NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS ON SURRY
NUCLEAR STATION LICENSE RENEWAL

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold public meetings on September 19 in Surry, Virginia, on the environmental review related to the application of Virginia Electric & Power Company (Virginia Power) to renew the operating licenses for both units of the Surry nuclear power plant near Surry, Virginia. 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 in the Combined District Court Room in the Surry County Government Center, 45 School Street, Surry, Virginia. There will be two similar sessions, one in the afternoon from 1:30 until 4:30 p.m. and one in the evening from 7:00 until 10:00 p.m. In addition, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour prior to each meeting. No comment submittals on environmental issues will be accepted during the informal discussions.

For planning purposes, those who wish to attend or present oral comments at the meetings may register by contacting Andrew J. Kugler of the NRC by telephone at (800) 368-5642, extension 2828, or by e-mail at ajk1@nrc.gov no later than September 11. Interested persons may also register to speak at the meeting 15 minutes 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 Surry Units 1 and 2 will expire on May 25, 2012, and January 29, 2013, respectively. Virginia Power submitted its application for license renewal on May 29, 2001.

As part of its application, Virginia Power 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 Gregg Earl Swem Library at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg has agreed to make the report available for public inspection. The application is also available on the NRC Web page at www.nrc.gov/NRC/REACTOR/LR/dominion/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 September meeting for a supplement to the generic environmental impact statement that will be specific to the Surry 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 Gregg Earl Swem Library at the College of William and Mary and will be accessible electronically through the NRC Public Electronic Reading Room at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Assistance in using the electronic reading room is available by calling the NRC Public Document Room at 301-415-4737 or (800) 368-5642, extension 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 Surry-specific supplement to the generic environmental impact statement. Comments should be submitted by October 15, 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: SurryEIS@nrc.gov.

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Thursday, February 22, 2007