NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
FOR THREE MILE ISLAND 1 LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION
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Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct a pair of public meetings on Thursday, May 1, to solicit public comments on possible environmental impacts of a proposed 20-year license extension for the Three Mile Island 1 nuclear power plant. AmerGen Energy Co., LLC, which owns and operates the Middletown (Dauphin County), Pa., facility, submitted a license renewal application for the facility to the NRC in January of this year.

The first session will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Elks Theatre, at 4 W. Emaus St. in Middletown. A second session, which will follow the same format as the first meeting, will get under way at 7 p.m. at the Londonderry Elementary School, at 260 Schoolhouse Road, Middletown. An NRC “open house” will be held 1 hour prior to the start of each meeting to provide interested members of the public with an opportunity to talk informally with agency staff. However, formal comments must be expressed during the transcribed meetings.

Both sessions will start with an overview and an NRC staff presentation on the environmental review process for license renewal applications. Following the presentation, audience members will be able to offer their comments on environmental issues they consider worthy of review as the agency reviews the Three Mile Island 1 application.

“There will be several opportunities for public participation during the course of our evaluation of the application. This is one such opportunity,” said Louise Lund, a Branch Chief in the NRC’s Division of License Renewal. “All of the comments we receive will be considered as we move forward with our review.”

Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant has a term of 20 years. This license term was selected on the basis of economic and anti-trust considerations, not technical limitations. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 40 years, provided that NRC requirements are met. The current operating license for Three Mile Island 1 is due to expire on April 19, 2014.

AmerGen’s license renewal application for Three Mile Island 1 was received by the NRC on Jan, 8, 2008. As part of the application, the company submitted an environmental report, which is posted on the NRC’s web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/three-mile-island.html. It is also available for review at the NRC’s Public Document Room in Rockville, Md., which can be reached by phone at 1-800-397-4209 or by e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov, and at the following public locations: the Londonderry Township Municipal Building, 738 S. Geyers Church Road, Middletown; the Middletown Public Library, 20 N. Catherine St., Middletown; and the Penn State Harrisburg Library, 351 Olmstead Drive, Middletown.

An existing NRC document, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants” (NUREG-1437), assesses the scope and impact of environmental effects that would be associated with license renewal at any nuclear power plant site. The document for which the NRC will gather information at the May 1st meetings will be an environmental impact statement to be prepared by the NRC that will be specific to Three Mile Island 1. It will contain a recommendation regarding the environmental acceptability of the license renewal action.

At the conclusion of the information-gathering process, the NRC staff will prepare a summary of the conclusions reached and significant issues identified. A copy will be sent to each person who participated in the “scoping” process. The summary will also be available on the NRC’s web site through the Public Electronic Reading Room at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the libraries previously listed. Help in accessing documents through the Reading Room is available by contacting the NRC’s Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or by e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov.

The NRC staff will subsequently prepare a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) supplement for public comment and will hold public meetings at a future date to solicit comments. After consideration of comments on the draft report, the NRC will prepare a final EIS supplement.

Interested individuals may register to attend or present oral comments at the May 1st meetings by contacting Sarah Lopas, a Project Manager for the Three Mile Island 1 application, at 1-800-368-5642, ext. 1147, or by e-mail at SLL2@nrc.gov no later than April 24. Those who wish to comment may also register at the meetings within 15 minutes of the start of each session. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who register.

Additional information on the license renewal process is available on the NRC’s web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/license-renewal-bg.html and http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html.

NRC news releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site.

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Friday, April 18, 2008