NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 Office of Public Affairs Region IV 

 611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400

 Arlington, TX 76011-4005

No. IV-04-004 January 13, 2004

Contact: Victor Dricks E-Mail: opa4@nrc.gov

Phone: 817-860-8128

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON GRAND GULF EARLY SITE PERMIT

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public meeting on January 21

in Port Gibson, Mississippi, on the environmental review for System Energy Resources, Inc.’s

(SERI) application for an early site permit for the Grand Gulf nuclear station site, 25 miles south

of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Members of the public are invited to attend and comment on

environmental issues that the NRC should consider in its review of the proposed early site

permit.

The meeting will be held at the Port Gibson Town Hall, located at 1005 College Street, in

Port Gibson from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. The meeting will be preceded by a one-hour open house

during which members of the public may meet and talk with NRC staff members on an informal

basis. 

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

may register by contacting Cristina Guerrero of the NRC by telephone at (800) 368-5642,

extension 2981, or by e-mail at GrandGulfEIS@nrc.gov. Interested persons may also register to

speak before the start of each session. Individual comment time may be limited by the time

available.

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

process related to early site permits, after which members of the public will be given the

opportunity to present their comments on the environmental issues that the NRC should consider

during its review.

Under NRC regulations, during its review of an early site permit application, the staff

must consider the suitability of a particular site for the construction and operation of a new 
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nuclear facility. The staff must also consider whether an obviously superior site exists. SERI

submitted its application for the early site permit in October.

As part of its application, SERI 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 Harriette Person

Memorial Library, located at 606 Main Street, Port Gibson, Mississippi has agreed to make the

environmental report available for public inspection. The application is also available on the

NRC Web page at www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/license-reviews/esp/grand-gulf.html.

The NRC staff is gathering information at the January meeting for an environmental

impact statement documenting the staff’s review of the Grand Gulf early site permit application. 

It will contain the staff’s preliminary conclusions regarding suitability of the site for construction

and operation of a new nuclear facility and whether obviously superior sites exist. 

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

Harriette Person Memorial County Library and will be accessible electronically through the NRC

Public Electronic Reading Room found 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 1-

800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737.

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.

Members of the public may also submit written comments on the scope of the sitespecific supplement to the generic environmental impact statement. Comments should be

submitted by February 12, 2004, 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: GrandGulfEIS@nrc.gov.

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