As part of Kewaunee’s license renewal application, dated Aug.14, 2008, Dominion Energy Kewaunee submitted an environmental report. The NRC staff reviewed the information and performed an on-site review
- By Linton Levy -
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comments on its preliminary conclusion that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the operating licenses for the Kewaunee Power Station located in Kewaunee, 27 miles east of Green Bay, Wis.
As part of Kewaunee’s license renewal application, dated Aug.14, 2008, Dominion Energy Kewaunee submitted an environmental report. The NRC staff reviewed the information and performed an on-site review. The staff also considered comments made during the environmental scoping process, including comments offered at public meetings held Oct. 22, 2008.
The draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) will be available for public comment until April 23, and will be the subject of two public meetings. The meetings will be held on March 24, at the City of Carlton town hall, N1296 Town Hall Rd., Kewaunee County. The meetings are scheduled to begin at 1:30 and 7 p.m. The two meetings will begin with identical overviews, including a discussion of the contents of the report, and then be opened for public comment.
NRC staff will consider written comments on the draft EIS. Comments should be submitted either by mail to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Mail Stop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by e-mail to KewauneeEIS.Resource@nrc.gov.
In addition, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour prior to each meeting at the same facility. NRC staff members will be available to answer questions and provide information about the process, but no comments on environmental issues will be accepted during these informal sessions.
Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant has a term of 40 years. The license may be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current operating license for Kewaunee Power Station expires on Dec. 21, 2013.
The possible environmental effects of an additional 20 years of nuclear plant operation are described in a generic EIS (NUREG-1437). The NRC issues a site-specific supplement to the generic EIS on each plant requesting license renewal; issues specific to Kewaunee Power Station are addressed in Supplement 40.
The Kewaunee draft supplement to the generic EIS and other related documents are available for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room at NRC headquarters, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md.; or electronically through the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System through the NRC webpage at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. The accession number of the draft supplement is ML100240002. In addition, the draft supplement to the generic EIS will be available for public inspection at the following location: Kewaunee Public Library, 822 Juneau St. in Kewaunee.
A copy of the Kewaunee license renewal application is available on the NRC’s Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/kewaunee.html. Additional information on the NRC’s license renewal review process is available at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html.
At the conclusion of the public comment period, the NRC staff will consider and address the comments received and issue a final supplement to the generic EIS. That supplement will contain a final conclusion regarding the environmental impact of relicensing Kewaunee Power Station.