NRC ISSUES FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR 

DUANE ARNOLD NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION 

 

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has issued its final supplemental 

environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the proposed renewal of the operating license for the 

Duane Arnold Energy Center, located in Palo, Iowa, 8 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids. The 

report concluded there are no environmental impacts that would preclude license renewal for an 

additional 20 years of operation. 

 The Duane Arnold Energy Center has one boiling-water reactor. The current operating 

license expires Feb. 21, 2014. Duane Arnold’s operator, FPL Energy Duane Arnold, submitted 

the license renewal application Oct. 1, 2008. 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 are met. Therefore, if approved, the current operating 

license for Duane Arnold Energy Center would be extended until 2034. 

 As part of its environmental review of the application, the NRC held public meetings 

near the plant to discuss the review process and the draft version of the environmental impact 

statement. Comments were received and considered from members of the public, local officials, 

and representatives of state and federal agencies. 

 Publication of the final environmental impact statement does not represent final NRC 

action on the license renewal application. The agency staff has completed a safety evaluation 

report that is currently being evaluated by NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards 

(ACRS). The ACRS will make its recommendation before the agency makes a final decision on 

whether to renew the operating license. 

 

 The final environmental impact statement is available on the NRC’s website at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supplement42/index.html and can 

also be viewed in the NRC’s ADAMS online documents system at http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams/web-based.html by entering accession number ML102790308 in the search window. 

Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRC’s Public Document Room at 1-800-

397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at PDR.Resource@NRC.GOV. 

 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 10-188 October 20, 2010
The Duane Arnold license renewal application is posted at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/duane-arnold-energy-center.html.

Additional information about the license renewal process is available at: 

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

Documents related to Duane Arnold are also located at the Hiawatha Public Library, 

150 W. Willman St., Hiawatha, Iowa. 

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