Home > Electronic Reading Room > Document Collections > News Releases > 2000 > IV-00-06

NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011

NRC to Hold Public Meetings on Arkansas Nuclear One License Renewal

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold public meetings April 4 in Russellville, Arkansas, on the environmental review related to the application of Entergy Operations, Inc. to renew its operating license for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1. Members of the public are invited to attend and comment on environmental issues the NRC should consider in its review of the proposed license renewal.

The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Russellville, Intersection of I-40 and Scenic Highway 7. Two similar sessions will be held, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The first will be from 1:30 to 5 p.m., and the second will be from 7 to 10 p.m.

Those who wish to attend or present oral comments at the April 4 meeting may register by contacting Thomas Kenyon by telephone at (800) 368-5642, extension 415-1120, or by Internet at "anoeis@nrc.gov" no later than noon on March 27. Registration will also take place at the Holiday Inn meeting site within 15 minutes of the start of each session. The opportunity for late-registering individuals to provide comments may be limited by the time available.

The meetings will begin with an overview. The NRC staff will give a presentation on the environmental process related to license renewal, after which members of the public will be given the opportunity to present their comments on what environmental issues the NRC should consider during its review.

Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant is issued for up to 40 years. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current operating license for ANO Unit 1 will expire on May 20, 2014. Entergy submitted its application for license renewal in January.

As part of its application, Entergy submitted an environmental report. That report is available for public review at the NRC Public Document Room located at 2120 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. In addition, the Pendergraft Library, located at Arkansas Tech University, 305 West Q Street, Russellville, AR 72801, has also agreed to make the ER available for public review.

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. NRC is gathering information at the April meeting for a supplement to the generic environmental impact statement that will be specific to the Arkansas plant. 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, and will send a copy to each person who participated. The summary will also be available for public review in the NRC public document room in Washington, D.C., and at the Pendergraft Library in Russellville.

The NRC staff will then prepare a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) supplement for public comment and will hold a public meeting to solicit comments. After consideration of comments received on the draft, the NRC will prepare a final EIS supplement.

Members of the public may also submit written comments on the scope of the ANO-specific supplement to the generic environmental impact statement. Comments should be submitted by May 9, either by mail to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Mail stop T-6-D-59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 or by Internet to the same address as above: anoeis@nrc.gov .

# # # #