ML21279A103
| ML21279A103 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Oconee  |
| Issue date: | 11/08/2021 |
| From: | NRC/OGC |
| To: | |
| Rakovan L,NMSS/REFS/ERLB | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML21278A670 | List: |
| References | |
| NRC-1638 | |
| Download: ML21279A103 (34) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
Environmental Scoping Meeting Related to the Oconee Nuclear Station, Units 1, 2 and 3, Subsequent License Renewal Application Docket Number:
(n/a)
Location:
teleconference Date:
Wednesday, August 25, 2021 Work Order No.:
NRC-1638 Pages 1-32 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING MEETING RELATED TO THE OCONEE NUCLEAR STATION, UNITS 1, 2 AND 3, SUBSEQUENT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION
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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 25, 2021
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The Commission met via Teleconference, at 2:01 p.m. EDT, Lance Rakovan, Facilitator, presiding.
NRC STAFF PRESENT ROB ELLIOTT, Branch Chief, Environmental Review License Renewal Branch LANCE RAKOVAN, Facilitator, Environmental Project Manager ANGELA WU, Safety Project Manager ALSO PRESENT SERITA ACKER THOMAS ALEXANDER, SC State Senator, District 1, Chairman, Senate Labor Commerce and Industry Committee DARRYL BROOME
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 STEVE SNIDER, Oconee Nuclear Station Site Vice President
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2:01 p.m.
OPERATOR: Welcome and thank you for standing by. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. During the discussion, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question, please press star and then 1.
I'd like to inform all parties that today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Lance Rakovan. You may begin.
MR.
RAKOVAN: Thank you so
- much, Kristen. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Lance Rakovan, and I am the Environmental Project Manager for Oconee Nuclear Station Subsequent License Renewal.
And I'd like to welcome you all to the public meeting hosted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission or NRC, as you will hear it abbreviated today.
Angela Wu is the Safety Project Manager and is with us as well as well as several other NRC staff that are on the line that are involved with the application review.
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Our goal today are to one, provide you with an overview of the subsequent license renewal process, both the safety and environmental aspects, for the Oconee review and also two, to get your input on the environmental issues that the NRC should address in our environmental review.
A term that you're going to hear today is scoping, which means simply determining the scope of the environmental review, in this case for the continued operation of Oconee Nuclear Station.
Today's meeting is just one way that you can participate in that process. And we'll be going into more detail about that later.
Our agenda for today, after some opening remarks, we'll begin by providing you an overview of the license renewal process. After the NRC staff presentation, you will have some time to ask clarifying questions about the topics we cover. Our plan is to address only these types of questions because we want to maximize the time available for the final part of our meeting, which is the most important. You providing your input on what should be included in the scope of the NRC's environmental review.
For our meeting today, we will be
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 showing the slides using Teams, and all audio will be on the telephone bridgeline. I know this seems to be overly complicated, but it's an unfortunate necessity. We will not be using the live video aspect of Teams because the timing of the bridgeline audio and the Team's audio does not line up and can be distracting.
This is a comment gathering meeting by the NRC's definition so we will be actively seeking your input after we complete our presentation.
Please note that we are recording and transcribing today's meeting so the NRC staff can be sure to get a full accounting of the comments that you provide.
Angela and I will be the primary speakers today. Angela is the safety lead, and I am the environmental lead. Rob Elliott, my Branch Chief, will provide some closing comments when we are ready to wrap-up the meeting.
Let's go ahead and get started with the meat, if you will, of our presentation. Oconee Units 1, 2 and 3 were first licensed in 1973 and '74 and were granted renewed licenses in 2000.
The current renewed licenses expire in 2033 for Units 1 and 2 and 2034 for Unit 3, respectively. If a license renewal is granted, it
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 would be for an additional 20 years. Duke Energy Carolinas filed an application for subsequent license renewal of the Oconee Nuclear Station with a letter to the NRC dated June 7 of this year.
We're on Slide 7 now. A license renewal application is required to contain certain sets of information. General information, such as the applicant's name and
- address, business and administrative information, technical information, which pertains to aging management, and that's the information that will be the focus of the safety review.
The application also includes an environmental report, which is the applicant's assessment for the environmental impacts of continued operation.
This information serves as the starting point for the NRC staff to review the environmental aspects of subsequent license renewal for the Oconee Station. I would now like to turn things over to Angela Wu.
MS. WU: Hi. Thank you so much, Lance.
Can everyone hear me?
MR. RAKOVAN: We can hear you, Angela.
MS. WU: Perfect. Thank you. Once
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 again, my name is Angela Wu. And I am the Safety Project Manager for the Oconee subsequent license renewal review.
I will now walk us through the NRC subsequent license renewal review process. As shown on this slide, we are on Slide 8, starting from the left, the process begins once a subsequent license renewal application, or SLRA, has been accepted for review. Then the process breaks out into two separate reviews that occur in parallel, the environmental review, which you see on the top, and the safety review on the bottom.
On the safety side of the review, following the staff's review of the application, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, or ACRS, completes an independent review of the application to make a recommendation to the NRC Commission.
In the center of the flowchart, the environmental and safety review steps have dotted lines that lead to hearings. The dotted lines represent the opportunity for a
hearing in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act, which establishes a process for members of the public to request involvement in hearings on a variety of civilian nuclear
- matters, including subsequent
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 license renewal.
- Finally, with input from the environmental review, ACRS' recommendation on the safety review as well as the staff's finding from the safety review, a final decision is made by the NRC.
Next slide, please. The Atomic Energy Act authorizes the NRC to issue licenses for commercial power reactors to operate up to 40 years.
These licenses can then be renewed for an additional 20 years at a time. This period following the initial licensing term is known as the period of extended operation.
Now subsequent license renewals will allow plants to operate beyond the 60 years of the initial license and first renewal and subsequent license renewals would also be for 20 years.
The purpose of the safety review is to identify aging effects that could impair the ability of structures, systems and components within the scope of license renewal to perform their intended functions and to demonstrate that these aging effects will be adequately managed during the period of extended operation. The scope has not changed from initial license renewal to subsequent license
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 renewal.
As previously mentioned on June 7, 2021, Duke submitted the subsequent license renewal application for Oconee. After receiving the application, the NRC conducted an acceptance review, the first step of our review. The NRC determined that Duke's application was sufficient and acceptable for docketing on June 22, 2021.
And we have since then moved on to our technical review, which includes an aging management audit. The audit consists of three different parts as you can see on the slide, an in-office technical review audit, onsite audit and breakout audits.
During all phases of the audit, the NRC reviews the application, relevant documents and references in greater detail. As part of the safety review, the staff also reviews the applicant's operating experience for information applicable to aging management.
At the very end, the staff will document its review in an safety evaluation report or SER.
Next slide, please. Thank you. The NRC ensures the adequate protection of public health and safety, the environment through the regulatory process, which is shown on Slide 10.
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 The regulatory process consists of five major parts. We develop regulations and guidance for applicants and licensees, license or certify applicants to either use nuclear materials, operate nuclear facilities or decommission, oversee licensee operations and facilities to ensure that licensees comply with safety requirements, evaluate operational experience at license facilities or involving license activities. And in support of our regulatory decision, we conduct research, hold hearings to address the concerns of parties affected by the Agency decisions and obtain independent review.
So as you can tell, with license renewal, the regulatory process now considers aging management as represented by the additional red block and arrow.
Now I will turn the meeting back over to Lance, who will discuss the environmental review.
MR.
RAKOVAN:
Thank
- you, Angela.
Focusing on the environmental review, the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, obligates federal agencies to consider environmental impacts of federal actions.
The NRC's specific environmental
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 regulations are contained in 10 CFR Part 51. The objective of our environmental review is to determine if the environmental impacts of subsequent license renewal are so great that subsequent license renewal would not be a reasonable option or more plainly is subsequent license renewal acceptable --
I'm
- sorry, unacceptable from an environmental standpoint?
I'm now on Slide 12. Our environmental review considers the impacts of continuing to operate the plant for an additional 20 years and any proposed mitigation of those impacts as warranted.
We also consider the impacts of reasonable alternatives for the proposed action of subsequent license renewal, including the impacts of not issuing a subsequent renewed license.
The staff documents its environmental review in an Environmental Impact Statement or EIS.
The staff has already developed a
generic Environmental Impact Statement that addresses a number of issues common to all nuclear power plants.
The staff is supplementing that generic EIS with a site specific EIS in which we will address issues that are specific to the Oconee Nuclear Station.
The staff also re-examined the
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 conclusions reached in that generic EIS to determine if there is any new or significant information that would change those conclusions.
Slide 13, for a subsequent license renewal review, the NRC looks at a wide range of environmental impacts as part of preparing the Environmental Impact Statement. These include, as you can see, fish and wildlife, socioeconomics, human health and land use.
In conducting our environmental review, we consult with various federal, state and local officials as well as leaders of Native American Tribes and gather pertinent information from these sources to ensure it is considered in our analysis.
As illustrated on this slide about consulting agencies, examples include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, EPA as well as state agencies.
I will now discuss the environmental scoping process in a little more detail.
The environmental review begins with a scoping process. The purpose of the scoping process is to identify significant issues which should be considered in the environmental review. We are gathering information that we will use to prepare to the Environmental Impact Statement for license
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 renewal.
As part of that process, we are here to collect your comments from the scope of the environmental review, that is the environmental impacts that the staff should consider.
The scoping period started on August 10, 2021 when a Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS and Conduct Scoping was published in the Federal Register. The NRC will be accepting comments from the scope of the environmental review until September 9, 2021. Any comments provided after that date will be considered if at all possible.
In
- general, we are looking for information about environmental impacts from the continued operation of the Oconee Nuclear Station during the proposed period of extended operation.
You can assist us in that process by telling us, for example, what aspect of your local community we should focus on, what local environment, social and economic issues the NRC staff should examine during the environmental review and what reasonable alternatives are most appropriate for your local region.
These are just some examples of the input that we are looking for. And they represent
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 the kinds of information we are seeking through the environmental scoping period.
Your comments today would be helpful in providing insight of this nature for the environmental analysis.
I'm on Slide 16, which is the important milestone that the environmental review process will follow. If you have environmental scoping comments you would like to submit outside of today's meeting, you have until September 9 to do so.
The opportunity to submit contentions for a hearing closes on September 27. Please note that we plan to issue a
draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for public comment by April of next year.
This is another way that you can be involved in the process. Members of the public will have an opportunity to provide comments on the draft Environmental Impact Statement.
While the slides list milestones for the environmental review and opportunities for public involvement, the safety review will be performed in accordance with a separate schedule.
Here are the primary points of contact within the NRC for license renewal for the Oconee
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Nuclear Station. You heard from both Angela and myself. The other individual listed here is Shawn Williams, who is the current Project Manager for the operation of Oconee Nuclear Station at the NRC.
If you would like to take a look at the application, the Seneca branch of the Oconee Public Library has agreed to make the license renewal application available for public inspection as well as the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement in the future. You can find a hard copy of it at the Seneca branch of the Oconee Public Library. In addition, these documents are available and will be available on the NRC website.
As I said earlier, the most important piece of today's meeting is to receive any comments that you may have on the scoping of the environmental review. Here are the various ways that you can submit your comments for our environmental review.
You can provide your comments by mail to the NRC at the address provided here or you can send your comments electronically by going to regulations.gov as indicated on the slide. We have also established an email address that you can send your comments to, which is oconeeenvironmental, one
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 word, @nrc.gov.
Again, we ask that comments be submitted by September 9. We will attempt to take into account any comments we receive after that if possible given timelines in our work.
I'm going to leave this slide up while we open the floor briefly to clarifying questions about our presentation. We want to make sure that you understand the items that Angela and I covered.
So if you would, please hold off on providing environmental scoping comments at this time. We will get to that soon.
So, Kristen, if you could, please check to see if anyone has any clarifying questions.
OPERATOR: Thank you. If you would like to queue up for a clarifying question, please press star and then 1, record your name clearly when prompted. To cancel your request, please press star 2.
MR. RAKOVAN: All right. I'm going to pause for a moment just to see if anyone has any questions. Kristen, any takers?
OPERATOR: Not at this time.
MR. RAKOVAN: Okay. And that's fine. If folks have a question that they would like to ask
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 once, you know, in accordance them with making a comment, that's fine. We will attempt to address those as possible.
So let's go ahead and move to the folks that we had pre-registered for providing comments.
We're going to ask folks to keep your comments to around five minutes or so. Obviously, we have a lot of time left. So if there's additional time after that and you'd like to make additional comments or ask more questions after that, that's fine. We'll go ahead and take the time to do that.
So we're going to start with the first pre-registered speaker. I have Thomas Alexander, South Carolina State Senator, District 1.
OPERATOR: And, again, Thomas, if you'd like to queue up, please press star 1, and I can grab you to open your line. Thomas Alexander, your line is now open.
MR. ALEXANDER: Thank you so much, and I appreciate the presentation. It's a pleasure to participate in this opportunity by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the extension of the license for Duke Energy's Oconee Nuclear facility here.
As mentioned, I'm a state senator for
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 District Number 1 and a resident state senator. I'm proud to support the extension for an additional 20 years.
As a native here of Oconee County, I grew up at a time that even predates the start of the construction of Oconee Nuclear facility. It has given me the opportunity to witness firsthand Duke Energy and Oconee Nuclear facility, the great stewards they are to the environment.
They do a great job in working with partners. You know, I would say that Lake Keowee is probably one of, if not the cleanest, clearest lakes that you would see.
And I also want to mention about the safety record. They are very good about working with the local partners, local organizations, local emergency folks to make sure that safety is paramount and the first and top priority.
The nuclear facility here and Duke Energy are great community partners in all aspects from that standpoint and others as well. We're proud to be a part of Oconee County.
And certainly they contribute a lot to our tax base. They provide great jobs for our citizens, career jobs. They are involved in our
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 community in many different ways. And so that takes in the environment. As what you put on one of the presentation slides, you know, the environment goes beyond just environmental considerations but the health and the wellness of our citizens. The economic climate from that standpoint as well.
They are just great community advocates.
They are involved in our economic activity as well.
And then if you think about the environmental scope and involvement of what Oconee Nuclear facility and its three reactors mean as well, this is of tremendous importance to the energy mix.
As Chairman of the Senate Committee, the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee, we are very concerned in making sure that we have reliable energy, and certainly, nuclear energy is very much a part of that mix.
These reactors have contributed a lot to that and certainly to clean energy with nuclear energy being clean energy.
And Duke Energy has a
tremendous aggressive plan for carbon reduction certainly from an environmental standpoint. And I cannot overstate the importance of nuclear energy in meeting those
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 goals and those opportunities.
And then also I would say from the affordability standpoint, it is important that we continue to have affordable electricity. And the nuclear mix for that opportunity gives our rates in the Duke Energy territory below the national average and so that goes to the opportunities of what it means to our local community as well and, again, as chairman of the Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee, economic development not only in the communities that make up the Oconee County and where the nuclear facility is located, but also throughout their service area in the State of South Carolina.
So from an environmental standpoint and a
safety standpoint, the track
- record, the outstanding track record, that Duke Energy and their associates at the Oconee Nuclear facility have, it certainly gives me great pleasure to support this great asset that we have and I would ask favorable consideration at the appropriate time for an extension of that license for an additional 20 years.
So, again, thank you for the opportunity to speak and be a part of this and contribute in this presentation this afternoon.
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 MR. RAKOVAN: Thank you, sir. Okay.
Kristen, if we could go to our next pre-registered speaker, Steve Snider, who is the Site Vice President of Oconee Nuclear Station.
OPERATOR: Thank you. One moment, please. Mr. Snider, your line is now open.
MR. SNIER: Hello, good afternoon. My name is Steve Snider. I'm the Site Vice President for Oconee Nuclear Station.
I began working for Duke Energy in 1988 as a design engineer. I've held positions at Catawba Nuclear Station, McGuire Nuclear Station and our corporate office in Charlotte.
I started working at Oconee earlier this year and quickly saw all of the important contributions that Oconee Nuclear Station makes in South Carolina.
We have had a vital role in powering upstate South Carolina as well as Western North Carolina generating safe, carbon-free, reliable energy for roughly 2 million homes for nearly 50 years now.
Climate change is a
significant challenge for our nation. And Duke Energy is committed to leading the way on a solution, and
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Oconee Nuclear Station plays a key role in that strategy.
Oconee is Duke Energy's largest nuclear plant, the largest source of carbon-free energy in South Carolina and one of the largest providers of electricity in the United States.
In 2020
- alone, Oconee's operation avoided 14.5 million times of carbon emissions, assuming that same generation had been produced by coal, oil and natural gas.
Oconee is supported by the local community. We employ about 900 dedicated, highly skilled employees to help generate safe, reliable electricity every day.
Our team also actively supports the community by donating our time and resources to local schools, nonprofit organizations and other community groups.
We are committed to being
- strong, environmental stewards in our communities. We have robust environmental protection programs to protect water quality, aquatic life and maintain wildlife habitats.
We engage in beautification efforts with local partners like Friends of Lake Keowee Society
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 and Keep Oconee Beautiful Association to maintain the pristine condition of our lakes and rivers.
Our World of Energy Education Center is home to a native pollinator garden and butterfly attractor garden that overlooks Oconee Nuclear Station as well as a quarter mile long nature trail.
Additionally, we contribute millions of dollars annually to the counties we serve. In 2020 we provided $18.7 million in property taxes to Oconee County. Duke Energy's total economic output in Oconee County is more than $1.7 billion, which is the highest of all the South Carolina Counties.
We continue to invest in Oconee Nuclear
- Station, continuously performing preventive maintenance, implementing new technology and upgrading equipment, making more than $4 billion in investments in the last two decades, ensuring that we operate safely and reliably.
We also have an outstanding record of reliability. In 2020, our capacity factor was 96 percent. For the last decade, Oconee's average capacity factor has been 95 percent.
Oconee County and Duke Energy are committed to running, safe, reliable carbon-free electricity for our customers and community in South
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Carolina now and for decades to come.
And thank you for your time, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak today.
MR. RAKOVAN: Thank you, sir. All right. Let's go to our next pre-registered speaker, which Mr. Robert Guild.
OPERATOR: And, again, Mr. Guild, that's star 1 to queue up for your pre-registered question.
He has not yet queued up. Again, that's star 1 if Mr. Robert Guild is on the line.
MR. RAKOVAN: All right. We'll give him a little chance. If not, we'll loop back around to him later.
OPERATOR: Still nothing at this time.
MR. RAKOVAN: Okay. Let's go ahead and move on. We'll give Mr. Guild a chance to speak later. Our next pre-registered speaker is Serita Acker. Ms. Acker?
MS. ACKER: Hello? Good afternoon. Can you hear me?
OPERATOR: Yes, ma'am. Your line is now open.
MS. ACKER: Good afternoon to everyone.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
I am Serita Acker. And I have worked
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 with Clemson University for over 31 years. I am the Executive Director of PEER and WISE. This is a STEM diversity and inclusion and equity program housed in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences. Our organization has been in partnership with Duke Energy for over 25 years to promote and fill the STEM pipeline.
Clemson University is just about 12 miles down the road from Oconee Nuclear Station.
And Duke Energy's Oconee Nuclear Station has had a long history of generating safe, clean and reliable electricity to our region and provides many benefits to the local community, including Clemson University.
Nuclear power plants produce zero carbon emissions, which is important as our country works to provide cleaner energy for our future generations. Oconee Nuclear Station plays an important role in lowering the nation's carbon emissions.
And over the years, my students in the PEER and WISE program have had the opportunity to experience Oconee Nuclear Station firsthand by visiting the control room simulator, taking virtual plant tours and talking with engineers and operators
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 and touring the educational center. Additionally, many of our graduates are currently employed by Duke Energy and work at the Oconee Nuclear Station.
I know that the Oconee Nuclear Station is committed to safety and producing clean electricity for its customers, which is so important to our future. It is a vital asset to the area and strongly connected within the community.
Thank you all for your time. And I'm definitely in support of Oconee Nuclear Center and Duke Energy. Thank you.
MR. RAKOVAN: Thank you. Ms. Acker.
Let's go ahead. I've got two more pre-registered speakers. The next would be Mr. Frank Powell.
Frank Powell, if you could hit star 1, please.
OPERATOR: He has not yet queued up.
Again, that is star 1 for Mr. Frank Powell if he would like to ask his pre-registered question.
MR. RAKOVAN: Not happening, Kristen?
OPERATOR: Not at this time. No one has queued.
MR. RAKOVAN: Okay. Well, he'll have an opportunity later of course as well. All right. So we do have one more pre-registered speaker before we open the floor and that is Mr. Darryl Broome. Mr.
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Broome, if you could hit star 1, please.
OPERATOR: Mr. Darryl Broome, your line is now open.
MR. BROOME: Thank you so much. And I appreciate your
- time, and I
appreciate the opportunity just to offer a few thoughts. I will probably echo a lot of things that have already been said. I'll try not to repeat too much but thanks again for that opportunity.
I've lived in Oconee County since 1988.
I did have the opportunity to work in Washington, D.C. for a little over eight years and in our state capital for almost two, but I never relocated my family and I never stopped calling Oconee County home.
I am currently employed with a local community bank, but I also serve as chairman of the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce. I'm vice chair of our local YMCA, and I'm proud to serve on the Board of Directors for our state Alzheimer's effort.
First I want to express my support for nuclear energy. I'm a huge supporter of clean, safe, reliable and carbon-free energy. And I believe nuclear checks all of those boxes. And no one does it better than Duke Energy.
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 Clean and safe are key. The site in Oconee plays a vital role in lowering our Duke Energy and our nation's carbon emissions. And I believe for those emissions, those in the future of lower carbon emissions to continue, we must have the continued efforts of Duke Energy. As stated earlier, avoided emissions at Oconee alone in 2020 were more than 14 million tons.
I think I also need to mention -- I would like to mention Duke's economic impact on our county. Duke employs almost 5,000 workers in its nuclear group. And that, of course, would not include contractors, suppliers and other necessary support.
But when we focus on Oconee County, Duke Energy has been a major part of our community for 50 years. I believe God blessed us with natural beauty and incredible natural attraction, but Duke Energy provided Oconee a much needed economic engine.
Their nearly 1,000 employees are our neighbors, our friends and in many cases our family.
Their tax base and contributions have allowed Oconee County to grow, attract visitors and attract much needed business and jobs. They play a
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 key role in the success of our schools. And, as mentioned earlier, again, many of our nonprofits would struggle without the generosity and efforts of the Duke family of employees.
Last year in Oconee County, we opened our first YMCA. That would never have been possible without a very early financial contribution by Duke Energy. Recently, they hosted a virtual school drive to collect school supplies for our elementary schools and their students.
So, again, I want to repeat. I am a huge supporter of clean, safe, reliable carbon-free energy, but I'm also appreciative of the business and economic contributions that Duke Energy makes to our county.
Oconee County is a benefactor of over
$1.7 billion in economic impact generated by Duke.
As we discuss and address the future of energy needs and a thirst for energy in our nation, I think nuclear energy is a vital component, and no one is more reliable than Duke Energy.
I appreciate and thank you for allowing me to participate. I appreciate your time and what you mean for our nation. And I also look forward to calling Duke Energy and the Oconee Nuclear site
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 neighbor for many, many years. Thank you so much.
MR. RAKOVAN: Okay. Thank you, sir.
Let's go ahead and open the floor for folks to provide additional environmental scoping comments.
- Again, we are looking for your perspective on what issues the NRC should take into account during its environmental review involving the continued operation of Oconee Nuclear station.
Kristen, if you could remind folks how to alert you that they would like some time with the microphone and start a queue as necessary. Kristen, are you with us?
OPERATOR: Yes. Again, that's star 1 if you would like to queue up for a question or express your information. Again, that's star 1. Record your name clearly when prompted. To cancel your request, star 2.
MR. RAKOVAN: And, of course, Mr. Guild and Powell, if you're with us, please go ahead and hit star 1, and we'll get you some time with the microphone.
OPERATOR: And once again at this time, there are no questions in queue. But if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1, record your name clearly when prompted. To cancel your
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 request, please press star 2.
MR. RAKOVAN: Again, we're looking to get comments specific to the continued operation of the Oconee Nuclear Station.
You know, this is certainly not a speak now or forever hold your peace kind of thing. As you can see by the slide that I've left on, you can provide your written comments by mail to our Office of Administration. You can also provide them electronically through the regulations.gov website.
You'll look for Docket ID NRC-2021-0146 or you can send your comments using the email address that we set up, which is oconeeenvironmental, again one word, oconeeenvironmental@nrc.gov. Kristen, any takers?
OPERATOR: At this time, I show no questions.
MR. RAKOVAN: Okay. I'm going to pause a little bit just to give folks a chance just in case they're stumbling for their phones.
OPERATOR: And just as a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1, unmute your phone and record your name. Thank you.
MR. RAKOVAN: All right. We'll pause
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 just a little while longer just to give folks a chance. Operator, any takers?
OPERATOR: At this time, I show no questions.
MR. RAKOVAN: All right. I guess, I will go ahead and turn things over to Rob Elliott.
Rob is the Chief of the Environmental Review, License Renewal Branch. And he is going to provide some closing comments. So, Rob, are you with us?
MR. ELLIOTT: Yes, I am. And I would just like to thank everybody for joining us today.
Scoping is a very important initial part of the process for us to do our environmental review. And so all of the feedback we can get, all of the comments we can get are very, very important to us.
So just a reminder that the comment period continues until September 9. And as shown on the previous slide, you have multiple ways you can provide your comments in writing.
All comments will be considered by the NRC in our scoping summary report. And, you know, anybody who does participate in scoping by providing comments will receive, you know, a copy of the scoping summary report, which will be issued early next year.
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 So I really want to thank you for your time. And hopefully, we'll hear from some of you.
I appreciate you coming out and visiting with us today. Thank you.
MR. RAKOVAN: Thank you, Rob. With that, we are closed. Take care, everyone, be safe.
MR. ELLIOTT: Thank you, everyone.
OPERATOR:
This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect at this time. Thank you.
(Whereupon, the above-entitled matter went off the record at 2:43 p.m.)