NRC TO DISCUSS PROCESS FOR REVIEW OF LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION
FOR FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR PLANT, SEEK INPUT ON ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
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Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct two public meetings on Thursday, Oct. 12, to discuss the agency’s review process for the license renewal application for the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant, located in Scriba (Oswego County), N.Y. The sessions will also provide an opportunity for members of the public to comment on environmental issues they believe the NRC should consider during its review of the application, which requests an additional 20 years of operation.

The meetings will be held in the conference room at the Town of Scriba’s municipal building, 42 Creamery Road in Oswego, N.Y. The first session will begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session, which will offer the same presentations as the earlier one, will get under way at 7 p.m. and continue until 10 p.m., as needed.

Both meetings will begin with NRC staff presentations on how the overall license renewal review and the environmental review processes work. Following the presentations, attendees will be able to offer their comments.

“These meetings will afford interested citizens the chance to learn exactly what it is we look at when we perform these reviews,” NRC License Renewal Branch Chief Rani Franovich said. “What’s more, they will be able to call our attention to any environmental issues they think our review should include.”

The NRC will host an open house beginning 1 hour before the start of each meeting to give members of the public an opportunity to talk informally with agency staff. However, formal comments must be expressed during the transcribed meetings.

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 the FitzPatrick plant is due to expire on Oct. 17, 2014.

Entergy Nuclear Operations submitted its license renewal application for the plant on Aug. 1 of this year. As part of its application, the company submitted an environmental report. A copy of the application is available via the NRC’s web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/fitzpatrick.html. In addition, the Penfield Library, located at the State University of New York Oswego, 7060 State Route 104 in Oswego, and the Oswego Public Library, 140-142 E. Second St., Oswego, have agreed to make the environmental report available for public inspection.

An existing NRC document, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants” (NUREG-1437), assesses the scope of environmental impacts that would be associated with license renewal at any nuclear power plant site. The document for which the NRC will gather environmental comments at the Oct. 12th meetings will be a supplement to that report that is specific to the FitzPatrick plant. It will contain a recommendation regarding the environmental acceptability of the license renewal action.

At the conclusion of the information-gathering process, the NRC staff will prepare a summary of the conclusions reached and significant issues identified. A copy will be sent to each person who participated in the scoping process. The summary will also be available on the NRC’s web site.

The NRC staff will subsequently prepare a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) supplement for public comment and will hold a public meeting to solicit comments. After consideration of comments on the draft report, the NRC will prepare a final EIS supplement.

Interested individuals may register to attend or present oral comments at the Oct. 12th meetings by contacting Samuel Hernandez of the NRC at 1-800-368-5642, ext. 4049, by Oct. 5. Those who wish to offer comments may also register at the meetings within 15 minutes of the start of each session. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who register.

In addition, members of the public may send written comments on the environmental scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS to: Chief, Rules and Directive Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md., from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. To be considered, written comments should be postmarked or dropped off by Nov. 14. Electronic comments can also be sent via e-mail to FitzPatrickEIS.Resource@nrc.gov, again no later than Nov. 14.

NRC news releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html. The NRC Home Page at www.nrc.gov also offers a Subscribe to News link in the News & Information menu. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web Site.

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Friday, November 28, 2008