Notice of Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact; Entergy Operations, Inc., Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, 28071-28072 [E9-13711]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 112 / Friday, June 12, 2009 / Notices
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Committee on Equal Opportunities in
Science and Engineering (CEOSE);
Notice of Meeting
In accordance with the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–
463, as amended), the National Science
Foundation announces the following
meeting:
Name: Committee on Equal Opportunities
in Science and Engineering (1173).
Dates/Time: June 29, 2009, 8:30 a.m.–5:30
p.m. June 30, 2009, 8:30 a.m.–2 p.m.
Place: National Science Foundation (NSF),
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Room 1235
Arlington, VA 22230.
To help facilitate your access into the
building, please contact the individual listed
below prior to the meeting so that a visitors
badge may be prepared for you in advance.
Type of Meeting: Open.
Contact Person: Dr. Margaret E.M. Tolbert,
Senior Advisor and CEOSE Executive
Liaison, Office of Integrative Activities,
National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson
Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230.
Telephone Numbers: (703) 292–4216, (703)
292–8040, mtolbert@nsf.gov.
Minutes: Minutes may be obtained from
the Executive Liaison at the above address or
the Web site at https://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/
activities/ceose/index.jsp.
Purpose of Meeting: To study NSF
programs and policies and provide advice
and recommendations concerning
broadening participation in science and
engineering.
Agenda
Monday, June 29, 2009
Opening Statement by the CEOSE Chair.
Presentations and Discussions:
✓ The Intersection of Science and
Engineering with Diversity and
Inclusion;
✓ Women and Underrepresented
Minorities in STEM: a Science Policy
Perspective;
✓ A Conversation with the Deputy
Director of the National Science
Foundation;
✓ Plans for the CEOSE Mini-Symposium
on Women of Color in Science and
Engineering;
✓ Key Points from the ‘‘Understanding
Interventions that Broaden Participation
in Research Careers Conference’’;
✓ Race, Gender, Ethnicity, and Disability
in China—A CEOSE Member’s
Perspective;
✓ The 2007–2008 CEOSE Biennial Report
to Congress;
✓ Concurrent Meetings of CEOSE Ad Hoc
Subcommittees;
✓ Reports by Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Chairs.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Opening Statement by the CEOSE Chair.
Presentations and Discussions:
✓ NSF Program Management Curriculum,
Program Directors’ Seminar With a Focus
on Broadening Participation Aspects;
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✓ Broadening Participation at the National
Science Foundation and the Impact of
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act and America
Competes Act;
✓ Reports by CEOSE Liaisons to Various
NSF Advisory Committees;
✓ Completion of Unfinished Business.
Dated: June 9, 2009.
Susanne Bolton,
Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. E9–13842 Filed 6–11–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Dockets 50–0416 and 72–0050; NRC–2009–
0230]
Notice of Issuance of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact; Entergy
Operations, Inc., Grand Gulf Nuclear
Station, Independent Spent Fuel
Storage Installation
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John
Goshen, Project Manager, Division of
Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
Telephone: (301) 492–3325; fax number:
(301) 492–3342; e-mail:
john.goshen@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Environmental Assessment (EA)
Identification of Proposed Action: By
letter dated December 22, 2008, as
supplemented March 20, 2009, Entergy
Operations, Inc. (Entergy) submitted to
the United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) a one-time
exemption request from the
requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2) and
(b)(7) for four HI–STORM 100 System
Model 68 Multi-Purpose Canisters
(MPCs) at the Grand Gulf Nuclear
Station (GGNS) Independent Spent Fuel
Storage Facility (ISFSI) due to noncompliance with two of the terms and
conditions of Certificate of Compliance
(CoC)–1014, Amendment No. 2 at the
time of cask loading. Section
72.212(a)(2) limits the general license
issued by 10 CFR 72.210 to the storage
of spent fuel in casks approved under
the provisions of Part 72. Section
72.212(b)(7) requires that the general
licensee to comply with the terms and
conditions of the applicable CoC.
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28071
In December 2006, due to a database
error, Entergy loaded four MPCs with
individual fuel assemblies (IFAs) that
exceeded the maximum burnup limits
and maximum decay heat limits
specified in the CoC–1014, Amendment
No. 2, Appendix B, Section 2.1.
Additionally, the supplemental cooling
required by the CoC–1014, Amendment
No. 2, Appendix A, Section 3.1.4 for the
four MPCs had not been implemented.
Entergy identified the non-compliances
on June 18, 2008, in an event report to
the NRC, along with a preliminary
evaluation that determined that fuel
cladding temperatures had not exceeded
thermal limits during any time during
the affected period. The proposed action
before the NRC is whether to grant this
exemption request pursuant to 10 CFR
72.7.
Need for the Proposed Action: Entergy
requested the exemption from 10 CFR
72.212(a)(2) and 10 CFR 72.212(b)(7) to
allow continued, non-compliant storage
of the IFAs in the affected MPCs.
Environmental Impacts of the
Proposed Action: The proposed action
under consideration would allow
Entergy a one-time exemption from 10
CFR 72.212(a)(2) and 10 CFR
72.212(b)(7) for the four affected MPCs
at GGNS ISFSI. Entergy’s evaluation and
a thermal analysis by Holtec, the
fabricator of the cask system,
determined that the fuel cladding was
intact, and therefore, the integrity of the
affected MPCs and the contained IFAs
was not compromised. The heat loads in
the affected casks have decreased to
within the limits set by CoC–1014.
The NRC staff concludes that the
requested exemption has low safety
significance and that, in accordance
with 10 CFR 72.7, approval of the
requested exemption will not endanger
life or property or the common defense
and security and is otherwise in the
public interest. The NRC staff further
concludes that approving the exemption
request would have no significant
impact on the environment.
Alternative to the Proposed Action:
The no-action alternative to the
proposed action would be to deny
approval of the exemption. Denial of the
exemption request would require
Entergy to unload the affected MPCs.
Unloading the MPCs would expose
Entergy’s personnel to additional
radiation, generate contaminated waste,
and run the risks of a possible fuel
handling accident and a possible heavy
load handling accident.
Given the risks associated with
unloading the casks and that there are
no significant radiological or nonradiological environmental impacts
arising from the continued storage of the
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28072
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 112 / Friday, June 12, 2009 / Notices
IFAs in the affected MPCs, the NRC
concludes that the preferred alternative
is to grant the exemption request.
II. Finding of No Significant Impact
The environmental impacts of the
proposed action have been reviewed in
accordance with the requirements set
forth in 10 CFR Part 51. Based upon the
foregoing Environmental Assessment,
the Commission finds that the proposed
action of granting an exemption from 10
CFR 72.212(a)(2) and 10 CFR
72.212(b)(7) will not significantly
impact the quality of the human
environment. Accordingly, the
Commission has determined not to
prepare an environmental impact
statement for the proposed exemption.
III. Further Information
The document related to this action is
available electronically at the NRC’s
Electronic Reading Room at https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. A
copy of the exemption request, dated
December 22, 2008, can be found on this
site using the Agencywide Document
Access and Management System
(ADAMS), accession number
ML091470104. If you do not have access
to ADAMS or if there are problems in
accessing the document 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@nrc.gov.
This document may also be viewed
electronically on the public computers
located at the NRC’s Public Document
Room (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, MD, this 3rd day of
June 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric Benner,
Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Spent
Fuel Storage and Transportation, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E9–13711 Filed 6–11–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
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17:53 Jun 11, 2009
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50–424 and 50–425; NRC–
2009–0237]
Southern Nuclear Operating Co., Inc.,
Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe
Power Corporation, Municipal Electric
Authority of Georgia: City of Dalton,
Georgia Vogtle Electric Generating
Plant, Units 1 and 2; Notice of Issuance
of Renewed Facility Operating License
Nos. NPF–68 and NPF–81 for an
Additional 20-Year Period Record of
Decision
Notice is hereby given that the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC
or the Commission) has issued Renewed
Facility Operating License Nos. NPF–68
and NPF–81 to Southern Nuclear
Operating Company, Inc. (licensee),
Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe
Power Corporation, Municipal Electric
Authority of Georgia, and City of Dalton,
Georgia, co-owners of the Vogtle Electric
Generating Plant (VEGP), Units 1 and 2.
Renewed Facility Operating License
Nos. NPF–68 and NPF–81 authorize
operation of VEGP by the licensee at
reactor core power levels not in excess
of 3,625.6 megawatts thermal for each
unit, in accordance with the provisions
of the VEGP renewed licenses and their
technical specifications.
This notice also serves as the record
of decision for the renewal of Facility
Operating License Nos. NPF–68 and
NPF–81 for VEGP, consistent with Title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR) Section 51.103, ‘‘Record of
Decision-General.’’ As discussed in the
final supplemental environmental
impact statement for VEGP (NUREG–
1437, ‘‘Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for License Renewal of
Nuclear Plants,’’ Supplement 34,
‘‘Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units
1 and 2,’’ issued December 2008), the
Commission considered a range of
reasonable alternatives that included
power generation from coal, natural gas,
oil, wind, solar, hydropower,
geothermal, wood waste, municipal
solid waste, and other biomass-derived
fuels; delayed retirement; utilitysponsored conservation, and a
combination of alternatives, including a
no-action alternative. The factors
considered in the record of decision
appear in Supplement 34.
VEGP is a dual-unit pressurized-water
reactor designed by Westinghouse
Electric Corporation that is located in
Wayne County, GA. The site is located
approximately 25 miles south of
Augusta, GA. The application for the
renewed licenses complied with the
standards and requirements of the
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended
(the Act), and the Commission’s
regulations. As required by the Act and
the Commission’s regulations in 10 CFR
Chapter I, the Commission has made
appropriate findings, which the license
sets forth.
Prior public notice of the action
involving the proposed issuance of the
renewed license and of an opportunity
for a hearing regarding the proposed
issuance of the renewed license was
published in the Federal Register on
August 21, 2007 (72 FR 46680). For
further details with respect to this
action, see (1) the Southern Nuclear
Operating Company, Inc., Oglethorpe
Power Corporation, Municipal Electric
Authority of Georgia, and City of Dalton,
Georgia, license renewal application for
VEGP, Units 1 and 2, dated June 29,
2007, as supplemented by letters dated
through February 16, 2009, (2) the
Commission’s safety evaluation report
(NUREG–1920, ‘‘Safety Evaluation
Report Related to the License Renewal
of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant,
Units 1 and 2,’’ Volumes 1 and 2, issued
April 2009), (3) the licensee’s updated
safety analysis report, and (4) the
Commission’s final environmental
impact statement (NUREG–1437,
Supplement 34). These documents are
available at the NRC Public Document
Room, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852,
and can be viewed from the NRC Public
Electronic Reading Room at https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
Copies of Renewed Facility Operating
License Nos. NPF–68 and NPF–81 may
be obtained by writing to the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention:
Director, Division of License Renewal.
Copies of the safety evaluation report for
VEGP Units 1 and 2 (NUREG–1920,
Volumes 1 and 2) and the final
environmental impact statement
(NUREG–1437, Supplement 34) may be
purchased from the National Technical
Information Service, U.S. Department of
Commerce, Springfield, VA 22161–0002
(https://www.ntis.gov), 703–605–6000; or
from the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O.
Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250–7954
(https://www.gpoaccess.gov), 202–512–
1800. All orders should clearly identify
the NRC publication number and the
requester’s Government Printing Office
deposit account number or a VISA or
MasterCard number and expiration date.
Dated at Rockville, MD, this 3rd day of
June 2009.
E:\FR\FM\12JNN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 112 (Friday, June 12, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28071-28072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13711]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Dockets 50-0416 and 72-0050; NRC-2009-0230]
Notice of Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact; Entergy Operations, Inc., Grand Gulf Nuclear
Station, Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Goshen, Project Manager, Division
of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555. Telephone: (301) 492-3325; fax number: (301) 492-3342; e-
mail: john.goshen@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Environmental Assessment (EA)
Identification of Proposed Action: By letter dated December 22,
2008, as supplemented March 20, 2009, Entergy Operations, Inc.
(Entergy) submitted to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) a one-time exemption request from the requirements of 10 CFR
72.212(a)(2) and (b)(7) for four HI-STORM 100 System Model 68 Multi-
Purpose Canisters (MPCs) at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station (GGNS)
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Facility (ISFSI) due to non-compliance
with two of the terms and conditions of Certificate of Compliance
(CoC)-1014, Amendment No. 2 at the time of cask loading. Section
72.212(a)(2) limits the general license issued by 10 CFR 72.210 to the
storage of spent fuel in casks approved under the provisions of Part
72. Section 72.212(b)(7) requires that the general licensee to comply
with the terms and conditions of the applicable CoC.
In December 2006, due to a database error, Entergy loaded four MPCs
with individual fuel assemblies (IFAs) that exceeded the maximum burnup
limits and maximum decay heat limits specified in the CoC-1014,
Amendment No. 2, Appendix B, Section 2.1. Additionally, the
supplemental cooling required by the CoC-1014, Amendment No. 2,
Appendix A, Section 3.1.4 for the four MPCs had not been implemented.
Entergy identified the non-compliances on June 18, 2008, in an event
report to the NRC, along with a preliminary evaluation that determined
that fuel cladding temperatures had not exceeded thermal limits during
any time during the affected period. The proposed action before the NRC
is whether to grant this exemption request pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7.
Need for the Proposed Action: Entergy requested the exemption from
10 CFR 72.212(a)(2) and 10 CFR 72.212(b)(7) to allow continued, non-
compliant storage of the IFAs in the affected MPCs.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: The proposed action
under consideration would allow Entergy a one-time exemption from 10
CFR 72.212(a)(2) and 10 CFR 72.212(b)(7) for the four affected MPCs at
GGNS ISFSI. Entergy's evaluation and a thermal analysis by Holtec, the
fabricator of the cask system, determined that the fuel cladding was
intact, and therefore, the integrity of the affected MPCs and the
contained IFAs was not compromised. The heat loads in the affected
casks have decreased to within the limits set by CoC-1014.
The NRC staff concludes that the requested exemption has low safety
significance and that, in accordance with 10 CFR 72.7, approval of the
requested exemption will not endanger life or property or the common
defense and security and is otherwise in the public interest. The NRC
staff further concludes that approving the exemption request would have
no significant impact on the environment.
Alternative to the Proposed Action: The no-action alternative to
the proposed action would be to deny approval of the exemption. Denial
of the exemption request would require Entergy to unload the affected
MPCs. Unloading the MPCs would expose Entergy's personnel to additional
radiation, generate contaminated waste, and run the risks of a possible
fuel handling accident and a possible heavy load handling accident.
Given the risks associated with unloading the casks and that there
are no significant radiological or non-radiological environmental
impacts arising from the continued storage of the
[[Page 28072]]
IFAs in the affected MPCs, the NRC concludes that the preferred
alternative is to grant the exemption request.
II. Finding of No Significant Impact
The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed
in accordance with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR Part 51. Based
upon the foregoing Environmental Assessment, the Commission finds that
the proposed action of granting an exemption from 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2)
and 10 CFR 72.212(b)(7) will not significantly impact the quality of
the human environment. Accordingly, the Commission has determined not
to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed
exemption.
III. Further Information
The document related to this action is available electronically at
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. A copy of the exemption request, dated December 22, 2008,
can be found on this site using the Agencywide Document Access and
Management System (ADAMS), accession number ML091470104. If you do not
have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the document
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@nrc.gov.
This document may also be viewed electronically on the public
computers located at the NRC's Public Document Room (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, MD, this 3rd day of June 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eric Benner,
Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and
Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E9-13711 Filed 6-11-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
