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

No. II-02-017 March 19, 2002

CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416 E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov

Roger Hannah (404)562-4417

 

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS ON ST. LUCIE

NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold public meetings on Wednesday, April

3, in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on the environmental review related to the application of Florida Power &

Light (FPL) to renew the operating licenses for both units at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant on Hutchinson

Island. 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 Port St. Lucie City Council Chambers in City Hall at 121 SW

Port St. Lucie Boulevard. There will be two similar sessions, one in the afternoon at 1:30 and one in

the evening at 7:00. In addition, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour prior to each

meeting. NRC staff members will be available to answer questions and provide additional information

about the process during those informal sessions, but no comment submittals on environmental issues

will be accepted then.

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

register by contacting Michael Masnik of the NRC by telephone at (800) 368-5642, extension 1191, or

by e-mail at St._Lucie_EIS@nrc.gov no later than March 28. 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 St. Lucie Units 1 and 2 will expire on March 1, 2016, and April 6,

2023, respectively. FPL submitted its application for license renewal on November 29, 2001.

As part of its application, FPL 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 Indian River Community College Library

located at 3209 Virginia Avenue in Fort Pierce, Florida, has agreed to make the report available for
public inspection. The application is also available on the Internet through NRCís document system

(ADAMS) at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.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 April 3 meeting for a supplement to the generic environmental impact statement that

will be specific to the St. Lucie 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 aforementioned library

and will be accessible electronically through the NRC Public Electronic Reading Room at

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.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 St. Luciespecific supplement to the generic environmental impact statement. Comments should be submitted by

April 30, 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 via the Internet to: St._Lucie_EIS@nrc.gov.

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