The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public input on a draft environmental assessment and draft finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the former Three Mile Island reactor restart.
NRC published a notice in the Federal Register on Monday and requested that comments be submitted by July 8.
NRC is currently evaluating the foreseeable environmental effects from the proposed restart of the former Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor, now referred to as the Crane Clean Energy Center. According to the notice, the agency is considering issuance of an exemption and three license amendments that were requested by Constellation Energy Generation to support the possible restart of the plant.
NRC published a notice of opportunity to request a hearing and a petition for leave to intervene was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 24 for the three license amendment requests. The license amendment requests support the reauthorization of the Crane reactor which is licensed to operate through April 19, 2034.
The agency has since prepared a draft environmental assessment and draft FONSI, which based on preliminary examination, the possible restart of Crane is not seen to have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment, NRC said.
“Therefore, the NRC staff has made the preliminary determination that it will not prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed actions and that a FONSI is warranted,” NRC said in the notice.
Additionally, the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing is a cooperating agency on the draft environmental assessment. DOE’s financial office approved a $1 billion loan in November 2025 to help support Constellation’s efforts to restart the Crane reactor.
“The DOE EDF’s proposed action is a decision on providing federal financial assistance (a loan guarantee) for refueling and resumption of power operations at the CCEC,” according to the notice.