NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs, Region I

 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa.

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA

No. I-04-055 December 9, 2004

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 Email: opa1@nrc.gov

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS REGARDING DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT

FOR MILLSTONE NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION

Members of the public will have an opportunity on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005, to comment on a

draft report that assesses the environmental impact of extending the operating license for the Millstone

Power Station, Units 2 and 3 in Waterford, Conn. In January 2004, Dominion Nuclear Connecticut,

Inc., submitted an application to renew the licenses for an additional 20 years.

The NRC will hold two meetings on Jan. 11 to accept comments, with one session scheduled to

begin at 1:30 p.m. and another at 7 p.m. Both meetings, which are scheduled to last up to three hours

each, will take place at the Waterford Town Hall, at 15 Rope Ferry Road in Waterford. NRC staff will

be available for an hour prior to the start of each meeting for informal discussions of the report.

Interested parties may pre-register to attend or present oral comments at the meetings by

contacting Richard L. Emch, Jr., of the NRC at 800/368-5642, ext. 1590, or by sending an e-mail to

MillstoneEIS@nrc.gov no later than Jan. 6, 2005. Members of the public may also register 15 minutes

before each session to provide oral comments. The duration of individual comments may be limited by

the time available, depending on the number of persons who register. Written comments on the draft

report will also be considered by the NRC staff. Comments can be submitted by mail to the Chief,

Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Mail Stop T-6 D59, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. They can also be submitted electronically to

MillstoneEIS@nrc.gov. The public comment period ends on March 2.

Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant has a term of

40 years. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. 

The current operating license for Millstone 2 is due to expire on July 31, 2015, while the current

operating license for Millstone 3 is scheduled to terminate on Nov. 25, 2025. (The Millstone Unit 1

reactor has been permanently shut down since July 1998.)

Dominion Nuclear submitted its license renewal application for the plant in January. As part of

its application, the company submitted an environmental report. The NRC staff reviewed the report

and performed an on-site audit. The staff also considered comments made during the environmental

scoping process, including comments offered at public meetings held May 18, 2004 in Waterford.
-2-

Based on its review, the NRC staff has preliminarily recommended that the Commission

determine the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for the Millstone plant are not so great

that preserving the option of license renewal for energy planning decision-makers would be

unreasonable.

When issued in its final form, the statement will be a Millstone-specific supplement to the

“Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,” (NUREG1437).

The draft report can be viewed electronically via the NRC’s web site at:

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supplement22/index.html

Copies of the report can also be reviewed at the Public Document Room, located at One White Flint

North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md., 1-800-397-4209, and at the following locations: 

Waterford Public Library, 49 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford; or Three Rivers Community College,

Thames River Campus Library, 574 New London Turnpike, Norwich, Conn. 

###