Neighbors to the proposed new Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in Hollywood, Ala., will get a chance to tell regulators about any of their environmental concerns about the project during public hearings Thursday in Scottsboro, Ala.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled public hearings from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. CDT and from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. CDT at the Scottsboro Goosepond Civic Center. NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said the hearing is designed to gather any comments or questions citizens think that regulators should consider in their evaluation of the environmental impact of a proposed nuclear power plant at the Bellefonte site.
The hearing is part of a three-year review of the combined operating license application submitted to the NRC last year by TVA and NuStart Energy LLC. Thursday’s hearing will help scope what issues the NRC should review in its environmental assessment of the proposed two new AP-1000 reactors proposed for the 1,600-acre Bellefonte site.
The NRC is conducting another safety evaluation of the specific reactor design through 2011.
An environmental impact study a generation ago concluded that TVA’s original plans for twin Babcock and Wilcox reactors met federal environmental standards. But those plants were later scrapped and TVA is now proposing a new reactor design for the site.
City and county governments and business groups in Jackson County last year adopted resolutions in favor of TVA building new reactors at Bellefonte. But last month, an anti-nuclear group known as the Bellefonte Efficiency & Sustainability Team began preparing to oppose the licensing of the new plant.
What’s next
* 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. CDT, and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. CDT, Thursday, April 3, at the Scottsboro Goosepond Civic Center, a public hearing on what environmental issues should be considered for the proposed new Bellefonte reactors.
* April 8 — Deadline to file petitions to intervene in the NRC’s safety evaluation of the Bellefonte plant design.
* December, 2008 — Preliminary safety evaluation report issued from NRC to TVA.
* March, 2009 — Draft environmental impact statement issued.
* January 2010 — Environmental impact statement finalized.
* February, 2011 — Final safety evaluation report issued.
* 2011-2013 — NRC commission reviews application and decides on combined operating license; If approved. construction may begin.
* 2018 — TVA projects first reactor could begin operation.
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