NRC EXTENDS REVIEW SCHEDULE FOR 

INDIAN POINT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is revising its schedule for the issuance 

of two reports that are central to the agency’s review of the license renewal application 

for the Indian Point nuclear power plant. The documents are the draft Safety Evaluation 

Report (SER) and the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the application. 

Release of the draft SER will be extended by approximately four months for 

several reasons. They include additional time required to review supplemental 

information provided by the plant’s owner, Entergy; time devoted by the license renewal 

review staff to responding to an unusually large number of contentions filed by those 

seeking a hearing on the application; and the staff’s efforts to address, in reviews 

currently under way, issues raised by the agency’s Office of Inspector General in a report 

on the NRC’s license renewal program. As a result of the schedule change, the NRC now 

expects to issue the draft SER in early January. 

With regard to the draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), 

its release will be extended by approximately three months. The primary reason for this 

extension is the exceptionally high number of public comments received on the scope of 

the staff’s environmental review for the application. NRC environmental staff also 

devoted significant time to responding to the large number of contentions filed by those 

seeking a hearing on the application. Under the revised schedule, the draft SEIS would 

now be issued in mid-December. 

“We have said from the beginning that we are committed to a thorough and 

rigorous review of the Indian Point license renewal application. That has not changed,” 

said Brian Holian, director of the NRC’s Division of License Renewal. “The fact that we 

will, when necessary, take additional time to address outstanding issues underscores our 

determination to give this application our full measure of attention.” 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 08-160 September 2, 2008
Indian Point, which is located in Buchanan (Westchester County), N.Y., is owned 

and operated by Entergy. In April 2007, the company submitted an application to extend 

the life of the two operating reactors at the site by two decades each. 

Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a commercial nuclear 

power plant has a term of 40 years. The license can be renewed for up to an additional 20 

years if NRC requirements are met. The current operating license for the Indian Point 2 

reactor is due to expire on Sept. 28, 2013, the license for Indian Point 3 on Dec. 12, 2015. 

Additional information concerning license renewal reviews in general and the 

Indian Point application in particular can be found at: 

www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html . 

 

 

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