NRC ISSUES FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR 

COOPER NUCLEAR POWER 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 Cooper Nuclear 

Station in Nemaha County, Neb. The report concluded there are no environmental impacts that 

would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation. 

 The Cooper Nuclear Station is a boiling-water reactor located about two miles from 

Brownville, Neb. The current operating license expires January 18, 2014. Nebraska Public Power 

District submitted an application to the NRC in Sept. 2008 to extend the Cooper Nuclear Station 

license by 20 years. 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 Cooper Nuclear 

Station would be extended until January 18, 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 its safety evaluation report that 

will be evaluated by NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) and the ACRS 

will make its recommendations before the agency makes a final decision. 

 

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

at this address http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supplement41/

 and can also be viewed in the NRC’s ADAMS online documents system at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html by entering accession number 

“ML102100371” 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. 10-140 August 16, 2010
The Cooper Nuclear Station’s license renewal application is posted at 

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

information about the license renewal process is available at: 

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

 Documents related to Cooper Nuclear Station are also located at Auburn Memorial Library, 

1810 Court House Ave., Auburn, Neb. 

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