§ 53.1470 — Standardization of commercial nuclear plant designs: licenses to construct and operate nuclear power reactors of identical design at multiple sites.

§ 53.1470 Standardization of commercial nuclear plant designs: licenses to construct and operate nuclear power reactors of identical design at multiple sites.

(a) Except as otherwise specified in this section, the provisions of this section apply to CP, OL, and COL applications for commercial nuclear plants of identical design (the “common design”) under this part.

(b) Each application for a CP, OL, or COL submitted pursuant to this section must be submitted as specified in § 53.1300, § 53.1360, or § 53.1410, respectively, and § 2.101 of this chapter. Each application must state that the applicant wishes to construct a facility identical to a facility proposed for one or more sites other than the applicant's (the “common design”), and the applicant wishes to have the application considered under this section. Each application must list each of the other applications to be treated together under this section or specify that such other applications will be submitted to the NRC within 12 months of submittal of the first application.

(c) Each application must include the information required by the applicable sections of this subpart, provided, however, that the application must identify the common design, and, if applicable, reference a standard design certification or standard design approval under this part, or the use of a reactor manufactured under this part. The FSAR for each application must either incorporate by reference or include the final safety analysis of the common design, including, if applicable, the FSAR for the referenced standard design certification, standard design approval, or the manufactured reactor.

(d) Each application submitted pursuant to this section must contain an environmental report under § 53.1312(a)(1), § 53.1372(a), or § 53.1419(a)(1), as applicable, that complies with the applicable provisions of 10 CFR part 51, provided, however, that the application may incorporate by reference a single environmental report on the environmental impacts of the common design that are applicable to each site.

(e) Upon a determination that each application is acceptable for docketing under § 2.101 of this chapter, each application will be docketed and a notice of docketing for each application will be published in the Federal Register, under § 2.104 of this chapter, provided, however, that the notice must state that the application will be processed under the provisions of this section and subpart D of 10 CFR part 2. At the discretion of the Commission, a single notice of docketing for multiple applications may be published in the Federal Register.

(f) The NRC must prepare an environmental assessment or draft and final environmental impact statements for each of the applications under 10 CFR part 51. Scoping under §§ 51.28 and 51.29 of this chapter for each of the license applications may be conducted simultaneously and joint scoping may be conducted with respect to the environmental issues relevant to the common design. If the applications reference a standard design certification, then the environmental assessment or environmental impact statement for each of the applications must incorporate by reference the standard design certification environmental assessment. If the applications do not reference a standard design certification, then the NRC must prepare environmental assessments or draft and final supplemental environmental impact statements which address severe accident mitigation design alternatives for the common design, which must be incorporated by reference into the environmental assessment or environmental impact statement prepared for each application. Scoping under §§ 51.28 and 51.29 of this chapter for the supplemental environmental impact statement may be conducted simultaneously and may be part of the scoping for each of the applications.

(g) The ACRS must report on each of the applications as required by the applicable sections of this subpart. Each report must be limited to those safety matters for each application that are not relevant to the common design. In addition, the ACRS must separately report on the safety of the common design, provided, however, that the report need not address the safety of a referenced standard design certification or reactor manufactured under this part.

(h) If the design for the power reactor(s) proposed in a particular application is not identical to the others, that application may not be processed under this section and subpart D of 10 CFR part 2.

(i) As used in this section, the design of a nuclear power reactor included in a single referenced Safety Analysis Report means the design of those SSCs important to radiological health and safety and the common defense and security.

[91 FR 15794, Mar. 30, 2026, as amended at 91 FR 20068, Apr. 15, 2026]