ML072010123

09/27/2007, Forthcoming Meeting Public Meeting to Discuss Environmental Scoping for Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2 License Renewal Application Review

ML072010123
Person / Time
Site:	Vogtle
Issue date:	08/29/2007
From:	Ashley D, Leous J NRC/NRR/ADRO/DLR/REBB, NRC/NRR/ADRO/DLR/RLRA
To:	Rani Franovich, Louise Lund NRC/NRR/ADRO/DLR/REBB, NRC/NRR/ADRO/DLR/RLRA
Leous, JP, DLR/REBB 301-415-2864
References
Download: ML072010123 (13)

Text

August 29, 2007MEMORANDUM TO:Louise Lund, Branch ChiefLicense Renewal Branch A Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor RegulationRani Franovich, Branch ChiefEnvironmental Branch B Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor RegulationFROM: Justin P. Leous, Project Manager /RA/Environmental Branch B Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor RegulationDonnie Ashley, Project Manager /RA/License Renewal Branch A Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT:

FORTHCOMING MEETING TO DISCUSS ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING FOR VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION REVIEW DATE AND TIME: Thursday, September 27, 2007 (Two Identical Meetings)First Meeting: 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (as necessary)Second Meeting: 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. (as necessary)LOCATION: Augusta Technical College, Waynesboro CampusAuditorium 216 Highway 24 South Waynesboro, GA 30830CATEGORY 3:* This is a Category 3 Meeting. The public is invited to participate in this meeting by providing comments and asking questions throughout the meeting.CONTACT: J.P. Leous, NRR301-415-2864 JPL1@nrc.govDonnie Ashley, NRR 301-415-3191DJA1@nrc.gov* Commission's Policy Statement on "Enhancing Public Participation in NRC Meetings," 67 FederalRegister 36920, May 28, 2002.

L. Lund, et al.-2-PURPOSE: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received a licenserenewal application (LRA) from Southern Nuclear Operating Company, dated June 27, 2009, for the renewal of the operating licenses for the Vogle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss the environmental scoping process for the LRA review. These meetings are being conducted as part of the scoping process outlined in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 51(10 CFR Part 51) to support the development of an environmental impact statement. These meetings will provide members of the public with the opportunity to provide comments regarding environmental issues that the NRC should consider during its review. Both meetings will be preceded by an informal

?open house" beginningone hour prior to each meeting. The open house will provide members of the public with an opportunity to talk informally with NRC staff. Members of the public may register to present oral comments at the meetings by contacting J.P. Leous at 1-800-368-5642, ext. 2864, or via e-mail Vogtle_LR_EIS@nrc.gov by August 29, 2007. Those who wish to make comments may also register within 15 minutes of the start of each meeting. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who register.The agenda for the meeting and Federal Register notice (72 FR 49322)are enclosed. The LRA and information on the license renewal process are available on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html

.PARTICIPANTS: Participants from the NRC include members of the Office of NuclearReactor Regulation (NRR) and members who register to speak.NRC / NRREarth TechJ.P. LeousBobbie Hurley Eric Benner Christian Jacobs et al.Docket Nos. 50-424 and 50-425

Enclosures:

1. Agenda

2. Federal Register Noticecc w/encls: See next page

ML072010123OFFICEPM:REBB:DLRLA:DLRPM:RLRBBC:REBB:DLRBC:RLRBNAMEJ.P. LeousI. KingD. AshleyR. FranovichL. Lund DATE07/23/0707/23/0707/24/0707/30/0708/29/07 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING PROCESSVOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATIONAugusta Technical College, Waynesboro CampusWaynesboro, GAAGENDASeptember 27, 2007Two Identical Meetings* (1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.)I.Welcome and Purpose of Meeting 10 minutes **II.Overview of the Environmental Review Process15 minutes III.Public CommentsAs Needed IV. Closing/Availability of Transcript5 minutes*The NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour prior to each meeting session. No formalcomments on the proposed scope of the environmental impact statement will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed publicmeetings or in writing, as described in the enclosed Federal Register notice.** Times in this agenda are approximates. 7590-01-PUNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONSOUTHERN NUCLEAR OPERATING COMPANYVOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2NOTICE OF INTENT TO PREPARE AN ENVIRONMENTALIMPACT STATEMENT AND CONDUCT SCOPING PROCESSDOCKET NOS. 50-424 and 50-425Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) has submitted an application for renewal ofFacility Operating Licenses Nos. NPF-68 and NPF-81 for an additional 20 years of operation at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP), Units 1 and 2. VEGP is located outside of Waynesboro, Georgia. The current operating licenses for the VEGP, Units 1 and 2, expire on January 16, 2027,and February 9, 2029, respectively. The application for renewal, dated June 27, 2007 was submitted pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 54. A noticeof receipt and availability of the application, which included SNC's environmental report (ER),

was published in the Federal Register on August 3, 2007 (72 FR 43296). A notice ofacceptance for docketing of the application for renewal of the facility operating license was published in the Federal Register on August 21, 2007 (72 FR 46680). The purpose of thisnotice is to inform the public that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) related to the review of the license renewal application and to provide the public an opportunity to participate in the environmental scoping process, as defined in 10 CFR 51.29. In addition, as outlined in 36 CFR 800.8, ?Coordinationwith the National Environmental Policy Act," the NRC plans to coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act in meeting the requirements of theNational Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, SNC submitted the ER as partof the application. The ER was prepared pursuant to 10 CFR Part 51 and is publicly available at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). The ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room is accessible athttp://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The Accession Number for the ER isML071840357. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC's PDR reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or via e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov. The ER mayalso be viewed on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/vogtle.html. In addition,the ER is available for public inspection near VEGP at the Burke County Library, 130 Highway 24 South, Waynesboro, Georgia 30830. This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the information necessaryto prepare a plant-specific supplement to the Commission's

?Generic Environmental ImpactStatement (GEIS) for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants," (NUREG-1437) related to the review of the application for renewal of the VEGP, Units 1 and 2, operating licenses for an additional 20 years. Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources. The NRC is required by 10 CFR 51.95 to prepare a supplement to the GEIS in connection with the renewal of an operating license. This notice is being published in accordance with NEPA and the NRC's regulations found in 10 CFR Part 51.

The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft supplement to the GEIS for public comment. Participation in the scoping process by members of the public and local, State, Tribal, andFederal government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:d.Define the proposed action which is to be the subject of the supplement to the GEIS.

e.Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify the significantissues to be analyzed in depth.f.Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are peripheral or that arenot significant.g.Identify any environmental assessments and other ElSs that are being or will beprepared that are related to, but are not part of, the scope of the supplement to the GEIS being considered.h.Identify other environmental review and consultation requirements related to theproposed action.i.Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation of the environmentalanalyses and the Commission's tentative planning and decision-making schedule.j.Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate assignments forpreparation and schedules for completing the supplement to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies.k.Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared, and include anycontractor assistance to be used.The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:a.The applicant, SNC.

b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect toany environmental impact involved, or that is authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards. c.Affected State and local government agencies, including those authorized to developand enforce relevant environmental standards.d.Any affected Indian tribe.

e.Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to participate in thescoping process.f.Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave to intervene.In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26, the scoping process for an EIS may include apublic scoping meeting to help identify significant issues related to a proposed activity and to determine the scope of issues to be addressed in an EIS. The NRC has decided to hold public scoping meetings for the VEGP, Units 1 and 2, license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings will be held at the Augusta Technical College, Waynesboro Campus Auditorium, 216 Highway 24 South, Waynesboro, Georgia 30830. There will be two sessions to accommodate interested parties on September 27, 2007. The first session will convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session will convene at 7:00 p.m. with a repeat of the overview portions of the meeting and will continue until 10:00 p.m., as necessary. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) an overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review process, the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule; and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to submit comments or suggestions on the environmental issues or the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour before the start of each session at the Augusta Technical College, Waynesboro Campus Auditorium.

No formal comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in writing, as discussed below. Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the meetings on the scopeof the NEPA review by contacting NRC Environmental Project Manager, Mr. Justin P. Leous, at 1-800-368-5642, extension 2864, or via e-mail to the NRC at Vogtle_LR_EIS@nrc.gov no later than September 20, 2007. Members of the public may also register to speak at the meetingwithin 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. Members of the public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to speak, if time permits. Public comments will be considered in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS. Mr. Leous will need to be contacted no later than September 17, 2007, if special equipment or accommodations areneeded to attend or present information at the public meeting, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated. Members of the public may send written comments on the environmental scope of theVEGP, Units 1 and 2, license renewal review to: Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001, and should cite the publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice. Comments may also be delivered to the NRC, RoomT-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville Maryland 20852, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. To be considered in the scoping process, written comments should be postmarked by October 24, 2007. Electronic comments may besent by e-mail to the NRC at Vogtle_LR_EIS@nrc.gov, and should be sent no later thanOctober 24, 2007, to be considered in the scoping process. Comments will be available electronically and accessible through ADAMS at http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. Participation in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS does not entitleparticipants to become parties to the proceeding to which the supplement to the GEIS relates.

Notice of opportunity for a hearing regarding the renewal application was the subject of the aforementioned Federal Register notice (72 FR 46680). Matters related to participation in anyhearing are outside the scope of matters to be discussed at this public meeting.At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a concise summary ofthe determination and conclusions reached, including the significant issues identified, and willsend a copy of the summary to each participant in the scoping process. The summary will also be available for inspection in ADAMS at http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The staffwill then prepare and issue for comment the draft supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of a separate notice and separate public meeting. Copies will be available for public inspection at the Burke County Library, and one copy per request will be provided free of charge. After receipt and consideration of the comments, the NRC will prepare a final supplement to the GEIS, which will also be available for public inspection.Information about the proposed action, the supplement to the GEIS, and the scopingprocess may be obtained from Mr. Leous at the aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21 st day of August 2007.FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION/RA/Rani Franovich, Branch Chief Environmental Branch B Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Memo to L. Lund from Rani Franovich dated August 29, 2007DISTRIBUTION:

SUBJECT:

FORTHCOMING MEETING TO DISCUSS ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING FOR VOGTLE ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION REVIEW HARD COPY DLR RFE-MAIL:PMNSPUBLIC SSmith (srs3)

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cc:Mr. Tom E. Tynan Vice President - Vogtle Vogtle Electric Generating Plant 7821 River Road Waynesboro, GA 30830Mr. N. J. StringfellowManager, Licensing Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

P.O. Box 1295 Birmingham, AL 35201-1295Mr. Jeffrey T. GasserExecutive Vice President Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc.

P.O. Box 1295 Birmingham, AL 35201-1295Mr. Steven M. JacksonSenior Engineer - Power Supply Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia 1470 Riveredge Parkway, NW Atlanta, GA 30328-4684Mr. Reece McAlisterExecutive Secretary Georgia Public Service Commission 244 Washington Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30334Mr. Harold Reheis, DirectorDepartment of Natural Resources 205 Butler Street, SE, Suite 1252 Atlanta, GA 30334Attorney GeneralLaw Department 132 Judicial Building Atlanta, GA 30334Mr. Laurence BergenOglethorpe Power Corporation 2100 East Exchange Place P.O. Box 1349 Tucker, GA 30085-1349Arthur H. Domby, EsquireTroutman Sanders Nations Bank Plaza 600 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 5200 Atlanta, GA 30308-2216Resident InspectorVogtle Plant 8805 River Road Waynesboro, GA 30830Office of the County CommissionerBurke County Commission Waynesboro, GA 30830Ms. Julie KeysNuclear Energy Institute 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708

Mr. Thomas C. Moorer Southern Company 42 Inverness Center Parkway Birmingham, AL 35242Mr. David Kyler, Executive DirectorCenter for a Sustainable Coast 221 Mallory Street, Suite B St. Simons Island, GA 31522Ms. Sara BarczakSouthern Alliance for Clean Energy 428 Bull Street, Suite 201 Savannah, GA 31401Ms. Bobbie Paul, Executive DirectorAtlanta Women's Action for New Directions 250 Georgia Avenue, SE, Suite 202 Atlanta, GA 30312 Savannah River Site Campaign CoordinatorBlue Ridge Environmental Defense League 3417 Sutton Place Augusta, GA 30906 Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2

cc:-2-Mr. Don L. Klima, DirectorAdvisory Council on Historic Preservation Office of Federal Agency Programs 1100 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Suite 803 Washington, DC 20004

Mr. Strant Colwell, Supervisor U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 4270 Norwich Street Brunswick, GA 31520Mr. David BernhartAssistant Regional Administrator National Marine Fisheries Service 263 13th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33701Dr. Ray LuceHistoric Preservation Division/DNR 34 Peachtree Street NW, Suite1600 Atlanta, GA 30303-2316