Press Release-11-145, NRC Seeks Public Input on Draft Environmental Report for Seabrook Nuclear Plant License Renewal, Meeting Sept. 15

Press Release-11-145: NRC Seeks Public Input on Draft Environmental Report for Seabrook Nuclear Plant License Renewal, Meeting Sept. 15

ML11214A080
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	08/02/2011
From:	Office of Public Affairs
To:
References
Press Release-11-145
Download: ML11214A080 (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: www.nrc.gov Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov No.11-145 August 2, 2011 NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT FOR SEABROOK NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL; MEETING SEPT. 15th The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comments at two meetings on Thursday, Sept. 15, regarding its preliminary conclusion that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude a 20-year extension of the operating license for the Seabrook Station in Seabrook, N.H.

The meetings will be held at One Liberty Lane Conference Center, at 1 Liberty Lane East in Hampton, N.H. The first meeting is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and the second identical session is planned for the same location at 7 p.m. The two meetings will begin with identical overviews, including a discussion of the contents of the report, and then be opened for public comment.

In addition, the NRC staff will host informal discussions 1 hour1.157407e-5 days <br />2.777778e-4 hours <br />1.653439e-6 weeks <br />3.805e-7 months <br /> prior to each meeting at the same facility. NRC staff members will be available to answer questions and provide information about the process, but no comments on environmental issues will be accepted during these informal sessions.

As part of Seabrooks license renewal application, dated May 25, 2010, NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC. , 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 on Aug. 19, 2010. The staff drafted a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) that will form the basis for discussions at the meetings. The Seabrook draft supplement to the generic EIS 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 electronically through the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System at the NRC website. The accession number of the draft supplement is ML11213A080. In addition, the draft supplement to the generic EIS is available for public inspection at the following locations: Seabrook Library 25 Liberty La. in Seabrook, and at Amesbury Public Library, located at 149 Main St. in Amesbury, Mass.

NRC staff will consider written comments on the draft EIS until Oct. 26. Comments should be submitted by mail to Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mail Stop:

TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Faxed comments may be sent to RADB at (301) 492-3446. Comments may be submitted electronically thorough the Federal rulemaking website, regulations.gov using Docket ID NRC-2010-0206.

Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant has a term of 40 years. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current operating license for Seabrook current operating license is set to expire on March 15, 2030.

The possible environmental effects of an additional 20 years of nuclear plant operation are described in a generic EIS (NUREG-1437). The NRC issues a site-specific supplement to the generic EIS on each plant requesting license renewal; issues specific to Seabrook are addressed in Supplement 46.

A copy of the Seabrook license renewal application is available on the NRCs website.

Additional information on the NRCs license renewal review process is available also on the website.

At the conclusion of the public comment period, the NRC staff will consider and address the comments received and issue a final supplement to the generic EIS. That supplement will contain a recommendation regarding the environmental acceptability for 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 NRCs website.