Notice of Availability of Supplement to the Environmental Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant Impact for the Diablo Canyon Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, 51687-51688 [E7-17738]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 174 (Monday, September 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51687-51688]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-17738]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-26]


Notice of Availability of Supplement to the Environmental 
Assessment and Final Finding of No Significant Impact for the Diablo 
Canyon Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Availability and Finding of No Significant Impact.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) is issuing a supplement to the Environmental 
Assessment (EA) for the Diablo Canyon Independent Spent Fuel Storage 
Installation (ISFSI) and a final Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI). NRC issued the EA and initial FONSI for this action on October 
24, 2003, and subsequently issued a license for the Diablo Canyon ISFSI 
to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), on March 22, 2004. The 
license authorizes PG&E to receive, possess, store, and transfer spent 
nuclear fuel and associated radioactive materials resulting from the 
operation of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in an ISFSI at the site for 
a term of 20 years. NRC is issuing this supplement to the EA and final 
FONSI in response to the June 2, 2006, decision by the United States 
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, San Luis Obispo Mothers for 
Peace v. NRC, 449 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 2006). This supplement to the EA 
addresses the environmental impacts from potential terrorist acts 
against the Diablo Canyon ISFSI.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James R. Hall, Senior Project Manager, 
Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, 
Mail Stop EBB-3D-02M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC, 20555-0001. Telephone: (301) 492-3319; e-mail: jrh@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    On December 21, 2001, PG&E submitted an application to NRC, 
requesting a site-specific license to build and operate an ISFSI, to be 
located on the site of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, in San Luis 
Obispo County, California. In accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the NRC staff issued an EA for this 
action on October 24, 2003, in conformance with NRC requirements 
specified in 10 CFR 51.21 and 51.30, and the associated guidance in NRC 
report NUREG-1748, ``Environmental Review Guidance for Licensing 
Actions Associated with NMSS Programs.'' Based on the EA, NRC also 
issued a FONSI for this action on October 24, 2003, in accordance with 
10 CFR 51.31 and 51.32.
    On March 22, 2004, the NRC staff issued Materials License No. SNM-
2511 to PG&E, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 72, authorizing PG&E to receive, 
possess, store, and transfer spent nuclear fuel and associated 
radioactive materials resulting from the operation of the Diablo Canyon 
Power Plant in an ISFSI at the site for a term of 20 years. PG&E has 
begun construction of the Diablo Canyon ISFSI and currently plans to 
start transferring spent fuel to the ISFSI in mid-2008.
    After NRC's issuance of the license for the Diablo Canyon ISFSI, 
the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and other parties filed suit in 
the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, asking that 
NRC be required to consider terrorist acts in its environmental review 
associated with this licensing action. In its decision of June 2, 2006, 
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. NRC, 449 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 
2006), the Ninth Circuit held that NRC could not categorically refuse 
to consider the consequences of a terrorist attack under NEPA and 
remanded the case to NRC.
    In response to the Ninth Circuit decision, the Commission issued a 
Memorandum and Order on February 26, 2007, directing the NRC staff to 
prepare a revised EA, addressing the likelihood of a terrorist attack 
at the Diablo Canyon ISFSI site and the potential consequences of such 
an attack. On May 29, 2007, the NRC staff issued a preliminary 
supplement to the EA and draft FONSI to address the environmental 
impacts from potential terrorist acts against the Diablo Canyon ISFSI. 
On May 31, 2007, NRC published a notice of availability in the Federal 
Register (72 FR 30398), providing opportunity for public comment on the 
preliminary supplement to the EA and draft FONSI and establishing July 
2, 2007, as the deadline to submit comments. Approximately 32 
individual comment documents (i.e., letters, facsimiles, and e-mails) 
were received by the NRC. Of the 32 comment documents received, 12 were 
nearly identical letters, and many others contained the same or similar 
comments. As a result, the NRC staff grouped similar or related 
comments together and developed 17 general comment areas. NRC's summary 
of the comments received and its responses are provided in an appendix 
to the final supplemental EA.

[[Page 51688]]

    The October 24, 2003, EA and FONSI, the license and supporting 
documents, and the preliminary supplement to the EA and draft FONSI are 
available on NRC's Web site at: https://www.nrc.gov/waste.html, by 
selecting ``Diablo Canyon ISFSI,'' in the Quick Links box.

II. Summary of Final Supplement to the EA for the Diablo Canyon ISFSI

    In the supplement to the EA, the NRC staff has considered the 
potential radiological impacts of terrorist acts on the Diablo Canyon 
ISFSI. NRC has established requirements and has initiated several 
actions designed to provide high assurance that a terrorist attack 
would not lead to a significant radiological event at an ISFSI. These 
include: (1) NRC's continual evaluation of the threat environment, in 
coordination with the intelligence and law enforcement communities, 
which provides, in part, the basis for the protective measures 
currently required; (2) the protective measures that are in place to 
reduce the chance of an attack that leads to a significant release of 
radiation; (3) the robust design of dry cask storage systems, which 
provide substantial resistance to penetration; and (4) NRC security 
assessments of the potential consequences of terrorist attacks against 
ISFSIs.
    The supplement to the EA describes the security measures for ISFSIs 
and discusses the security assessments performed by NRC, which 
confirmed that the existing security requirements, imposed by 
regulations and orders, are adequate to provide high assurance that a 
terrorist attack on an ISFSI will not lead to significant radiological 
consequences. Threat scenarios considered in the generic security 
assessments for ISFSIs included a large aircraft impact similar in 
magnitude to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and ground assaults 
using expanded adversary characteristics consistent with the design 
basis threat for radiological sabotage for nuclear power plants.
    The NRC staff compared the assumptions used in its generic ISFSI 
security assessments to the relevant features of the Diablo Canyon 
ISFSI. Based on this comparison, the staff determined that the 
assumptions used in these generic security assessments, regarding the 
storage cask design, the amount of radioactive material that could be 
released, and the atmospheric dispersion, were representative, and in 
some cases, conservative, relative to the actual characteristics for 
the Diablo Canyon ISFSI. The staff determined that any dose to affected 
residents nearest to the Diablo Canyon site calculated using site-
specific parameters will be much lower than doses calculated using the 
assumptions made for the generic assessments. Based on these 
considerations, the dose to the nearest affected resident, from even 
the most severe plausible threat scenarios (the ground assault and 
aircraft impact scenarios discussed above) would likely be well below 5 
rem. In many scenarios, the hypothetical dose to an individual in the 
affected population could be substantially less than 5 rem, or none at 
all.
    In the supplement (based also on the initial EA), the NRC staff 
concludes that the construction, operation, and decommissioning of the 
Diablo Canyon ISFSI, even when potential terrorist attacks on the 
facility are considered, will not result in a significant effect on the 
human environment. NRC security requirements, imposed through 
regulations and orders, and implemented through the licensee's security 
plans, in combination with the design requirements for dry cask storage 
systems, provide adequate protection against successful terrorist 
attacks on ISFSIs. Therefore, a terrorist attack that would result in a 
significant release of radiation affecting the public is not reasonably 
expected to occur.

III. Final Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has prepared a supplement to the EA related to the 
construction and operation of the Diablo Canyon ISFSI, in accordance 
with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. As set forth in the supplement 
to the EA, NRC has considered the potential for terrorist attacks on 
the facility, and has determined that the storage of spent nuclear fuel 
at the Diablo Canyon ISFSI will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment, based on the facility design features 
and the mitigative security measures incorporated as part of the NRC 
licensing action and in response to NRC security orders. These design 
features and mitigative security measures will provide high assurance 
that substantial environmental impacts will be avoided and thereby 
reduced to a non-significant risk level. On the basis of the initial EA 
and this supplement, NRC has concluded that there are no significant 
environmental impacts, and the proposed action does not warrant the 
preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement. Therefore, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 51.31, NRC has determined that issuance of a 
final FONSI is appropriate.

V. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the May 29, 2007, 
preliminary supplement to the EA and draft FONSI; the August 30, 2007, 
EA supplement and final FONSI; the October 24, 2003, EA; and the Diablo 
Canyon ISFSI license and supporting documentation, are available 
electronically, at NRC's Electronic Reading Room, at: https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access NRC's 
Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which 
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS 
accession number for the supplement to the EA and draft FONSI is 
ML071280256, and for the EA supplement and final FONSI, the accession 
number is ML072400511. The ADAMS accession number for the October 24, 
2003, EA is ML032970337, and for the ISFSI license and related 
documents, the accession number is ML040780107. If you do not have 
access to ADAMS, or if there are problems in accessing the documents 
located in ADAMS, contact NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) Reference 
staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at NRC's PDR, O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor 
will copy documents, for a fee.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 30th day of August, 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert A. Nelson,
 Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and 
Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E7-17738 Filed 9-7-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P