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:
site-selection report prepared by or for the applicant. If such a report was prepared, it should be provided to the NRC staff at the time the application is submitted to support the staff’s review. The site-selection process should follow a logical path from the definition of the ROI; to the identification of candidate areas, potential sites, and candidate sites; to the selection of the proposed site. The ROI is the geographic area considered in searching for potential and candidate sites. The geographic DG-4026, Page 137 area of the ROI need not be contiguous, but if not, a logical basis for nonadjacent areas should be provided. “Candidate Areas” are one or more areas within the ROI that remain after unsuitable areas (e.g., unsuitable because of high population, lack of water, fault lines, or distance to transmission lines) have been removed. “Potential Sites” are those sites within the candidate areas that have been identified for preliminary assessment in establishing candidate sites. “Candidate sites” are those potential sites within the ROI and that are considered in the comparative evaluation of sites to be among the best that can reasonably be found for the siting of a nuclear power plant. The candidate sites include the proposed site and the alternative sites. The “proposed site” is the candidate site submitted to the NRC by the applicant as the proposed location for a nuclear power plant. “Alternative sites” are those candidate sites that are compared to the proposed site to determine if there is an obviously superior alternative site. In general, the identification of three to five alternative sites in addition to the proposed site could be viewed as adequate. Each of the steps in the process is discussed in more detail below. 9.3.1 The ROI The ROI is typically selected based on geographic boundaries (e.g., the state in which the proposed site is located), or the relevant service area for the proposed plant. In cases where the