The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted GE-Hitachi’s
application to extend the design certification of the companies’ Advanced
Boiling Water Reactor.
Its current certification ends next year, and a renewal
would extend it for 15 years.
“We are committed to ensure our ABWR design remains
certified for immediate commercial deployment as utilities evaluate their
energy priorities,” Jerald Head, senior vice president of regulatory affairs
for GEH, said in a release. “We look forward to working with the NRC to help
support a timely review of our application utilizing the NRC draft guidance
issued earlier this year.”
GEH made the announcement Wednesday. The accepted
application includes updates like an aircraft-impact assessment now required by
the NRC.
First certified in 1997, the 1,350-plus megawatt ABWR was
the first Generation III model approved for U.S. construction. While no
commercial reactors have been built domestically since then, the design has
been used at four plants in Japan. According to GEH, five more ABWRS are being
built in Japan and Taiwan.