NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 2443 Warrenville Road

 Lisle IL 60532

 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov

No. III-05-034 July 19, 2005

CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 

Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 

NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES FOR LICENSE RENEWAL

The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold two public meetings Thursday, July

28, in South Haven, Mich., on the environmental review of Nuclear Management Company’s

application to renew the operating license for Palisades Nuclear Plant. The plant is located at Covert,

Mich.

The public is invited to attend and comment on environmental issues the NRC should consider

in its review of the proposed license renewal.

The meetings will be at Lake Michigan College, 125 Veterans Blvd., South Haven.

There will be two similar sessions, one in the afternoon from 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m., and one

in the evening from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. In addition, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one

hour prior to each meeting to answer questions and provide additional information about the process. 

However, formal comments on environmental issues cannot be accepted during the informal sessions.

For planning purposes, those who wish to present oral comments at the meeting are encouraged

to contact Robert Schaaf of the NRC by telephone at 800-368-5642, extension 1312, or by email at

PalisadesEIS@nrc.gov. People 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. Members of the public will then 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 Palisades plant will expire on Mar. 24, 2011. Nuclear

Management Co. submitted its application for license renewal on Mar. 31, 2005.

The application and other related documents are available for public review at the South Haven

Memorial Library (314 Broadway St., South Haven, MI 49090). They are also available in the NRC Public

Document Room at NRC Headquarters, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,

Maryland, and on the Internet at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/palisades.html
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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 Palisades. 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 local libraries and

accessible electronically at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.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

Palisades-specific supplement to the generic environmental impact statement. Comments should be

submitted by Aug. 22, 2005, 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: PalisadesEIS@nrc.gov.

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