Virginia Electric and Power Company North Anna Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 Surry Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact, 76495-76496 [2010-30855]
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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 8, 2010 / Notices
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(202) 682–5424 (this is not a toll-free
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[FR Doc. 2010–30758 Filed 12–7–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7537–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50–338 and 50–339; Docket
Nos. 50–280 and 50–281; NRC–2010–0376]
jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Virginia Electric and Power Company
North Anna Power Station, Unit Nos. 1
and 2 Surry Power Station, Unit Nos.
1 and 2; Environmental Assessment
and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering
changes to the Emergency Plan,
pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54, ‘‘Conditions
of licenses,’’ paragraph (q), for North
Anna Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2
(NAPS), for Renewed Facility Operating
License Nos. NPF–4 and NPF–7, and
Surry Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2
(Surry) for Renewed Facility Operating
License Nos. DPR–32 and DPR–37,
issued to Virginia Electric and Power
Company (the licensee), for operation of
NAPS and Surry located in Louisa
County, Virginia, and Surry County,
Virginia, respectively. Therefore, as
required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC
performed an environmental
assessment. Based on the results of the
VerDate Mar<15>2010
18:23 Dec 07, 2010
Jkt 223001
environmental assessment, the NRC is
issuing a finding of no significant
impact.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would upgrade
selected Emergency Action Levels
(EALs) based on NEI 99–01, Revision 5,
‘‘Methodology for Development of
Emergency Action Levels,’’ using the
guidance of NRC Regulatory Issue
Summary 2003–18, Supplement 1 and
2, ‘‘Use of Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)
99–01, Methodology for Development of
Emergency Action Levels.’’
The proposed action is in accordance
with the licensee’s applications dated
January 29, 2010 (Agencywide
Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) Accession No.
ML100500566).
The Need for the Proposed Action
The proposed action is needed
because amendments would change an
EAL scheme based on NUREG–0654,
‘‘Criteria for Preparation and Evaluation
of Radiological Emergency Response
Plan and Preparedness in Support of
Nuclear Power Plants,’’ to one based on
NEI 99–01, ‘‘Methodology for
Development of Emergency Action
Levels,’’ Revision 4. This would change
the methodology for deriving selected
Notification of Unusual Event values in
Table R–1, Gaseous Effluent Monitor
Classification Thresholds, and deleting
EAL RA2.4, which evaluates abnormal
radiation readings at infrequently
accessed areas and revise the radiation
level threshold values for reactor
coolant system (RCS) letdown
indication.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
The NRC has completed its
environmental assessment of the
proposed EAL changes to NAPS and
Surry. The staff has concluded that the
changes would not significantly affect
plant safety and would not have a
significant adverse effect on the
probability of an accident occurring.
The proposed action would not result in
an increased radiological hazard beyond
those previously analyzed in the
Updated Final Safety Analysis Report.
There will be no change to radioactive
effluents that affect radiation exposures
to plant workers and members of the
public. No changes will be made to
plant buildings or the site property.
Therefore, no changes or different types
of radiological impacts are expected as
a result of the proposed changes.
The proposed action does not result
in changes to land use or water use, or
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
76495
result in changes to the quality or
quantity of non-radiological effluents.
No changes to the National Pollution
Discharge Elimination System permit
are needed. No effects on the aquatic or
terrestrial habitat in the vicinity of the
plant, or to threatened, endangered, or
protected species under the Endangered
Species Act, or impacts to essential fish
habitat covered by the MagnusonStevens Act are expected. There are no
impacts to the air or ambient air quality.
There are no impacts to historic and
cultural resources. There would be no
noticeable effect on socioeconomic
conditions in the region.
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that
there are no significant environmental
impacts associated with the proposed
action.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed
action, the NRC staff considered denial
of the proposed action (i.e., the‘‘noaction’’ alternative). Denial of the
application would result in no change
in current environmental impacts. The
environmental impacts of the proposed
action and the alternative action are
similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
The action does not involve the use of
any different resources than those
previously considered in the ‘‘Final
Environmental Statement Related to the
Continuation of Construction and the
Operation,’’ for NAPS dated April 1973,
and Surry dated May 1972 and June
1972, respectively, as supplemented
through the ‘‘Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal
of Nuclear Plants: Supplements 6 and 7
Regarding Surry and NAPS—Final
Report (NUREG–1437, Supplements 6
and 7),’’ dated November 2002.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
In accordance with its stated policy,
on November 17, 2010, the staff
consulted with the Virginia State
official, Leslie P. Foldesi, Director of the
Division of Radiological Health,
regarding the environmental impact of
the proposed action. The State official
had no comments.
Finding of No Significant Impact
On the basis of the environmental
assessment, the NRC concludes that the
proposed action will not have a
significant effect on the quality of the
human environment. Accordingly, the
NRC has determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the
proposed action.
E:\FR\FM\08DEN1.SGM
08DEN1
76496
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 8, 2010 / Notices
For further details with respect to the
proposed action, see the licensee’s
letters dated January 29, 2010.
Documents may be examined, and/or
copied for a fee, at the NRC’s Public
Document Room (PDR), located at One
White Flint North, Public File Area O1
F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor),
Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available
records will be accessible electronically
from the Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading
Room on the Internet at the NRC Web
site, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. Persons who do not have
access to ADAMS or who encounter
problems in accessing the documents
located in ADAMS should contact the
NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone
at 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737, or
send an e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day
of December 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
V. Sreenivas,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch 2–
1, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010–30855 Filed 12–7–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70–143; NRC–2010–0379]
Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.;
Environmental Assessment and
Finding of No Significant Impact for
Proposed Exemption From a
Requirement To Measure the Uranium
Element and Isotopic Content of
Special Nuclear Material
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Environmental Assessment and
Finding of No Significant Impact.
AGENCY:
jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kevin M. Ramsey, Project Manager, Fuel
Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel
Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Mail Stop EBB–2C40M, Rockville, MD
20555–0001, Telephone (301) 492–3123,
Fax (301) 492–3359, E-mail
kevin.ramsey@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission’s (NRC) staff is considering
the issuance of a license amendment to
Materials License SNM–124 to Nuclear
Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS or the licensee)
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18:23 Dec 07, 2010
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that would reflect a requested one-time
exemption from a requirement to
measure the uranium element and
isotopic content of certain small
amounts of strategic special nuclear
material, as described further below.
The NRC regulations in Title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR)
74.59(d)(1) state that a licensee must
establish and maintain a system of
measurements to substantiate such
contents. By letter dated December 31,
2009, NFS requested a temporary
exemption from this requirement.
The NRC prepared an Environmental
Assessment (EA) in support of this
exemption request in accordance with
the requirements of 10 CFR part 51.
Based on the EA, the NRC concluded
that a Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) is appropriate; therefore, an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
will not be prepared.
II. Environmental Assessment
Background
The NFS facility in Erwin, Tennessee
is authorized, under License SNM–124
to manufacture high-enriched nuclear
reactor fuel. In addition, NFS is
authorized to blend highly enriched
uranium with natural uranium and
manufacture low-enriched nuclear
reactor fuel. The U.S. Department of
Energy contracted with NFS to retain no
more than 30, 2S type uranium
hexafluoride (UF6) cylinders for future
forensic analysis. These cylinders have
been opened and processed leaving a
small quantity of material (heel) in each
cylinder. Because of the trace condition
of heel material, it is difficult to perform
destructive or nondestructive analyses
to measure the uranium element and
isotope content of the material
remaining in these cylinders. It requires
expensive equipment, which NFS does
not possess, to sample and analyze UF6
gas. Therefore, NFS is requesting a onetime exemption to allow the use of
assigned values for each cylinder based
on the net weight of the heel, and
concentration and enrichment factors.
These assigned values will be used for
inventory, receipt and shipment
practices.
Review Scope
The purpose of this EA is to assess the
environmental impacts of granting the
requested exemption. This EA does not
approve the request—a separate safety
review determines whether to grant the
requested exemption. This EA is limited
to the proposed exemption and any
cumulative impacts on existing plant
operations. The existing conditions and
operations for the Erwin facility were
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Frm 00104
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
evaluated by NRC for environmental
impacts in a 1999 EA related to the
renewal of the NFS license (Reference 1)
and a 2002 EA related to the first
amendment for the Blended LowEnriched Uranium (BLEU) Project
(Reference 2). The 2002 EA assessed the
impact of the entire BLEU Project using
information available at that time. A
2003 EA (Reference 3) and a 2004 EA
(Reference 4), related to additional
BLEU Project amendments, confirmed
the FONSI issued in 2002.
Proposed Action
The proposed action is to grant a onetime exemption from the 10 CFR
74.59(d)(1) requirement to measure the
uranium element and isotopic content
of certain 2S type UF6 cylinders. The
exemption would authorize NFS to
record an estimated value instead of
drawing samples from each cylinder
and conducting measurements. No
change to processing, packaging, or
storage operations is requested; and no
construction of new facilities is
requested. Granting the exemption
would require the revision of a safety
condition and the addition of a
safeguards condition in License SNM–
124 if the exemption is granted.
Need for Proposed Action
The proposed action is being
requested because it is difficult to
sample the small quantity of material
remaining in each cylinder and perform
destructive or nondestructive analyses
to measure the uranium element and
isotope content of the material. It
requires expensive equipment, which
NFS does not possess, to sample and
analyze UF6 gas.
Alternatives
The alternatives available to NRC are:
1. Approve the requested action as
described, or
2. No action (i.e., deny the request).
Affected Environment
The affected environment for the
proposed action and the no action
alternative is the NFS site. The NFS
facility is located in Unicoi County,
Tennessee, about 32 kilometers (20
miles) southwest of Johnson City,
Tennessee. The facility is within the
Erwin city limits. The affected
environment is identical to the affected
environment assessed in the 2002 EA
related to the first amendment for the
BLEU Project (Reference 2). A full
description of the site and its
characteristics are given in the 2002 EA.
Additional information can be found in
the 1999 EA related to the renewal of
the NFS license (Reference 1). The site
E:\FR\FM\08DEN1.SGM
08DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 8, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76495-76496]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-30855]
=======================================================================
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-338 and 50-339; Docket Nos. 50-280 and 50-281; NRC-
2010-0376]
Virginia Electric and Power Company North Anna Power Station,
Unit Nos. 1 and 2 Surry Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2; Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering changes
to the Emergency Plan, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54, ``Conditions of
licenses,'' paragraph (q), for North Anna Power Station, Unit Nos. 1
and 2 (NAPS), for Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-4 and
NPF-7, and Surry Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 (Surry) for Renewed
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-32 and DPR-37, issued to Virginia
Electric and Power Company (the licensee), for operation of NAPS and
Surry located in Louisa County, Virginia, and Surry County, Virginia,
respectively. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC performed
an environmental assessment. Based on the results of the environmental
assessment, the NRC is issuing a finding of no significant impact.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would upgrade selected Emergency Action Levels
(EALs) based on NEI 99-01, Revision 5, ``Methodology for Development of
Emergency Action Levels,'' using the guidance of NRC Regulatory Issue
Summary 2003-18, Supplement 1 and 2, ``Use of Nuclear Energy Institute
(NEI) 99-01, Methodology for Development of Emergency Action Levels.''
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
applications dated January 29, 2010 (Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML100500566).
The Need for the Proposed Action
The proposed action is needed because amendments would change an
EAL scheme based on NUREG-0654, ``Criteria for Preparation and
Evaluation of Radiological Emergency Response Plan and Preparedness in
Support of Nuclear Power Plants,'' to one based on NEI 99-01,
``Methodology for Development of Emergency Action Levels,'' Revision 4.
This would change the methodology for deriving selected Notification of
Unusual Event values in Table R-1, Gaseous Effluent Monitor
Classification Thresholds, and deleting EAL RA2.4, which evaluates
abnormal radiation readings at infrequently accessed areas and revise
the radiation level threshold values for reactor coolant system (RCS)
letdown indication.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its environmental assessment of the proposed
EAL changes to NAPS and Surry. The staff has concluded that the changes
would not significantly affect plant safety and would not have a
significant adverse effect on the probability of an accident occurring.
The proposed action would not result in an increased radiological
hazard beyond those previously analyzed in the Updated Final Safety
Analysis Report. There will be no change to radioactive effluents that
affect radiation exposures to plant workers and members of the public.
No changes will be made to plant buildings or the site property.
Therefore, no changes or different types of radiological impacts are
expected as a result of the proposed changes.
The proposed action does not result in changes to land use or water
use, or result in changes to the quality or quantity of non-
radiological effluents. No changes to the National Pollution Discharge
Elimination System permit are needed. No effects on the aquatic or
terrestrial habitat in the vicinity of the plant, or to threatened,
endangered, or protected species under the Endangered Species Act, or
impacts to essential fish habitat covered by the Magnuson-Stevens Act
are expected. There are no impacts to the air or ambient air quality.
There are no impacts to historic and cultural resources. There would be
no noticeable effect on socioeconomic conditions in the region.
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the``no-action'' alternative).
Denial of the application would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action
and the alternative action are similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
The action does not involve the use of any different resources than
those previously considered in the ``Final Environmental Statement
Related to the Continuation of Construction and the Operation,'' for
NAPS dated April 1973, and Surry dated May 1972 and June 1972,
respectively, as supplemented through the ``Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Supplements 6
and 7 Regarding Surry and NAPS--Final Report (NUREG-1437, Supplements 6
and 7),'' dated November 2002.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
In accordance with its stated policy, on November 17, 2010, the
staff consulted with the Virginia State official, Leslie P. Foldesi,
Director of the Division of Radiological Health, regarding the
environmental impact of the proposed action. The State official had no
comments.
Finding of No Significant Impact
On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes
that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the
quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined
not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed
action.
[[Page 76496]]
For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the
licensee's letters dated January 29, 2010. Documents may be examined,
and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR),
located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available
records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on
the Internet at the NRC Web site, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact the
NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737,
or send an e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of December 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
V. Sreenivas,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch 2-1, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010-30855 Filed 12-7-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
