United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs, Region I

475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406

Fax: 610/337-5241

Internet: dps@nrc.gov or nas@nrc.gov

I-99-22 March 30, 1999

Contact: Diane Screnci (610/337-5330) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Neil A. Sheehan (610/337-5331)

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

STATEMENT FOR CALVERT CLIFFS LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with the public on April 6 to

discuss its draft environmental impact statement on Baltimore Gas and Electric’s

(BGE’s) proposed renewal of its license for the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in

Lusby, Md.

Two identical meetings will be held at the Holiday Inn Select, Solomons,

Maryland. The first session will start at 1:30 p.m. and the second session will start at

7:00 p.m.; the meetings are scheduled to last up to three hours each. Staff from the

NRC and its contractors involved in the development of the document will be available

to clarify the environmental issues of interest raised at the public meeting.

BGE submitted an application to the NRC in April 1998 to renew the licenses for

Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 and Unit 2 for another 20 years. The current licenses of the two

units expire July 31, 2014, for Unit 1 and August 13, 2016, for Unit 2.

The draft environmental impact statement to be discussed was published in

February for public comment. The comment period expires May 20. The NRC staff

has preliminarily found that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude

NRC license renewal for environmental reasons. In preparing the document, the NRC

considered comments made during the environmental scoping process, including public

meetings held in July of last year in Solomons.

When issued in final form, the statement will be a Calvert Cliffs, plant-specific

supplement to the “Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for License

Renewal of Nuclear Plants,” (NUREG-1437). The document includes the staff’s

preliminary analysis of the environmental effects of the proposed action and

alternatives available for reducing or avoiding adverse impacts. It also examines

possible alternatives to the proposed action, including no action and those energy

sources that are reasonable alternatives.

Interested parties may register to attend or present oral comments at the April 6

meeting by contacting Thomas J. Kenyon at 800/368-5642, or by e-mail at
cceis@nrc.gov, no later than April 2. The public may also register 15 minutes before

each session. Individual comment time may be limited by the time available.

Single copies of the draft supplement are available by written request to the

Office of the Chief Information Officer, Reproduction and Distribution Services Section,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; by e-mail to

DISTRIBUTION@nrc.gov; or by fax to 301/415-2289.

Copies are also available for review at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L

Street, NW, Washington, DC, and the Local Public Document Room for Calvert Cliffs at

the Calvert County Public Library, 30 Duke Street, Prince Frederick, Md. 20678. The

document is available electronically at

www.nrc.gov/NRC/NUREGS/SR1437/S1/index.html.

Written, as well as oral, comments may be presented during the meeting. Those

wishing to submit written comments later should address them to the Chief, Rules and

Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Mailstop T-6D-59, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, by e-mail to cceis@nrc.gov,

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