PROVIDE YOUR INPUT - OPEN REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION & PUBLIC COMMENT:
Proposed Rule: Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing
to amend the regulations that govern the NRC's environmental reviews of new nuclear reactor applications under the National Environmental Policy Act. The rulemaking would codify the generic findings of the NRC's draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors. The draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors uses a technology-neutral framework and a set of plant and site parameters to determine which potential environmental
impacts would be common to the construction, operation, and decommissioning of many new nuclear reactors, and thus appropriate for a generic analysis, and which potential environmental impacts would be unique, and thus require a project-specific analysis. The NRC expects that both the proposed rule and the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Licensing of New Nuclear Reactors would streamline the environmental reviews for future nuclear reactor applicants. The NRC is also issuing for
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), “Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Stations,” and “Environmental Considerations Associated with New Nuclear Reactor Applications that Reference the Generic Environmental Impact Statement.”
Response Due: December 18, 2024
Planned Change Request for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Replacement Panels 11 and 12
On July 16, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) announced for public comment the availability of a Planned Change Request (PCR) recently submitted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to
modify the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The proposed change will involve adding two additional waste panels west of the current repository to replace lost disposal capacity resulting from the 2014 radiological incident and resulting ground control issues. A 60-day comment period was provided for the PCR that expired on September 16, 2024. A request for an extension to the comment period was received from several stakeholders, most recently at the Agency's informal public meetings held in
New Mexico in late August. EPA is reopening the comment period to seek public input on both DOE's application and on what EPA should consider in its evaluation.
Response Due: December
31, 2024
