NRC DRAFT REPORT FINDS FORT CALHOUN
LICENSE RENEWAL ENVIRONMENTALLY ACCEPTABLE;
PUBLIC INPUT SOUGHT AT FEBRUARY MEETINGS
Printable Version

The information is contained in a draft environmental impact statement on the proposed license renewal. That document is open for public comment until April 10. The draft impact statement findings will also be the subject of public meetings on Wednesday, February 26. Two similar meetings will be held at the Days Hotel Carlisle, 10909 M Street in Omaha. There will be one session in the afternoon at 1:30 and one in the evening at 7:00. In addition, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour prior to each meeting. NRC staff members will be available to answer questions and provide additional information about the process during those informal sessions, but no comments on environmental issues will be accepted then.

The two sessions will begin with identical overviews, including a presentation by NRC staff and its contractors of the contents of the draft supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for license renewal. The meeting will then be opened for public comment.

For planning purposes, interested parties are encouraged to pre-register by contacting Jack Cushing of the NRC by telephone at (800) 368-5642, extension 1424, or by e-mail at Ft_Calhoun_EIS@nrc.gov Interested persons may also register to speak before the start of each session. Time for individual comments at the meetings may be limited to accommodate all speakers.

Written comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS will also be considered by NRC staff. Comments should be submitted 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, DC 20555-0001, or by Internet to Ft_Calhoun_EIS@nrc.gov

The NRC has been reviewing the application for extension of the Fort Calhoun license since Omaha Public Power District, which operates the plant, filed it in January 2002. 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 license for Fort Calhoun will expire on August 9, 2013.

The possible environmental effects of an additional 20 years of nuclear plant operation are described in the NRC’s Generic Environmental Impact Statement, or GEIS (NUREG-1437). The NRC issues a site-specific supplement to the GEIS on each plant requesting license renewal to address the potential environmental impacts. Issues specific to Fort Calhoun are addressed in Supplement 12. The NRC staff’s preliminary recommendation is that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for Fort Calhoun are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy-planning decision makers would be unreasonable.

The draft supplement to the GEIS and other related documents are available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room at NRC headquarters, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; or electronically on the Internet at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supplement12 In addition, the Blair Public Library, 210 South 17th Street in Blair, Nebraska, and the W. Dale Clark Library, 215 South 15th Street in Omaha have agreed to make the draft supplement to the GEIS available for public inspection.

At the conclusion of the public comment period the NRC staff will consider and address the comments provided and issue a final supplement to the GEIS. That supplement will contain a recommendation regarding the environmental acceptability for license renewal.

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Thursday, February 22, 2007