Saturday, April 20, 2024
Courtesy: Meranda Cohn/Vistra
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold two public meetings next month regarding an application to renew the operating licenses of the Comanche Peak Nuclear Generating Station.
The licenses would be extended an additional 20 years.
The NRC is working on an environmental impact statement for the license renewal.
NRC staff will conduct public meetings on Tuesday, Jan. 10, from 1-3 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at the Somervell County Expo Center, 202 Bo Gibbs Blvd. off West Highway 67.
They will describe the environmental review process and accept comments from the public about the potential scope of that review.
Comanche Peak Nuclear Generation Station, Units 1 and 2 are pressurized-water reactors.
Unit 1 is currently licensed to operate through Feb. 8, 2030. Unit 2 is currently licensed to operate through Feb. 2, 2033.
The operator, Vistra Operations Company, recently submitted an application to extend the licenses.
The NRC has determined that the application contains sufficient information for the agency to formally docket the application and begin its safety and environmental reviews.
Docketing the application does not preclude requesting additional information as the reviews proceed, and it is not a guarantee that the NRC will renew the license.
The hearings will include instructions for filing petitions to intervene. The deadline for filing hearing petitions is Jan. 30.
The public meetings are just one method for filing comments on the environmental review before the deadline, which is 60 days after the notice was published.
Comments may also be submitted via regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2022-0078, via email to ComanchePeakEIS@nrc.gov, or by mail delivery to Office of Administration, Mail Stop TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
The scoping period will be announced in a separate Federal Register notice to be issued soon.
The Comanche Peak license renewal application can be viewed on the NRC website, at the Somervell County Library at 108 Allen Dr. in Glen Rose and at the Hood County Library at 222 N. Travis St.
