Press Release-10-070, NRC Seeks Public Input on Draft Environmental Impact Statement for New Reactors at Virgil C. Summer Site; Meeting May 27

Press Release-10-070: NRC Seeks Public Input on Draft Environmental Impact Statement for New Reactors at Virgil C. Summer Site; Meeting May 27

ML101090159
Person / Time
Site:	Summer
Issue date:	04/19/2010
From:	Office of Public Affairs
To:
References
Press Release-10-070
Download: ML101090159 (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.resource@nrc.gov Site: http://www.nrc.gov No.10-070 April 19, 2010 NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR NEW REACTORS AT VIRGIL C. SUMMER SITE; MEETINGS MAY 27 Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comments on its preliminary conclusion that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude issuing Combined Licenses for two new reactors at the Virgil C. Summer site near Jenkinsville, S.C.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), outlining conclusions from both the NRC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Charleston District, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1939/. The DEIS is also available via the NRCs electronic document database, ADAMS, by entering accession numbers ML101000010 and ML101000011 in the ADAMS search engine at:

http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. In addition, the Fairfield County Library, at 300 Washington St. in Winnsboro, S.C., will have a hardbound copy of the DEIS available for public inspection.

The NRC and USACE staff will discuss the report in meetings to be held Thursday, May 27, from noon to 4 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m. at White Hall AME Church, 8594 State Highway 215 South, Jenkinsville. The NRC will transcribe the formal part of each meeting and post the transcript on the agencys Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/summer.html. NRC and USACE staff will be available for informal discussions with members of the public for the first two hours of each meeting. Formal comments on the DEIS must be provided orally to an NRC-designated court reporter, in writing, or during the transcribed portion of the meeting.

The applicants, South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) and Santee Cooper, are applying for licenses to build and operate two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors adjacent to the existing Summer nuclear power plant, approximately 26 miles northwest of Columbia, S.C. The companies submitted the application March 28, 2008, and supplemented their request on Feb. 13, 2009, and Jan. 28, 2010. The NRC met with the public near the Summer site in January and March 2009 to gather input for the environmental review.

The AP1000 is a 1,100 MWe pressurized-water reactor design the NRC certified in 2006.

The agency is currently reviewing Westinghouses May 2007 application to amend the certified design. More information regarding the review is available on the NRCs Web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/amended-ap1000.html.

Those wishing to register in advance to present their comments at the meeting should contact Patricia Vokoun by telephone at 800-368-5642 x3470, or via e-mail at:

patricia.vokoun@nrc.gov by May 24. Those with special needs for attending or presenting information at the meeting should notify the staff by May 12. Those wishing to speak may also register at each meeting no later than 12:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., respectively. Individual comments could be limited by the time available and the number of people wishing to speak.

NRC staff will also consider written comments on the draft EIS, submitted no later than 75 days after the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Federal Register notice (expected shortly) regarding the document. The public may comment either by mail to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, via e-mail at: Summer.COLAEIS@nrc.gov, or via fax to 301-492-3446.

NOTE: Anyone wishing to take photos or use a camera to record any portion of a NRC meeting should contact the Office of Public Affairs beforehand.

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.