United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20555

Phone 301-415-8200 Fax 301-415-2234

Internet:opa@nrc.gov

NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT ON PROPOSED

CALVERT CLIFFS LICENSE RENEWAL

No. 98-102 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Thursday, June 25, 1998)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a public meeting July 9 in

Solomons, Maryland, on an application from Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BG&E) to

renew its operating licenses for the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2, in Lusby,

Maryland. Members of the public are invited to attend and comment on what environmental

issues the NRC should consider in its review of the proposed license renewal.

The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Select, 155 Holiday Drive, in Solomons. Two

similar sessions will be held, in the afternoon and in the evening. Interested persons are invited

to participate in the session that is more convenient for them. The first will begin at 2:00 p.m.

and continue until 5:00 p.m.; the second will begin at 7:00 p.m. and continue until 10:00 p.m.

The two sessions will begin with identical overviews. The NRC staff will give a

presentation on the license renewal and environmental review processes. BG&E will discuss

the environmental portion of the proposed license renewal.

Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant is issued

for up to 40 years. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC

requirements are met. The current operating licenses for Calvert Cliffs will expire on July 31,

2014, for Unit 1 and on August 13, 2016, for Unit 2. BG&E submitted its application for license

renewal in April.

As part of its application, Baltimore Gas & Electric Company submitted an environmental

report. That report is available for public review in the NRC’s Local Public Document Room

located in the Calvert County Public Library, 30 Duke Street, Prince Frederick, Maryland, and at

the NRC Public Document Room located at 2120 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

An existing NRC document, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License

Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants” (NUREG- 1437), assesses the scope and impact of

environmental effects that would be associated with license renewal at any nuclear power plant

site. The document for which NRC will gather information at the July meeting will be a Calvert

Cliffs-plant-specific supplement to that generic environmental statement. 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 and will send a copy to

each person who participated. The summary will also be available for public review in the NRC
public document rooms in Prince Frederick and Washington, D.C.

The NRC staff will then prepare a draft environmental impact statement (EIS)

supplement for public comment and will hold a public meeting to solicit comments. After

consideration of comments received on the draft, the NRC will prepare a final EIS supplement.

Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the July 9 meeting by

contacting Claudia M. Craig by telephone at 800/368-5642, extension 415-1053, or by Internet

at cceis@nrc.gov no later than July 2. Members of the public who wish to make comments may

also register at the Holiday Inn meeting site within 15 minutes of the start of each session.

Individual comments may be limited by the time available.

Members of the public may also submit written comments on the scope of the

environmental impact supplement. They should be submitted by August 7, either by mail to the

Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Mail stop T-6-D-59,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by Internet to the same

address as above: cceis@nrc.gov.

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