NRC MEETING WITH PUBLIC DEC. 4 ON ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING FOR LEVY COUNTY NEW REACTOR APPLICATION

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold public meetings Thursday, Dec. 4, in Crystal River, Fla., to discuss the environmental issues the agency should consider in reviewing a Combined License (COL) application for two new reactors proposed for the Levy County site near Crystal River.

The NRC will meet with the public from 1 - 4 p.m. and 6 - 9 p.m. at the Florida National Guard Armory, 8551 W. Venable St. in Crystal River. The application's environmental report is available on the agency's Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/levy.html. Copies of the report are also available at the Citrus County Coastal Region Library, 8619 W. Crystal St. in Crystal River; the Bronson Public Library at 600 Gilbert St. in Bronson, Fla.; and the Dunnellon Branch Library at 20351 Robinson Rd. in Dunnellon, Fla.

NRC staff will be available for informal discussions with members of the public during "open house" sessions from noon - 1 p.m. and 5 - 6 p.m. No formal comments on the environmental review will be accepted during these open houses.

Progress Energy submitted the application July 30 to build and operate two AP1000 reactors at the Levy County site. The AP1000 is a Westinghouse-designed 1,100 MWe pressurized-water reactor the NRC certified in 2006. Westinghouse submitted an application in May 2007 to amend the certified design. The amendment application (minus proprietary or security-related details) is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/design-cert/amended-ap1000.html.

Those wishing to register in advance to present their comments at the meeting should contact Douglas Bruner or Jessie M. Muir by telephone at 800-368-5642, x2730 or x0491 respectively, or via e-mail at [email protected] by Nov. 26. Those wishing to speak may also register at each meeting no later than 12:45 p.m. and 5:45 p.m., respectively. Individual comments may be limited by the time available and the number of people wishing to speak.

NRC staff will also consider written comments on the scoping process. Comments should be submitted no later than Dec. 23, either by mail to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, via e- mail at [email protected], or hand-delivered to the NRC at 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md., between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays.

###

News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html.  The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.