NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs, Region I

 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa.

www.nrc.gov

 

No. I-06-055 October 3, 2006

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

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC TO DISCUSS PROCESS FOR REVIEW OF LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION

FOR FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR PLANT, SEEK INPUT ON ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct two public meetings on Thursday, Oct. 12,

to discuss the agency’s review process for the license renewal application for the James A. FitzPatrick

nuclear power plant, located in Scriba (Oswego County), N.Y. The sessions will also provide an

opportunity for members of the public to comment on environmental issues they believe the NRC

should consider during its review of the application, which requests an additional 20 years of operation.

The meetings will be held in the conference room at the Town of Scriba’s municipal building,

42 Creamery Road in Oswego, N.Y. The first session will begin at 1:30 p.m. and continue until 4:30

p.m., as necessary. The second session, which will offer the same presentations as the earlier one, will

get under way at 7 p.m. and continue until 10 p.m., as needed.

Both meetings will begin with NRC staff presentations on how the overall license renewal

review and the environmental review processes work. Following the presentations, attendees will be

able to offer their comments.

“These meetings will afford interested citizens the chance to learn exactly what it is we look at

when we perform these reviews,” NRC License Renewal Branch Chief Rani Franovich said. “What’s

more, they will be able to call our attention to any environmental issues they think our review should

include.”

The NRC will host an open house beginning 1 hour before the start of each meeting to give

members of the public an opportunity to talk informally with agency staff. However, formal comments

must be expressed during the transcribed meetings.

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 the FitzPatrick plant is due to expire on Oct. 17, 2014.

Entergy Nuclear Operations submitted its license renewal application for the plant on Aug. 1 of

this year. As part of its application, the company submitted an environmental report. A copy of the
application is available via the NRC’s web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/fitzpatrick.html . In addition, the

Penfield Library, located at the State University of New York Oswego, 7060 State Route 104 in

Oswego, and the Oswego Public Library, 140-142 E. Second St., Oswego, have agreed to make the

environmental report available for public inspection.

An existing NRC document, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of

Nuclear Power Plants” (NUREG-1437), assesses the scope of environmental impacts that would be

associated with license renewal at any nuclear power plant site. The document for which the NRC will

gather environmental comments at the Oct. 12th meetings will be a supplement to that report that is

specific to the FitzPatrick 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 the conclusions reached and significant issues identified. A copy will be sent to each person who

participated in the scoping process. The summary will also be available on the NRC’s web site.

The NRC staff will subsequently prepare a draft environmental impact statement (EIS)

supplement for public comment and will hold a public meeting to solicit comments. After

consideration of comments on the draft report, the NRC will prepare a final EIS supplement.

Interested individuals may register to attend or present oral comments at the Oct. 12th meetings

by contacting Samuel Hernandez of the NRC at 1-800-368-5642, ext. 4049, by Oct. 5. Those who

wish to offer comments may also register at the meetings within 15 minutes of the start of each session. 

Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons

who register.

In addition, members of the public may send written comments on the environmental scoping

process for the supplement to the GEIS to: Chief, Rules and Directive Branch, Division of

Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545

Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md., from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. To be

considered, written comments should be postmarked or dropped off by Nov. 14. Electronic comments

can also be sent via e-mail to FitzPatrickEIS@nrc.gov , again no later than Nov. 14.

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