NRC Seeks Public Input On Draft Environmental Impact Statement For Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant License Renewal; Meetings Scheduled
- By Stephen Heiser -
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comments on its preliminary conclusion that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the operating license for the Duane Arnold Energy Center located in Palo, Iowa, eight miles northwest of Cedar Rapids.
As part of the Duane Arnold’s license renewal application, dated Oct. 1, 2008, FPL Energy Duane Arnold, LLC 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 April 22, 2009. The draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) is available for public comment until April 19, and will be the subject of two public meetings. The meetings will be held on March 31 at the Hiawatha City Hall, 101 Emmons St., Hiawatha, Iowa. The meetings are scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Both meetings will begin with identical overviews, including a discussion of the contents of the report, and then be opened for public comment.
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.
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 DuaneArnoldEIS@nrc.gov.
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 Duane Arnold Energy Center expires on Feb. 21, 2014. 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 Duane are addressed in Supplement 42.
The Duane Arnold 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 ML100310027. In addition, the draft supplement to the generic EIS will be available for public inspection at the Hiawatha Public Library, 150 W. William St. in Hiawatha.
A copy of the Duane Arnold Energy Center license renewal application is available on the NRC’s Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/duanearnold.html. Additional information on the NRC’s license renewal review process is available at: 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 the proposed relicensing of Duane Arnold Energy Center.
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