Southern Nuclear Company, Inc.; Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1, 2, 3 and 4, 11064-11066 [2017-03241]
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11064
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 32 / Friday, February 17, 2017 / Notices
granted me by the Chairman’s
Delegation of Authority to Close
Advisory Committee Meetings dated
April 15, 2016.
Pursuant
to section 10(a)(2) of the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.,
Appendix 2), the U.S. Small Business
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meeting of the National Women’s
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makes policy recommendations to the
SBA, Congress, and the White House on
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This meeting is the 2nd quarter public
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program, titled ‘‘A Celebration of
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Participation and Progress,’’ will
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business, and an overview of the six
national organizations represented on
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For more information, please visit the
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Dated: February 13, 2017.
Elizabeth Voyatzis,
Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017–03191 Filed 2–16–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7536–01–P
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Business and Operations Advisory
Committee; Notice of Meeting
In accordance with the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (Pub., L. 92–
463, as amended), the National Science
Foundation (NSF) announces the
following meeting:
Name: Business and Operations
Advisory Committee (9556).
Date/Time: March 13, 2017; 1:00 p.m.
to 4:00 p.m. (EST).
Place: National Science Foundation,
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington,
Virginia 22230; Stafford I, Room 1235.
Type of Meeting: OPEN.
Contact Person: Joan Miller, National
Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson
Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230; (703)
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Purpose of Meeting: To receive,
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Agenda
March 13, 2017; 1:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.
Discussion of the Subcommittee
Report; Meeting Wrap-Up.
Matthew Parker,
SBA Committee Management Officer.
Dated: February 13, 2017.
Crystal Robinson,
Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017–03159 Filed 2–16–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
[FR Doc. 2017–03239 Filed 2–16–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50–424, 50–425, 52–025, and
52–026; NRC–2017–0046]
NATIONAL WOMEN’S BUSINESS
COUNCIL
Quarterly Public Meeting
National Women’s Business
Council.
ACTION: Notice of open public meeting.
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY:
The National Women’s Business
Council’s March Public Meeting will be
held on Wednesday, March 8, 2017,
from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held
virtually via teleconference and
webinar.
DATES:
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Southern Nuclear Company, Inc.;
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units
1, 2, 3 and 4
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is making a finding
of no significant impact for a proposed
issuance of amendments to Renewed
SUMMARY:
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Facility Operating License NPF–68;
Renewed Facility Operating License
NPF–81; Facility Combined License
NPF–91; and Facility Combined License
NPF–92, held by Southern Nuclear
Company, Inc. (SNC, the licensee) for
the operation of Vogtle Electric
Generating Plant (VEGP), Units 1, 2, 3,
and 4, respectively, located in Burke
County, Georgia. The proposed
amendments would allow for the
adoption of a common (fleet-wide) SNC
Standard Emergency Plan (SEP), with
site-specific annexes.
DATES: February 17, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2017–0046 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may obtain publicly-available
information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2017–0046. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC’s Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. For the
convenience of the reader, the ADAMS
accession numbers are provided in a
table in the ‘‘Availability of Documents’’
section of this document.
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at
the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Shawn A. Williams, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington DC
20555–0001; telephone: 301–415–1009;
email: Shawn.Williams@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of
amendments pursuant to § 50.54 of title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), ‘‘Conditions of licenses,’’
E:\FR\FM\17FEN1.SGM
17FEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 32 / Friday, February 17, 2017 / Notices
paragraph (q), to Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. NPF–68 and
NPF–81; and Facility Combined License
NPF–91 and NPF–92, held by Southern
Nuclear Company, Inc. (SNC, the
licensee) for the operation of Vogtle
Electric Generating Plant (VEGP), Unit
1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, located in
Georgia, Burke County.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, the
NRC has prepared an environmental
assessment (EA) that analyzes the
environmental effects of the proposed
licensing action. Based on the results of
the EA, and in accordance with 10 CFR
51.31(a), the NRC has prepared a finding
of no significant impact (FONSI) for the
proposed amendments.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would revise the
VEGP, Unit 1 and Unit 2, Renewed
Facility Operating Licenses, and the
Facility Combined Licenses for Units 3
and 4 in order to allow the adoption of
a fleet-wide SNC SEP that includes sitespecific annexes. If approved, the SEP
would establish an updated licensing
basis for the SNC fleet of nuclear power
plants (Farley, Units 1 and 2; Edwin I
Hatch, Units 1 and 2; and VEGP; Units
1, 2, 3, and 4) that complies with
current NRC regulations at 10 CFR
50.47, 10 CFR part 50, appendix E, and
NUREG–0654/FEMA–REP–1, Revision
1.
Notable proposed changes are (a)
adoption of a standard staff
augmentation time period of 75 minutes
from time of declaration of an Alert or
higher Emergency Classification, (b)
changes in staffing numbers, (c) changes
in staffing duties, and (d) consolidation
of the Joint Information Center.
The proposed action is in accordance
with the licensee’s application dated
August 31, 2015, as supplemented by
letters dated February 17, 2016; April 8,
2016; May 13, 2016; May 26, 2016; June
9, 2016; and November 2, 2016,
respectively.
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Need for the Proposed Action
Nuclear power plant owners,
government agencies, and State and
local officials work together to create a
system for emergency preparedness and
response that will serve the public in
the unlikely event of an emergency. An
effective emergency preparedness
program decreases the likelihood of an
initiating event at a nuclear power
reactor proceeding to a severe accident.
Emergency preparedness cannot affect
the probability of the initiating event,
but a high level of emergency
preparedness increases the probability
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:38 Feb 16, 2017
Jkt 241001
of accident mitigation if the initiating
event proceeds beyond the need for
initial operator actions.
Each licensee is required to establish
emergency plans to be implemented in
the event of an accident. These
emergency plans cover preparations for
evacuation, sheltering, and other actions
to protect residents near plants in the
event of a serious incident.
The NRC, as well as other federal and
state regulatory agencies review the
subject plans to ensure that the
condition of emergency preparedness
provides reasonable assurance that
adequate protective measures can and
will be taken in the event of a
radiological emergency.
Separate from this EA, the NRC staff
is evaluating SNC’s proposed changes to
the SEP for VEGP. This review will be
documented in the safety evaluation
report for the proposed license
amendment. The staff’s review will
determine whether there is reasonable
assurance that adequate protective
measures can and will be taken in the
event of a radiological emergency in
accordance with 10 CFR 50.47(b)(1)
through (b)(16), and the requirements in
appendix E to 10 CFR part 50.
The proposed action is needed to
make SNC’s fleet of nuclear power
plants (SNC fleet) emergency plans
easier to follow and understand. By
standardizing emergency plans, with
site specific annexes, SNC will align the
SNC fleet using consistent standards
and definitions. This will improve the
consistency throughout the SNC fleet
regarding: (1) Emergency planning
organizations, (2) duties and
responsibilities of emergency personnel,
(3) procedures, and (4) training.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation
of the proposed action. The proposed
action consists mainly of administrative
changes related to the rearrangement of
NRC-approved Farley, Hatch, and
Vogtle emergency plans into one SNC
SEP with site-specific annexes. Notable
changes include (a) the adoption of a
standard staff augmentation time period
of 75 minutes from time of declaration
of an Alert or higher Emergency
Classification (b) changes in staffing
numbers, (c) changes in staffing duties,
and (d) consolidation of the Joint
Information Center.
The proposed changes would have no
direct impacts on land use or water
resources, including terrestrial and
aquatic biota as the proposed action
involves no new construction or
modification of plant operational
systems. There would be no changes to
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
11065
the quality or quantity of nonradiological effluents. No changes to the
plant’s National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit are needed.
Changes in staffing levels associated
with the adopted SEP, and site-specific
annex for VEGP, could result in minor
changes in vehicular traffic and
associated air pollutant emissions, but
no significant changes in ambient air
quality would be expected. In addition,
there would be no noticeable effect on
socioeconomic conditions in the region,
no environment justice impacts, and no
impacts to historic and cultural
resources. Therefore, there would be no
significant non-radiological impacts
associated with the proposed action.
The NRC has concluded that the
proposed action would not significantly
affect plant safety and would not have
a significant adverse effect on the
probability of an accident occurring.
There would be no change to
radioactive effluents that affect radiation
exposures to plant workers and
members of the public. No changes
would be made to plant buildings or the
site property. Therefore, the proposed
action would not result in a change to
the radiation exposures to the public or
radiation exposure to plant workers.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed
action, the NRC considered denial of the
proposed action (i.e., the ‘‘no-action’’
alternative). Denial of the license
amendment request would result in no
change in current environmental
impacts.
Alternative Use of Resources
There are no unresolved conflicts
concerning alternative uses of available
resources under the proposed action.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On January 11, 2017, the staff
consulted with the Georgia State
official, Mr. B. Simonton, Georgia
Environmental Protection Division,
regarding the environmental impact of
the proposed action. The state official
had no comments.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The licensee has requested license
amendments pursuant to 10 CFR
50.54(q) to adopt a fleet-wide SEP, with
a specific annex, for VEGP. The NRC is
considering issuing the requested
amendments. The proposed action
would not significantly affect plant
safety, would not have a significant
adverse effect on the probability of an
accident occurring, and would not have
any significant radiological and non-
E:\FR\FM\17FEN1.SGM
17FEN1
11066
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 32 / Friday, February 17, 2017 / Notices
radiological impacts. The reason the
environment would not be significantly
affected is because the proposed
changes would only result in minor
changes in staffing levels and associated
vehicular traffic, along with a small
increase in air pollutant emissions. This
FONSI incorporates by reference the EA
in Section II of this notice. Therefore,
the NRC concludes that the proposed
action will not have a significant effect
on the quality of the human
environment. Accordingly, the NRC has
determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the
proposed action.
The related environmental documents
are the ‘‘Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for License Renewal of
Nuclear Plants: Regarding Vogtle
Electric Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2,
Final Report,’’ NUREG–1437,
Supplement 34; and the ‘‘Final
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for Combined Licenses
(COLs) for Vogtle Electric Generating
Plant Units 3 and 4,’’ NUREG–1947.
NUREG–1437, Supplement 34 provides
the latest environmental review of
current operations at VEGP, Units 1 and
2 and description of environmental
conditions. NUREG–1947 provides the
environmental review of initial
licensing of VEGP, Units 3 and 4.
The finding and other related
environmental documents may be
examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the
NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR),
located at One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
20852. Publicly-available records will
be accessible electronically from
ADAMS Public Electronic Reading
Room on the Internet at the NRC’s Web
site: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html.
Persons who do not have access to
ADAMS or who encounter problems in
accessing the documents located in
ADAMS should contact the NRC’s PDR
Reference staff by telephone at 1–800–
397–4209 or 301–415–4737, or send an
email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the
following table are available to
interested persons through one or more
of the following methods, as indicated.
ADAMS
Accession No./
Web link/
Federal Register
Citation
Document
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, License Amendment Request for Adoption of Standard Emergency Plan, dated August 31, 2015.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Response To Request for Additional Information Regarding License Amendment Request for Adoption of Standard Emergency Plan, dated February 17, 2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Response to Request For Additional Information Regarding License Amendment Request for Adoption of Standard Emergency Plan, dated April 8, 2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Updated Submittal of the Assessment of Emergency Response Staffing Regarding
License Amendment Request for Adoption of Standard Emergency Plan, dated May 13, 2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Corrected Response to Request For Additional Information Regarding License
Amendment Request for Adoption of Standard Emergency Plan, dated May 26, 2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Response to Request For Additional Information Regarding License Amendment Request for Adoption of Standard Emergency Plan, dated June 9, 2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Letter RE: Standard Emergency Plan Implementation Date, dated November 2, 2016
NUREG–1437, Supplement 34, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Regarding
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2, Final Report, dated December 2008.
NUREG–1947, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Combined Licenses (COLs) for Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 and 4, Final Report, dated March 2011.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day
of February 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Shawn A. Williams,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch II–
1, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2017–03241 Filed 2–16–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
[Docket Nos. 50–321, 50–366; NRC–2017–
0045]
Southern Nuclear Company, Inc.;
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1
and 2
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
AGENCY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:38 Feb 16, 2017
Jkt 241001
Environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
ACTION:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is making a finding
of no significant impact for a proposed
issuance of an amendment to Renewed
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR–57
and NPF–5, held by Southern Nuclear
Company, Inc. (SNC, the licensee) for
the operation of Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear
Plant (Hatch), Unit 1 and Unit 2,
respectively, located in Appling County,
Georgia. The proposed amendments
would allow for the adoption of a
common (fleet-wide) SNC Standard
Emergency Plan (SEP), with site-specific
annexes.
DATES: February 17, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2017–0045 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may obtain publicly-available
SUMMARY:
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ML15246A045
ML16060A283
ML16105A194
ML16146A724
ML16147A294
ML16167A468
ML16307A404
ML083380325
ML11076A010
information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2017–0045. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC’s Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
E:\FR\FM\17FEN1.SGM
17FEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 32 (Friday, February 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11064-11066]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03241]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-424, 50-425, 52-025, and 52-026; NRC-2017-0046]
Southern Nuclear Company, Inc.; Vogtle Electric Generating Plant,
Units 1, 2, 3 and 4
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is making a
finding of no significant impact for a proposed issuance of amendments
to Renewed Facility Operating License NPF-68; Renewed Facility
Operating License NPF-81; Facility Combined License NPF-91; and
Facility Combined License NPF-92, held by Southern Nuclear Company,
Inc. (SNC, the licensee) for the operation of Vogtle Electric
Generating Plant (VEGP), Units 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, located in
Burke County, Georgia. The proposed amendments would allow for the
adoption of a common (fleet-wide) SNC Standard Emergency Plan (SEP),
with site-specific annexes.
DATES: February 17, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0046 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0046. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. For
the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided
in a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this
document.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shawn A. Williams, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1009; email: Shawn.Williams@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of amendments pursuant to Sec.
50.54 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
``Conditions of licenses,''
[[Page 11065]]
paragraph (q), to Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-68 and
NPF-81; and Facility Combined License NPF-91 and NPF-92, held by
Southern Nuclear Company, Inc. (SNC, the licensee) for the operation of
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP), Unit 1, 2, 3, and 4,
respectively, located in Georgia, Burke County.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC has prepared an
environmental assessment (EA) that analyzes the environmental effects
of the proposed licensing action. Based on the results of the EA, and
in accordance with 10 CFR 51.31(a), the NRC has prepared a finding of
no significant impact (FONSI) for the proposed amendments.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would revise the VEGP, Unit 1 and Unit 2,
Renewed Facility Operating Licenses, and the Facility Combined Licenses
for Units 3 and 4 in order to allow the adoption of a fleet-wide SNC
SEP that includes site-specific annexes. If approved, the SEP would
establish an updated licensing basis for the SNC fleet of nuclear power
plants (Farley, Units 1 and 2; Edwin I Hatch, Units 1 and 2; and VEGP;
Units 1, 2, 3, and 4) that complies with current NRC regulations at 10
CFR 50.47, 10 CFR part 50, appendix E, and NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1,
Revision 1.
Notable proposed changes are (a) adoption of a standard staff
augmentation time period of 75 minutes from time of declaration of an
Alert or higher Emergency Classification, (b) changes in staffing
numbers, (c) changes in staffing duties, and (d) consolidation of the
Joint Information Center.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application dated August 31, 2015, as supplemented by letters dated
February 17, 2016; April 8, 2016; May 13, 2016; May 26, 2016; June 9,
2016; and November 2, 2016, respectively.
Need for the Proposed Action
Nuclear power plant owners, government agencies, and State and
local officials work together to create a system for emergency
preparedness and response that will serve the public in the unlikely
event of an emergency. An effective emergency preparedness program
decreases the likelihood of an initiating event at a nuclear power
reactor proceeding to a severe accident. Emergency preparedness cannot
affect the probability of the initiating event, but a high level of
emergency preparedness increases the probability of accident mitigation
if the initiating event proceeds beyond the need for initial operator
actions.
Each licensee is required to establish emergency plans to be
implemented in the event of an accident. These emergency plans cover
preparations for evacuation, sheltering, and other actions to protect
residents near plants in the event of a serious incident.
The NRC, as well as other federal and state regulatory agencies
review the subject plans to ensure that the condition of emergency
preparedness provides reasonable assurance that adequate protective
measures can and will be taken in the event of a radiological
emergency.
Separate from this EA, the NRC staff is evaluating SNC's proposed
changes to the SEP for VEGP. This review will be documented in the
safety evaluation report for the proposed license amendment. The
staff's review will determine whether there is reasonable assurance
that adequate protective measures can and will be taken in the event of
a radiological emergency in accordance with 10 CFR 50.47(b)(1) through
(b)(16), and the requirements in appendix E to 10 CFR part 50.
The proposed action is needed to make SNC's fleet of nuclear power
plants (SNC fleet) emergency plans easier to follow and understand. By
standardizing emergency plans, with site specific annexes, SNC will
align the SNC fleet using consistent standards and definitions. This
will improve the consistency throughout the SNC fleet regarding: (1)
Emergency planning organizations, (2) duties and responsibilities of
emergency personnel, (3) procedures, and (4) training.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action. The
proposed action consists mainly of administrative changes related to
the rearrangement of NRC-approved Farley, Hatch, and Vogtle emergency
plans into one SNC SEP with site-specific annexes. Notable changes
include (a) the adoption of a standard staff augmentation time period
of 75 minutes from time of declaration of an Alert or higher Emergency
Classification (b) changes in staffing numbers, (c) changes in staffing
duties, and (d) consolidation of the Joint Information Center.
The proposed changes would have no direct impacts on land use or
water resources, including terrestrial and aquatic biota as the
proposed action involves no new construction or modification of plant
operational systems. There would be no changes to the quality or
quantity of non-radiological effluents. No changes to the plant's
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit are needed.
Changes in staffing levels associated with the adopted SEP, and site-
specific annex for VEGP, could result in minor changes in vehicular
traffic and associated air pollutant emissions, but no significant
changes in ambient air quality would be expected. In addition, there
would be no noticeable effect on socioeconomic conditions in the
region, no environment justice impacts, and no impacts to historic and
cultural resources. Therefore, there would be no significant non-
radiological impacts associated with the proposed action.
The NRC has concluded that the proposed action would not
significantly affect plant safety and would not have a significant
adverse effect on the probability of an accident occurring. There would
be no change to radioactive effluents that affect radiation exposures
to plant workers and members of the public. No changes would be made to
plant buildings or the site property. Therefore, the proposed action
would not result in a change to the radiation exposures to the public
or radiation exposure to plant workers.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC considered denial
of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). Denial of
the license amendment request would result in no change in current
environmental impacts.
Alternative Use of Resources
There are no unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of
available resources under the proposed action.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On January 11, 2017, the staff consulted with the Georgia State
official, Mr. B. Simonton, Georgia Environmental Protection Division,
regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The state
official had no comments.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The licensee has requested license amendments pursuant to 10 CFR
50.54(q) to adopt a fleet-wide SEP, with a specific annex, for VEGP.
The NRC is considering issuing the requested amendments. The proposed
action would not significantly affect plant safety, would not have a
significant adverse effect on the probability of an accident occurring,
and would not have any significant radiological and non-
[[Page 11066]]
radiological impacts. The reason the environment would not be
significantly affected is because the proposed changes would only
result in minor changes in staffing levels and associated vehicular
traffic, along with a small increase in air pollutant emissions. This
FONSI incorporates by reference the EA in Section II of this notice.
Therefore, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will not have a
significant effect on the quality of the human environment.
Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental
impact statement for the proposed action.
The related environmental documents are the ``Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Regarding
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2, Final Report,'' NUREG-
1437, Supplement 34; and the ``Final Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for Combined Licenses (COLs) for Vogtle Electric Generating
Plant Units 3 and 4,'' NUREG-1947. NUREG-1437, Supplement 34 provides
the latest environmental review of current operations at VEGP, Units 1
and 2 and description of environmental conditions. NUREG-1947 provides
the environmental review of initial licensing of VEGP, Units 3 and 4.
The finding and other related environmental documents may be
examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room
(PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland 20852. Publicly-available records will be
accessible electronically from ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room on
the Internet at the NRC's Web site: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC's
PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or
send an email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADAMS Accession No./ Web link/
Document Federal Register Citation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, ML15246A045
License Amendment Request for Adoption
of Standard Emergency Plan, dated
August 31, 2015.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, ML16060A283
Response To Request for Additional
Information Regarding License
Amendment Request for Adoption of
Standard Emergency Plan, dated
February 17, 2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, ML16105A194
Response to Request For Additional
Information Regarding License
Amendment Request for Adoption of
Standard Emergency Plan, dated April
8, 2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, ML16146A724
Updated Submittal of the Assessment of
Emergency Response Staffing Regarding
License Amendment Request for Adoption
of Standard Emergency Plan, dated May
13, 2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, ML16147A294
Corrected Response to Request For
Additional Information Regarding
License Amendment Request for Adoption
of Standard Emergency Plan, dated May
26, 2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, ML16167A468
Response to Request For Additional
Information Regarding License
Amendment Request for Adoption of
Standard Emergency Plan, dated June 9,
2016.
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, ML16307A404
Letter RE: Standard Emergency Plan
Implementation Date, dated November 2,
2016.
NUREG-1437, Supplement 34, Generic ML083380325
Environmental Impact Statement for
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants:
Regarding Vogtle Electric Generating
Plant, Units 1 and 2, Final Report,
dated December 2008.
NUREG-1947, Final Supplemental ML11076A010
Environmental Impact Statement for
Combined Licenses (COLs) for Vogtle
Electric Generating Plant Units 3 and
4, Final Report, dated March 2011.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of February 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Shawn A. Williams,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch II-1, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2017-03241 Filed 2-16-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P