The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a preliminary recommendation supporting a combined licence for four planned Westinghouse AP1000 reactors in Texas, as part of Fermi America’s Project Matador.

Fermi America said that as part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process, NRC staff issued a preliminary recommendation in favour of issuing the project’s combined licences, subject to successful completion of the required safety review.

The American Nuclear Society (ANS) said the draft EIS process was the first of its kind, as it was completed as an accelerated environmental review pilot programme under the National Environmental Policy Act in which the applicant developed the draft under NRC supervision.