LICENSING BOARD UPHOLDS NRC’S ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

FOR PROPOSED NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN LEVY COUNTY, FLA.

An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) has rejected a challenge by two

environmental groups to an application to license two new nuclear power reactors in Levy 

County, Fla. The ASLB is a three-member board of administrative judges independent of the 

NRC staff that conducts adjudicatory hearings on major agency licensing actions.

The groups, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and the Ecology Party of 

Florida, claimed the NRC’s April 27, 2012, Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) failed 

to adequately identify and assess the proposed Levy Nuclear Plant’s direct, indirect and 

cumulative environmental impacts on wetlands and groundwater resources. The applicant,

Progress Energy of Florida, and the NRC staff argued the FEIS satisfied all of the requirements 

of the National Environmental Policy Act. 

The ASLB held an evidentiary hearing in Bronson, Fla., on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2012, to 

decide these issues. The hearing involved more than 300 exhibits and 24 witnesses. The Board’s

more than 140-page decision, that the FEIS complies with legal and regulatory requirements, 

made findings that include: 

 The statement fairly and reasonably describes the Levy area’s geology and hydrology; 

 Evidence from the hearing did not support the groups’ claim that the site is underlain by 

active sinkholes, groundwater conduits, or significant “preferential pathways” for 

groundwater flow;

 The Levy Nuclear Plant application’s groundwater modeling was reasonable and 

professional;

 The FEIS reasonably relies on the concrete and highly prescriptive monitoring and 

mitigation requirements imposed on the proposed Levy Nuclear Plant by the U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers, the state of Florida and the Southwest Florida Water Management 

District via permits such as the state-issued water use permit; and

 It is reasonable to rely on the Corps and state agencies, such as the Florida Department of 

Environmental Protection, to assure that Progress Energy of Florida will actually 

implement, and successfully perform, the prescribed monitoring and mitigation measures. 

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. 13-020 March 26, 2013
The ASLB’s decision can be appealed to the five-member Commission in charge of the 

agency. Unless appealed, the ASLB decision becomes the NRC’s final determination on the 

environmental issues raised by the environmental groups. 

Documents related to the Levy County application are available on the NRC website. 

Documents regarding this ASLB proceeding are available on the NRC’s Electronic Hearing 

Docket by clicking on the folder entitled “Levy_County_52-029&52-030-COL” on the left side 

of the page. More information about the role of the ASLB in the licensing process is available on 

the NRC website.

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