NRC SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENT ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT

FOR SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeks public comment on a draft supplemental 

environmental impact statement for the proposed renewal of the South Texas Project nuclear 

power plant’s operating licenses for an additional 20 years.

NRC staff will hold two public meetings in Bay City, Texas, on Jan. 15, 2013 to present the 

findings of the draft report and accept public comments. The meetings will be held at the Bay City 

Civic Center, 201 Seventh St., from 2-5 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. NRC staff members will be available 

for one hour prior to each session to meet informally with members of the public.

The South Texas Project nuclear plant has two pressurized-water reactors, located in Bay 

City, about 90 miles southwest of Houston. The plant operator, STP Nuclear Operating Co.,

submitted its license renewal application on Oct. 25, 2010. The current operating licenses expire 

Aug. 20, 2027, for Unit 1 and Dec. 15, 2028, for Unit 2.

The draft supplemental environmental impact statement contains the NRC staff’s analysis 

of potential impacts specific to the South Texas Project site. In preparing the report, the staff held a 

public meeting in Bay City on March 2, 2011, as part of the public “scoping” process for the 

report. The staff also conducted site audits at the plant in May and July 2011 and consulted with 

other agencies while analyzing the applicant’s environmental report submitted with the 

application.

The draft NRC report does not discuss potential environmental impacts of extended storage 

of spent nuclear fuel after the plant eventually ceases operation. That issue will be addressed in the 

NRC’s waste confidence environmental impact statement and rule, expected by September 2014. 

In August 2012, the Commission decided that the agency will not issue final licensing decisions 

for reactors, including license renewal, until the waste confidence rule is completed. If at that time, 

site-specific issues relating to spent fuel storage at South Texas Project remain unresolved, they 

will be addressed separately.

Public comments on the draft environmental impact statement for the South Texas Project 

license renewal will be accepted through Feb. 22, 2013. They may be submitted online via the 

federal government’s rulemaking website at www.regulations.gov using 

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. 12-128 December 18, 2012
Docket ID NRC-2010-0375. They may also be mailed 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, D.C., 20555-0001. Comments may also be faxed to 301-492-3446.

The South Texas Project draft supplemental environmental impact statement is available 

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

11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. Copies will also be available at the Bay City Public Library, 

1100 7th St., Bay City, Texas. 

The South Texas Project license renewal application, information about the NRC staff’s 

environmental and safety reviews, and the draft supplemental environmental impact statement are 

available on the NRC website. 

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