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-02-050 November 20, 2002

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

Roger Hannah (404)562-4417

NRC DRAFT REPORT FINDS ST. LUCIE LICENSE RENEWAL ENVIRONMENTALLY

ACCEPTABLE; PUBLIC INPUT SOUGHT AT DECEMBER MEETINGS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comment on its preliminary

conclusion that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the operating

licenses for the two reactors at the St. Lucie nuclear plant on Hutchinson Island near Port St. Lucie,

Florida. 

The information is contained in a draft environmental impact statement on the proposed license

renewal. That document is open for public comment until January 15, 2003. The draft impact

statement findings will also be the subject of public meetings on Tuesday, December 3. Two similar

meetings will be held in the Council Chambers at the Port St. Lucie City Hall, located at 121 SW Port

St. Lucie Boulevard in Port St. Lucie. There will be one session 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 comments on environmental issues will be

accepted then.

The two sessions will begin with identical overviews, including a presentation by NRC staff

and its contractors of the contents of the draft supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact

Statement for license renewal. The meeting will then be opened for public comment.

For planning purposes, interested parties are encouraged to pre-register by contacting Michael

Masnik of the NRC by telephone at (800) 368-5642, extension 1191, or by e-mail at

StLucieDSEIS@nrc.gov . Interested persons may also register to speak before the start of each

session. Time for individual comments at the meetings may be limited to accommodate all speakers.

Written comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS will also be considered by NRC staff. 

Comments should be submitted 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 StLucieDSEIS@nrc.gov

The NRC has been reviewing the application for extension of the St. Lucie licenses since

Florida Power & Light, which operates the plant, filed it in November 2001. 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 licenses for St.

Lucie will expire on March 1, 2016, for Unit 1 and April 6, 2023, for Unit 2.

The possible environmental effects of an additional 20 years of nuclear plant operation are

described in the NRC’s Generic Environmental Impact Statement, or GEIS (NUREG-1437). The NRC

issues a site-specific supplement to the GEIS on each plant requesting license renewal to address the

potential environmental impacts. Issues specific to St. Lucie are addressed in Supplement 11. The

NRC staff’s preliminary recommendation is that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal

for the two units at St. Lucie are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for

energy-planning decision makers would be unreasonable.

The draft supplement to the GEIS and other related documents are available electronically for

public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room at NRC headquarters, 11555 Rockville Pike,

Rockville, Maryland; or electronically on the Internet at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supplement11 . In addition, the Indian River Community College

Library, 3209 Virginia Avenue, Ft. Pierce, has agreed to make the draft supplement to the GEIS

available for public inspection.

At the conclusion of the public comment period the NRC staff will consider and address the

comments provided and issue a final supplement to the GEIS. That supplement will contain a

recommendation regarding the environmental acceptability for license renewal.

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