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-06-033 May 18, 2006

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

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW ASSOCIATED

WITH PROPOSED VERMONT YANKEE NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE EXTENSION

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold two public meetings on Wednesday, June 7, on

the environmental review for Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.’s application seeking renewal of the

Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant’s operating license. Members of the public are invited to attend

and identify environmental issues the NRC should consider during its review of the extension request

for the plant, which is located in Vernon, Vt.

There will be two sessions held that day at the Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St. in Brattleboro, Vt. 

(Directions are available on the theatre’s web site at: http://www.latchis.com/location.html .) The first

session will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session, which will be a

repeat of the first session, will take place from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., as necessary.

An informal “open house” will be held 1 hour prior to both sessions. It will provide members of

the public with an opportunity to talk informally on a one-on-one basis with NRC staff. Both sessions

will begin with an overview and an NRC staff presentation on the environmental review process for

license renewal applications. After that presentation, members of the public will be given an

opportunity to present their formal comments on environmental issues they believe the NRC should

consider during its review.

In addition to those meetings, the NRC will host an open house on Tuesday, June 6, to provide

members of the public with an opportunity to talk informally with agency staff about the process. The

open house will take place at the Quality Inn & Suites, 1380 Putney Road in Brattleboro from 2 to 8

p.m., as necessary. Attendees will also be able to provide formal comments on the subject.

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 for safe

operation are met. The current operating license for the Vermont Yankee plant is due to expire on

March 21, 2012.

Entergy submitted its license renewal application for Vermont Yankee on Jan. 25. As part of

its application, the company submitted an environmental report. The application can be reviewed via
the NRC’s web site at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/vermont-yankee.html . In

addition, the document is available for review at the following libraries:

! The Vernon Free Library, 567 Governor Hunt Road, Vernon;

! Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., Brattleboro;

! The Hinsdale Public Library, 122 Brattleboro Road, Hinsdale, N.H.; and

! Dickinson Memorial Library, 115 Main St., Northfield, Mass.

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

Nuclear Power 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 document for which the

NRC will gather information at the June 6th and 7th sessions will be a supplement to that generic

environmental statement that is specific to Vermont Yankee. 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 through

the Public Electronic Reading Room at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and at the previously

mentioned libraries. Help in accessing documents through the Reading Room is available by

contacting the NRC’s Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or by e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov .

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 statement.

Interested individuals may register to attend or present oral comments at the June 7th meetings

by contacting the NRC Environmental Project Manager for the application, Richard L. Emch, Jr., at 1-

800-368-5642, ext. 1590, or by e-mail at RLE@nrc.gov no later than May 31. 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 Generic Environmental Impact Statement to: Chief, Rules and

Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C., 20555-0001. Comments may also be

delivered to the NRC, Room 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 by June 23. Electronic comments can also be sent via e-mail to

VermontYankeeEIS@nrc.gov , again no later than June 23. Comments will be available on the NRC’s

web page via the electronic documents system.

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