NRC TO PREPARE SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

FOR INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff plans to issue a supplement to the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement it prepared for the Indian Point nuclear power plant’s license 

renewal application based on new information that has become available since the report was 

issued in December 2010. The update will address new information about possible impacts of the 

Buchanan (Westchester County), N.Y., facility on the aquatic environment.

 Indian Point is the site of two pressurized-water reactors. The initial 40-year operating 

license for Indian Point Unit 2 is set to expire on Sept. 28, 2013, while the initial license for 

Indian Point Unit 3 runs through Dec. 12, 2015. Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., which owns 

and operates the reactors, is seeking a 20-year license extension for each unit. The company 

submitted an application for the extensions to the NRC on April 23, 2007.

 As part of its review of the application, the NRC staff performed a detailed assessment of 

potential environmental impacts if the plant continues to operate for the extended period. During 

the course of this assessment, the NRC solicited comments from members of the public, local 

officials and representatives of state and federal agencies and tribal governments. The

supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement, totaling more than 2,000 pages, was 

published on Dec. 3, 2010. The report recommended approval of a license extension for the 

plant.

 One of the impacts studied for the assessment involved the plant’s effects on the aquatic 

environment. New information that will be evaluated for a supplement to the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement will include:

• Additional details provided by Entergy on the field data units of measure for 

impingement and entrainment. (Impingement refers to the trapping of fish and other 

aquatic organisms against intake screens by the force of the water being drawn through a 

cooling water intake structure, while entrainment refers to the drawing of small aquatic 

organisms through a cooling water intake structure into the cooling system of a power 

plant.)

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. 12-025 March 15, 2012
• A new study completed by Entergy and submitted to the New York State Department of 

Environmental Conservation characterizing the plant’s thermal plume in the Hudson 

River.

• New developments concerning the staff’s consultation under the Endangered Species Act 

with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regarding endangered species.

The NRC staff expects to issue a draft of the supplement to the Final Environmental 

Impact Statement for public comment later this year.

The Indian Point license renewal application and the final Environmental Impact 

Statement are available on the NRC’s website.

In addition, documents related to the application are available at the following locations: 

The White Plains Public Library, 100 Martine Ave., White Plains, N.Y.; the Hendrick Hudson 

Free Library, 185 Kings Ferry Road, Montrose, N.Y.; and the Field Library, 4 Nelson Ave., 

Peekskill, N.Y.

###

NOTE: Anyone wishing to take photos or use a camera to record any portion of a NRC meeting should 

contact the Office of Public Affairs beforehand.

News releases are available through a free Listserv subscription or by clicking on the EMAIL UPDATES 

link on the NRC homepage (www.nrc.gov). E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are 

posted to NRC's website. For the latest news, follow the NRC on www.twitter.com/NRCgov.