Opinion ID: 867750
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Reactor Design Certification

Text: Under 10 C.F.R. Part 52, Subpart B, a party may request a “standard design certification” for the approval of a nuclear power plant design. See 10 C.F.R. § 52.41. Once a design is certified through this generic process, a future applicant may rely on the already-approved design. See id. § 52.43(a). Design certification by NRC requires notice-and-comment rulemaking and culminates in publication in the Federal Register as a “design certification rule.” See id. § 52.54. When a proposed design certification rule is published, NRC’s associated EA is published for comment at the same 5 time. See id. § 51.31(b)(1). Because a reactor design is certified without reference to any specific plans for its construction, NRC has determined by rule that every proposed design certification or amendment requires only an EA, not a more comprehensive EIS. See id. §§ 51.31(b)(1)(i), 51.32(b)(1)-(2). The EA for a design certification addresses only one topic: the costs and benefits of any Severe Accident Mitigation Design Alternatives that were considered and not incorporated into the final design. See id. § 51.30(d). When a proposal is made to modify an approved design certification rule, the amendment may rely on the EA generated for the original design certification rule and need only consider (1) whether the proposed design change renders any previously rejected design alternatives cost-beneficial and (2) whether the design change results in the identification of any new design alternatives that necessitate a previously unperformed cost-benefit analysis. See id. § 51.30(d). In other words, modifications to the original EA are necessary only if the proposed design change amendment alters the cost-benefit calculus concerning any Severe Accident Mitigation Design Alternatives.