NRC TO DISCUSS PROCESS FOR REVIEW OF LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION
FOR SUSQUEHANNA NUCLEAR PLANT, SEEKS ENVIRONMENTAL INPUT
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Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct two public meetings on Wednesday, Nov. 15, to discuss the agency’s review process for the license renewal application for the Susquehanna nuclear power plant, located in Salem Township (Luzerne County), Pa. The sessions will also provide an opportunity for members of the public to comment on environmental issues they believe the NRC should consider during its review of the application, which requests an additional 20 years of operation.

The meetings will be held at the Eagles Building, 107 S. Market St. in Berwick, Pa. (Directions to the building are available at: http://www.luzerne.edu/offcampus/Berwick/berwickdirections.asp .) The first session will begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session, which will offer the same presentation as the earlier one, will get under way at 7 p.m. and continue until 10 p.m., as needed.

Both meetings will begin with NRC staff presentations on how the overall license renewal review process, which includes safety and environmental assessments, will work. Following the presentations, attendees will be able to offer their comments.

“These meetings will afford interested citizens the chance to learn exactly what it is we look at when we perform these reviews,” NRC License Renewal Branch Chief Rani Franovich said. “What’s more, they will be able to call our attention to any environmental issues they think our review should include.”

The NRC will host an open house beginning 1 hour before the start of each meeting to give members of the public an opportunity to talk informally with agency staff. However, formal comments must be expressed during the transcribed meetings.

Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant has a term of 40 years. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current operating license for the Susquehanna Unit 1 reactor is due to expire on July 17, 2022, while the current license for Susquehanna Unit 2 has an expiration date of March 23, 2024.

PPL Susquehanna, LLC, submitted its license renewal application for the plant on Sept. 15 of this year. As part of its application, the company submitted an environmental report. A copy of the application is available via the NRC’s web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/susquehanna.html. In addition, the Berwick Public Library, located at 205 Chestnut St., Berwick, Pa., and the Mill Memorial Library, at 495 E. Main St., Nanticoke, Pa., have agreed to make the license renewal application available for public inspection.

An existing NRC document, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants” (NUREG-1437), assesses the scope of environmental impacts that would be associated with license renewal at any nuclear power plant site. The document for which the NRC will gather environmental comments at the Nov. 15th meetings will be a supplement to that report that is specific to the Susquehanna 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. 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.

The NRC staff will subsequently prepare a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) supplement for public comment and will hold a public meeting 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 arguments at the Nov. 15th meetings by contacting Alicia Mullins of the NRC at 1-800-368-5642, ext. 1224, by Nov. 13th. Those who wish to offer comments 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.

In addition, members of the public may send written comments on the environmental scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS to: Chief, Rules and Directive Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md., from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. To be considered, written comments should be postmarked or dropped off by Jan. 2, 2007. Electronic comments can also be sent via e-mail to SusquehannaEIS@nrc.gov, again no later than Jan. 2, 2007.

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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Thursday, February 22, 2007