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NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street, Suite 23T85, Atlanta, GA 30303

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS ON TURKEY POINT NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold public meetings on December 6 in Homestead, Florida, on the environmental review related to the application of Florida Power & Light to renew the operating licenses for both units at the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant 25 miles south of Miami. 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 meetings will be held at the Harris Field Complex-Homestead YMCA at 1034 Northeast 8^th Street in Homestead. There will be two similar sessions, one in the afternoon at 1:30 and one in the evening at 7:00.

For planning purposes, those who wish to attend or present oral comments at the meetings may register by contacting James Wilson of the NRC by telephone at (800) 368-5642, extension 1108, or by e-mail at TurkeyPointeis@nrc.gov no later than December 1. Interested persons may also register to speak before the start of each session. Individual comment time may be limited by the time available.

The meetings will include an overview and NRC staff 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 licenses for Turkey Point Units 3 and 4 (Units 1 and 2 are coal-fired units) will expire on July 19, 2012, and April 10, 2013, respectively. FPL submitted its application for license renewal in September.

As part of its application, FPL submitted an environmental report. That report is available for public review in the NRC Public Document Room at NRC headquarters, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. In addition, the Homestead Branch Library in Homestead, Florida, has agreed to make the ER available for public inspection. The application is also available on the NRC Web page at www.nrc.gov/NRC/REACTOR/LR/TURKEYPOINT/index.html.

An existing NRC document, "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear 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 NRC staff is gathering information at the December meeting for a supplement to the generic environmental impact statement that will be specific to the Turkey Point 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 conclusions and significant issues and will send a copy to interested persons who participated in the scoping process. The summary will also be available for public review at the Homestead Branch Library and will be accessible electronically through the NRC Public Electronic Reading Room found at www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html. Assistance in using the electronic reading room is available by calling the NRC Public Document Room at 301-415-4737.

The NRC staff will then prepare a draft environmental impact statement 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 Turkey Point-specific supplement to the generic environmental impact statement. Comments should be submitted by December 22, 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: TurkeyPointeis@nrc.gov.

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