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-02-051 November 27, 2002

CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416 E-mail: OPA2@nrc.gov

Roger Hannah (404)562-4417

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON SUMMER

NUCLEAR STATION LICENSE RENEWAL

 The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold two public meetings on December 11 at

Jenkinsville, South Carolina, on the environmental review related to the application of South Carolina

Electric & Gas Company to renew the operating license for the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station.

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 on December 11 in the Fellowship Room of the White Hall A.M.E.

Church in Jenkinsville. 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 at that time.

 All are welcome to attend. For planning purposes, those who wish to present oral comments at the

meeting may register by contacting Gregory F. Suber of the NRC by telephone at 1-800- 368-5642,

Extension 1124, or by email at VCSummerEIS@nrc.gov no later than December 6 . Interested

persons may also register to speak 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 license for the V.C. Summer will expire on August 6, 2022. SCE&G submitted

its application for license renewal on August 6 of this year.

 The application is available for public review at the Fairfield County Library, 300 Washington

Street, Winnsboro, South Carolina, 29180, and at the Thomas Cooper Library, 1322 Greene Street,

Columbia, South Carolina, 29208. It is also available in the NRC Public Document Room at NRC

Headquarters, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, on the Internet at 

www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/summer.html and from the Publicly
Available Records component of NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System

(ADAMS), accessible at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html . Persons who do not have access to

ADAMS or who encounter problems accessing the documents in ADAMS should contact the NRC’s

Public Document Room reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or by email at pdr@nrc.gov . 

 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 these meetings for a supplement to the generic environmental impact statement that will

be specific to the V.C. Summer. 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 Fairfield County and

Thomas Cooper libraries and accessible electronically through the NRC Public Electronic Reading

Room at www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html . 

 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 Summer-specific

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

30, 2003, 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 email to: VCSummerEIS@nrc.gov .

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