NRC approves Westinghouse exemption request for AP1000 DC

According to 10 CFR 52.57(a), an applicant can apply for renewal “not less than 12 nor more than 36 months before the expiration of the initial 40-year period.” Westinghouse’s renewal submittal in April comes well before the expiration of the AP1000 DC, which runs through 2046. The exemption request was granted June 24.

Why now: The application seeks to formally incorporate the lessons learned from the construction of Vogtle-3 and -4 into the DC of the AP1000. Renewing the DC and updating the extensive design certification document (DCD) now enables Westinghouse to keep moving forward on its plans to have 10 new AP1000s under construction by 2030. These plans received a boost in June when the Department of Energy announced $17.5 billion in conditional supply chain loans intended to help finance equipment procurements for five twin-unit AP1000 projects.

The revisions proposed by Westinghouse in the application establish Vogtle-4 as the standard AP1000 reference plant for U.S. deployment. According to Westinghouse, this change will accelerate new AP1000 combined license applications, enable a rapid fleet deployment, and generally leverage the time and cost savings achieved in the AP1000 deployment at Vogtle.

The exemption decision: According to the Federal Register notice posted on July 2, the NRC granted Westinghouse's exemption request to 10 CFR 52.57(a) after finding the following:

• The exemption is authorized by law.
• The exemption presents no undue risk to public health and safety.
• The exemption is consistent with common defense and security.
• And the commission’s consideration of the request came under special circumstances.

NRC staff noted that this exemption request is separate from Westinghouse’s DC renewal request and associated amendment request. According to the FR notice, NRC staff will now “undertake a detailed review of the AP1000 DC renewal application, including the amendment request, to determine whether the renewal application meets the applicable regulatory requirements such that the AP1000 DC can be renewed.”

The AP1000 DC was first certified in 2006, revised in 2011, and extended (along with every other currently valid design certification) in 2025.