ML25115A041
| ML25115A041 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Summer  |
| Issue date: | 04/29/2025 |
| From: | Kimberly Conway NRC/NMSS/DREFS/EPMB1 |
| To: | Stephen Koenick NRC/NMSS/DREFS/EPMB1 |
| Shared Package | |
| ML25115A039 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML25115A041 (1) | |
Text
Enclosure U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Summary of Public Meetings
Title:
Public Meetings to Receive Comments on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Subsequent License Renewal of Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 1 Meeting Identifiers: 20241490 and 20250049 Date of Meetings: Thursday, December 17, 2024, and Tuesday, January 28, 2025 Locations: Webinar (12/17) and Blair, South Carolina (1/28)
Type of Meeting: Comment-Gathering Meetings Purpose of the Meetings:
To provide the results of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff's environmental review of the subsequent license renewal environmental report for Virgil C.
Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (V.C. Summer) as documented in its draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) and provide an opportunity for public comment on the NRC staff's findings.
General Details:
The NRC staff held two public meetings to receive comments on its draft SEIS (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) ML24330A271) as part of the V.C.
Summer subsequent license renewal environmental review. The first meeting was a virtual meeting held via Microsoft Teams on December 17, 2024, which started at 1:00 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time (EST) and ended at approximately 2:11 p.m. EST. The second meeting was an in-person meeting at the McCrorey-Liston School of Technology in Blair, South Carolina, on January 28, 2025, which started at 6:00 p.m. EST and ended at approximately 8:24 p.m. EST.
Both meetings followed a similar 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 in the draft SEIS. The presentation emphasized that comments on the draft SEIS were welcome to help the NRC staff refine the document. During both meetings, there was an opportunity for attendees to ask questions about the NRC staffs presentation and review process in addition to an opportunity to provide oral comments on the draft SEIS. Based on comments received during the virtual meeting, the NRC staff also provided a short presentation prior to the in-person meeting to clarify the scope of the subsequent license renewal review. This additional presentation provided high level information related to ongoing operational oversight and ways to report concerns.
Approximately 40 people attended the meeting on December 17, 2024, and approximately 110 people attended the meeting on January 28, 2025. These numbers include the NRC staff in attendance. Participants included members of the public, local representatives, as well as representatives of Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc. (Dominion) and several non-governmental organizations.
2 Summary of Presentation:
The NRC staff began its presentation with an overview of the status of the V.C. Summer operating license. Dominion submitted its subsequent license renewal application for V.C.
Summer on August 17, 2023 (ML23233A179). V.C Summer was first licensed in November 1982 and was granted an initial renewed license in 2004. The current renewed license expires in August of 2042. If a license renewal is granted, it will be for an additional 20 years.
The staff has developed a generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) that addresses a number of issues common to all nuclear power plants. The staff is supplementing that GEIS with a SEIS that addresses issues that are specific to V.C. Summer. The staff also reexamined the conclusions reached in the GEIS to determine if there is any new and significant information that would change those conclusions.
Per the draft SEIS preliminary findings, impacts on a majority of the resource areas analyzed by the NRC staff for the proposed action (i.e., license renewal) were determined to be small. For historical and cultural resources, the preliminary finding is that the license renewal would not adversely affect known historic properties. For special species and habitats, the NRC identified that the action may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the monarch butterfly and tricolored bat. No essential fish habitat or national marine sanctuaries are present.
The presentation noted that the NRC does not make the decision as to whether a plant should continue to operate. The preliminary recommendation of the draft SEIS is that the adverse environmental impacts of subsequent license renewal for V.C. Summer for an additional 20 years beyond the current expiration date are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy-planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable.
The staff explained that the draft SEIS was published and filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on November 26, 2024. On December 6, 2024, a notice was published in the Federal Register informing the public that the draft SEIS was available, which began a 45-day comment period. On January 23, 2025, the public comment period was reopened for an additional 19 days until February 11, 2025, to accommodate a rescheduled in-person public meeting and to provide additional time for members of the public to develop and submit comments.
Public comments on the V.C. Summer draft SEIS were due February 11, 2025. In addition to providing comments at the two public meetings, comments could 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-2023-0152); or (3) submitted electronically by email to SummerEnvironmental@nrc.gov.
3 Public Participation Themes:
December 17, 2024, Virtual Meeting 3 speakers provided comments during the meeting. The NRC staff received comments on a range of topics including: human health impacts and incidents of cancer, impacts to fish in Monticello Reservoir, low enriched uranium fuel, safety concerns, radiation standards and contamination of air and water, and the no-action alternative.
January 28, 2025, In-Person Meeting 16 speakers provided comments during the meeting. The NRC staff received comments on a range of topics including: length of the comment period and communication with the public, waste management and radioactive waste, effluent monitoring and potential contamination concerns, human health impacts and incidents of cancer, socioeconomics, low enriched uranium fuel, federally protected species, terrorism, and emergency preparedness.
A complete accounting of the comments provided during both meetings can be found in the meeting transcripts which are available in the NRCs 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 comment period as part of the review of the V.C. Summer subsequent license renewal application. The NRC staff will include an analysis of comments in NUREG-1437, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supplement 15, Second Renewal, Regarding Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 1, Final Report.
==References:
==
December 17, 2024, Meeting Meeting description and agenda - ML24348A151 NRC staff environmental presentation - ML24348A110 Meeting transcript - ML25003A085 January 28, 2025, Meeting Meeting description and agenda - ML25028A318 NRC staff environmental presentation - ML25024A053 NRC staff operational issues presentation - ML25027A304 Meeting transcript - ML25049A141
4 List of Attendees December 17, 2024, Public Meeting to Receive Comments on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the V.C. Summer Subsequent License Renewal NAME AFFILIATION Amanda Leatherman U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Anthony Jones NRC Ashley Waldron NRC Brett Klukan NRC Briana Arlene NRC Caroline Hsu NRC Ed Miller NRC Gerry Stirewalt NRC Isaac Wang NRC Jeffrey Rikhoff NRC Karen Loomis NRC Keion Henry NRC Kim Conway NRC Mac Read NRC Marieliz Johnson NRC Nancy Martinez NRC Sarah Lopas NRC Scott Burnell NRC Steve Koenick NRC Zach Turner NRC April Rice Dominion Energy Enaya Saleh Ernest Yarborough Citizens for Environmental Justice, Inc.
Joy Jiang Breakthrough Institute Justin Bouknight Dominion Energy Keith Miller Dominion Energy Kristin Meek Constellation Energy Lee Mikell Dominion Energy Matthew Weber Mingwei Shen Pamela Greenlaw Sarah Marshall Dominion Energy Tony Banks Dominion Energy
5 List of Attendees January 28, 2025, Public Meeting to Receive Comments on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the V.C. Summer Subsequent License Renewal NAME AFFILIATION Adam Nielsen U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Binoy Desai NRC Dave Gasperson NRC John Pelchat NRC KD Dials NRC Keion Henry NRC Kim Conway NRC Mac Read NRC Meredith Neubauer NRC Sam Cohen NRC Steve Koenick NRC Aneesha Gilbert Annie E. McDaniel South Carolina Representative April Rice Barbara Boyd Barbara Sikes Glenn Betty Dorsey Beverly Henderson Bishop Joseph McBride Praise and Deliverance Temple Ministries International Church Bishop Redfern II Citizens for Environmental Justice, Inc.
Calvin Johnson Carl Bell Fairfield County Council Carlton Williams Carol Thompson Celina Ortiz Dominion Energy Cetina Holloway Chuck Rice Clarence Gilbert Fairfield County Council Clifton Hendrix Cynthia George Daryl Small David Gray Debora Woodard Deloise Chambers Demitra Peoples Dillon Pullen Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce
6 Donnie Laird Doug J.
Stonewall Resort Edna Richard Ernest Yarborough Citizens for Environmental Justice, Inc.
Ever Martin Eyvette Feaster Freddie McConnell G. Stephens Gladys Hardy Greg Ginyard Mayor of Jenkinsville Jacqueline Richard Reed James Greene Blair Coalition of Churches James McGraw James Sligh Jamie Brown Janet Clark Janet Turner Jennifer Jenkins Kathy Rabb Keith Miller Dominion Energy L. Stroman Laura J.
Stonewall Resort Lee Mikell Lenora Stroman Leon Cook Lillian Mickle Lydia Gibson Maggie Chatman Marilyn W.
Michael C.
Michele Kern Michele Rabb Mona McGraw Oren Gadson Fairfield County Council Pam Laird Pamela Greenlaw Priscilla Preston Randy Bright Rev. Dr. Milling Richard Houck Rick Gibson
7 Robert Reese Lower Richland Community Robert W. Davis Roberta G.
Rufus Barnette Sarah Marshall Dominion Energy Sharon O.
Shirley Greene Blair Coalition of Churches Simon Jacobs Sonya M.
Tangee Jacobs Thomas Woodard Thomasenia Peay Tripp Bourke Dominion Energy Vera T. Cook Vera Williams Vern Kennedy Victor Willingham Victoria McCornell Vivian Paine Wade Peay, Jr.
Will Chatman William Holloway Willie B.
Yvette Howard