The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a notice in the Federal Register this week seeking public comments on NextEra Energy’s three license amendment requests for the Duane Arnold Energy Center restart.
According to the Wednesday notice, comments must be submitted by May 22, while requests for hearings or petitions to intervene must be submitted by June 22.
NextEra Energy submitted license amendments that would restore the conditions in the operating license and restore the technical specifications, modify the emergency preparedness and security plan of the facility.
NRC said for each amendment request, it proposes to determine that they have no significant hazards consideration. This means that the proposed amendments would not increase the chance of an accident that was looked at when the plant operated before, or cause a new type of safety concern.
NRC staff said it will conduct an environmental review of the possible environmental effects of restarting the operations at Duane Arnold.
Duane Arnold, a 615-megawatt single boiling water reactor, shut down in 2020. NextEra Energy partnered up with Google in October 2025 to initiate plans to restart the Linn County, Iowa nuclear plant by 2029.
Duane Arnold’s operating license is slated to expire in February 2034.