Omaha Public Power District; Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact, 105-107 [2023-28815]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 1 / Tuesday, January 2, 2024 / Notices
circumstances required by 10 CFR
50.12(a)(2)(ii) exist.
ACTION:
E. Environmental Considerations
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.31(a),
the Commission has determined that the
granting of this exemption will not have
a significant effect on the quality of the
human environment as discussed in the
NRC staff’s Environmental Assessment
and Finding of No Significant Impact
published in the Federal Register (FR)
on December 21, 2023 (88 FR 88664).
IV. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has
determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
50.12, the licensee’s request for
exemptions from certain EP
requirements in 10 CFR 50.47(b), 10
CFR 50.47(c)(2), and 10 CFR part 50,
appendix E, section IV, and as
summarized in Enclosure 2 to SECY–
23–0043, are authorized by law, will not
present an undue risk to the public
health and safety, and are consistent
with the common defense and security.
Also, special circumstances are present.
Therefore, the Commission hereby
grants HDI exemptions from certain EP
requirements in 10 CFR 50.47(b), 10
CFR 50.47(c)(2), and 10 CFR part 50,
appendix E, section IV, as discussed and
evaluated in detail in the NRC staff’s
safety evaluation dated December 22,
2023. The exemptions are effective 12
months after permanent cessation of
power operations, which was May 20,
2023. Because this period had already
elapsed, the exemption is effective upon
issuance. These exemptions will
terminate if the status of the Palisades
reactor changes such that the
certifications of permanent cessation of
operations and permanent removal of
fuel from the reactor vessel are no
longer applicable.
Dated: this 22nd day of December 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jane Marshall,
Director, Division of Decommissioning,
Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023–28813 Filed 12–29–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50–285; NRC–2022–0127]
Omaha Public Power District; Fort
Calhoun Station, Unit 1; Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
AGENCY:
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15:59 Dec 29, 2023
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Notice; issuance.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing a finding
of no significant impact (FONSI) and
accompanying environmental
assessment (EA) regarding the NRC’s
consideration of a license amendment
request by Omaha Public Power District
(OPPD) to approve the License
Termination Plan (LTP) for the Fort
Calhoun Station, Unit 1 (FCS), located
in Washington County, Nebraska. If
approved, the amendment would add a
license condition to the FCS license
reflecting the NRC’s approval of its LTP
and establishing criteria for determining
when changes to the LTP require prior
NRC approval. OPPD would use the LTP
to meet the requirements for terminating
the license and releasing the site for
unrestricted use. Based on the EA, the
NRC staff has concluded that there will
be no significant impacts to
environmental resources from the
requested license amendment, and
therefore, a FONSI is appropriate.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in
this document is available on January 2,
2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2022–0127 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 Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2022–0127. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301–415–0624; email:
Stacy.Schumann@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
‘‘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, at
301–415–4737, or by email to
PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. For the
convenience of the reader, instructions
about obtaining materials referenced in
this document are provided in the
‘‘Availability of Documents’’ section of
this document.
• NRC’s PDR: The PDR, where you
may examine and order copies of
publicly available documents, is open
by appointment. To make an
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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105
appointment to visit the PDR, please
send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov
or call 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–
4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern
time (ET), Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Marla Morales, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone:
301–415–0715; email: Marla.Morales@
nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of a
license amendment request to approve
the LTP for the FCS, located in
Washington County, Nebraska, as part of
OPPD’s part 50 of title 10 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
‘‘Domestic Licensing of Production and
Utilization Facilities,’’ Facility
Operating License No. DPR–40. If
granted, the license amendment would
add a condition to FCS’s license
reflecting the NRC’s approval of FCS’s
LTP and establishing criteria for
determining when changes to the LTP
require prior NRC approval. As required
by 10 CFR part 51, ‘‘Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic
Licensing and Related Regulatory
Functions,’’ the NRC prepared an
environmental assessment (EA). Based
on the results of the EA, the NRC has
determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS)
for the license amendment request and
is issuing a finding of no significant
impact (FONSI).
Construction of FCS began in 1968,
and the NRC issued an operating license
to the OPPD in 1973. The FCS began
commercial operation in September
1973. The OPPD submitted the
Certification of Permanent Cessation of
Power Operations in August 2016 in
accordance with 10 CFR 50.82 (a)(1)(i)
and shutdown on October 24, 2016.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(ii), on
November 13, 2016, the OPPD certified
to the NRC that as of November 2016,
all fuel had been removed from the FCS
reactor vessel and placed into the FCS
spent fuel pool.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(4)(i), the
OPPD submitted its initial PostShutdown Decommissioning Activities
Report (PSDAR) on March 30, 2017, and
supplemented it by letter dated
December 14, 2017. The PSDAR
described OPPD’s selection of the
SAFSTOR method for decommissioning
the FCS. The FCS reactor remained in
SAFSTOR until December 16, 2019.
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 1 / Tuesday, January 2, 2024 / Notices
On December 16, 2019, as
supplemented by letter dated July 16,
2020, the OPPD submitted a revised
PSDAR to the NRC to reflect schedule
changes and select a new method for
decommissioning the FCS pursuant to
10 CFR 50.82(a)(7). The revised PSDAR
described OPPD’s selection of the
DECON method for decommissioning
the FCS.
By letter dated May 18, 2020, the
OPPD certified to the NRC that as of
May 13, 2020, all spent fuel assemblies
had been permanently transferred out of
the FCS spent fuel pool and placed in
storage within the independent spent
fuel storage installation (ISFSI). The
OPPD submitted the LTP on August 3,
2021, in accordance with 10 CFR
50.82(a)(9).
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action is the review and
subsequent approval, if appropriate, of a
license amendment to OPPD to approve
the LTP for the FCS. If approved, the
amendment would add a license
condition to the FCS license reflecting
the NRC’s approval of the LTP and
establishing criteria for determining
when changes to the LTP require prior
NRC approval.
The proposed action is described in
the OPPD’s 2021 LTP application and
responses to requests for additional
information dated June 15, 2022, and
February 27, 2023.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed
Action
The purpose of and need for the
proposed action is to allow for
completion of decommissioning of the
FCS site by the OPPD, termination of
the FCS operating license by the NRC,
and subsequent release of the FCS site
for unrestricted use. The NRC regulation
at 10 CFR 50.82 sets forth the process
for the licensee to decommission its
nuclear power plant, including
submission of the LTP. The NRC will
approve the LTP, provided that the LTP
meets the criteria in 10 CFR
50.82(a)(10).
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
The NRC staff considered the
potential impacts of the proposed action
on land use, historical and cultural
resources; visual and scenic resources;
meteorology, climatology, and air
quality; noise; geology and soils; water
resources; ecological resources;
socioeconomics; public and occupation
health; transportation and traffic;
environmental justice; and waste
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15:59 Dec 29, 2023
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management. The Decommissioning
Generic Environmental Impact
Statement (GEIS) (NUREG–0586)
generically addressed many of the
potential environmental impacts of
decommissioning at the FCS. During its
review of the FCS LTP, the NRC
concluded that the impacts for most
resource areas—onsite land use; water
resources; air quality; ecology, not
including threatened and endangered
species or outside the operational area;
socioeconomics; historic and cultural
resources within the operational area;
aesthetics; noise; transportation; and
nonradioactive waste management—
were still bounded by the
Decommissioning GEIS. Therefore, the
NRC does not expect impacts associated
with these issues beyond those
discussed in the GEIS, which concluded
that the impact level for these issues
was SMALL.
In the Decommissioning GEIS, the
NRC staff concluded that it could not
necessarily determine the
environmental impacts of
decommissioning generically for six
environmental resource areas (offsite
land use, threatened and endangered
species, aquatic ecology beyond the
operational area, terrestrial ecology
beyond the operational area,
environmental justice, and historic and
cultural resources beyond the
operational area). The Decommissioning
GEIS determined that for these six
resource areas a site-specific analysis
would be required as was done in the
FCS EA. In addition, topics not
included in the Decommissioning GEIS
that the NRC staff evaluated in the FCS
EA include the affected environment,
climate change, cumulative impacts,
contamination of groundwater from
decommissioning activities, and
nonradioactive waste management.
In the FCS EA, the NRC staff
evaluated the potential environmental
impacts on the six site-specific
environmental resource areas as well as
the five resource areas not evaluated in
the Decommissioning GEIS and did not
identify any significant impacts. For the
proposed action there are no planned
activities outside of the operational area,
and the OPPD commits to using best
management practices and obtaining all
necessary licenses from Federal or State
agencies to protect the surrounding
lands. Therefore, the proposed action
would result in no significant impacts
and there would be no significant
cumulative effects when added to the
past, present, or reasonably foreseeable
future actions at the FCS site.
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Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed
action, the NRC staff considered the
‘‘no-action’’ alternative. Under the noaction alternative, the NRC would not
approve the LTP or the license
amendment request because regulatory
requirements have not been met. If the
NRC was unable to approve the LTP
because the regulatory requirements
were not met, the OPPD would need to
take additional actions to prepare an
LTP that meets the requirements in 10
CFR 50.82(a)(10). Under this scenario,
until the OPPD resubmits the LTP,
activities at FCS would likely continue
and the environmental impacts would
neither increase nor decrease as a result
of the additional time required for the
LTP resubmission.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On August 18, 2023, the NRC staff
provided a copy of the draft EA to the
State of Nebraska Department of Health
and Human Services for its review and
comment. In a letter dated October 12,
2023, the State provided comments on
the State’s applicable regulations for air
quality, stormwater, water quality, and
waste management. The comments were
incorporated into the EA, as applicable.
The NRC completed consultation
under section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act by consulting
with the Nebraska State Historic
Preservation Office and 12 Federally
recognized Indian Tribes in
correspondence dated August 3, 2022.
In addition, the NRC staff, consulted
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) and determined that the
proposed action ‘‘may affect, but not
likely to adversely affect’’ the Northern
Long-eared Bat, Tricolored Bat, Piping
Plover, Monarch Butterfly, and the
Pallid Sturgeon, and would have ‘‘no
effect’’ on critical habitat. The NRC staff
provided its effect determinations to
FWS on August 18, 2023, and FWS
concurred with those findings on
November 5, 2023, and provided no
additional comments. Therefore,
consultation has been completed under
section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on its review of the license
amendment request, in accordance with
the requirements of 10 CFR part 51, the
NRC staff has determined that issuing
the requested amendment, if
appropriate, of a license termination to
OPPD’s DPR–40 license would not
significantly affect the quality of human
environment. No significant radiological
or non-radiological impacts are
E:\FR\FM\02JAN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 1 / Tuesday, January 2, 2024 / Notices
expected from the proposed action.
Therefore, the NRC staff has determined
that pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31,
‘‘Determinations based on
environmental assessment,’’ preparation
of an EIS is not required for the
proposed action, and pursuant to 10
CFR 51.32, ‘‘Finding of no significant
impact,’’ a FONSI is appropriate. In
accordance with 10 CFR 51.32(a)(4), this
FONSI incorporates the EA set forth in
this notice by reference.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the
following table are available to
interested persons through ADAMS.
Document description
ADAMS accession No.
Omaha Public Power District Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Reports and supplemental letters,
dated March 30, 2017, December 14, 2017, December 16, 2019, and July 16, 2020.
Omaha Public Power District Certification of Permanent Cessation of Power Operations, dated August 25,
2016.
Omaha Public Power District Certification of Permanent Removal of Fuel from the Reactor Vessel, dated
November 13, 2016.
Omaha Public Power District Certification of Permanent Removal of all Spent Fuel Assemblies from the
Spent Fuel Pool, dated May 18, 2020.
Omaha Public Power District, License Amendment Application, dated August 3, 2021 ..................................
Omaha Public Power District Response to Fort Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1 Requests for Additional Information dated June 15, 2022, and February 27, 2023.
Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities (NUREG–0586),
dated November 2002.
NRC letter to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Request for Review of Draft EA,
dated August 18, 2023.
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services email response to NRC Request for Review of Draft
EA, dated October 12, 2023.
Letter to the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office initiating consultation under section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act, dated September 29, 2022.
NRC letters to Tribal nations initiating consultation under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act, dated August 3, 2022.
NRC letter to FWS regarding informal Section 7 consultation, determinations of effect, dated August 18,
2023.
Fish and Wildlife Service concurrence on NRC’s determinations of effect, dated November 5, 2023 ............
Final Environmental Assessment for Fort Calhoun, Unit 1 License Termination Plan, dated December 14,
2023.
Dated: December 27, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jill S. Caverly,
Acting Chief, Environmental Project
Management Branch 2, Division of
Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial
Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety,
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023–28815 Filed 12–29–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2023–0001]
Sunshine Act Meetings
Weeks of January 1, 8,
15, 22, 29, and February 5, 2024. The
schedule for Commission meetings is
subject to change on short notice. The
NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can
be found on the internet at: https://
www.nrc.gov/public-involve/publicmeetings/schedule.html.
PLACE: The NRC provides reasonable
accommodation to individuals with
disabilities where appropriate. If you
need a reasonable accommodation to
participate in these public meetings or
need this meeting notice or the
transcript or other information from the
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
TIME AND DATE:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
15:59 Dec 29, 2023
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public meetings in another format (e.g.,
braille, large print), please notify Anne
Silk, NRC Disability Program Specialist,
at 301–287–0745, by videophone at
240–428–3217, or by email at
Anne.Silk@nrc.gov. Determinations on
requests for reasonable accommodation
will be made on a case-by-case basis.
STATUS: Public.
Members of the public may request to
receive the information in these notices
electronically. If you would like to be
added to the distribution, please contact
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC
20555, at 301–415–1969, or by email at
Betty.Thweatt@nrc.gov or
Samantha.Miklaszewski@nrc.gov.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:
Week of January 1, 2024
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of January 1, 2024.
Week of January 8, 2024—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of January 8, 2024.
Week of January 15, 2024—Tentative
Thursday, January 18, 2024
9:00 a.m. Strategic Programmatic
Overview of the Decommissioning
and Low-Level Waste and Nuclear
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ML17089A759, ML17348A623,
ML19351E355 and
ML20202A654.
ML16242A127.
ML16319A254.
ML20139A138.
ML21271A178 (Package).
ML22167A199 and ML23060A197.
ML023470304.
ML23234A239.
ML23298A097.
ML22258A273.
ML22137A126 (Package).
ML23234A241.
ML23311A086.
ML23333A049.
Materials Users Business Lines
(Public Meeting) (Contact: Candace
Spore: 301–415–8537)
Additional Information: The meeting
will be held in the Commissioners’
Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland. The public is
invited to attend the Commission’s
meeting in person or watch live via
webcast at the Web address—https://
video.nrc.gov/.
Week of January 22, 2024—Tentative
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
10:00 a.m. Briefing on International
Activities (Public Meeting)
(Contacts: Jennifer Holzman: 301–
415–8537, Doris Lewis 301–287–
3794)
Additional Information: The meeting
will be held in the Commissioners’
Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland. The public is
invited to attend the Commission’s
meeting in person or watch live via
webcast at the Web address—https://
video.nrc.gov/.
Week of January 29, 2024—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of January 29, 2024.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 2, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 105-107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28815]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-285; NRC-2022-0127]
Omaha Public Power District; Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1;
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) and accompanying environmental
assessment (EA) regarding the NRC's consideration of a license
amendment request by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) to approve the
License Termination Plan (LTP) for the Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1
(FCS), located in Washington County, Nebraska. If approved, the
amendment would add a license condition to the FCS license reflecting
the NRC's approval of its LTP and establishing criteria for determining
when changes to the LTP require prior NRC approval. OPPD would use the
LTP to meet the requirements for terminating the license and releasing
the site for unrestricted use. Based on the EA, the NRC staff has
concluded that there will be no significant impacts to environmental
resources from the requested license amendment, and therefore, a FONSI
is appropriate.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document is available on
January 2, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0127 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0127. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. 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 ``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, at 301-415-4737,
or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this document.
NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an
appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marla Morales, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0715; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of a license amendment request to
approve the LTP for the FCS, located in Washington County, Nebraska, as
part of OPPD's part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization
Facilities,'' Facility Operating License No. DPR-40. If granted, the
license amendment would add a condition to FCS's license reflecting the
NRC's approval of FCS's LTP and establishing criteria for determining
when changes to the LTP require prior NRC approval. As required by 10
CFR part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic
Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,'' the NRC prepared an
environmental assessment (EA). Based on the results of the EA, the NRC
has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS)
for the license amendment request and is issuing a finding of no
significant impact (FONSI).
Construction of FCS began in 1968, and the NRC issued an operating
license to the OPPD in 1973. The FCS began commercial operation in
September 1973. The OPPD submitted the Certification of Permanent
Cessation of Power Operations in August 2016 in accordance with 10 CFR
50.82 (a)(1)(i) and shutdown on October 24, 2016. Pursuant to 10 CFR
50.82(a)(1)(ii), on November 13, 2016, the OPPD certified to the NRC
that as of November 2016, all fuel had been removed from the FCS
reactor vessel and placed into the FCS spent fuel pool.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(4)(i), the OPPD submitted its initial
Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) on March 30,
2017, and supplemented it by letter dated December 14, 2017. The PSDAR
described OPPD's selection of the SAFSTOR method for decommissioning
the FCS. The FCS reactor remained in SAFSTOR until December 16, 2019.
[[Page 106]]
On December 16, 2019, as supplemented by letter dated July 16,
2020, the OPPD submitted a revised PSDAR to the NRC to reflect schedule
changes and select a new method for decommissioning the FCS pursuant to
10 CFR 50.82(a)(7). The revised PSDAR described OPPD's selection of the
DECON method for decommissioning the FCS.
By letter dated May 18, 2020, the OPPD certified to the NRC that as
of May 13, 2020, all spent fuel assemblies had been permanently
transferred out of the FCS spent fuel pool and placed in storage within
the independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). The OPPD
submitted the LTP on August 3, 2021, in accordance with 10 CFR
50.82(a)(9).
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action is the review and subsequent approval, if
appropriate, of a license amendment to OPPD to approve the LTP for the
FCS. If approved, the amendment would add a license condition to the
FCS license reflecting the NRC's approval of the LTP and establishing
criteria for determining when changes to the LTP require prior NRC
approval.
The proposed action is described in the OPPD's 2021 LTP application
and responses to requests for additional information dated June 15,
2022, and February 27, 2023.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action
The purpose of and need for the proposed action is to allow for
completion of decommissioning of the FCS site by the OPPD, termination
of the FCS operating license by the NRC, and subsequent release of the
FCS site for unrestricted use. The NRC regulation at 10 CFR 50.82 sets
forth the process for the licensee to decommission its nuclear power
plant, including submission of the LTP. The NRC will approve the LTP,
provided that the LTP meets the criteria in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(10).
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC staff considered the potential impacts of the proposed
action on land use, historical and cultural resources; visual and
scenic resources; meteorology, climatology, and air quality; noise;
geology and soils; water resources; ecological resources;
socioeconomics; public and occupation health; transportation and
traffic; environmental justice; and waste management. The
Decommissioning Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) (NUREG-
0586) generically addressed many of the potential environmental impacts
of decommissioning at the FCS. During its review of the FCS LTP, the
NRC concluded that the impacts for most resource areas--onsite land
use; water resources; air quality; ecology, not including threatened
and endangered species or outside the operational area; socioeconomics;
historic and cultural resources within the operational area;
aesthetics; noise; transportation; and nonradioactive waste
management--were still bounded by the Decommissioning GEIS. Therefore,
the NRC does not expect impacts associated with these issues beyond
those discussed in the GEIS, which concluded that the impact level for
these issues was SMALL.
In the Decommissioning GEIS, the NRC staff concluded that it could
not necessarily determine the environmental impacts of decommissioning
generically for six environmental resource areas (offsite land use,
threatened and endangered species, aquatic ecology beyond the
operational area, terrestrial ecology beyond the operational area,
environmental justice, and historic and cultural resources beyond the
operational area). The Decommissioning GEIS determined that for these
six resource areas a site-specific analysis would be required as was
done in the FCS EA. In addition, topics not included in the
Decommissioning GEIS that the NRC staff evaluated in the FCS EA include
the affected environment, climate change, cumulative impacts,
contamination of groundwater from decommissioning activities, and
nonradioactive waste management.
In the FCS EA, the NRC staff evaluated the potential environmental
impacts on the six site-specific environmental resource areas as well
as the five resource areas not evaluated in the Decommissioning GEIS
and did not identify any significant impacts. For the proposed action
there are no planned activities outside of the operational area, and
the OPPD commits to using best management practices and obtaining all
necessary licenses from Federal or State agencies to protect the
surrounding lands. Therefore, the proposed action would result in no
significant impacts and there would be no significant cumulative
effects when added to the past, present, or reasonably foreseeable
future actions at the FCS site.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
the ``no-action'' alternative. Under the no-action alternative, the NRC
would not approve the LTP or the license amendment request because
regulatory requirements have not been met. If the NRC was unable to
approve the LTP because the regulatory requirements were not met, the
OPPD would need to take additional actions to prepare an LTP that meets
the requirements in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(10). Under this scenario, until the
OPPD resubmits the LTP, activities at FCS would likely continue and the
environmental impacts would neither increase nor decrease as a result
of the additional time required for the LTP resubmission.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On August 18, 2023, the NRC staff provided a copy of the draft EA
to the State of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for
its review and comment. In a letter dated October 12, 2023, the State
provided comments on the State's applicable regulations for air
quality, stormwater, water quality, and waste management. The comments
were incorporated into the EA, as applicable.
The NRC completed consultation under section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act by consulting with the Nebraska State
Historic Preservation Office and 12 Federally recognized Indian Tribes
in correspondence dated August 3, 2022. In addition, the NRC staff,
consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and determined
that the proposed action ``may affect, but not likely to adversely
affect'' the Northern Long-eared Bat, Tricolored Bat, Piping Plover,
Monarch Butterfly, and the Pallid Sturgeon, and would have ``no
effect'' on critical habitat. The NRC staff provided its effect
determinations to FWS on August 18, 2023, and FWS concurred with those
findings on November 5, 2023, and provided no additional comments.
Therefore, consultation has been completed under section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on its review of the license amendment request, in accordance
with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has determined
that issuing the requested amendment, if appropriate, of a license
termination to OPPD's DPR-40 license would not significantly affect the
quality of human environment. No significant radiological or non-
radiological impacts are
[[Page 107]]
expected from the proposed action. Therefore, the NRC staff has
determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, ``Determinations based on
environmental assessment,'' preparation of an EIS is not required for
the proposed action, and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, ``Finding of no
significant impact,'' a FONSI is appropriate. In accordance with 10 CFR
51.32(a)(4), this FONSI incorporates the EA set forth in this notice by
reference.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through ADAMS.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Document description ADAMS accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Omaha Public Power District Post-Shutdown ML17089A759, ML17348A623,
Decommissioning Activities Reports and ML19351E355 and
supplemental letters, dated March 30, ML20202A654.
2017, December 14, 2017, December 16,
2019, and July 16, 2020.
Omaha Public Power District Certification ML16242A127.
of Permanent Cessation of Power
Operations, dated August 25, 2016.
Omaha Public Power District Certification ML16319A254.
of Permanent Removal of Fuel from the
Reactor Vessel, dated November 13, 2016.
Omaha Public Power District Certification ML20139A138.
of Permanent Removal of all Spent Fuel
Assemblies from the Spent Fuel Pool, dated
May 18, 2020.
Omaha Public Power District, License ML21271A178 (Package).
Amendment Application, dated August 3,
2021.
Omaha Public Power District Response to ML22167A199 and
Fort Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1 Requests ML23060A197.
for Additional Information dated June 15,
2022, and February 27, 2023.
Final Generic Environmental Impact ML023470304.
Statement on Decommissioning of Nuclear
Facilities (NUREG-0586), dated November
2002.
NRC letter to the Nebraska Department of ML23234A239.
Health and Human Services Request for
Review of Draft EA, dated August 18, 2023.
Nebraska Department of Health and Human ML23298A097.
Services email response to NRC Request for
Review of Draft EA, dated October 12, 2023.
Letter to the Nebraska State Historic ML22258A273.
Preservation Office initiating
consultation under section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act, dated
September 29, 2022.
NRC letters to Tribal nations initiating ML22137A126 (Package).
consultation under section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act, dated
August 3, 2022.
NRC letter to FWS regarding informal ML23234A241.
Section 7 consultation, determinations of
effect, dated August 18, 2023.
Fish and Wildlife Service concurrence on ML23311A086.
NRC's determinations of effect, dated
November 5, 2023.
Final Environmental Assessment for Fort ML23333A049.
Calhoun, Unit 1 License Termination Plan,
dated December 14, 2023.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated: December 27, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jill S. Caverly,
Acting Chief, Environmental Project Management Branch 2, Division of
Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-28815 Filed 12-29-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
