The U.S. nuclear regulatory body on May 1 said it will issue a direct final rule certifying the reactor type as “fully acceptable for U.S. use” for 15 years. “Absent adverse comments, the rule will become effective 30 days following publication in the Federal Register,” the NRC said.
The South Korean companies submitted a design certification application for the APR1400 in December 2014, and the NRC on Sept. 28, 2018 issued a final safety evaluation report and a standard design approval.
The APR1400 will be the NRC’s sixth certified reactor design. Others include the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor, System 80+, AP600, AP1000, and the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor. NRC staff is currently reviewing applications to certify two other designs: the U.S. Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor and the NuScale small modular reactor.
The APR1400 is a two-loop, evolutionary design, pressurized water reactor (PWR), which evolved from the OPR1000 Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant design and Combustion Engineering’s (now Westinghouse) System 80+ design. It was developed for use in South Korea.