NRC NEWS

 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II

61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta GA 30303

Web Site: www.nrc.gov/OPA

No. II-01-036 August 23, 2001 

CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov

Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov 

 

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS ON SURRY

NUCLEAR STATION LICENSE RENEWAL

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold public meetings on September 19 

in Surry, Virginia, on the environmental review related to the application of Virginia Electric & Power

Company (Virginia Power) to renew the operating licenses for both units of the Surry nuclear power

plant near Surry, Virginia. Members of the public are invited to attend and comment on

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

The meetings will be held in the Combined District Court Room in the Surry County

Government Center, 45 School Street, Surry, Virginia. There will be two similar sessions, one in the

afternoon from 1:30 until 4:30 p.m. and one in the evening from 7:00 until 10:00 p.m. In addition, the

NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour prior to each meeting. No comment submittals on

environmental issues will be accepted during the informal discussions.

For planning purposes, those who wish to attend or present oral comments at the meetings may

register by contacting Andrew J. Kugler of the NRC by telephone at (800) 368-5642, extension 2828,

or by e-mail at ajk1@nrc.gov no later than September 11. Interested persons may also register to speak

at the meeting 15 minutes before the start of each session. Individual comment time may be limited by

the time available.

The meetings will include an overview and NRC staff presentation on the environmental

process related to license renewal, after which members of the public will be given the opportunity to

present their comments on what environmental issues the NRC should consider during its review.

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 Surry Units 1 and 2 will expire on May 25, 2012, and January 29,

2013, respectively. Virginia Power submitted its application for license renewal on May 29, 2001.

As part of its application, Virginia Power submitted an environmental report. That report is

available for public review in the NRC Public Document Room at NRC headquarters, One White Flint

North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. In addition, the Gregg Earl Swem Library at the

College of William and Mary in Williamsburg has agreed to make the report available for public
inspection. The application is also available on the NRC Web page at

www.nrc.gov/NRC/REACTOR/LR/dominion/index.html.

An existing NRC document, "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of

Nuclear 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 NRC staff is gathering

information at the September meeting for a supplement to the generic environmental impact statement

that will be specific to the Surry 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 conclusions and significant issues and will send a copy to interested persons who participated in the

scoping process. The summary will also be available for public review at the Gregg Earl Swem

Library at the College of William and Mary and will be accessible electronically through the NRC

Public Electronic Reading Room at www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html. Assistance in using the

electronic reading room is available by calling the NRC Public Document Room at 301-415-4737 or

(800) 368-5642, extension 4737.

The NRC staff will then prepare a draft environmental impact statement 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.

Members of the public may also submit written comments on the scope of the Surry-specific

supplement to the generic environmental impact statement. Comments should be submitted by

October 15, 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, D.C. 20555-0001

or by Internet to: SurryEIS@nrc.gov.

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