[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56187-56188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-8221]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 52-011]


Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Notice of Acceptance for 
Docketing of Application for Early Site Permit (ESP) for the Vogtle ESP 
Site

    On August 15, 2006, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the 
Commission) received an application from Southern Nuclear Operating 
Company, dated August 14, 2006, filed pursuant to section 103 of the 
Atomic Energy Act and 10 CFR part 52, for an early site permit (ESP) 
for a location in eastern Georgia (near Waynesboro, Georgia) identified 
as the Vogtle ESP site. A notice of receipt and availability of this 
application was previously published in the Federal Register (71 FR 
51222: August 29, 2006). The applicant supplemented the application by 
letters dated September 6 (two letters), 2006, and September 13, 2006. 
An applicant may seek an ESP in accordance with Subpart A of 10 CFR 
Part 52 separate from the filing of an application for a construction 
permit (CP) or combined license (COL) for a nuclear power facility. The 
ESP process allows resolution of issues relating to siting. At any time 
during the duration of an ESP (up to 20 years), the permit holder may 
reference the permit in a CP or COL application.
    The NRC staff has determined that Southern Nuclear Operating 
Company has submitted information in accordance with 10 CFR Parts 2 and 
52 that is sufficiently complete and acceptable for docketing. The 
Docket No. established for this application is 52-011. The NRC staff 
will perform a detailed technical review of the application, and 
docketing of the ESP application does not preclude the NRC from 
requesting additional information from the applicant as the review 
proceeds, nor does it predict whether the Commission will grant or deny 
the application. The Commission will conduct a hearing in accordance 
with 10 CFR 52.21 and will receive a report on the application from the 
Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards in accordance with 10 CFR 
52.23. If the Commission then finds that the application meets the 
applicable standards of the Atomic Energy Act and the Commission's 
regulations, and that required notifications to other agencies and 
bodies have been made, the Commission will issue an ESP, in the form 
and containing conditions and limitations that the Commission finds 
appropriate and necessary.

[[Page 56188]]

    In accordance with 10 CFR Part 51, the Commission will also prepare 
an environmental impact statement for the proposed action. Pursuant to 
10 CFR 51.26, and as part of the environmental scoping process, the 
staff intends to hold a public scoping meeting. Detailed information 
regarding this meeting will be included in a future Federal Register 
notice.
    Finally, the Commission will announce, in a future Federal Register 
notice, the opportunity to petition for leave to intervene in the 
hearing required for this application by 10 CFR 52.21.
    A copy of the Southern Nuclear Operating Company ESP application is 
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document 
Room located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first 
floor), Rockville, Maryland, and at the Burke County Library in 
Waynesboro, Georgia. It is also accessible electronically from the 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public 
Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (ADAMS Accession No. ML062290246). 
Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC Public 
Document Room staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by 
e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 19th day of September, 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David B. Matthews,
Director, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 06-8221 Filed 9-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P