25 July (NucNet): The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued its final environmental impact statement on the proposed early site permit (ESP) for Exelon Generation Company’s Clinton site in Illinois state, paving the way for the ESP to be issued in 2007.
The NRC said yesterday that the environmental impact statement concludes there are no environmental impacts that would prevent issuing an ESP. But it said additional steps must be completed before it can reach a final decision on the ESP.
The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel must hold a mandatory hearing on the ESP before the NRC can decide on the permit. The NRC said in a statement it expects to finish the ESP process by mid-2007.
The ESP process allows an applicant to address site-related issues, such as environmental impacts, for possible future construction and operation of a nuclear power plant.
The Clinton application was filed in September 2003 by Exelon Generation Company. The application does not define a specific plant design, but uses a composite set of values drawn from a number of reactor designs. These include advanced light and heavy water reactors, and a gas-cooled modular system.
According to Exelon, the new plant could consist of one or more reactors with a combined thermal capacity of 2,400 to 6,800 megawatts (MW), or about 800 to 2,400 MW electric.
If approved, the ESP would give Exelon up to 20 years to decide whether to build a new nuclear plant on the site and to file an application with the NRC for approval to begin construction.
The NRC’s conclusions on the Clinton application include a finding that there are “no obviously superior alternative sites”.
The Clinton nuclear power plant has a single 1,026 MW boiling water reactor unit, which began commercial operation in 1987. Exelon operates 10 nuclear power plants with 17 reactor units, representing approximately 20% of the US nuclear industry’s power capacity.
