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. 10-028 February 12, 2010

NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 

STATEMENT FOR DUANE ARNOLD NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL; 

MEETINGS SCHEDULED 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comments on its preliminary 

conclusion that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the operating 

license for the Duane Arnold Energy Center located in Palo, Iowa, eight miles northwest of 

Cedar Rapids. 

As part of the Duane Arnold’s license renewal application, dated Oct. 1, 2008, FPL 

Energy Duane Arnold, LLC submitted an environmental report. The NRC staff reviewed the 

information and performed an on-site review. The staff also considered comments made during 

the environmental scoping process, including comments offered at public meetings held 

April 22, 2009. 

The draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) is available for public 

comment until April 19, and will be the subject of two public meetings. The meetings will be 

held on March 31 at the Hiawatha City Hall, 101 Emmons St., Hiawatha, Iowa. The meetings are 

scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Both meetings will begin with identical overviews, 

including a discussion of the contents of the report, and then be opened for public comment. 

In addition, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour prior to each meeting 

at the same facility. NRC staff members will be available to answer questions and provide 

information about the process, but no comments on environmental issues will be accepted during 

these informal sessions. 

NRC staff will consider written comments on the draft EIS. Comments should be 

submitted either by mail to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative 

Services, Mail Stop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555- 

0001, or by e-mail to DuaneArnoldEIS@nrc.gov. 

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. The current operating license for Duane Arnold Energy Center expires on 

Feb. 21, 2014.
The possible environmental effects of an additional 20 years of nuclear plant operation 

are described in a generic EIS (NUREG-1437). The NRC issues a site-specific supplement to the 

generic EIS on each plant requesting license renewal; issues specific to Duane are addressed in 

Supplement 42. 

The Duane Arnold draft supplement to the generic EIS and other related documents are 

available for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room at NRC headquarters, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md.; or electronically through the 

Agencywide Documents Access and Management System through the NRC webpage at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. The accession number of the draft 

supplement is ML100310027. In addition, the draft supplement to the generic EIS will be 

available for public inspection at the Hiawatha Public Library, 150 W. William St. in Hiawatha. 

A copy of the Duane Arnold Energy Center license renewal application is available on 

the NRC’s Web site at: 

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

Additional information on the NRC’s license renewal review process is available at: 

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

At the conclusion of the public comment period, the NRC staff will consider and address 

the comments received and issue a final supplement to the generic EIS. That supplement will 

contain a final conclusion regarding the environmental impact of the proposed relicensing of 

Duane Arnold Energy Center.

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