Press Release-15-075, NRC, Army Corps of Engineers Complete Environmental Review of Early Site Permit for Southern New Jersey Location

Press Release-15-075: NRC, Army Corps of Engineers Complete Environmental Review of Early Site Permit for Southern New Jersey Location

ML15320A293
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Issue date:	11/16/2015
From:	Office of Public Affairs
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Press Release-15-075
Download: ML15320A293 (1)

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No.15-075 November 16, 2015 CONTACT: Scott Burnell, 301-415-8200 NRC, Army Corps of Engineers Complete Environmental Review of Early Site Permit for Southern New Jersey Location The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, have issued the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for an Early Site Permit (ESP) application from PSEG Power and PSEG Nuclear. The statement concludes environmental impacts would not preclude the NRC issuing the permit for the site, adjacent to the existing Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants in Salem County, N.J.

The approximately 1,900-page report, Volumes 1, 2 and 3, documents the NRC staffs independent review of PSEGs application. The review takes into account consultations with federal, state, tribal and local agencies and comments received during the public scoping process in November 2010. The staff also considered comments received on the draft EIS issued in August 2014. The staff concludes there are no environmentally preferable or obviously superior sites. A printed copy of the final EIS will be available at the Salem Free Public Library, 112 W. Broadway in Salem, N.J.

The ESP process allows an applicant to address site-related issues, such as environmental impacts, for possible future construction and operation of a nuclear power plant at the site. PSEG submitted the application on May 25, 2010. If approved, the permit would be valid for up to 20 years while PSEG decides whether to request an NRC license to build and operate a reactor at the site. More information on the ESP process is available on the NRC website.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will conduct a mandatory hearing on the permit application. The hearing will determine whether the staffs environmental review, documented in the final EIS, and the safety review, documented in the Final Safety Evaluation Report, support the findings necessary to issue the permit.

The final EIS also supports the Army Corps of Engineers review of PSEGs application for activities under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbor Act of 1899. The Corps will issue a separate record of decision on the work proposed for Corps review and authorization.