Press Release-11-058, NRC Issues Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Vogtle New Reactors Application

Press Release-11-058: NRC Issues Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Vogtle New Reactors Application

ML110840184
Person / Time
Site:	Vogtle
Issue date:	03/25/2011
From:	Office of Public Affairs
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Press Release-11-058
Download: ML110840184 (2)

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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.11-058 March 25, 2011 NRC ISSUES FINAL SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR VOGTLE NEW REACTORS APPLICATION The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for a limited work authorization (LWA) and the Combined Licenses (COL) for the proposed Vogtle Units 3 and 4 reactors. The NRC, in its FSEIS, concluded that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude issuing the LWA and COLs for construction and operation of the proposed reactors at the site, near Waynesboro, Ga.

The FSEIS will be available on the NRC website at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1947/. The NRC staff issued a draft SEIS for the LWA and COLs in September 2010 that supplemented its environmental findings from the Early Site Permit issued for the Vogtle site in August 2009. The staff held a public meeting in October 2010 to gather comments on the draft SEIS.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company submitted its new reactor application for Vogtle on March 23, 2008, and supplemented the application on Oct. 2, 2009. Southern is applying for licenses to build and operate two AP1000 reactors at the Vogtle site, adjacent to the companys existing reactors approximately 26 miles southeast of Augusta, Ga. Westinghouse submitted an application to amend the already-certified AP1000, a 1,100 megawatt electric design, on May 26, 2007. More information on the AP1000 amendment review is available on the NRC website here: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/amended-ap1000.html.

The NRCs publishing of the FSEIS is only part of the overall Vogtle COL review. The agency staff continues to compile its final safety evaluation report (SER), which will include recommendations from the NRCs Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, an independent group of nuclear safety experts. The NRCs final licensing decision will be based on the FSEIS and SER findings, along with a ruling from the five-member Commission that heads the agency.

The Vogtle FSEIS can also be viewed in the NRCs ADAMS online documents system at http://wba.nrc.gov:8080/ves by entering accession number ML11076A010 in the search window.

In addition, the Burke County Library, 130 Highway 24 South in Waynesboro, will have a hardbound copy of the FSEIS available for public inspection.

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 website.