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Environmental Impact of Reactor License Renewal
The NRC has responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which calls for a review of the environmental impact of reactor license renewal.
On this page:
- Contents of an Application
- Rules and Regulations (10 CFR Part 51)
- License Renewal Process
- Environmental Guidance
- Information Gathering
- Team Expertise
- Analysis Approach
- How Impacts Are Quantified
- GEIS Structural Attribute
- Application Process - Environmental Review
- Review Milestone
- Environmental Review
Contents of an Application
- Environmental Report Supplement (10 CFR 54.23)
- Submit supplement in compliance with 10 CFR Part 51, Subpart A
Rules and Regulations (10 CFR Part 51)
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires Federal agencies to use a systematic approach to consider environmental impacts
- Atomic Enery Act
- Energy Reorganization Act
- National Environmental Policy Act
- Other Statutes
- Commission has determined that an environmental impact statement will be prepared for a license renewal action
License Renewal Process
- Application Received - Month 0
- Notice of Intent - Month 3
- Scoping Meeting - Month 4
- Environmental Review Site Audit - Month 4
- Requests for Additional Information (RAI) - Month 6
- Draft Supplement Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) - Month 11
- Final SEIS - Month 19
For additional information, see License Renewal Process.
Environmental Guidance
- USNRC Regulatory Guides 4.2 (NUREG-0099), Content of Environmental Reports, and Reactor Site Criteria 4.7
- NUREG-1555, Environmental Standard Review Plan
- Volumes
1 and 2
for CP, ESP, OL, and COL
- Supplement 1 for license renewal
Information Gathering
The following diagram shows how a Draft Supplement Environmental Impact Statement is derived.
![](introduction-graphics/draft-seis.gif)
Team Expertise
For the review, the Environmental PM or EPM establishes a team made up of the NRC staff, supplemented by experts in various fields from labs like Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
![](introduction-graphics/team-expertise.jpg)
Analysis Approach
![](introduction-graphics/analysis-approach.gif)
For additional information, see Detail Analysis Approach.
How Impacts Are Quantified
NRC-defined impact levels that are consistent with the Council on Environmental Quality guidance for NEPA analysis:
- Small: Effect is not detectable or too small to destabilize or noticeably alter any important attribute of the resource
- Moderate: Effect is sufficient to alter noticeably, but not destabilize, important attributes of the resource
- Large: Effect is clearly noticeable and sufficient to destabilize important attributes of the resource
GEIS Structural Attribute
Categorization of Issues
- Category 1 criteria:
- Impacts apply to all plants or, for some issues, to plants having a specific type of cooling system or other specified plant or site characteristic
- Single significance level (i.e., small, moderate or large) assigned to the impacts with two exceptions (certain fuel cycle impacts)
- Additional plant-specific mitigation measures not likely to be sufficiently beneficial to warrant implementation
- Category 2 criteria:
- One or more Cat-1 criteria cannot be met
Ninety-two issues considered for refurbishment and renewal
- 69 Category 1 Issues - NRC Generically Resolved
- 21 Category 2 Issues - Addressed in Application
- Two Uncategorized Issues - Addressed by NRC
Detailed List: 92 issues in GEIS
Application Process - Environmental Review
- Environmental Report (ER) submitted with
application
- Cat-1 Issues: Applicant not required to include analysis of impacts nor required to consider mitigation
- Cat-2 Issues: Applicant required to include analysis and required to consider mitigation alternatives
- Applicant required to include any known new and significant information on Cat-1 environmental impact issues to ensure Cat-1 conclusions are valid for current application
Postulated Accidents
- Design-Basis Accidents
- Severe Accidents
- Severe Accidents Mitigation Alternatives (SAMAs)
For additional information, see SAMA Evaluation Process.
Review Milestone
- Scoping and Comment Period
- Issue draft Supplement Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS)
- Issue final SEIS
For additional information, see Review Milestone.
Environmental Review
Take the Review.