Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: f0baf50b-5bb7-4783-b2f9-9586e09c97e1
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Stations + HISTORY - HISTORY 02/2017 – DG-4026 , Proposed Revision 3 09/2014 – Periodic Review of Revision 2 – Revise (Rev. 3)
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 4
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1611/ML16116A068.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-4.2
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
ncluding wetlands that are unique to the resource area. • There should not be other significant issues (e.g., environmental justice, historic and cultural resources, traditional cultural properties, cemeteries, burials) that preclude the use of the site. 9.3.5 Proposed and Alternative Sites The proposed site is the candidate site identified by the applicant as the proposed location for a new nuclear power plant. Alternative sites are those candidate sites that are compared to the proposed site to determine if there is an environmentally preferable site. The ER should provide a sufficient description of the alternative sites to allow for an evaluation of the environmental impacts of building and operating the proposed project at each site. A figure showing the proposed plant on each alternative site with the footprint and the environmental interfaces such as cooling-water intakes and discharges should be included. The evaluation and comparison of the proposed and alternative sites should be performed for each resource area for which an assessment was performed for the proposed site, should consider cumulative impacts and be presented in tabular form. The potential impacts of climate change should be considered under cumulative impacts. The evaluation of the cumulative impacts at the alternative sites should be similar to that for the proposed site, except that reconnaissance-level information is used for the alternative sites. If, however, initial efforts to draw a clear differentiation between the proposed site and any alternative site proves inconclusive, then reconnaissance-level information can be expanded to include information obtained through more in-depth information gathering or visits to the affected region. An applicant can propose to build a new nuclear power plant at a site that was not selected on the basis of a systematic site-selection process (e.g., at the site of an existing nuclear power plant or a site identified by the State). In such a case,