OPENING REMARKS OF NRC CHAIRMAN GREGORY B. JACZKO AT THE

MANDATORY HEARING FOR NEW REACTORS AT THE VIRGIL C. SUMMER SITE

Good morning. I call this hearing to order. We are here today to conduct a mandatory 

hearing, as required by Section 189(a) of the Atomic Energy Act, on South Carolina Electric & Gas

Company’s combined license application to build and operate two new reactors at the Virgil C.

Summer site near Jenkinsville, South Carolina. 

In reviewing a new reactor application, the NRC has the responsibility to carefully analyze 

and thoroughly scrutinize the important safety, security, and environmental issues involved in 

constructing and operating a nuclear power plant. For the past three years, the NRC staff – drawing

on the varied talents and expertise of the agency – has worked diligently to complete the necessary 

safety and environmental reviews. 

In conducting this mandatory hearing, the Commission’s role is to serve as a check on that 

work. Our job is to determine whether those reviews have been adequate to support the necessary 

regulatory findings. Those findings fall into two categories – safety and environmental. They 

include whether the staff’s environmental analysis meets the requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act; whether the applicant has the necessary technical and financial 

resources; and ultimately whether the facility will be constructed and operated safely and securely. 

A detailed list of these findings was published as part of the notice for today’s hearing.

Today’s hearing follows our hearing on the Vogtle application just two weeks ago. Although 

the structure of today’s hearing will be very similar to that one, its substantive focus will differ 

somewhat. Since we discussed many of the generic design issues for the AP1000 in the previous 

hearing, we will focus to a greater extent on site-specific issues. Also, the Commission will examine 

the full breadth of the Final Environmental Impact Statement in today’s hearing because an Early 

Site Permit – which would have addressed certain environmental issues – was not completed for 

this application.

The mandatory hearing is one of the final steps of our licensing process. The Summer 

application, in fact, is only the second to reach this step in the Part 52 new reactor licensing process.

The Commission is committed to moving forward with this hearing and reaching a decision on this 

application in a thoughtful, timely manner that befits the important safety, security, and 

environmental issues under review.

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

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No. 11-197 October 12, 2011
I want to thank my colleagues for their efforts in preparing for this important hearing, as 

well as the many NRC staff who have worked on this application. Would any of my colleagues like 

the opportunity to make opening remarks?

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