BUCHANAN – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Tuesday said it is revising its schedule for the issuance of two reports that are central to the agency’s review of the license renewal application for the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan.

The documents are the draft Safety Evaluation Report and the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the application.

Release of the draft Safety Evaluation Report will be extended for about four months to allow for additional time to review supplemental information provided by plant owner Entergy; to give NRC staff more time to respond to an unusually large number of contentions filed by those seeking a hearing on the application; and the staff’s efforts to address issues raised by the Office of Inspector General in a report on the NRC” license renewal program.

The draft report is expected in January.

The environmental review report is expected to be pushed back by about three months, primarily because of the exceptionally high number of public comments received on the scope of the staff’s environmental review for the application.

The draft environmental report is now to be issued in mid-December.