A Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) official said Thursday a decision on permitting the proposed Duke Energy William States Lee III nuclear station could come within the next couple of years.

The official added the nuclear station, slated for construction on a 2,000-acre site in the McKowns Mountain community, is either third or fourth on the NRC’s permitting list.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work already on this project,” the official said.

The official added that much of the pace of the permitting process depends on the NRC’s approval of the Westinghouse reactor design. The William States Lee III nuclear station will have two reactor units.

Commission officials as well as representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers talked about the project Thursday afternoon with a couple of Gaffney City Council and Cherokee County Council members. Gaffney Administrator James Taylor and Cherokee County Interim Administrator Ben Clary also attended the hour-long meeting.

On Thursday night at The Restoration Church in Gaffney, NRC officials heard from supporters and opponents of the project in preparation for the federal agency’s draft of an environmental impact statement.

NRC officials originally met with local residents on May 1, 2008. That meeting raised concerns over the nuclear station’s impact on the Broad River. As a result, Duke proposed the construction of a third reservoir on the site — known as Pond C. The three ponds will provide supplemental cooling water to the proposed reactors during periods of low flow in the Broad River.

Pond C will be created by damming the London Creek, a tributary of the Broad River. The dam will create a 620-acre lake,which will contain 22,000 acre-feet of water, according to a NRC handout. Lake C would border Lake Cherokee.

Despite its size and depth, Pond C will not be used for recreational activities. In fact, an Army Corps of Engineers official said a fence will be built around the pond’s perimeter.

The NRC oversees reactor safety, security and licensing.