North Texans have another opportunity to voice their opinion on an application allowing the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant to keep its reactors online through 2053.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a new virtual meeting Dec. 21 to hear comments on Vistra’s application to extend its reactor licenses for an additional 20 years. The company’s current licenses for two nuclear units, which have the capacity to power 1.2 million homes under normal electricity conditions, expire in 2030 and 2033.
Earlier this month, the commission held two public meetings focused on how the nuclear plant would impact the surrounding environment if the license is renewed. However, several residents said they were unable to access the Dec. 7 virtual meeting due to technical issues and could not attend the in-person meeting in Glen Rose that evening.
If you go
What: Public meeting on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s draft environmental report for a 20-year extension of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant’s license in Glen Rose.
When: 2-4 p.m. Dec. 21
How to tune in: Click this link to join the Microsoft Teams webinar. If prompted, enter webinar meeting number 255 301 295 59 and password PAULu2. Or join by phone at 301-576-2978 and enter passcode 588791843#. The full public meeting notice is here.
The meeting gives the public another chance to provide input on the agency’s draft environmental impact report before the Dec. 26 comment deadline, commission spokesman Scott Burnell said. Community members also can submit written comments online.
“We fully understand the virtual meeting on the 7th did not meet our expectations for gathering public comment,” Burnell said by email.
As part of the license renewal process, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its draft environmental conclusions in November.
Commission staff determined that Comanche Peak’s continued operation would have a small impact on the surrounding environment, including factors such as air quality, land use, water resources, human health and waste management. The agency defines small impacts as being undetectable or so minor that they will neither destabilize nor noticeably alter natural resources.
Federal officials plan to issue a safety review in February. The agency expects to finalize the environmental impact statement in April, and a committee will host a final public meeting on the Comanche Peak application that month. A final decision on the license renewal is expected by September.
Doreen Geiger lives in the plant’s 50-mile radius, which includes parts of Tarrant, Hood and Somervell counties. She previously attended public meetings about Vistra’s application, but couldn’t make it to Glen Rose and didn’t learn about the virtual meeting until it had already begun.
She plans to attend the Dec. 21 meeting to express her concerns about the storage and potential transport of nuclear waste generated at Comanche Peak.
“I do think it’s important for people in the North Texas metroplex to be aware of all of this,” Geiger said. “The only way we can be aware is through the public meetings, and communication did not work well this time. We were not given enough heads up.”
How to submit comments to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The deadline for public comment on the draft environmental impact statement for the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant is Dec. 26.
Members of the public can submit comments through the federal rulemaking website by clicking this link or going to www.regulations.gov and searching for Docket ID NRC-2022-0183. Residents can also submit comments by emailing Tam Tran, the lead on the Comanche Peak environmental review, at Tam.Tran@nrc.gov.
Comments can also be submitted by mail. Address your comments to the Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN–7–A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
Haley Samsel is the environmental reporter for the Fort Worth Report. You can reach them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
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This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.