NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200

 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

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

No. 03-160 December 8, 2003

NRC ANNOUNCES HEARING ON EARLY SITE PERMIT FOR

CLINTON SITE; OPPORTUNITY TO REQUEST PARTICIPATION

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold a hearing on an Early Site Permit (ESP)

application from Exelon Generation Company for the Clinton ESP site near Clinton, Illinois. 

Interested persons may request participation in the hearing.

The Early Site Permit process allows an applicant to resolve site-related issues, such as

environmental impacts, for possible future construction and operation of a nuclear power plant. 

Exelon’s application was filed September 25. If approved, the permit would give Exelon up to 20

years to decide whether to build one or more nuclear plants on the site, and to file an application with

the NRC for approval to begin construction.

The NRC staff have conducted an initial review of the application and determined it is

acceptable for docketing. The full technical review of the application will address site safety,

environmental protection, and plans for coping with emergencies, independent of the review of a

specific nuclear plant design. Following that review and issuance of a safety evaluation and

environmental impact statement, an NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will conduct a hearing

on the matter.

The deadline for requesting participation in the hearing is 30 days from the date of publication

of a Federal Register Notice, expected shortly. By that date, requests must be filed by anyone whose

interest might be affected by the application and who wishes to participate as a party to the proceeding. 

The requests should include why the person filing should be permitted to intervene, as well as the

specific aspects of the proceeding on which the person wishes to intervene. More details on the

hearing process and requirements for petitions requesting intervention are contained in the Federal

Register Notice, and are available on the agency’s Web site at this address:

http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html . Requests for leave to intervene

in the hearing must be filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.

A copy of the Exelon Early Site Permit application is available through the NRC’s Agencywide

Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS), by entering accession number

ML032721596 on the agency’s Web site at this address:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html . Help in using ADAMS is available by

contacting the NRC Public Document Room staff at 301-415-4737 or 800-397-4209, or by sending a
message to pdr@nrc.gov via e-mail. The documents are also available for inspection at the NRC’s

Public Document Room in Rockville, Maryland.

A copy of the application has been provided to the Vespasian Warner Public Library in Clinton,

and is available on the NRC’s Web site at this address:

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/license-reviews/esp/clinton.html . For further information,

contact Nanette Gilles, Senior Project Manager, via phone at 301-415-1180 or via mail at: New,

Research and Test Reactors Program, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Mail Stop O4-D-9A, Washington, DC 20555.

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