Vistra Operations Company LLC; Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC; Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 1; License Amendment Request
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) is considering issuance of an amendment to Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-66, issued to Vistra Operation...
Opportunity to comment, request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) is considering issuance of an amendment to Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-66, issued to Vistra Operations Company LLC and Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC, for the operation of Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 1. The proposed amendment would revise the technical specifications to allow an alternative completion time for restoring equipment to accommodate repairs.
DATES:
Submit comments by July 20, 2026. Requests for a hearing or petitions for leave to intervene must be filed by August 17, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
You may submit comments by any of the following methods; however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website.
Federal Rulemaking Website:
Go to
https://www.regulations.gov
and search for Docket ID NRC-2026-3070. Address questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov
to Bridget Curran; telephone: 301-415-1003; email:
Bridget.Curran@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual(s) listed in the “For Further Information Contact” section of this document.
Mail Comments to:
Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN-5-A85, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see “Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments” in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dr. V. Sreenivas, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2597; email:
V.Sreenivas@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2026-3070 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly available information related to this action by any of the following methods:
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS):
You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select “Begin ADAMS Public Search.” For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737, or by email to
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The license amendment request and its supplement are available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML26146A267 and ML26161A366, respectively.
NRC's PDR:
The PDR, where you may examine and order copies of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov
or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking website (
https://www.regulations.gov). Please include Docket ID NRC-2026-3070 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov
as well as enter the comment submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of an amendment to Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-66, issued to Vistra Operations Company LLC and Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC, for the operation of Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 1, located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
The proposed amendment would revise the technical specifications for the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) to allow a single, one-time use of an alternative completion time for restoring a train of ECCS equipment to operable status when one or more trains are inoperable. The proposed amendment is needed for the licensee to conduct on-line repairs of a safety injection pump.
Before any issuance of the proposed license amendment, the NRC will need to make the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and NRC's regulations.
The NRC has made a proposed determination that the license amendment request involves no
( printed page 36884)
significant hazards consideration. Under the NRC's regulations in section 50.92 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), “Issuance of amendment,” this means that operation of the facility in accordance with the proposed amendment would not (1) involve a significant increase in the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated; or (2) create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated; or (3) involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety. As required by 10 CFR 50.91(a), the licensee has provided its analysis of the issue of no significant hazards consideration, which is presented below:
1. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant increase in the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated?
Response:
No.
The proposed change allows a one-time extended Completion Time from 72 hours to 12 days to restore one train of Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) to Operable. The proposed change does not affect accident initiators or precursors. The ECCS will remain capable of adequately responding to a design basis event or transient during the period that the note is invoked. A probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) was performed for this proposed change and determined that this has low risk.
Therefore, the proposed change does not involve a significant increase in the probability or consequences of an accident previously evaluated.
2. Does the proposed amendment create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident from any accident previously evaluated?
Response:
No.
The function of ECCS is to cool the core as well as provide additional shutdown capability following an accident. ECCS operation is not a precursor for any accident listed in Chapter 14 of the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report. The proposed change allows a one-time use extended Completion Time to return one train of ECCS to Operable. The function of the ECCS is maintained during the period that the note is invoked, and will continue to be operated in accordance with established station procedures.
Therefore, the proposed amendment does not create the possibility of a new or different kind of accident from any previously evaluated.
3. Does the proposed amendment involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety?
Response:
No.
The proposed amendment to extend the TS [technical specification] 3.5.2 Action A.1 Completion Time does not significantly reduce the margin of safety for accident mitigation. During the proposed maintenance, one train of ECCS will remain operable. Compensatory measures will be implemented to minimize nuclear safety risk.
To support a scheduled 4 day maintenance period, Vistra OpCo requests a Completion Time of 12 days. PRA analysis has determined a Completion Time of 12 days remains within the Regulatory Guide 1.177 criterion. Therefore, the proposed amendment does not involve a significant reduction in a margin of safety.
The NRC staff has reviewed the licensee's analysis and, based on this review, it appears that the three standards of 10 CFR 50.92(c) are satisfied. Therefore, the NRC staff proposes to determine that the license amendment request involves no significant hazards consideration.
The NRC is seeking public comments on this proposed determination that the license amendment request involves no significant hazards consideration. Any comments received within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice will be considered in making any final determination.
Normally, the Commission will not issue the amendment until the expiration of 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. The Commission may issue the license amendment before expiration of the 60-day notice period if the Commission concludes the amendment involves no significant hazards consideration. In addition, the Commission may issue the amendment prior to the expiration of the 30-day comment period if circumstances change during the 30-day comment period such that failure to act in a timely way would result, for example, in derating or shutdown of the facility. If the Commission takes action prior to the expiration of either the comment period or the notice period, it will publish in the
Federal Register
a notice of issuance. If the Commission makes a final no significant hazards consideration determination, any hearing will take place after issuance. The Commission expects that the need to take this action will occur very infrequently.
III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To Intervene
Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any person (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene (petition) with respect to the action. Petitions shall be filed in accordance with the Commission's “Agency Rules of Practice and Procedure” in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult 10 CFR 2.309. If a petition is filed, the Commission or a presiding officer will rule on the petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice in accordance with the filing instructions in the “Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)” section of this document. Petitions and motions for leave to file new or amended contentions that are filed after the deadline will not be entertained absent a determination by the presiding officer that the filing demonstrates good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i) through (iii).
If a hearing is requested and the Commission has not made a final determination on the issue of no significant hazards consideration, the Commission will make a final determination on the issue of no significant hazards consideration, which will serve to establish when the hearing is held. If the final determination is that the license amendment request involves no significant hazards consideration, the Commission may issue the amendment and make it immediately effective, notwithstanding the request for a hearing. Any hearing would take place after issuance of the amendment. If the final determination is that the license amendment request involves a significant hazards consideration, then any hearing held would take place before the issuance of the amendment unless the Commission finds an imminent danger to the health or safety of the public, in which case it will issue an appropriate order or rule under 10 CFR part 2.
A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof, may submit a petition to the Commission to participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h) no later than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice. Alternatively, a State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof, may participate as a non-party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
( printed page 36885)
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. The E-Filing process requires participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in some cases, to mail copies on electronic storage media, unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as further discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions is located in the “Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC” (ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056) and on the NRC's public website (
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html).
To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the Office of the Secretary by email at
Hearing.Docket@nrc.gov,
or by telephone at 301-415-1677, to: (1) request a digital identification (ID) certificate which allows the participant (or their counsel or representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the participant, or their counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is available on the NRC's public website (
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html). After a digital ID certificate is obtained and a docket is created, the participant must submit adjudicatory documents in the Portable Document Format. Guidance on submissions is available on the NRC's public website (
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html). A filing is considered complete at the time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date. Upon receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends the submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing system also distributes an email that provides access to the document to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are filed in order to obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic Filing Help Desk through the “Contact Us” link located on the NRC's public website (
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html), by email to
MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov,
or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such filings must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants. Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1), unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1).
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available on the NRC's public website (
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd), unless otherwise excluded pursuant to an order of the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID certificate as previously described, click “cancel” when the link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the NRC's electronic hearing docket where you will be able to access any publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket. Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone numbers in their filings unless an NRC regulation or other law requires submission of such information. With respect to copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.
For further details with respect to this action, see the application for license amendment dated May 26, 2026 (ADAMS Accession No. ML26146A267), as supplemented by letter dated June 10, 2026 (ADAMS Accession No. ML26161A366).
Attorney for licensee:
Roland G. Backhaus, Senior Counsel, Nuclear, Vistra Corp., 325 7th Street, NW, Suite 520, Washington, DC 20004.
Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.
91 FR 36883
Web Citation
Suggested Web Citation
Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.
“Vistra Operations Company LLC; Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC; Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 1; License Amendment Request,” thefederalregister.org (June 18, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-12233/vistra-operations-company-llc-energy-harbor-nuclear-generation-llc-beaver-valley-power-station-unit-no-1-license-amendme.