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Register entry No. 0009ReportCompany announcement (as reported)

NRC staff issues draft EA and finding of no significant impact for Duane Arnold restart, 91 FR 48951

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff made a preliminary determination that no environmental impact statement is needed for an exemption and three license amendments that would let NextEra return the Iowa reactor to power through February 2034. Comments are due September 2.

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Summary

The staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found that the environmental impacts of returning the Duane Arnold Energy Center to power would be “NOT SIGNIFICANT” in every resource area it examined, while leaving the reactor shut “could potentially be SIGNIFICANT” [1]. That contrast is the core of a draft environmental assessment and draft finding of no significant impact published August 3 at 91 FR 48951, under Docket No. 50-331 and Docket ID NRC-2026-1719 [1]. The staff’s preliminary determination is that no environmental impact statement is needed for the exemption and three license amendments NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC (NEDA) has requested, and comments are due September 2, 2026 [1].

What the record shows

The notice summarizes a draft assessment dated July 27, 2026, ADAMS Accession No. ML26159A001 [1]. Stephen Koenick, chief of the License Renewal Environmental Branch in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, signed it on July 28 [1]. The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing is a cooperating agency on the review [1].

The federal actions. The NRC defines its proposed actions as decisions on whether to grant or deny NEDA’s “interdependent, connected licensing and regulatory requests,” including later revisions or supplements, that are needed to reauthorize power operations and refueling at the single boiling water reactor in Linn County, Iowa [1]. Those requests are an exemption and three amendments to Renewed Facility License No. DPR-49 [1, 2]. The April notice lists the three amendment applications [2]:

  • November 20, 2025: revise the renewed license and its Appendix A technical specifications to support resumption of power operations (ML25324A300);
  • December 17, 2025: revise the Physical Security Plan and License Condition C.(5) (ML25363A083);
  • January 30, 2026: replace the plant’s emergency response plan and emergency action levels with the NextEra Common Emergency Plan and a site-specific annex (ML26033A048).

Stated need. The draft assessment frames the purpose as providing “610 megawatts-electric of baseload power generation capability through February 21, 2034” [1]. It cites NEDA’s reliance on a 25-year power purchase agreement signed in 2025 with Google to supply carbon-free energy to Google’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Iowa [1].

Resource areas. The staff reviewed land use and visual resources; meteorology, air quality and noise; surface water and groundwater; terrestrial and aquatic ecology, including federally protected species; historic and cultural resources; socioeconomics; radiological and nonradiological health; waste management; the uranium fuel cycle and transportation; and postulated accidents [1]. It also considered decommissioning impacts and greenhouse gas emissions, and found that projected climate change effects “would not alter any of the impact determinations” [1].

Alternatives. The staff concluded that no alternative meets the need for the proposed actions and that there is no environmentally preferable alternative [1]. The notice does not explain in its summary why the no-action alternative’s impacts could be significant [1].

Historic preservation. The NRC used its NEPA process to satisfy Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, as 36 CFR 800.8(c) allows, in place of the procedures at 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6 [1].

Where it sits in the process

Duane Arnold was first licensed on February 22, 1974 [1]. NEDA certified on August 27, 2020, that power operations had permanently ceased on August 10, 2020, and on October 12, 2020, that fuel had been permanently removed from the reactor vessel [2]. Once the NRC docketed those certifications, the license no longer authorized operating the reactor or placing fuel in it, under 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2) [1, 2]. A derecho that August damaged the plant’s cooling towers [8], and the reactor did not return to service [7].

NextEra and Google announced the purchase agreement in late October 2025 [7]. NextEra also signed agreements to acquire the 30 percent of the plant held by Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) and Corn Belt Power Cooperative, with CIPCO buying the remaining output on the same terms as Google, World Nuclear News reported [7]. The NRC approved that transfer by an order issued March 30, 2026, making NEDA the 100 percent owner of License No. DPR-49 and of the general license for the site’s spent fuel storage installation [3]. The order said the NRC received comments on the transfer but no hearing requests [3].

On April 22, the NRC noticed the three amendment requests with a proposed finding of no significant hazards consideration for each [2]. The same notice said that although the applications claimed a categorical exclusion applied, the staff was “not relying on a categorical exclusion” and would prepare an environmental assessment instead [2]. It set a 30-day comment window and a June 22 deadline for hearing requests [2]. The NRC said it was not publishing a hearing opportunity on the exemption request, consistent with the Atomic Energy Act [2].

At the state level, the Iowa Utilities Commission approved a generating certificate for the plant on June 18, with conditions that NextEra report on a final generator interconnection agreement and on the NRC licensing process, the Corridor Business Journal reported [8].

When could Duane Arnold restart?

NextEra is targeting the first quarter of 2029, according to the American Nuclear Society’s account of an April 14 NRC public meeting in Cedar Rapids [6]. At that meeting, NRC project manager Justin Poole said the agency would issue the bundle of licensing actions before January 2028, ANS reported [6]. The NRC’s restart web page says a final assessment and finding are expected in the fall, according to ANS [5].

The draft decision follows a similar preliminary finding about two months earlier for Constellation’s Crane site, formerly Three Mile Island Unit 1, ANS reported [5]. The NRC’s proposed overhaul of reactor licensing, including longer renewal terms, is a separate rulemaking that this site reported on in July; the Duane Arnold requests seek operation only through the existing 2034 expiration date [1].

What the record does not show

The safety findings. The draft assessment covers environmental effects only. The April notice stated that before any amendment issues, the NRC must make the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act and its regulations [2]. No safety evaluation for the restart amendments has been published.

The exemption itself. Neither Federal Register notice identifies which regulation the exemption request would waive, and the exemption was not open to a hearing request [1, 2].

The outcome of the hearing request. Physicians for Social Responsibility Iowa filed a hearing request on June 22, and the NRC established an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board of Administrative Judges Stefan R. Wolfe (chair), Sue H. Abreu and Gary S. Arnold [4]. The board had not ruled on the petition as of publication. Under the April notice, if the NRC makes a final no significant hazards consideration determination, an amendment may be issued and made immediately effective, with any hearing held afterward [2].

DOE’s role. The record names the Office of Energy Dominance Financing as a cooperating agency but does not describe the form, amount or status of any federal financing [1]. ANS described DOE as considering financial assistance for the project [5].

Whether an EIS will follow. The finding is a draft. After the comment period, the staff will either publish a final assessment and finding or proceed to prepare an environmental impact statement [1].

Positions on the record

NEDA’s position is set out in its applications: each amendment involves no significant hazards consideration, a view the NRC proposed to adopt in April [2]. NextEra has said Iowa customers “will not bear any costs associated with the power Google purchases from the facility,” according to World Nuclear News [7]. Google wrote that “Restarting a once fully operational plant is the fastest path to unlock large-scale nuclear power,” World Nuclear News reported [7].

At the April meeting, Barbra Solberg of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance said “the economic impact of the restart will be immense,” ANS reported [6].

Opposition has run through two forums. Physicians for Social Responsibility Iowa is the petitioner before the NRC board [4]. In the state proceeding, Beyond Nuclear attorney Wally Taylor said after the June 18 order that “Duane Arnold would be supplying power just to Google,” and that the group would likely ask the commission to reconsider, the Corridor Business Journal reported [8]. Comments on the draft assessment are due September 2 [1].

Reading-room questions

Questions readers bring to this record, answered from the documents cited below.

When are comments due on the Duane Arnold draft environmental assessment?
September 2, 2026, under Docket ID NRC-2026-1719 [1]. The NRC says it can ensure consideration only of comments received by that date [1].
Will the NRC prepare an environmental impact statement for the Duane Arnold restart?
Not under the staff's preliminary determination, which found impacts not significant in every resource area reviewed [1]. The staff will decide after the comment period whether to issue a final finding of no significant impact or prepare an EIS [1].
How long would Duane Arnold be allowed to operate if the NRC approves?
Through February 21, 2034, the expiration date of its existing renewed license, No. DPR-49 [1, 2]. The requests before the NRC do not extend that term [1].
When could Duane Arnold restart?
NextEra has targeted the first quarter of 2029, according to trade press [6, 7]. An NRC project manager said in April that the licensing actions would be issued before January 2028 [6].
Who is buying power from a restarted Duane Arnold?
Google, under a 25-year power purchase agreement signed in 2025, with Central Iowa Power Cooperative buying the rest of the output [1, 7, 8].

Note on sourcing

This report rests on the Federal Register summary of the draft environmental assessment and draft finding of no significant impact (ADAMS Accession No. ML26159A001, dated July 27, 2026), not on the full draft assessment, and on earlier NRC notices in Docket No. 50-331. The NRC documents give the plant's capacity as 610 megawatts-electric, while American Nuclear Society coverage and the Corridor Business Journal use 615 MWe. The two NRC notices also give different dates for the 2010 renewed license (December 10 and December 16). The contentions in the hearing request by Physicians for Social Responsibility Iowa, and any answers to it, are not described here. Restart timing and the terms of the Google agreement are as reported by the companies through trade and local press. The Department of Energy had not published terms of any financial assistance as of publication.

Sources

  1. NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC; Duane Arnold Energy Center; Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact, 91 FR 48951 (FR Doc. 2026-15629)Federal Register (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), August 3, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  2. NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC; Duane Arnold Energy Center; Applications for Amendments to Renewed Facility License Involving Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration Determination, 91 FR 21514 (FR Doc. 2026-07796)Federal Register (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), April 22, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  3. In the Matter of NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC; Central Iowa Power Cooperative; Corn Belt Power Cooperative; Duane Arnold Energy Center; Direct Transfer of Licenses, 91 FR 16989 (FR Doc. 2026-06498)Federal Register (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), April 3, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  4. NextEra Energy Duane Arnold, LLC; Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, 91 FR 39125 (FR Doc. 2026-13004)Federal Register (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), June 29, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  5. NRC issues draft EA/FONSI for Duane Arnold restartAmerican Nuclear Society (Nuclear News), August 4, 2026 · ans.org
  6. NRC shares Duane Arnold restart progress at public hearingAmerican Nuclear Society (Nuclear News), April 16, 2026 · ans.org
  7. Duane Arnold restart underpins NextEra Energy and Google collaborationWorld Nuclear News, October 28, 2025 · world-nuclear-news.org
  8. Iowa regulators clear key hurdle for Duane Arnold nuclear restart, but federal approvals remainCorridor Business Journal, June 18, 2026 · corridorbusiness.com

Subject headings

Cross-references

Other register entries filed under the same subject headings.

  1. No. 0027 · Rule · 2 shared headingsNRC renews AP1000 design certification by direct final rule, adopting Revision 20, 91 FR 65091
  2. No. 0019 · Report · 2 shared headingsNRC notices NextEra-Dominion application for indirect transfer of Dominion nuclear licenses, NRC-2026-4060
  3. No. 0016 · Report · 2 shared headingsNRC sets Sept. 22 mandatory hearing on Long Mott Xe-100 construction permit, 91 FR 53900