Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Renewal of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission License No. SNM-2503 for Oconee Nuclear Station Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, 23897-23899 [E9-11860]

Download as PDF dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 97 / Thursday, May 21, 2009 / Notices include the name of the individual/ organization and the time (i.e., between 6 and 9 p.m.) the oral comment will be provided. Individuals/organizations may also register to provide oral comments during the open-house meeting. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who register. Please note that if special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or present information at either public meeting, the need should be brought to Mr. Michalak’s attention no later than June 5, 2009, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated. Members of the public may send written comments on the scope of the Nine Mile Point 3 Nuclear Power Plant COL environmental review to the Chief, Rulemaking and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB–05–B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555–0001, and should cite the publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice. To ensure that comments will be considered in the scoping process, written comments must be postmarked by July 20, 2009. Electronic comments may be sent by email to the NRC at NMP3.COLEIS@nrc.gov. Electronic submissions must be sent no later than July 20, 2009. Comments will be made available electronically and will be accessible through the NRC’s Electronic Reading Room link https://www.nrc.gov/ reading-rm/adams.html. The NRC staff may, at its discretion, consider comments submitted after the end of the comment period. Participation in the scoping process for the EIS does not entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to which the EIS relates. A notice of hearing and opportunity to petition for leave intervene in the proceeding on the application for the COL will be published in a future Federal Register notice. At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC staff will prepare a concise summary of the determinations, and conclusions reached on the scope of the environmental review including the significant issues identified, and will send this summary to each participant in the scoping process for whom the staff has an address. The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the draft EIS, which will be the subject of a separate Federal Register notice and a separate public meeting. Copies of the draft EIS will be available for public inspection at the PDR through the VerDate Nov<24>2008 13:08 May 20, 2009 Jkt 217001 above-mentioned address and one copy per request will be provided free of charge. After receipt and consideration of comments on the draft EIS, the NRC will prepare a final EIS, which will also be available to the public. Information about the proposed action, the EIS, and the scoping process may be obtained from Mr. Paul Michalak at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T6–D32, Washington, DC 20555–0001, by phone at 301–415–7612, or by e-mail at Paul.Michalak@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of May 2009. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Scott C. Flanders, Director, Division of Site and Environmental Reviews, Office of New Reactors. [FR Doc. E9–11878 Filed 5–20–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 72–04; NRC–2008–0333] Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Renewal of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission License No. SNM–2503 for Oconee Nuclear Station Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Haimanot Yilma, Environmental Project Manager, Environmental Review Branch, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Telephone: (301) 415–8029; fax number: (301) 415– 3502; e-mail: haimanot.yilma@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an application dated January 30, 2008, from Duke Power Company LLC d/b/a Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, (Duke) for the renewal of its Special Nuclear Material (SNM) License SNM–2503, under the provisions of 10 CFR part 72, for the receipt, possession, storage and transfer of spent fuel and other radioactive materials associated with spent fuel storage at the Oconee Nuclear Station (ONS) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), located at PO 00000 Frm 00060 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 23897 the ONS site in Oconee County, South Carolina. If granted, the renewed license will authorize Duke to continue to store spent fuel in a dry cask storage system at the ISFSI. Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 72.42, the renewal term of the license for an ISFSI is limited to 20 years. Duke, however, has also submitted an exemption request with its license renewal application, pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, seeking a license renewal term of 40 years. In accordance with 10 CFR 72.34, Duke’s renewal application included an Environmental Report (which is attached as Enclosure 3, Appendix E of Duke’s application). SNM–2503 expires on January 31, 2010. This renewal and exemption request, if granted, will extend the term of SNM–2503 to January 31, 2050. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this action in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. If Duke’s request is approved, the NRC will issue the renewed license following the publication of this EA and FONSI. II. EA Summary Description of the Proposed Action Duke requests approval to renew SNM–2503 for an additional 40 years at the ONS, South Carolina facility. If approved, Duke will be allowed to receive, possess, store and transfer the power reactor spent fuel and other radioactive materials associated with spent fuel storage at the ISFSI until January 31, 2050. Need for the Proposed Action Duke owns and operates three nuclear power reactor units on the ONS site, Oconee Units 1, 2, and 3, which began commercial operation on July 15, 1973, September 9, 1974, and December 16, 1974, respectively. The current Facility Operating licenses (FOLs) for Oconee Units 1, 2, and 3 will expire on February 6, 2033; October 6, 2033; and July 19, 2034, respectively. The ONS ISFSI is needed to provide continued spent fuel storage capacity so that the ONS can continue to generate electricity. SNM– 2503, if renewed for only the 20 year term provided by the applicable regulation, 10 CFR 72.42, will expire on January 31, 2030, which is approximately 4 years before the FOLs expire. During that time, Duke anticipates that the ISFSI will continue to be required for spent fuel storage in concert with the ONS spent fuel pools and the additional independent spent E:\FR\FM\21MYN1.SGM 21MYN1 dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES 23898 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 97 / Thursday, May 21, 2009 / Notices fuel installation on the ONS site, constructed and operated under the 10 CFR part 72 general license (10 CFR 72.210). It is unclear when DOE will begin to accept spent nuclear fuel at the Federal geological repository mandated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. Development of the repository continues to experience delays and it is not projected to commence operation until 2017, at the earliest. Even if DOE does begin taking spent fuel in 2017, it is unlikely that the ISFSI could be emptied of spent fuel before 2030. Duke’s most recent decommissioning analyses, which assume DOE accepts ONS spent fuel beginning in 2015, project operation of the ISFSI licensed under SNM–2503, the subject of this proposed action, and the ISFSI operated under the general license, through 2044. Offsite shipment of the spent fuel from the ISFSI prior to a 2030 expiration of the renewed license would not be practical for a variety of reasons. Currently, there are no commercial or federal facilities available to accept spent fuel. If such a facility becomes available, shipment would require repackaging of the spent fuel since the ISFSI canisters are not licensed for transport. Spent fuel shipping containers would have to be either leased or purchased. Also, this would result in considerable occupational exposure for both ONS personnel and personnel at the receiving facility. Finally, the spent fuel would still have to be shipped to the repository once it becomes available. Transfer of the spent fuel from the SNM–2503 ISFSI into the ONS general license ISFSI, prior to a 2030 expiration of SNM–2503, would also not be practical. As the ISFSI storage units are not approved for use under the general license, this would require repackaging the spent fuel assemblies from the ISFSI into general license storage units. The cost of an additional 40 storage units coupled with the additional occupational exposure and the potential for fuel handling incidents, render this option impractical. Therefore, Duke, under 10 CFR 72.7, requests an exemption from the 20 year renewal term specified in 10 CFR 72.42, and seeks a 40 year renewal term for SNM–2503, which would allow the ISFSI to continue to store spent fuel until January 31, 2050. Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action The NRC has prepared an EA that analyzed the impact of renewing SNM– 2503 on 12 environmental categories: land use; transportation; VerDate Nov<24>2008 13:08 May 20, 2009 Jkt 217001 socioeconomics; air quality; water quality; geology and soils; endangered and threatened species; noise; historic and cultural; scenic and visual; public and occupational health; and waste management as a result of the proposed action. Based on this assessment, the NRC staff has determined that no significant radiological or nonradiological impact from normal operations of the ISFSI during the 40 year renewal period are expected. The ISFSI is a passive facility that produces no liquid or gaseous effluents and requires no power or regular maintenance. The license renewal request does not require altering the site footprint nor does it change the operating processes of the existing facility; therefore there are no anticipated impacts in any of the above listed environmental categories. The radiological dose rates from the ISFSI will be limited by the design of the horizontal storage module. Occupational dose estimates from routine monitoring activities and transfer of spent fuel for disposal must be maintained ‘‘as low as is reasonably achievable’’ (ALARA) and must be within the limits of 10 CFR 20.1201 per the ONS radiation protection program. The annual dose to the nearest potential member of the public from ISFSI activities remains significantly below the annual dose limits specified in10 CFR 72.104 and 10 CFR 20.1301(a). The cumulative dose to an individual offsite from all site activities will be less than the limits specified in 10 CFR 72.104 and 10 CFR 20.1301. These doses are also a small fraction of the doses resulting from naturally occurring terrestrial and cosmic radiation of about 300 mrem/yr in the vicinity of the ONS ISFSI. Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed action will not result in a significant impact to human health or the environment. opportunity to comment on the proposed action. The conclusions by all agencies consulted were consistent with the staff’s conclusions. Agencies and Persons Contacted NRC staff consulted with other agencies regarding the proposed action, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, the Economic Development Commission of Oconee County, the Oconee County Planning Office, the Oconee Soil and Water Conservation District Office, the Oconee County Park, Recreation and Tourism office, and the School District of Oconee County. The consultations ensured that the requirements of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act were met and provided the designated liaison agency the ML083110387 ML091340557 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 III. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the EA, the NRC 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 ONS ISFSI for a renewal term of 40 years 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 EIS need not be prepared for the renewal of SNM–2503. IV. Further Information Documents related to this action, including the application for renewal of SNM–2503 and supporting documentation, are available electronically at the NRC’s Electronic Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/ reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC’s Agency-wide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC’s public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related to this notice are: DOCUMENT ADAMS ACCESSION NUMBER ONS ISFSI License Renewal Application (Duke’s environmental report is at Enclosure 3, Appendix E of the application). Consultation Letters: Section 106 and Section 7. FWS Response Letter to Section 7 Request. SHPO Response e-mail to section 106 Request. RAI for EA Review ................ Environmental Assessment ... ML081280084 ML081410669 ML081850455 ML091271071 If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 415–4737 or by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC’s PDR, O1F21, 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 15th day of May 2009. E:\FR\FM\21MYN1.SGM 21MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 97 / Thursday, May 21, 2009 / Notices For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Andrea Kock, Chief, Environmental Review Branch, Environmental Protection and Performance Assessment Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs. [FR Doc. E9–11860 Filed 5–20–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration #11707 and #11708] North Dakota Disaster Number ND– 00016 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Amendment 2. dwashington3 on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of North Dakota (FEMA–1829–DR), dated 04/10/2009. Incident: Severe Storms and Flooding. Incident Period: 03/13/2009 and continuing. Effective Date: 05/13/2009. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 06/09/2009. EIDL Loan Application Deadline Date: 01/11/2010. ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan applications to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A. Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050, Washington, DC 20416. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The notice of the Presidential disaster declaration for the State of North Dakota, dated 04/ 10/2009 is hereby amended to include the following areas as adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: (Physical Damage and Economic Injury Loans): Ramsey, The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian Reservation. All other counties contiguous to the above named primary counties have previously been declared. All other information in the original declaration remains unchanged. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration #11720 and #11721] Indiana Disaster Number IN–00030 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Amendment 1. SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for the State of Indiana (FEMA– 1832–DR), dated 04/22/2009. Incident: Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding. Incident Period: 03/08/2009 through 03/14/2009. DATES: Effective Date: 05/13/2009. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 06/22/2009. EIDL Loan Application Deadline Date: 01/22/2010. ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan applications to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A. Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050, Washington, DC 20416. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The notice of the Presidential disaster declaration for the State of Indiana, dated 04/22/ 2009 is hereby amended to include the following areas as adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: (Physical Damage and Economic Injury Loans): Daviess, Lawrence, St Joseph. Contiguous Counties: (Economic Injury Loans Only): Indiana: Dubois, Greene, Jackson, Knox, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Pike, Washington. Michigan: Cass. All other information in the original declaration remains unchanged. (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 59002 and 59008) James E. Rivera, Acting Associate Administrator for Disaster Assistance. [FR Doc. E9–11880 Filed 5–20–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8025–01–P SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 59002 and 59008) [Disaster Declaration #11746 and #11747] James E. Rivera, Acting Associate Administrator for Disaster Assistance. [FR Doc. E9–11879 Filed 5–20–09; 8:45 am] Mississippi Disaster #MS–00030 BILLING CODE 8025–01–P VerDate Nov<24>2008 13:08 May 20, 2009 Jkt 217001 AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. PO 00000 Frm 00062 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 23899 SUMMARY: This is a Notice of the Presidential declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Mississippi (FEMA–1837– DR), dated 05/12/2009. Incident: Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes. Incident Period: 03/25/2009 through 03/28/2009. Effective Date: 05/12/2009. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 07/13/2009. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 02/12/2010. DATES: ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan applications to : U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A. Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050, Washington, DC 20416. Notice is hereby given that as a result of the President’s major disaster declaration on 05/12/2009, Private Non-Profit organizations that provide essential services of governmental nature may file disaster loan applications at the address listed above or other locally announced locations. The following areas have been determined to be adversely affected by the disaster: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Primary Counties: Amite, Greene, Jackson, Lawrence, Lincoln, Simpson, Stone, Walthall, Wayne, Wilkinson. The Interest Rates are: Percent Other (Including Non-Profit Organizations) With Credit Available Elsewhere ................................. Businesses and Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit Available Elsewhere ......................... 4.500 4.000 The number assigned to this disaster for physical damage is 11746B and for economic injury is 11747B. (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 59002 and 59008) James E. Rivera, Acting Associate Administrator for Disaster Assistance. [FR Doc. E9–11882 Filed 5–20–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8025–01–P E:\FR\FM\21MYN1.SGM 21MYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 97 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23897-23899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-11860]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-04; NRC-2008-0333]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for the Renewal of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission License No. SNM-2503 for Oconee Nuclear Station Independent 
Spent Fuel Storage Installation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Haimanot Yilma, Environmental Project 
Manager, Environmental Review Branch, Division of Waste Management and 
Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and 
Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Rockville, Maryland 20852. Telephone: (301) 415-8029; fax number: (301) 
415-3502; e-mail: haimanot.yilma@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an 
application dated January 30, 2008, from Duke Power Company LLC d/b/a 
Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, (Duke) for the renewal of its Special 
Nuclear Material (SNM) License SNM-2503, under the provisions of 10 CFR 
part 72, for the receipt, possession, storage and transfer of spent 
fuel and other radioactive materials associated with spent fuel storage 
at the Oconee Nuclear Station (ONS) Independent Spent Fuel Storage 
Installation (ISFSI), located at the ONS site in Oconee County, South 
Carolina. If granted, the renewed license will authorize Duke to 
continue to store spent fuel in a dry cask storage system at the ISFSI. 
Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 72.42, the renewal term of the 
license for an ISFSI is limited to 20 years. Duke, however, has also 
submitted an exemption request with its license renewal application, 
pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, seeking a license renewal term of 40 years. In 
accordance with 10 CFR 72.34, Duke's renewal application included an 
Environmental Report (which is attached as Enclosure 3, Appendix E of 
Duke's application).
    SNM-2503 expires on January 31, 2010. This renewal and exemption 
request, if granted, will extend the term of SNM-2503 to January 31, 
2050.
    The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of 
this action in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. 
Based on the EA, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. If Duke's request is 
approved, the NRC will issue the renewed license following the 
publication of this EA and FONSI.

II. EA Summary

Description of the Proposed Action

    Duke requests approval to renew SNM-2503 for an additional 40 years 
at the ONS, South Carolina facility. If approved, Duke will be allowed 
to receive, possess, store and transfer the power reactor spent fuel 
and other radioactive materials associated with spent fuel storage at 
the ISFSI until January 31, 2050.

Need for the Proposed Action

    Duke owns and operates three nuclear power reactor units on the ONS 
site, Oconee Units 1, 2, and 3, which began commercial operation on 
July 15, 1973, September 9, 1974, and December 16, 1974, respectively. 
The current Facility Operating licenses (FOLs) for Oconee Units 1, 2, 
and 3 will expire on February 6, 2033; October 6, 2033; and July 19, 
2034, respectively. The ONS ISFSI is needed to provide continued spent 
fuel storage capacity so that the ONS can continue to generate 
electricity. SNM-2503, if renewed for only the 20 year term provided by 
the applicable regulation, 10 CFR 72.42, will expire on January 31, 
2030, which is approximately 4 years before the FOLs expire. During 
that time, Duke anticipates that the ISFSI will continue to be required 
for spent fuel storage in concert with the ONS spent fuel pools and the 
additional independent spent

[[Page 23898]]

fuel installation on the ONS site, constructed and operated under the 
10 CFR part 72 general license (10 CFR 72.210).
    It is unclear when DOE will begin to accept spent nuclear fuel at 
the Federal geological repository mandated by the Nuclear Waste Policy 
Act of 1982. Development of the repository continues to experience 
delays and it is not projected to commence operation until 2017, at the 
earliest. Even if DOE does begin taking spent fuel in 2017, it is 
unlikely that the ISFSI could be emptied of spent fuel before 2030. 
Duke's most recent decommissioning analyses, which assume DOE accepts 
ONS spent fuel beginning in 2015, project operation of the ISFSI 
licensed under SNM-2503, the subject of this proposed action, and the 
ISFSI operated under the general license, through 2044.
    Offsite shipment of the spent fuel from the ISFSI prior to a 2030 
expiration of the renewed license would not be practical for a variety 
of reasons. Currently, there are no commercial or federal facilities 
available to accept spent fuel. If such a facility becomes available, 
shipment would require repackaging of the spent fuel since the ISFSI 
canisters are not licensed for transport. Spent fuel shipping 
containers would have to be either leased or purchased. Also, this 
would result in considerable occupational exposure for both ONS 
personnel and personnel at the receiving facility. Finally, the spent 
fuel would still have to be shipped to the repository once it becomes 
available.
    Transfer of the spent fuel from the SNM-2503 ISFSI into the ONS 
general license ISFSI, prior to a 2030 expiration of SNM-2503, would 
also not be practical. As the ISFSI storage units are not approved for 
use under the general license, this would require repackaging the spent 
fuel assemblies from the ISFSI into general license storage units. The 
cost of an additional 40 storage units coupled with the additional 
occupational exposure and the potential for fuel handling incidents, 
render this option impractical.
    Therefore, Duke, under 10 CFR 72.7, requests an exemption from the 
20 year renewal term specified in 10 CFR 72.42, and seeks a 40 year 
renewal term for SNM-2503, which would allow the ISFSI to continue to 
store spent fuel until January 31, 2050.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has prepared an EA that analyzed the impact of renewing 
SNM-2503 on 12 environmental categories: land use; transportation; 
socioeconomics; air quality; water quality; geology and soils; 
endangered and threatened species; noise; historic and cultural; scenic 
and visual; public and occupational health; and waste management as a 
result of the proposed action. Based on this assessment, the NRC staff 
has determined that no significant radiological or non-radiological 
impact from normal operations of the ISFSI during the 40 year renewal 
period are expected. The ISFSI is a passive facility that produces no 
liquid or gaseous effluents and requires no power or regular 
maintenance. The license renewal request does not require altering the 
site footprint nor does it change the operating processes of the 
existing facility; therefore there are no anticipated impacts in any of 
the above listed environmental categories.
    The radiological dose rates from the ISFSI will be limited by the 
design of the horizontal storage module. Occupational dose estimates 
from routine monitoring activities and transfer of spent fuel for 
disposal must be maintained ``as low as is reasonably achievable'' 
(ALARA) and must be within the limits of 10 CFR 20.1201 per the ONS 
radiation protection program. The annual dose to the nearest potential 
member of the public from ISFSI activities remains significantly below 
the annual dose limits specified in10 CFR 72.104 and 10 CFR 20.1301(a). 
The cumulative dose to an individual offsite from all site activities 
will be less than the limits specified in 10 CFR 72.104 and 10 CFR 
20.1301. These doses are also a small fraction of the doses resulting 
from naturally occurring terrestrial and cosmic radiation of about 300 
mrem/yr in the vicinity of the ONS ISFSI.
    Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed action will 
not result in a significant impact to human health or the environment.

Agencies and Persons Contacted

    NRC staff consulted with other agencies regarding the proposed 
action, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the South 
Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, the Economic Development 
Commission of Oconee County, the Oconee County Planning Office, the 
Oconee Soil and Water Conservation District Office, the Oconee County 
Park, Recreation and Tourism office, and the School District of Oconee 
County. The consultations ensured that the requirements of Section 7 of 
the Endangered Species Act and Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act were met and provided the designated liaison agency 
the opportunity to comment on the proposed action. The conclusions by 
all agencies consulted were consistent with the staff's conclusions.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA, the NRC 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 ONS ISFSI for a renewal 
term of 40 years 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 EIS need not be 
prepared for the renewal of SNM-2503.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
renewal of SNM-2503 and supporting documentation, are available 
electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the 
NRC's Agency-wide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which 
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS 
accession numbers for the documents related to this notice are:

                     Document ADAMS Accession Number
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ONS ISFSI License Renewal Application       ML081280084
 (Duke's environmental report is at
 Enclosure 3, Appendix E of the
 application).
Consultation Letters: Section 106 and       ML081410669
 Section 7.
FWS Response Letter to Section 7 Request..  ML081850455
SHPO Response e-mail to section 106         ML091271071
 Request.
RAI for EA Review.........................  ML083110387
Environmental Assessment..................  ML091340557
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or 
by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O1F21, 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 15th day of May 2009.


[[Page 23899]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea Kock,
Chief, Environmental Review Branch, Environmental Protection and 
Performance Assessment Directorate, Division of Waste Management and 
Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and 
Environmental Management Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-11860 Filed 5-20-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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