NRC ANNOUNCES OPPORTUNITY TO REQUEST A HEARING ON
OPERATING LICENSE APPLICATION FOR WATTS BAR 2 NUCLEAR REACTOR
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced the opportunity for the public to request a hearing on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) updated application for an operating license for the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor near Spring City, Tenn.

TVA originally submitted the application and associated information on June 30, 1976, for both Units 1 and 2. TVA completed Unit 1 and the NRC issued a full-power operating license in 1996. TVA deferred completion of Unit 2 at that time, and the company has now restarted construction and the NRC has resumed its review. TVA updated its original application in a March 4 letter.

The application, minus proprietary or security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/plant-specific-items/watts-bar.html. TVA seeks approval to operate a second Westinghouse-designed pressurized-water reactor at the site, approximately 50 miles northeast of Chattanooga, Tenn. The docket number established for this application is 50-391.

The NRC staff provided background information on the licensing and hearing process during a December 2008 public meeting held in Harriman, Tenn. The NRC has published the notice in the Federal Register http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-10043.pdf, which provides an opportunity to request a hearing on the application, with a filing deadline of June 30. Petitions may be filed by anyone whose interest may be affected by the proposed license and who meets criteria set out in the NRC’s regulations. More information on the hearing process is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html.

A request for a hearing must be electronically submitted in a timely manner to the NRC's Electronic Information Exchange (EIE) system. The request must be filed in accordance with the NRC's E-Filing Rule that appeared in the Federal Register on Aug. 28, 2007 (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-16898.pdf). Additional guidance and instructions regarding electronic submissions to the NRC EIE system are available on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.

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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Friday, May 01, 2009