NRC: News Release - 2008-230 - NRC Accepts application for New Reactor at Bell Bend


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NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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No. 08-230

December 22, 2008

NRC ACCEPTS APPLICATION FOR NEW REACTOR AT BELL BEND
Printable Version

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review the combined license (COL) application for an Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) at the Bell Bend site near Berwick, Pa.

PPL Bell Bend submitted the application and associated information Oct. 13. The application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/bell-bend.html.

PPL Bell Bend is seeking approval to build and operate an EPR at the site, approximately seven miles northeast of Berwick. The EPR is an Areva-designed pressurized water reactor, with a nominal output of approximately 1,600 megawatts of electricity. Areva filed its application Dec. 11, 2007, to certify the design. A version of the EPR is currently under construction at the Olkiluoto site in Finland and at Flamanville, France. The EPR application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/epr.html.

Docketing the Bell Bend application does not indicate whether the Commission will approve or reject the license request. The NRC has established docket number 52-039 for this application, and the agency will publish soon a notice of opportunity to intervene in the required adjudicatory hearing. Petitions to intervene in a hearing may be filed within 60 days of the notice, by anyone whose interest may be affected by the proposed license and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding. More information on the hearing process is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html.

Information about the new reactor licensing process is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors.html.

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