As part of the review, the NRC evaluated possible alternative uses of the South Carolina site, including the possible installation of natural gas, small modular reactors, a combination of natural gas and solar, or a combination of solar and nuclear. The final option would be not renewing the operating license.
The NRC staff found no adverse environmental impacts significant enough to stand in the way of the SLR application Dominion filed in August 2023.
Unit 1 is separate from the partially constructed Summer-2 and -3 nuclear reactor units that have been sitting at site since the project was abandoned in 2017.
Entergy meeting: The NRC will hold a regulatory conference May 21 to discuss with Entergy officials a proposed violation identified in a recent inspection of its Waterford nuclear plant in Killona, La. The April 9 report points to a problem with one of Waterford’s emergency diesel generators and is described as a preliminary “white” finding, which applies to a low to moderate safety significance that may require additional NRC inspections.
The meeting notice includes information on how the public can participate by phone or online and ask questions of NRC staff or provide comments.
Company representatives will provide their perspectives and additional information, including any actions planned or completed to prevent recurrence of the issues before the agency makes a final enforcement decision.
Safety performance webinar: Also on May 21, the NRC will hold a webinar to discuss the annual assessment of safety performance at nuclear plants in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania last year. Ultimately the NRC determined all 17 nuclear reactors in that region operated safely in 2024.
Plants in the Northeast to be discussed are owned by Constellation (Calvert Cliffs, Nine Mile Point, Limerick, and Peach Bottom); PSEG (Salem and Hope Creek), Talen (Susquehanna), and Vistra (Beaver Valley).
The NRC is planning a supplemental inspection at Susquehanna’s two units due to a failure to identify and correct an issue related to one of its emergency diesel generators. Also, the commission reported Calvert Cliffs-2 was under scrutiny last year due to unplanned shutdowns, but the issue was remedied and supplemental inspection was completed on April 18.
Annual assessment letters for each plant are posted on the NRC website.
The webinar will begin at 5:30 p.m. (EDT) on May 21. Participants can register to attend virtually via this online form.
