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-04-019 March 26, 2004

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

Roger Hannah (404)562-4417

NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON BROWNS FERRY

NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL AT MEETINGS IN ALABAMA

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

April 1, in Athens, Alabama, on the environmental review related to the application of the Tennessee

Valley Authority to renew the operating licenses for the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3. 

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 at the Athens State University Student Center Cafeteria Ballroom. 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.

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

to contact Dr. Michael Masnik of the NRC by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, Extension 1191, or by

email at BrownsFerryEIS@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, 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 licenses for the Browns Ferry plant’s three units will expire on December 20,

2013, June 28, 2014, and July 2, 2016, respectively. 

The NRC is reviewing TVA’s extensive work on Browns Ferry Unit 1, which TVA would like

to restart after being shut down for an extended period. That unit has retained an operating license, but

requires NRC approval to restart. TVA submitted its application for all three units’ license renewal on

January 6 this year.

The application is available for public review at the Athens-Limestone Public Library, 405 East

South Street, Athens, Alabama. It is also available in the NRC Public Document Room at NRC
-2-

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

www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/browns-ferry.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 Browns Ferry. 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 Athens-Limestone Public

Library, and accessible electronically at 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 Browns Ferryspecific supplement to the generic environmental impact statement. Comments should be submitted by 

April 26, 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 email to: BrownsFerryEIS@nrc.gov .

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