Press Release-08-232, NRC Seeks Public Input on Draft Environmental Report for Indian Point Nuclear Plant License Renewal Application

Press Release-08-232: NRC Seeks Public Input on Draft Environmental Report for Indian Point Nuclear Plant License Renewal Application

ML083570636
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point
Issue date:	12/22/2008
From:	Office of Public Affairs
To:
References
Press Release-08-232
Download: ML083570636 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov Site: http://www.nrc.gov No.08-232 December 22, 2008 NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT FOR INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comments on its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) that concludes that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the operating license for the Indian Point nuclear power plant, Units 2 and 3. The plant, operated by Entergy, is located in Buchanan (Westchester County),

N.Y.

As part of Indian Points license renewal application, in April 2007, Entergy submitted an environmental report. The NRC staff reviewed the report and performed an on-site audit. The staff also considered comments made during the environmental scoping process, including comments offered at public meetings held June 27, 2007, and Sept. 19, 2007, and comments received from state and other federal agencies. The NRCs draft EIS on the Indian Point reactors is based on the staffs independent analysis of that information.

The draft EIS supplements an existing document, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants, (NUREG-1437), that assesses the possible environmental effects of an additional 20 years of nuclear plant operation at any plant site. The supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS), which is being issued for public comment, addresses the potential environmental impacts specific to the Indian Point plant site (Supplement 38 to the GEIS).

Comments on the draft supplement will be accepted until March 11, 2009, and will be the subject of two public meetings to be held on Feb. 12, 2009. (Details of the meetings will be announced closer to that date.) Comments received by the above date will be considered and, if appropriate, incorporated in the final EIS supplement.

Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a commercial nuclear power plant has a term of 40 years. The license can be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current operating license for the Indian Point 2 reactor is due to expire Sept. 28, 2013, and the license for Indian Point 3 will expire Dec. 12, 2015.

The draft supplement to the GEIS and other related documents are available for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room at NRC headquarters, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md.; or will be available electronically through the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System through the NRC web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. The accession number of the draft supplement is volume 1: ML083540594 and volume 2: ML083540614. In addition, the draft supplement to the GEIS is available for public inspection at the following locations: The White Plains Public Library, 100 Martine Ave., White Plains, N.Y.; the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, 185 Kings Ferry Road, Montrose, N.Y.; and the Field Library, 4 Nelson Ave., Peekskill, N.Y.

Additional information concerning license renewal reviews in general and the Indian Point application in particular can be found at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html.

At the conclusion of the public comment period, the NRC staff will consider and address all the comments received and issue a final supplement to the GEIS. That supplement will contain a recommendation regarding the environmental acceptability of license renewal.

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address:

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.