In its environmental review of the new reactor proposed at Detroit Edison's Fermi nuclear plant, the staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has concluded that the project would not pose an unreasonable threat to the environment.Last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission began sending letters to stakeholders in the review process notifying them that the final environmental impact statement for the project had been completed. (It can be found at the NRC's website using ADAMS accession numbers ML12307A172, ML12307A176, ML12307A177 and ML12347A202.) The NRC staff, along with the Army Corps of Engineers, recommend final approval for the new reactor's combined license.In 2008, the utility began seeking approvals to build a GE-Hitachi ESBWR at its plant on Lake Erie between Toledo, Ohio, and Detroit, Mich. Completion of the EIS is a significant milestone, though only one of many before the project can proceed. The NRC and its Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards will also need to finalize the project's safety evaluation report, which itself is dependent on the final certification of the ABWR design.According to the NRC, the agency's staff issued the SER and design approval for the generation III reactor, but a final ruling was held up in 2011 by issues related to its steam dryer. Per the Fermi unit 3 EIS, "If the additional analyses resolve the issues, certification, via publication of a final rule, is expected to be completed in 2013."
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