AP1000 Design Certification Renewal

What it does

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to renew the AP1000 design certification and incorporate Revision 20 of the AP1000 design control document. The purpose of this rulemaking action is to update the AP1000 design to be consistent with changes made to the design during the licensing, construction, and operation of Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4. This rulemaking incorporates AP1000 design control document Revision 20, which includes updates made to the AP1000 design to represent a current, construction-validated design. The NRC is also issuing an environmental assessment supporting this rule.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

10 CFR 52

Compared with

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published 34 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 28 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

1 earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 3150-AL70 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• Oct. 14, 2026 Proposed rule and environmental assessment. AP1000 Design Certification Renewal

What happens next and when

The final rule is effective December 28, 2026, unless significant adverse comments are received by November 13, 2026. If the direct final rule is withdrawn as a result of such comments, timely notice of the withdrawal will be published in the Federal Register. (For more on NRC's consideration of comments received, see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.)

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket NRC-2026-2377 on Regulations.gov
• Title 10 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register