The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission hopes in August to begin a series of at least 10 meetings to gather public input for preparation of a congressionally mandated report on best practices for local community boards to provide advice on nuclear decommissioning projects.
The report is due by 2020 under the terms of Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-Wy.) Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act, which was signed into law in January. In March, the NRC issued a notice requesting suggestions for meeting locations. It received 19 comments by the April 17 deadline.
“Now that we have the various suggestions, we are drawing up a list of cities, then we will look for specific venues to hold the meetings,” NRC spokesman David McIntyre said by email Monday. “We hope to announce those in mid-July, with the meetings beginning in August.”
Among the proposed locations were: San Luis Obispo County, Calif., where the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is scheduled to be retired in 2025; Lacey Township, N.J., where the Oyster Creek Generating Station closed in September; the Vernon-Brattleboro region in Vermont, home to the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, which shut down in 2014; and Citrus County, Fla., where the shuttered Crystal River facility is being considered for expedited decommissioning.
