Home > Electronic Reading Room > Document Collections > News Releases > 1998 > III-98-029

	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532
	CONTACT:	Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663/e-mail: rjs2@nrc.gov
		Angela Greenman (630) 829-9662/e-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT: RIII-98-29

April 29, 1998

Dairyland Power Cooperative, owner of the plant, has no current plans to actively decommission the facility in the near future. When the plant shut down in 1987, Dairyland Power chose to keep the facility in long-term safe storage for approximately 30 to 50 years.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Viroqua High School, Large Lecture Hall in the Middle School Complex, 100 Blackhawk Drive, Viroqua, Wisconsin. Sheriff Geoffrey Banta of Vernon County, Wisconsin, will be moderator.

The meeting will include presentations by the NRC on the decommissioning regulatory process and by Dairyland Power on the status of La Crosse's decommissioning activities. A question and answer period will follow.

Before it was permanently shut down 11 years ago, the La Crosse reactor had operated for almost 20 years. The reactor fuel is currently stored on site in the plant's spent fuel pool.

Dairyland Power is conducting limited decontamination and dismantlement of equipment and systems that are no longer required to maintain the plant while it is in the safe storage condition.

Under NRC decommissioning regulations, utilities are permitted to immediately dismantle the plant or to place it in safe storage for a period of time before full dismantlement of the facility, provided certain regulations are met.

Two years before it is ready to terminate La Crosse's license, Dairyland Power is required to submit a final plan to NRC. This plan, among other things, must describe any remaining radioactivity on the site, the final radiation survey details and the site's planned end-use. NRC will hold a public meeting near the plant to discuss the utility's plans and receive public comments. There will also be an opportunity for a public hearing regarding the utility's license termination plans.

NRC, which has been conducting inspections at the La Crosse facility, will continue to do so during the decommissioning process. The agency will also independently evaluate the radiological condition of the plant site before the license is terminated.

In January, Dairyland Power submitted to the NRC a revised Decommissioning Plan on the status of La Crosse. This plan, which describes the plant's current status and other facility details, is available for public inspection at the La Crosse Public Library, 800 Main Street, in La Crosse, Wisconsin.