The Nuclear Regulatory Commission anticipates several applications from plant operators to uprate reactor units over the next couple of years, NRC staff said Thursday.
Energy demand is growing due to factors such as artificial intelligence, data centers and manufacturing. As a result, NRC staff said during an Oct. 22 joint meeting it is making efforts to work through its reviews in a more timely manner..
During the joint meeting with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and NRC, Mahmoud Jardaneh, director of division of licensing projects under the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, told both agencies to expect over 30 applications to come in over the next five years. Several uprate applications are anticipated as early as 2027.
These uprates have the capability to add up to 2,400 megawatts of new nuclear energy capacity to the grid, Jardaneh said. There are three types of uprates: measurement uncertainty recapture, stretch power and extended power uprates.
A measurement uncertainty recapture uprate offers an increase of up to 2% of new power, with NRC aiming to complete such reviews within six months, Jardaneh said. The stretch power uprate’s review time should take around nine months and offers a power increase anywhere from 2% to 7%. An extended power uprate could offer a 7% to 20% increase and will be a year-long review.
Proposed changes to NRC’s review timeline for reactor power uprates were one of many things called for in President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14300, NRC’s Jen Whitman said during her presentation.
NRC staff also see shuttered reactors seeking to revive their operations and bring back lost nuclear capacity to the grid. Jardaneh said NRC staff expects to meet its review dates of March 2027 for the former Three Mile Island Unit 1, now referred to as Crane Clean Energy Center, in Pennsylvania and January 2028 for the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa.
NRC issued several license approvals needed to reauthorize power operations at Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan in July 2025.
The recommissioning of the three nuclear power plants would revive 2,200 megawatts of idle nuclear power generation. FERC Commissioner David Rosner said FERC is aware of the restart projects as many have submitted several filings to free up their rights to connect to the grid.
Capacity interconnection rights are rights to permit a power generator to input electricity into a transmission system at a specific point of generation.
Duane Arnold transferred interconnection rights from an on-site solar plant for its restart, while Crane transferred interconnection rights from Constellation’s retiring Eddystone fossil fuel plant. Companies can use the transfer of capacity interconnection rights from retiring or deactivated generators to bypass FERC’s interconnection study process and come online sooner, FERC’s Jason Feuerstein said during the meeting.
