North Anna Power Station Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, 42743-42745 [2016-15573]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 126 / Thursday, June 30, 2016 / Notices
Agenda
Thursday, July 21, 2016
1:30–1:45 p.m.: Meeting opening, FACA
briefing and approval of April
meeting minutes
Juan de Pablo, MPS Advisory
Committee Chair
Fleming Crim, Assistant Director,
Directorate for Mathematical and
Physical Sciences
Eduardo Misawa, Staff Associate,
MPS Office of the Assistant Director
1:45–2:45 p.m.: Division of Chemistry
Committee of Visitor (COV)’s report
Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, COV Chair
Juan de Pablo, MPS Advisory
Committee Chair
2:45–3:30 p.m.: New Business and
Discussions
3:30 p.m.: Adjourn
Dated: June 27, 2016.
Crystal Robinson,
Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016–15489 Filed 6–29–16; 8:45 am]
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Sunshine Act Meeting; National
Science Board
The National Science Board’s
Executive Committee, pursuant to NSF
regulations (45 CFR part 614), the
National Science Foundation Act, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 1862n–5), and the
Government in the Sunshine Act (5
U.S.C. 552b), hereby gives notice of the
scheduling of a teleconference for the
transaction of National Science Board
business, as follows:
DATE & TIME: Tuesday, July 5, 2016 from
4:00–5:00 p.m. EDT.
SUBJECT MATTER: (1) Committee Chair’s
opening remarks; (2) Approval of
Executive Committee minutes of April
2016; (3) Discuss issues and topics for
an agenda of the NSB meeting
scheduled for August 9–10, 2016; and
(4) Committee Chair’s closing remarks.
STATUS: Open.
LOCATION: This meeting will be held by
teleconference at the National Science
Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd.,
Arlington, VA 22230. A public listening
line will be available. Members of the
public must contact the Board Office
(call 703–292–7000 or send an email
message to nationalsciencebrd@nsf.gov)
at least 24 hours prior to the
teleconference for the public listening
number.
UPDATES & POINT OF CONTACT: Please
refer to the National Science Board Web
site www.nsf.gov/nsb for additional
information. Meeting information and
20:01 Jun 29, 2016
Jkt 238001
Chris Blair,
Executive Assistant to the NSB Office.
[FR Doc. 2016–15720 Filed 6–28–16; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50–285; NRC–2015–0261]
Omaha Public Power District; Fort
Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: License amendment application;
withdrawal by applicant.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) has granted the
request of Omaha Public Power District
to withdraw its application dated
September 10, 2015, for a proposed
amendment to Facility Operating
License No. DPR–40. The proposed
amendment would have revised the
Updated Safety Analysis Report (USAR)
to allow the use of the equipment
classification methodology in industry
standard American National Standards
Institute/American Nuclear Society
(ANSI/ANS)–58.14–2011, ‘‘Safety and
Pressure Integrity Classification Criteria
for Light Water Reactors.’’
DATES: June 30, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2015–0261 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may obtain publicly-available
information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2015–0261. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
SUMMARY:
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
updates (time, place, subject matter or
status of meeting) may be found at
https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/notices/. Point
of contact for this meeting is: James
Hamos, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington,
VA 22230. Telephone: (703) 292–8000.
PO 00000
Frm 00115
Fmt 4703
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42743
Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC’s Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The
ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced (if it is available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that
it is mentioned in this document.
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at
the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carl
F. Lyon, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001; telephone 301–415–2296, email:
Fred.Lyon@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The NRC has granted the request of
Omaha Public Power District (the
licensee) to withdraw its September 10,
2015, application (ADAMS Accession
No. ML15258A680), for proposed
amendment to Facility Operating
License No. DPR–40 for the Fort
Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1, located in
Washington County, Nebraska.
The proposed amendment would
have revised the USAR to allow the use
of the equipment classification
methodology in industry standard
ANSI/ANS–58.14–2011, ‘‘Safety and
Pressure Integrity Classification Criteria
for Light Water Reactors.’’
The licensee’s application was
previously noticed in the Federal
Register on November 24, 2015 (80 FR
73238). The licensee provided a
response to an NRC staff request for
additional information related to this
action on April 8, 2016, and a request
to withdraw the application on June 20,
2016 (ADAMS Accession Nos.
ML16099A173 and ML16172A279,
respectively).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day
of June 2016.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Carl F. Lyon,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV–
1, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2016–15544 Filed 6–29–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 72–16; NRC–2014–0154]
North Anna Power Station Independent
Spent Fuel Storage Installation
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
AGENCY:
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42744
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 126 / Thursday, June 30, 2016 / Notices
Environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
ACTION:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering a
license amendment request for the
Virginia Electric and Power Company’s
(Dominion) Special Nuclear Materials
(SNM) License SNM–2507 for the
operation of North Anna Power
Station’s (NAPS) independent spent fuel
storage installation (ISFSI). The
proposed amendment would revise the
technical specifications (TSs) to allow
the loading and storing of high burnup
spent nuclear fuel from NAPS, Units 1
and 2, in a single, modified (and
instrumented) TN–32B HBU cask.
DATES: The environmental assessment
and finding of no significant impact
referenced in this document are
available on June 30, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2014–0154 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may obtain publicly-available
information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2014–0154. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC’s Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The
ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced (if it is available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that
it is mentioned in this document.
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at
the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean
Trefethen, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415–
0867, email: Jean.Trefethen@nrc.gov.
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:01 Jun 29, 2016
Jkt 238001
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of a
license amendment for Dominion’s
SNM License SNM–2507 for the NAPS
ISFSI located in Louisa County, Virginia
(ADAMS Accession No. ML15239B251
and ML15289A189). Dominion is
proposing to revise the TSs to allow the
loading and storing of high burnup
spent nuclear fuel (i.e., spent fuel with
burnup greater than 45,000 megawatt
days per metric ton of uranium (MWD/
MTU)) from NAPS, Units 1 and 2, in a
single, modified (and instrumented)
TN–32B HBU cask.
The NRC staff has prepared a final
environmental assessment (EA) as part
of its review of this proposed license
amendment in accordance with the
requirements in part 51 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR)
‘‘Environmental Protection Regulations
for Domestic Licensing and Related
Regulatory Functions.’’ Based on the
final EA, the NRC has determined that
an environmental impact statement is
not required for this proposed action
and a finding of no significant impact
(FONSI) is appropriate. The NRC is also
conducting a safety evaluation of the
proposed license amendment pursuant
to 10 CFR part 72, ‘‘Licensing
Requirements for the Independent
Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High
Level Radioactive Waste, and ReactorRelated Greater than Class C Waste,’’
and the results will be documented in
a separate Safety Evaluation Report
(SER). If Dominion’s request is
approved, the NRC will issue the license
amendment following publication of
this final EA and FONSI and the SER.
II. Final Environmental Assessment
Summary
Dominion is requesting to amend its
specifically-licensed ISFSI to load and
store high burnup spent nuclear fuel
from NAPS, Units 1 and 2, in a single,
modified (and instrumented) TN–32B
HBU cask. Specifically, the TN–32B
HBU cask will be modified to insert
thermocouples through the cask lid and
into the fuel assemblies to monitor fuel
temperatures in the cask. The data
gathered will support the U.S.
Department of Energy and Electric
Power Research Institute High Burnup
Dry Storage Research Project. Dominion
is proposing to revise the TSs that
address the functional and operating
limits, the limiting condition for
operation, and the design features to
reflect the use of the TN–32B HBU cask.
As part of the High Burnup Dry Storage
Research Project, Dominion will
monitor the fuel temperature in this
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
cask and collect data to support research
on the long-term behavior of high
burnup spent nuclear fuel. The
information will be used to inform dry
cask designs and future ISFSI licensing
actions. If the proposed license
amendment is approved, Dominion will
load the TN–32B HBU cask with high
burnup spent nuclear fuel and place it
on the single vacant spot in the
specifically-licensed ISFSI Pad 1.
The NRC has assessed the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed
action, and alternatives to the proposed
action including the use of the
Transnuclear, Inc., Standardized
NUHOMS® Cask System under the
generally-licensed ISFSI and the noaction alternative. The results of the
NRC’s environmental review can be
found in the final EA (ADAMS
Accession No. ML16168A104). The NRC
staff performed its environmental
review in accordance with the
requirements in 10 CFR part 51. In
conducting the environmental review,
the NRC considered information in the
license amendment application
(ADAMS Accession No. ML15239B251);
information in the responses to the
NRC’s requests for additional
information (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16097A213 and ML16097A219);
communications and consultation with
the Virginia State Historic Preservation
Office, the U.S Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS), and the Virginia
Department of Health.
Approval of Dominion’s proposed
license amendment would allow the
TN–32B HBU cask to be placed on the
specifically-licensed ISFSI Pad 1.
Changes to routine operations or
maintenance of the NAPS specificallylicensed ISFSI would consist of
downloading the data from the data
logger on a quarterly basis. Dominion
calculated the total dose rate at the site
boundary from the placement of this
one TN–32B HBU cask and determined
that the dose would be 0.937 mrem/
year. Adding the total dose rate from the
placement of the TN–32B HBU cask to
the maximum combined radiation
contribution to the nearest permanent
resident from the operation of the ISFSI
and the NAPS, Units 1 and 2 (5.10
mrem/year), would result in a total
combined dose rate of 6.037 mrem/year,
which is below the 25 mrem/year
regulatory limit in 10 CFR 72.104. In
addition, the NRC reviews and oversees
casks to ensure these are designed and
maintained in accordance with the
regulatory limits in 10 CFR parts 20 and
72. Furthermore, Dominion maintains a
radiation protection program for NAPS,
Units 1 and 2, and the specificallylicensed and generally-licensed ISFSIs
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 126 / Thursday, June 30, 2016 / Notices
in accordance with 10 CFR part 20 to
ensure that radiation doses are as low as
is reasonably achievable. Accordingly,
no significant radiological or nonradiological impacts are expected to
result from approval of the license
amendment request, and the proposed
action would not significantly
contribute to cumulative impacts at the
NAPS site. Additionally, there would be
no disproportionately high and adverse
impacts on minority and low-income
populations. Furthermore, the NRC staff
determined that this license amendment
request does not have the potential to
cause effects on historic properties,
assuming those were present; therefore,
in accordance with 36 CFR 800.3(a)(1),
no consultation is required under
Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act. The NRC staff,
however, reached out to and informed
the Virginia State Historic Preservation
Officer and the Pamunkey Tribe of
Virginia of its determination via letters
dated April 12, 2016, and January 21,
2016, respectively (ADAMS Accession
No. ML16098A212 and ML16020A342,
respectively). The NRC staff also
consulted with the FWS in accordance
with Section 7 of the Endangered
Species Act. The NRC staff used FWS
Virginia Field Office’s Ecological
Services online project review process.
The self-certification letter dated April
8, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16118A168), stated that ‘‘additional
coordination with this office is not
needed.’’ The NRC completed the
certification process by submitting the
online review package to the FWS
Virginia Field Office via letter dated
May 2, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16120A189). In conclusion, the NRC
staff finds that the proposed action will
not result in a significant effect on the
quality of the human environment.
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on its review of the proposed
action, in accordance with the
requirements in 10 CFR part 51, the
NRC has concluded that the license
amendment request for the Dominion’s
SNM License Number SNM–2507 for
the operation of NAPS’ ISFSI located in
Louisa County, Virginia, will not
significantly affect the quality of the
human environment. Therefore, the
NRC has determined, pursuant to 10
CFR 51.31, that preparation of an
environmental impact statement is not
required for the proposed action and a
finding of no significant impacts is
appropriate.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day
of June, 2016.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
20:01 Jun 29, 2016
Jkt 238001
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig E. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety,
Safeguards, and Environmental Review,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016–15573 Filed 6–29–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 52–025 and 52–026; NRC–
2008–0252]
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Unit 3;
Southern Nuclear Operating Company,
Inc.; Georgia Power Company,
Oglethorpe Power Corporation, MEAG
Power SPVM, LLC., MEAG Power
SPVJ, LLC., MEAG Power SPVP, LLC.,
and the City of Dalton, Georgia
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Grant of exemption; approval of
alternative.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is granting an
exemption from the requirements of the
Commission’s regulations that require a
portion of the operating test, which is
part of the operator licensing
examination, to be administered in a
plant walk-through and approving
alternative examination criteria in
response to a May 27, 2016, request
from Southern Nuclear Operating
Company (SNC or facility licensee).
DATES: This exemption is effective as of
June 24, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2008–0252 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may obtain publicly available
information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2008–0252. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00117
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
42745
please contact the NRC’s Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The
ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced (if it is available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that
a document is referenced. The facility
licensee’s exemption request was
submitted to the NRC by letter dated
May 27, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16148A484).
• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at
the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul
Kallan, Office of New Reactors, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone:
301–415–2809; email: Paul.Kallan@
nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Southern Nuclear Operating
Company, Inc. (SNC or facility licensee);
Georgia Power Company; Oglethorpe
Power Corporation; MEAG Power
SPVM, LLC.; MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC.;
MEAG Power SPVP, LLC.; and the City
of Dalton, Georgia (together, the ‘‘VEGP
Owners’’); are the holders of Combined
License (COL) Nos. NPF–91 and NPF–
92, which authorize the construction
and operation of VEGP Units 3 and 4,
respectively.1 VEGP Units 3 and 4 are
Westinghouse AP1000 pressurizedwater reactors under construction in
Burke County, Georgia. They are colocated with VEGP Units 1 and 2, which
are two operating Westinghouse fourloop pressurized-water reactors.
VEGP Unit 3 is under construction
and most of the plant systems have not
been built. The facility licensee requests
an exemption from the portion of
section 55.45(b) of title 10 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
requiring that the ‘‘the [operator and
senior operator] operating test will be
administered in a plant walkthrough.’’
Pursuant to 10 CFR 55.11, the
‘‘Commission may, upon application by
an interested person, or upon its own
initiative, grant such exemptions from
the requirements of the regulations in
this part as it determines are authorized
by law and will not endanger life or
property and are otherwise in the public
interest.’’
1 SNC is authorized by the VEGP Owners to
exercise responsibility and control over the
physical construction, operation, and maintenance
of the facility, and is the ‘‘facility licensee’’ as
defined in 10 CFR 55.4 for purposes of this
evaluation.
E:\FR\FM\30JNN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 126 (Thursday, June 30, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42743-42745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15573]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 72-16; NRC-2014-0154]
North Anna Power Station Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
[[Page 42744]]
ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering a
license amendment request for the Virginia Electric and Power Company's
(Dominion) Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) License SNM-2507 for the
operation of North Anna Power Station's (NAPS) independent spent fuel
storage installation (ISFSI). The proposed amendment would revise the
technical specifications (TSs) to allow the loading and storing of high
burnup spent nuclear fuel from NAPS, Units 1 and 2, in a single,
modified (and instrumented) TN-32B HBU cask.
DATES: The environmental assessment and finding of no significant
impact referenced in this document are available on June 30, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0154 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0154. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this
document.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Trefethen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0867, email:
Jean.Trefethen@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of a license amendment for
Dominion's SNM License SNM-2507 for the NAPS ISFSI located in Louisa
County, Virginia (ADAMS Accession No. ML15239B251 and ML15289A189).
Dominion is proposing to revise the TSs to allow the loading and
storing of high burnup spent nuclear fuel (i.e., spent fuel with burnup
greater than 45,000 megawatt days per metric ton of uranium (MWD/MTU))
from NAPS, Units 1 and 2, in a single, modified (and instrumented) TN-
32B HBU cask.
The NRC staff has prepared a final environmental assessment (EA) as
part of its review of this proposed license amendment in accordance
with the requirements in part 51 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) ``Environmental Protection Regulations for
Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions.'' Based on the
final EA, the NRC has determined that an environmental impact statement
is not required for this proposed action and a finding of no
significant impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The NRC is also conducting a
safety evaluation of the proposed license amendment pursuant to 10 CFR
part 72, ``Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage of Spent
Nuclear Fuel, High Level Radioactive Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater
than Class C Waste,'' and the results will be documented in a separate
Safety Evaluation Report (SER). If Dominion's request is approved, the
NRC will issue the license amendment following publication of this
final EA and FONSI and the SER.
II. Final Environmental Assessment Summary
Dominion is requesting to amend its specifically-licensed ISFSI to
load and store high burnup spent nuclear fuel from NAPS, Units 1 and 2,
in a single, modified (and instrumented) TN-32B HBU cask. Specifically,
the TN-32B HBU cask will be modified to insert thermocouples through
the cask lid and into the fuel assemblies to monitor fuel temperatures
in the cask. The data gathered will support the U.S. Department of
Energy and Electric Power Research Institute High Burnup Dry Storage
Research Project. Dominion is proposing to revise the TSs that address
the functional and operating limits, the limiting condition for
operation, and the design features to reflect the use of the TN-32B HBU
cask. As part of the High Burnup Dry Storage Research Project, Dominion
will monitor the fuel temperature in this cask and collect data to
support research on the long-term behavior of high burnup spent nuclear
fuel. The information will be used to inform dry cask designs and
future ISFSI licensing actions. If the proposed license amendment is
approved, Dominion will load the TN-32B HBU cask with high burnup spent
nuclear fuel and place it on the single vacant spot in the
specifically-licensed ISFSI Pad 1.
The NRC has assessed the potential environmental impacts of the
proposed action, and alternatives to the proposed action including the
use of the Transnuclear, Inc., Standardized NUHOMS[supreg] Cask System
under the generally-licensed ISFSI and the no-action alternative. The
results of the NRC's environmental review can be found in the final EA
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16168A104). The NRC staff performed its
environmental review in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part
51. In conducting the environmental review, the NRC considered
information in the license amendment application (ADAMS Accession No.
ML15239B251); information in the responses to the NRC's requests for
additional information (ADAMS Accession No. ML16097A213 and
ML16097A219); communications and consultation with the Virginia State
Historic Preservation Office, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS),
and the Virginia Department of Health.
Approval of Dominion's proposed license amendment would allow the
TN-32B HBU cask to be placed on the specifically-licensed ISFSI Pad 1.
Changes to routine operations or maintenance of the NAPS specifically-
licensed ISFSI would consist of downloading the data from the data
logger on a quarterly basis. Dominion calculated the total dose rate at
the site boundary from the placement of this one TN-32B HBU cask and
determined that the dose would be 0.937 mrem/year. Adding the total
dose rate from the placement of the TN-32B HBU cask to the maximum
combined radiation contribution to the nearest permanent resident from
the operation of the ISFSI and the NAPS, Units 1 and 2 (5.10 mrem/
year), would result in a total combined dose rate of 6.037 mrem/year,
which is below the 25 mrem/year regulatory limit in 10 CFR 72.104. In
addition, the NRC reviews and oversees casks to ensure these are
designed and maintained in accordance with the regulatory limits in 10
CFR parts 20 and 72. Furthermore, Dominion maintains a radiation
protection program for NAPS, Units 1 and 2, and the specifically-
licensed and generally-licensed ISFSIs
[[Page 42745]]
in accordance with 10 CFR part 20 to ensure that radiation doses are as
low as is reasonably achievable. Accordingly, no significant
radiological or non-radiological impacts are expected to result from
approval of the license amendment request, and the proposed action
would not significantly contribute to cumulative impacts at the NAPS
site. Additionally, there would be no disproportionately high and
adverse impacts on minority and low-income populations. Furthermore,
the NRC staff determined that this license amendment request does not
have the potential to cause effects on historic properties, assuming
those were present; therefore, in accordance with 36 CFR 800.3(a)(1),
no consultation is required under Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act. The NRC staff, however, reached out to and informed
the Virginia State Historic Preservation Officer and the Pamunkey Tribe
of Virginia of its determination via letters dated April 12, 2016, and
January 21, 2016, respectively (ADAMS Accession No. ML16098A212 and
ML16020A342, respectively). The NRC staff also consulted with the FWS
in accordance with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC
staff used FWS Virginia Field Office's Ecological Services online
project review process. The self-certification letter dated April 8,
2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16118A168), stated that ``additional
coordination with this office is not needed.'' The NRC completed the
certification process by submitting the online review package to the
FWS Virginia Field Office via letter dated May 2, 2016 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML16120A189). In conclusion, the NRC staff finds that the proposed
action will not result in a significant effect on the quality of the
human environment.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on its review of the proposed action, in accordance with the
requirements in 10 CFR part 51, the NRC has concluded that the license
amendment request for the Dominion's SNM License Number SNM-2507 for
the operation of NAPS' ISFSI located in Louisa County, Virginia, will
not significantly affect the quality of the human environment.
Therefore, the NRC has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required for
the proposed action and a finding of no significant impacts is
appropriate.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of June, 2016.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig E. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental
Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016-15573 Filed 6-29-16; 8:45 am]
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