ML23276A185
| ML23276A185 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Turkey Point  |
| Issue date: | 09/25/2023 |
| From: | Lance Rakovan NRC/NMSS/DREFS/ELRB |
| To: | |
| References | |
| 20230969, 20230973 | |
| Download: ML23276A185 (6) | |
Text
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Summary of Public Meetings
Title:
Public Meetings to Receive Comments on the Draft Site-Specific Turkey Point Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
Meeting Identifiers: 20230969 and 20230973 Date of Meetings: Tuesday, September 19, 2023, and Wednesday, September 25, 2023 Location: Homestead, FL (9/19) and Webinar (9/25)
Type of Meeting: Comment-Gathering Meetings Purpose of the Meetings:
To provide the results of the NRC staff's environmental review of the subsequent license renewal environmental report supplement for Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Units 3 and 4 (Turkey Point), as documented in its draft site-specific environmental impact statement and provide an opportunity for public comment on the NRC Staff's findings.
General Details:
The NRC held two public meetings as part of the Turkey Point subsequent license renewal environmental review. The meeting on 9/19 started at 7:00 p.m. ET and ended at approximately 7:34 p.m. ET. The meeting on 9/25 started at 2:00 p.m. ET and ended at approximately 2:42 p.m. ET. Both meetings followed the same agenda, beginning with a review of meeting ground rules and an introduction of the NRC staff, followed by a presentation by the NRC staff on the license renewal process and the preliminary findings of the draft EIS. The presentation emphasized that comments on the draft EIS were welcome to help NRC refine the document. There was an opportunity for attendees to ask questions about the NRC staffs presentation followed by an opportunity for members of the public to provide oral comments on the draft EIS.
Approximately 20 people attended the meeting on 9/19 and approximately 50 people attended the meeting on 9/25. These numbers include the NRC staff in attendance.
Participants included members of the public, as well as representatives of NextEra Energy, members of local chambers of commerce, and members of public advocacy organizations.
Summary of Presentation:
The NRC presentation noted that the operating licenses for Turkey Point Units 3 and 4 were issued in 1972 and 1973. The renewed licenses were issued for both plants in 2002 and subsequent licenses were issued in 2019, however due to the Commission orders the current expiration dates for the plants are July of 2032 and April of 2033, respectively. The proposed expiration dates, assuming the 20-year extension once the environmental review is completed, would shift the expiration dates to 2052 and 2053, respectively.
In terms of the environmental review, the NRC previously was using a generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) to address generic (Category 1) issues for Enclosure 1
environmental reviews. The final environmental impact statement that was issued for Turkey Point back in 2019 primarily focused on site-specific (Category 2) issues and also considered at any new information involving Category 1 issues.
The Commission orders directed that NRC could not apply the generic issues to subsequent license renewal; so, NRC had to take another look at the information and do a more in-depth look at the Category 1 issues, as well as look to see if there was any new information that was significant with the Category 2 issues, previously looked at in-depth. The draft site-specific EIS was issued at the end of August and was formerly published in the Federal Register to start the comment period on September 8th.
Per the draft EIS preliminary findings, the vast majority of the resource areas analyzed by NRC staff were found to have a potential small impacts. All of them are unchanged from the findings from the previous final supplemental environmental impact statement (FSEIS) that was completed in 2019.
For historical and cultural resources, the preliminary finding is that the action, subsequent license renewal, would not adversely affect known historic properties. For environmental justice, the preliminary finding is that the action would have no disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental effects on minority and low-income populations.
For special species and habitats, the NRC identified no new and significant information that would change the conclusions that were made in the 2019 FSEIS.
Groundwater quality degradation was found to be small to moderate, and groundwater use conflicts was also found to be small to moderate. All other categories of groundwater use were found to be small. For aquatic resources, impingement and entrainment of aquatic organisms was found to be small to moderate and thermal impact on aquatic organisms was found small to moderate. All other categories that would be labeled under that rating factor were found small. In terms of alternatives, there was no new and significant information that NRC found needed to be taken into account in addition to the analysis that was done for the 2019 FSEIS. It essentially remains the same as it was in that document.
The presentation noted that the NRC does not make decisions in terms of whether a plant should continue to operate or what the ratio of types of power production should be in the United States. The primary finding in the draft EIS is that the adverse environmental impacts of subsequent license renewal for Turkey Point for an additional 20 years beyond the current expiration dates are not so great that preserving the option of subsequent license renewal for energy-planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable.
The staff ended the meeting by stressing that the closing date for submitting comments on the draft report is November, 2023. In addition to providing comments at the meeting, comments can be: (1) mailed to Office of Administration Mailstop TWFN7A60M, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; (2) submitted online using the Federal Rulemaking website at regulations.gov (Docket ID: NRC-2022-0172); or (3) submitted electronically by email to TurkeyPoint34Environmental@nrc.gov.
Public Participation Themes:
September 19, 2023, Meeting
Three speakers provided remarks. One brought NRC attention to a report that would be issued after the November 7, 2023, end of the draft EIS commenting period, the others primarily expressed support for the continued operation of the plant and the positives that the plant provides.
September 25, 2023, Meeting Five speakers provided remarks. One brought NRC attention to the report mentioned during the September 19, 2023, public meeting that would be issued after the November 7, 2023, end of the draft EIS commenting period. The others primarily expressed support for the continued operation of the plant and the positives that the plant provides.
A complete accounting of the comments provided during both meetings can be found in the meeting transcripts which are available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) public electronic reading room under the accession numbers listed below, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
Action Items/Next Steps:
The NRC staff will address the comments received during the public commenting period as part of the subsequent license renewal review for Turkey Point. The NRC staff will include an analysis of comments in the final NUREG-1437, Supplement 5a, Second Renewal, "Site-Specific Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants Supplement 5a, Second Renewal Regarding Subsequent License Renewal."
Attachments:
September 19, 2023, Meting
- List of Attendees
- Meeting description and agenda - ML23250A300
- NRC staff presentation - ML23258A026
- Meeting transcript - ML23276A186 September 25, 2023, Meeting
- List of Attendees
- Meeting description and agenda - ML23250A302
- NRC staff presentation - ML23258A027
- Meeting transcript - ML23276A187
List of Attendees September 19, 2023, Public Meeting to Receive Comments on the Draft Site-Specific Turkey Point Environmental Impact Statement NAME AFFILIATION Beth Alferink Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Prema Chandrathil NRC Mitchell Dehmer NRC Lloyd Desotell NRC Theodore Fanelli NRC Jessica Hammock NRC John Moses NRC Lance Rakovan NRC Jean Trefethen NRC Lynnea Wilkins NRC Phil Meyer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Peter England Economic Development Council of South Miami-Dade Deseree Ducasa Florida Power and Light (FPL)
Baldwyn English FPL Armando Fernandez FPL Bill Orlove FPL Ken Procter FPL Natalie Vitola FPL Audrey Siu Miami Waterkeeper Erik Stabenau National Park Service Mike Davis NextEra Energy Bill Duquette South Miami Hospital Enclosure 2
List of Attendees September 25, 2023, Public Meeting to Receive Comments on the Draft Site-Specific Turkey Point Environmental Impact Statement NAME AFFILIATION Beth Alferink Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Briana Arlene NRC Kim Conway NRC Mitchell Dehmer NRC Lloyd Desotell NRC Dave Gasperson NRC Lauren Gibson NRC Lance Rakovan NRC Ted Smith NRC Jean Trefethen NRC Antoinette Walker-Smith NRC Jeremy Wachutka NRC Lynnea Wilkins NRC Mark Yoo NRC Phil Meyer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Peter England Economic Development Council of South Miami-Dade Deseree Ducasa Florida Power and Light (FPL)
Baldwyn English FPL Bill Orlove FPL Paul Aitken Louis Banks Sydne Cartwright Lloyd Generette Paul Guill Steven Hamrick Mary Catherine Hancock Mary Houtmann Torren Hoyord Philip Hult Joseph John Tracey LeRoy Kevin Lewis Larry Long Daisuke Nio Maria Ocampo Pinzon Joseph Padron
Lea Padron Dusty Pate Kennard Proctor Jr.
April Rice Madison Schroder Allison Thompson Danielle Torres Natalie Vitola