The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, have issued the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Early Site Permit (ESP) application from USA fleet member PSEG.
The statement concludes environmental impacts would not preclude the NRC from issuing the permit for the site, adjacent to Salem and Hope Creek.
The approximately 1,900-page report documents the NRC staff’s independent review of PSEG’s application. The review takes into account consultations with federal, state, tribal and local agencies and comments received during the public scoping process in November 2010. The staff also considered comments received on the draft EIS issued in August 2014. The staff concludes there are no environmentally preferable or obviously superior sites.
The NRC issued the Final Safety Evaluation Report (FSER) in early October. This report concluded there are no safety aspects that would preclude issuing the ESP permit as well.
The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will conduct a mandatory hearing on the permit application. The hearing will determine whether the staff’s environmental review, documented in the final EIS, and the safety review, documented in the Final Safety Evaluation Report, support the findings necessary to issue the permit.
The final EIS also supports the Army Corps of Engineers review of PSEG’s application for activities under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbor Act of 1899. The Corps will issue a separate record of decision on the work proposed for Corps review and authorization.
Originally filed in May 2010, final approval on PSEG’s ESP application is now expected in the second quarter 2016.
An NRC decision to issue the ESP means that the site PSEG has identified north of the current Hope Creek plant is suitable for a new nuclear plant from a safety, environmental and emergency planning perspective. An ESP is valid for 20 years and allows PSEG to continue exploring the possibility of building a new plant without making a formal commitment to build. PSEG would need to submit and receive approval for a Combined Operating License (COL) in order to actually construct and operate a new plant.