CORRECTED: NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON DRAFT GENERIC LETTER 

REGARDING UPDATED SEISMIC ANALYSES FOR U.S. NUCLEAR REACTORS

(This press release corrects the docket number for submitting comments through regulations.gov 

and provides the updated deadline for submitting comments.)

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comments on a draft Generic 

Letter that would require U.S. nuclear power plants to re-examine their sites’ seismic risk and 

provide that information to the NRC.

Comments on the draft letter, published today in the Federal Register and available on 

regulations.gov, will be accepted until Nov. 15. The draft letter is available in the agency’s 

electronic document database, ADAMS, by entering ML111710783 in the database’s search engine. 

The staff expects to hold a public meeting on the draft letter in mid-October to gather comments;

meeting details will be announced separately in the next several weeks.

The letter represents the next step in the staff’s ongoing multi-year examination of updated 

seismic hazard information for the eastern and central United States, through the NRC’s Generic 

Issues program. This effort, labeled GI-199, began long before the events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi 

nuclear plant in Japan and the recent Virginia earthquake. GI-199 was prompted by the seismic 

analyses included in applications from 2003 related to new reactor activity. The NRC issued an 

Information Notice in September 2010 regarding GI-199, including the agency’s conclusion that 

existing plant designs safely account for possible earthquakes. The notice is available in ADAMS

by entering ML101970221 in the database’s search engine. More information on GI-199 is 

available on the NRC website.

Interested parties can submit comments on the draft letter through regulations.gov, using 

docket number NRC-2011-0204. Comments can also be submitted, referencing NRC-2011-0204, 

by mail to Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Division 

of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments via fax can be sent to RADB at 

301-492-3446.

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: www.nrc.gov

Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov

No. 11-175 September 16, 2011
The NRC staff will consider the comments before finalizing the Generic Letter, which the 

staff expects to issue near the end of the year. The draft letter’s approach would have U.S. nuclear 

power plants perform their analysis within either one or two years, depending on the analysis 

method used, and deliver their results to the NRC. The agency will then determine whether 

additional actions are necessary.

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