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:
nd electrical reliability council) would take action to meet the need for power before the grid became unreliable. Because of this, the ER should discuss what other steps might be taken to address the need for power, and the associated environmental impacts. For example, if the likely result of the no-action alternative would be that one of the other energy alternatives would be built and operated to meet the need for power, then the ER should include that information and may refer to the discussion of that energy alternative for the associated environmental impacts. 9.2 Energy Alternatives The first step in the discussion of energy alternatives should be to evaluate and identify the energy sources other than nuclear energy that have the potential to meet the purpose and need for the project and eliminate from detailed discussion energy sources that cannot meet the purpose and need. The second step should be to evaluate in more detail the impacts of the energy sources that can meet the purpose and need statement. Finally, the ER should compare the impacts of the energy sources that can meet the purpose and need to the impacts of the proposed project and determine if any of the alternative sources are environmentally preferable to the proposed project. The discussion of alternatives in the ER should include all energy alternatives that could be used to meet the need for power.18 Energy alternatives can be divided into two categories; those that do not require new generating capacity (e.g., energy conservation), and those that do require new generating capacity (e.g., a natural gas-fired plant). For alternatives that do not require new generating capacity, the ER should discuss options that go beyond any already considered in the need-for-power analysis presented in ER Chapter 8. For example, the need-for-power analysis typically has already considered energy savings associated with energy efficiency and conservation programs that the power company plans to implement.