issuance and use of this 

report do not constitute backfitting as 

that term is defined in Section 50.109 of 

title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Backfitting,’’ and 

as described in NRC Management 

Directive (MD) 8.4, ‘‘Management of 

Backfitting, Forward Fitting, Issue 

Finality, and Information Requests’’; do 

not affect the issue finality of an 

approval under 10 CFR part 52, 

‘‘Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals 

for Nuclear Power Plants’’ and do not 

constitute forward fitting as that term is 

defined and described in MD 8.4. 

Dated: June 30, 2021. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Kevin A. Coyne, 

Deputy Director, Division of Rulemaking, 

Environmental, and Financial Support. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14364 Filed 7–6–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 


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