Virginia Electric and Power Company (Dominion); Notice of Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Renewal of the Surry Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, 9114-9115 [05-3487]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 36 / Thursday, February 24, 2005 / Notices
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 72–2]
Virginia Electric and Power Company
(Dominion); Notice of Issuance of
Environmental Assessment and
Finding of No Significant Impact for
License Renewal of the Surry
Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Environmental Assessment.
AGENCY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mary Jane Ross-Lee, Senior Project
Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office,
Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
Telephone: (301) 415–3781; fax number:
(301) 415–8555; e-mail mjr2@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC
or the Commission) is considering
renewing Virginia Electric and Power
Company’s (Dominion’s) (the
applicant’s) License No. SNM–2501
under the requirements of Title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations, Part 72 (10
CFR Part 72) authorizing the continued
operation of the Surry Independent
Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI)
located at the Surry Power Station in
Surry County, Virginia. The
Commission’s Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards has completed its
review of the environmental report
submitted by the applicant on April 29,
2002, in support of its application for a
renewed materials license. The staff’s
‘‘Environmental Assessment related to
the renewal of the Surry Independent
Spent Fuel Storage Installation’’ has
been issued in accordance with 10 CFR
Part 51.
I. Summary of Environmental
Assessment (EA)
Description of the Proposed Action:
The proposed licensing action would
authorize the applicant to continue
operating a dry storage ISFSI at the
Surry site. The purpose of the ISFSI is
to allow for interim spent fuel storage
and, indirectly, power generation
capability, beyond the term of the
current ISFSI license to meet future
power generation needs. The current
license will expire July 31, 2006. The
renewed ISFSI license would permit 40
additional years of storage beyond the
current license period. The current
ISFSI employs five different cask
systems licensed for the Surry ISFSI.
These cask systems include the General
VerDate jul<14>2003
18:49 Feb 23, 2005
Jkt 205001
Nuclear Systems, Inc., (GNSI) CASTOR
V/21 and CASTOR X/33, the
Westinghouse MC–10, the NAC INTACT
28 S/T, and the Transnuclear, Inc., TN–
32. Currently, the facility is licensed to
store spent fuel storage casks on three
reinforced concrete pads that are 230
feet long, 32 feet wide, and 3 feet thick.
Two of the three storage pads have been
built. Each pad is designed to
accommodate 28 casks.
Need for the Proposed Action: The
Surry ISFSI is needed to provide
continued spent fuel storage capacity so
that the Surry Power Station can
continue to generate electricity. This
renewal is needed to provide an option
that allows for interim spent fuel storage
and, indirectly, power generation
capability, beyond the term of the
current ISFSI license to meet future
system generating needs. The renewed
ISFSI license would permit 20
additional years of storage beyond the
current license period. An exemption
would allow 20 years of storage beyond
the renewal period.
Environmental Impacts of the
Proposed Action: The NRC staff has
concluded that the license renewal of
the Surry ISFSI will not result in a
significant impact to the environment.
The Surry ISFSI will require one
additional storage pad during the
license renewal term. The pad would be
built on previously disturbed ground
adjacent to the existing pads.
Construction impacts of the third
storage pad of the ISFSI will be minor,
and limited to the approximately 800
feet by 800 feet ISFSI site. No areas
designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service as ‘‘critical habitat’’ for
endangered species exist at the site. The
only terrestrial community at the site
consist of remnants of mixed pinehardwood forest that were used for
timber production prior to the site’s
acquisition by Dominion. Thus, the staff
does not expect the ISFSI to impact any
threatened or endangered species. The
Environmental Assessment for the ISFSI
construction acknowledged that
although the station was located in a
historic region, no historical resources
were identified within the boundaries of
the site. During the Surry Power Station
license renewal process, Dominion
commissioned a cultural resource
survey of the property. The survey
identified one previously recorded
archaeological site on the west side of
the property and classified the
remainder of the property into one of
three categories, based on the potential
for archaeological resources. The ISFSI,
because it rests on previously disturbed
land, was classified as having no
potential for cultural resources.
PO 00000
Frm 00084
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
There will be no significant
radiological or non-radiological
environmental impacts from routine
operation of the ISFSI. The staff
evaluated radiological impacts from
operations to ensure that the radiation
dose to both workers and the public is
as low as reasonably achievable
(ALARA). The Surry Power Station
ALARA program, including ISFSI
operations, complies with 10 CFR Part
20, Radiation Protection Programs, and
is consistent with Regulatory Guide 8.8,
‘‘Information Relevant to Ensuring That
Occupational Radiation Exposures at
Nuclear Power Stations Will Be As Low
As Reasonably Achievable.’’
There are several parks and preserves
in Surry County, primarily along the
south bank of the James River.
Immediately adjacent to the Surry
Power Station is the Hog Island tract of
Hog Island Wildlife Management Area
(HIWMA) (zoned A–R), at the north end
of the peninsula on which the Surry
Power Station is located. In addition,
south of the Surry Power Station are the
Carlisle and Stewart tracts of HIWMA.
West of the Surry Power Station,
bordering the James River, is Chippokes
Plantation State Park, and further west
are Swanns Point and Pipsico
Reservations.
The ISFSI licensing basis for the
annual dose to the nearest permanent
resident, located 1.53 miles from the
ISFSI, was based on 84 GNSI CASTOR
V/21 casks. The annual dose calculated
for that case was 6.0×10¥5 mrem, which
is well below the 10 CFR 72.104 and 10
CFR 20.1101 limits. The revised
calculations based on 84 TN–32 casks
results in a dose of 5.6×10¥5 mrem per
year, which is less than the original
licensing basis. The staff reviewed the
calculations and assumptions provided
by Dominion. Based on these results,
normal ISFSI operations will not have a
significant offsite radiological impact
and will remain well within the 10 CFR
20.1101 and 72.104 limits. The staff also
evaluated radiological consequences of
a release of the entire gaseous inventory
of a cask and found that Dominion’s
calculated dose to an individual at the
nearest site boundary is 84 mrem, which
is well within the 5 rem criteria of 10
CFR 72.106.
The annual collective dose from 84
TN–32 casks to 48 residents within a
two-mile radius of the ISFSI is
calculated to be 2.7×10¥6 person-rem,
which is several orders of magnitude
less than the collective dose from
natural background radiation.
Radiological decommissioning of the
ISFSI would be complete when the last
cask is removed from the site. Small
occupational exposures to workers
E:\FR\FM\24FEN1.SGM
24FEN1
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 36 / Thursday, February 24, 2005 / Notices
could occur during decontamination
activities, but these exposures would be
much less than those associated with
cask loading and transfer operations.
Due to the design of the sealed surface
storage casks, no residual contamination
is expected to be left behind on the
concrete base pad. The base pad, fence,
and peripheral utility structures are
defacto decommissioned when the last
cask is removed.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action:
The applicant’s Environmental Report
and the staff’s EA discuss several
alternatives to the proposed ISFSI
license renewal. These alternatives
include shipment of spent fuel off-site,
and other methods to increase on-site
spent fuel storage capacity, as well as
the no action alternative. In the first
category, the alternatives of shipping
spent fuel from Surry to a permanent
Federal Repository, to a reprocessing
facility, or to a privately owned spent
fuel storage facility were determined to
be non-viable alternatives, as no such
facilities are currently available in the
United States, and shipping the spent
fuel to other power stations is
impractical because the receiving utility
would have to be licensed to store the
Surry spent fuel, and it is unlikely that
another utility would be willing to
accept it, in light of their own
limitations on spent fuel storage
capacity. Another off-site alternative is
to construct an ISFSI at a site away from
the Surry Power Station. However, it
was concluded that this alternative does
not offer net environmental benefits
Other on-site storage alternatives
considered by the applicant included
increasing the capacity of the existing
spent fuel pools by re-racking or spent
fuel rod consolidation, or construction
of a new spent fuel storage pool.
Dominion has already increased the
original capacity of the existing pool
and cannot increase it further. Although
the applicant could construct an
additional spent fuel pool, the high cost
associated with constructing and
maintaining such a facility and all of the
necessary support equipment, coupled
with the significant occupational
exposures resulting from the extensive
fuel handling operations, make this
alternative impractical. Modifying
operations of the plants was also
considered such as extending fuel
burnup or operating at reduced power.
However, such operational changes may
alter the amount of fuel to be stored, but
they do not eliminate the need for
storage. Also, consideration of
researching other technologies for
interim disposal was determined nonviable because of additional doses
associated with repackaging.
VerDate jul<14>2003
18:49 Feb 23, 2005
Jkt 205001
The no action alternative could result
in the extended or permanent shutdown
of the Surry Power Station. The fuel
currently stored would have to be
removed. The electrical generation
capacity lost would likely negatively
impact the local economy and
infrastructure of the area. For these
reasons, the ‘‘no action’’ alternative is
not considered a practical alternative.
As discussed in the EA, the
Commission has concluded that there
are no significant environmental
impacts associated with renewing the
license of the Surry ISFSI, and other
alternatives were not pursued because
of significantly higher costs, additional
occupational exposures, and the
unavailability of offsite storage options.
Agencies and Persons Contacted:
Officials from the Virginia Department
of Emergency Services, the Virginia
Department of Historic Resources, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the
Virginia Department of Environmental
Quality, were contacted in preparing the
staff’s environmental assessment. The
conclusions by all agencies consulted
were consistent with the staff’s
conclusions.
II. Finding of No Significant Impact
The staff has reviewed the
environmental impacts of renewing the
Surry ISFSI license relative to the
requirements set forth in 10 CFR Part
51, and has prepared an EA. Based on
the EA, the staff concludes that there are
no significant radiological or nonradiological impacts associated with the
proposed action and that issuance of
renewal of the license for the interim
storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Surry
ISFSI will have no significant impact on
the quality of the human environment.
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31 and
51.32, a finding of no significant impact
is appropriate and an environmental
impact statement need not be prepared
for the renewal of the materials license
for the Surry ISFSI.
Supporting documentation is
available for inspection at NRC’s Public
Electronic Reading Room at: https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ADAMS.html.
A copy of the license application, dated
April 29, 2002 as supplemented October
6, 2003, and the staff’s EA, dated
February 2005, can be found at this site
using the ADAMS accession numbers
ML021290068, ML032900118, and
ML040560156. Any questions should be
referred to Mary Jane Ross-Lee, Spent
Fuel Project Office, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555, Mailstop O13D13, telephone
(301) 415–3781; fax number (301) 415–
8555.
PO 00000
Frm 00085
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
9115
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day
of February 2005.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
Mary Jane Ross-Lee,
Senior Project Manager, Spent Fuel Project
Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 05–3487 Filed 2–23–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–U
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Sunshine Act Meeting
Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
DATE: Week of February 21, 2005.
PLACE: Commissioners’ Conference
Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland.
STATUS: Public and Closed.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING:
Week of February 21, 2005
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
1:25 p.m. Affirmation Session (Public
Meeting) (Tentative)
a: Safety Light Corporation (Materials
Licensing Suspension) (Tentative)
The schedule for Commission
meetings is subject to change on short
notice. To verify the status of meetings
call (recording)—(301) 415–1292.
Contact person for more information:
Dave Gamberoni, (301) 415–1651.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: By a vote of 5–
0 on February 18, the Commission
determined pursuant to U.S.C. 552b(e)
and § 9.107(a) of the Commission’s rule
that ‘‘Affirmation of Safety Light
Corporation (Materials Licensing
Suspension)’’ be held February 22, and
on less than one week’s notice to the
public.
The NRC Commission Meeting
Schedule can be found on the internet
at: https://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/
policy-making/schedule.html.
The NRC provides reasonable
accommodation to individuals with
disabilities where appropriate. If you
need a reasonable accommodation to
participate in these public meetings, or
need this meeting notice or the
transcript or other information from the
public meetings in another format (e.g.,
braille, large print), please notify the
NRC’s Disability Program Coordinator,
August Spector, at (301) 415–7080,
TDD: (301) 415–2100, or by e-mail at
aks@nrc.gov. Determinations on
requests for reasonable accommodation
will be made on a case-by-case basis.
This notice is distributed by mail to
several hundred subscribers; if you no
E:\FR\FM\24FEN1.SGM
24FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 36 (Thursday, February 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9114-9115]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-3487]
[[Page 9114]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 72-2]
Virginia Electric and Power Company (Dominion); Notice of
Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant
Impact for License Renewal of the Surry Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental Assessment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Jane Ross-Lee, Senior Project
Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Materials Safety
and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555. Telephone: (301) 415-3781; fax number: (301) 415-8555; e-mail
mjr2@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC
or the Commission) is considering renewing Virginia Electric and Power
Company's (Dominion's) (the applicant's) License No. SNM-2501 under the
requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 72
(10 CFR Part 72) authorizing the continued operation of the Surry
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) located at the
Surry Power Station in Surry County, Virginia. The Commission's Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards has completed its review of
the environmental report submitted by the applicant on April 29, 2002,
in support of its application for a renewed materials license. The
staff's ``Environmental Assessment related to the renewal of the Surry
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation'' has been issued in
accordance with 10 CFR Part 51.
I. Summary of Environmental Assessment (EA)
Description of the Proposed Action: The proposed licensing action
would authorize the applicant to continue operating a dry storage ISFSI
at the Surry site. The purpose of the ISFSI is to allow for interim
spent fuel storage and, indirectly, power generation capability, beyond
the term of the current ISFSI license to meet future power generation
needs. The current license will expire July 31, 2006. The renewed ISFSI
license would permit 40 additional years of storage beyond the current
license period. The current ISFSI employs five different cask systems
licensed for the Surry ISFSI. These cask systems include the General
Nuclear Systems, Inc., (GNSI) CASTOR V/21 and CASTOR X/33, the
Westinghouse MC-10, the NAC INTACT 28 S/T, and the Transnuclear, Inc.,
TN-32. Currently, the facility is licensed to store spent fuel storage
casks on three reinforced concrete pads that are 230 feet long, 32 feet
wide, and 3 feet thick. Two of the three storage pads have been built.
Each pad is designed to accommodate 28 casks.
Need for the Proposed Action: The Surry ISFSI is needed to provide
continued spent fuel storage capacity so that the Surry Power Station
can continue to generate electricity. This renewal is needed to provide
an option that allows for interim spent fuel storage and, indirectly,
power generation capability, beyond the term of the current ISFSI
license to meet future system generating needs. The renewed ISFSI
license would permit 20 additional years of storage beyond the current
license period. An exemption would allow 20 years of storage beyond the
renewal period.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: The NRC staff has
concluded that the license renewal of the Surry ISFSI will not result
in a significant impact to the environment. The Surry ISFSI will
require one additional storage pad during the license renewal term. The
pad would be built on previously disturbed ground adjacent to the
existing pads. Construction impacts of the third storage pad of the
ISFSI will be minor, and limited to the approximately 800 feet by 800
feet ISFSI site. No areas designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service as ``critical habitat'' for endangered species exist at the
site. The only terrestrial community at the site consist of remnants of
mixed pine-hardwood forest that were used for timber production prior
to the site's acquisition by Dominion. Thus, the staff does not expect
the ISFSI to impact any threatened or endangered species. The
Environmental Assessment for the ISFSI construction acknowledged that
although the station was located in a historic region, no historical
resources were identified within the boundaries of the site. During the
Surry Power Station license renewal process, Dominion commissioned a
cultural resource survey of the property. The survey identified one
previously recorded archaeological site on the west side of the
property and classified the remainder of the property into one of three
categories, based on the potential for archaeological resources. The
ISFSI, because it rests on previously disturbed land, was classified as
having no potential for cultural resources.
There will be no significant radiological or non-radiological
environmental impacts from routine operation of the ISFSI. The staff
evaluated radiological impacts from operations to ensure that the
radiation dose to both workers and the public is as low as reasonably
achievable (ALARA). The Surry Power Station ALARA program, including
ISFSI operations, complies with 10 CFR Part 20, Radiation Protection
Programs, and is consistent with Regulatory Guide 8.8, ``Information
Relevant to Ensuring That Occupational Radiation Exposures at Nuclear
Power Stations Will Be As Low As Reasonably Achievable.''
There are several parks and preserves in Surry County, primarily
along the south bank of the James River. Immediately adjacent to the
Surry Power Station is the Hog Island tract of Hog Island Wildlife
Management Area (HIWMA) (zoned A-R), at the north end of the peninsula
on which the Surry Power Station is located. In addition, south of the
Surry Power Station are the Carlisle and Stewart tracts of HIWMA. West
of the Surry Power Station, bordering the James River, is Chippokes
Plantation State Park, and further west are Swanns Point and Pipsico
Reservations.
The ISFSI licensing basis for the annual dose to the nearest
permanent resident, located 1.53 miles from the ISFSI, was based on 84
GNSI CASTOR V/21 casks. The annual dose calculated for that case was
6.0x10-5 mrem, which is well below the 10 CFR 72.104 and 10
CFR 20.1101 limits. The revised calculations based on 84 TN-32 casks
results in a dose of 5.6x10-5 mrem per year, which is less
than the original licensing basis. The staff reviewed the calculations
and assumptions provided by Dominion. Based on these results, normal
ISFSI operations will not have a significant offsite radiological
impact and will remain well within the 10 CFR 20.1101 and 72.104
limits. The staff also evaluated radiological consequences of a release
of the entire gaseous inventory of a cask and found that Dominion's
calculated dose to an individual at the nearest site boundary is 84
mrem, which is well within the 5 rem criteria of 10 CFR 72.106.
The annual collective dose from 84 TN-32 casks to 48 residents
within a two-mile radius of the ISFSI is calculated to be
2.7x10-6 person-rem, which is several orders of magnitude
less than the collective dose from natural background radiation.
Radiological decommissioning of the ISFSI would be complete when
the last cask is removed from the site. Small occupational exposures to
workers
[[Page 9115]]
could occur during decontamination activities, but these exposures
would be much less than those associated with cask loading and transfer
operations. Due to the design of the sealed surface storage casks, no
residual contamination is expected to be left behind on the concrete
base pad. The base pad, fence, and peripheral utility structures are
defacto decommissioned when the last cask is removed.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action: The applicant's Environmental
Report and the staff's EA discuss several alternatives to the proposed
ISFSI license renewal. These alternatives include shipment of spent
fuel off-site, and other methods to increase on-site spent fuel storage
capacity, as well as the no action alternative. In the first category,
the alternatives of shipping spent fuel from Surry to a permanent
Federal Repository, to a reprocessing facility, or to a privately owned
spent fuel storage facility were determined to be non-viable
alternatives, as no such facilities are currently available in the
United States, and shipping the spent fuel to other power stations is
impractical because the receiving utility would have to be licensed to
store the Surry spent fuel, and it is unlikely that another utility
would be willing to accept it, in light of their own limitations on
spent fuel storage capacity. Another off-site alternative is to
construct an ISFSI at a site away from the Surry Power Station.
However, it was concluded that this alternative does not offer net
environmental benefits
Other on-site storage alternatives considered by the applicant
included increasing the capacity of the existing spent fuel pools by
re-racking or spent fuel rod consolidation, or construction of a new
spent fuel storage pool. Dominion has already increased the original
capacity of the existing pool and cannot increase it further. Although
the applicant could construct an additional spent fuel pool, the high
cost associated with constructing and maintaining such a facility and
all of the necessary support equipment, coupled with the significant
occupational exposures resulting from the extensive fuel handling
operations, make this alternative impractical. Modifying operations of
the plants was also considered such as extending fuel burnup or
operating at reduced power. However, such operational changes may alter
the amount of fuel to be stored, but they do not eliminate the need for
storage. Also, consideration of researching other technologies for
interim disposal was determined non-viable because of additional doses
associated with repackaging.
The no action alternative could result in the extended or permanent
shutdown of the Surry Power Station. The fuel currently stored would
have to be removed. The electrical generation capacity lost would
likely negatively impact the local economy and infrastructure of the
area. For these reasons, the ``no action'' alternative is not
considered a practical alternative.
As discussed in the EA, the Commission has concluded that there are
no significant environmental impacts associated with renewing the
license of the Surry ISFSI, and other alternatives were not pursued
because of significantly higher costs, additional occupational
exposures, and the unavailability of offsite storage options.
Agencies and Persons Contacted: Officials from the Virginia
Department of Emergency Services, the Virginia Department of Historic
Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality, were contacted in preparing the
staff's environmental assessment. The conclusions by all agencies
consulted were consistent with the staff's conclusions.
II. Finding of No Significant Impact
The staff has reviewed the environmental impacts of renewing the
Surry ISFSI license relative to the requirements set forth in 10 CFR
Part 51, and has prepared an EA. Based on the EA, the staff concludes
that there are no significant radiological or non-radiological impacts
associated with the proposed action and that issuance of renewal of the
license for the interim storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Surry
ISFSI will have no significant impact on the quality of the human
environment. Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31 and 51.32, a finding
of no significant impact is appropriate and an environmental impact
statement need not be prepared for the renewal of the materials license
for the Surry ISFSI.
Supporting documentation is available for inspection at NRC's
Public Electronic Reading Room at: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
ADAMS.html. A copy of the license application, dated April 29, 2002 as
supplemented October 6, 2003, and the staff's EA, dated February 2005,
can be found at this site using the ADAMS accession numbers
ML021290068, ML032900118, and ML040560156. Any questions should be
referred to Mary Jane Ross-Lee, Spent Fuel Project Office, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Mailstop O13D13, telephone
(301) 415-3781; fax number (301) 415-8555.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of February 2005.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mary Jane Ross-Lee,
Senior Project Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 05-3487 Filed 2-23-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-U
