NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
FOR PROPOSED MILLSTONE NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL
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Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct two public meetings on Tuesday, May 18, on the environmental review related to the application submitted by Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., to renew the operating licenses for its Millstone 2 and 3 nuclear power plants in Waterford, Conn. 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.

There will be two sessions held that day in the auditorium at Waterford Town Hall, 15 Rope Ferry Road in Waterford. The first session will begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 4:30 p.m. The second session, which will be a repeat of the first session, will get under way at 7 p.m. and continue until 10 p.m. The NRC will host an open house beginning one hour before the start of each meeting to provide members of the public with an opportunity to talk informally with agency staff. However, formal comments must be expressed during the transcribed meetings.

Both sessions will begin with an overview and an NRC staff presentation on the environmental review process for license renewal. After the NRC presentation, members of the public will be given the opportunity to present their comments on environmental issues they believe the NRC should consider during its review.

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 Millstone 2 is due to expire on July 31, 2015, while the current operating license for Millstone 3 is scheduled to terminate on November 25, 2025. (The Millstone Unit 1 reactor has been permanently shut down since July 1998.)

Dominion submitted its license renewal application on January 22 of this year. As part of its application, the company submitted an environmental report. The application can be reviewed via the NRC’s web site at: www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/millstone.html. In addition, the document is available for review at the following libraries:

• The Waterford Public Library, 49 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford; and
• The Thames River Campus Library at Three Rivers Community College, 574 New London Turnpike, Norwich, Conn.

An existing NRC document, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power 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 document for which the NRC will gather information at the May 18th meetings will be a supplement to that generic environmental statement that is specific to Millstone. 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 through the Public Electronic Reading Room at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the previously mentioned libraries. Help in accessing documents through the Reading Room is available by contacting the NRC’s Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or by e-mail at pdr.resource@nrc.gov.

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 comments at the May 18th meetings by contacting Richard L. Emch, Jr., at 1-800-368-5642, ext. 1590, or Jennifer Davis at 1-800-368-5642, ext. 3835, or by e-mail at MillstoneEIS@nrc.gov by May 14. 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-6 D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. Comments may also be delivered to the NRC, Room T-6 D59, 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 June 4. Electronic comments can also be sent via e-mail to MillstoneEIS@nrc.gov, again no later than June 4.

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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Tuesday, December 09, 2008