Kairos Power, LLC; Hermes 2; Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact, 32462-32464 [2024-08964]
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32462
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 82 / Friday, April 26, 2024 / Notices
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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Sunshine Act Meetings
The National Science Board hereby
gives notice of the scheduling of a
teleconference of the National Science
Board/National Science Foundation
Commission on Merit Review (MRX) for
the transaction of National Science
Board business pursuant to the NSF Act
and the Government in the Sunshine
Act.
TIME AND DATE: Tuesday, April 30, 2024,
from 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. EDT.
PLACE: This meeting will be in person
and via videoconference through the
National Science Foundation, 2415
Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA
22314.
STATUS: Closed.
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is: Commission Chair’s remarks about
the agenda; Discussion of Preliminary
Recommendations; Vote to Approve
Preliminary Recommendations;
Commission Chair’s closing remarks.
CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Point of contact for this meeting is:
Chris Blair, cblair@nsf.gov, 703/292–
7000. Meeting information and updates
may be found at www.nsf.gov/nsb.
Ann E. Bushmiller,
Senior Counsel to the National Science Board
Office.
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Sunshine Act Meetings
The National Science Board’s
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(A&F) hereby gives notice of the
scheduling of a teleconference for the
transaction of National Science Board
business pursuant to the NSF Act and
the Government in the Sunshine Act.
TIME AND DATE: Tuesday, April 30, 2024,
from 1:00–4:00 p.m. Eastern.
PLACE: This meeting will be via
videoconference through the National
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STATUS: Closed.
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about the agenda; Action Item: National
Solar Observatory Operations and
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Planning for Future Major Facilities.
CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Point of contact for this meeting is:
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Ann E. Bushmiller,
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50–611 and 50–612; NRC–
2023–0138]
Kairos Power, LLC; Hermes 2; Draft
Environmental Assessment and Draft
Finding of No Significant Impact
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability and
request for comment.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing for public
comment a draft environmental
assessment (EA) and draft finding of no
significant impact (FONSI) for proposed
issuance of construction permits (CP) to
Kairos Power, LLC (Kairos). The CPs
would authorize the construction of two
non-power test reactors termed Hermes
2, adjacent to the Hermes test reactor
(Hermes), on a 185-acre site located in
Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Kairos was
issued a CP for Hermes, Construction
Permit No. CPTR–6, on December 14,
2023. The Hermes 2 test reactors would
demonstrate additional key elements of
the Kairos Power Fluoride Salt-Cooled,
High Temperature Reactor technology
for possible future commercial
deployment. The technology is an
advanced nuclear reactor technology
that leverages TRI-structural ISOtropic
(TRISO) particle fuel in pebble form
combined with a low-pressure fluoride
salt coolant. The NRC has prepared a
draft EA and draft FONSI that consider
the environmental impacts associated
with issuing the CPs.
DATES: Submit comments by May 28,
2024. Comments received after this date
will be considered if it is practicable to
do so, but the NRC is able to ensure
consideration only for comments
received before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by using any of the following methods;
however, the NRC encourages electronic
comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://regulations.gov and search for
Docket ID NRC–2023–0138. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301–415–0624; email:
SUMMARY:
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Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
• Email: Comments may be submitted
to the NRC electronically using the
email address: KairosHermes2Environmental@nrc.gov.
• Mail comments to: Office of
Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN–7–
A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001, ATTN: Program Management,
Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining
information and submitting comments,
see ‘‘Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments’’ in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Peyton Doub, telephone: 301–415–6703,
email: Peyton.Doub@nrc.gov and Mary
Richmond, telephone: 301–415–7218,
email: Mary.Richmond@nrc.gov. Both
are staff of the Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards at the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2023–
0138 when contacting the NRC about
the availability of information for this
action. You may obtain publicly
available information related to this
action by any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://regulations.gov and search for
Docket ID NRC–2023–0138.
• 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.
• 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 PDR.Resource@nrc.gov
or call 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–
4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 82 / Friday, April 26, 2024 / Notices
time (ET), Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays.
• NRC’s Public Project Website: The
draft EA and draft FONSI can be
accessed online at the Hermes 2—Kairos
project specific web page at https://
www.nrc.gov/reactors/non-power/newfacility-licensing/hermes2-kairos.html.
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic
comment submission through any of the
methods outlined in ADDRESSES section
of this document. Please include Docket
ID NRC–2023–0138 in your comment
submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include
identifying or contact information that
you do not want to be publicly
disclosed in your comment submission.
The NRC will post all comment
submissions at https://
www.regulations.gov as well as enter the
comment submissions into ADAMS.
The NRC does not routinely edit
comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating
comments from other persons for
submission to the NRC, then you should
inform those persons not to include
identifying or contact information that
they do not want to be publicly
disclosed in their comment submission.
Your request should state that the NRC
does not routinely edit comment
submissions to remove such information
before making the comment
submissions available to the public or
entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
On July 14, 2023, Kairos submitted,
pursuant to part 50 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
‘‘Domestic Licensing of Production and
Utilization Facilities,’’ an application
for CPs for the Hermes 2 test reactor
facility (a ‘‘testing facility’’ as defined in
10 CFR 50.2), that would consist of two
fluoride salt-cooled test reactor units at
the East Tennessee Technology Park in
Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A notice of
receipt and availability of the
application was published in the
Federal Register on August 4, 2023 (88
FR 51876). The Hermes 2 site, adjacent
to the Hermes test reactor, is situated in
the Heritage Center Industrial Park of
the East Tennessee Technology Park
that was established by the City of Oak
Ridge on land formerly owned by the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the
Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant
(ORGDP). The site was occupied by
DOE Buildings K–31 and K–33, both of
which were part of the ORGDP.
The NRC staff determined that Kairos
submitted the application in accordance
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with 10 CFR 2.101(a)(5), and a notice of
the acceptability of docketing of Kairos’s
CP application was published in the
Federal Register on September 15, 2023
(88 FR 63632). The docket numbers
established for this application are 50–
611 and 50–612 for Units 1 and 2,
respectively. A notice of opportunity to
request a hearing and petition for leave
to intervene (88 FR 81439) was
published in the Federal Register on
November 22, 2023.
Section 104 of the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, as amended, and its
implementing regulations authorize the
NRC to issue CPs for testing facilities.
To issue a CP, the NRC is required to
consider the environmental impacts of
the proposed action under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA). The NRC’s environmental
protection regulations that implement
NEPA in 10 CFR part 51 identify actions
for which the NRC prepares an
environmental impact statement (EIS).
CPs for test reactors are an action
identified as requiring an EIS.
However, based on a review of the
environmental report (ER) submitted as
part of the CP application for Hermes 2
and the results of the EIS recently
issued for the Hermes test reactor, the
NRC staff concluded that it would be
prudent to first prepare a draft
environmental assessment (EA) to
determine whether preparation of an
EIS would be necessary or whether a
finding of no significant impact (FONSI)
could be issued for the Hermes 2 CP
based on factors unique to the Hermes
2 CP application. These factors include:
(1) the similar design of Hermes 2 and
Hermes, (2) the proposed siting of
Hermes 2 within a few hundred feet of
Hermes, (3) the industrial nature and
heavy prior disturbance of the site, (4)
the recent thorough NEPA review
performed by the staff as published in
its final EIS for Hermes, and (5) the
staff’s final EIS for Hermes covering the
same site as Hermes 2 and documenting
all impacts as SMALL.
The NRC staff has prepared a draft EA
and draft FONSI documenting its
environmental review of the Hermes 2
CP application. Based on the
environmental review, the NRC staff has
made a preliminary determination that
the proposed action would not
significantly affect the quality of the
human environment. Therefore, the
NRC staff has made a preliminary
determination that it will not prepare an
EIS and that a draft FONSI appears
warranted.
The staff will consider comments
received on the draft EA and draft
FONSI over a 30-day public comment
period from Federal, State, local, and
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32463
Tribal officials, and members of the
public. After consideration of these
public comments, the NRC staff will
make a final determination as to
whether preparation of an EIS is
necessary or whether a FONSI can be
issued for the Hermes 2 CP application.
However, exemptions from certain
regulations in 10 CFR part 51 would be
necessary to issue a final EA and final
FONSI to support issuance of the
Hermes 2 CPs. In accordance with 10
CFR 51.6, the NRC may grant
exemptions from the requirements of 10
CFR part 51 if it determines that the
exemptions are authorized by law and
are otherwise in the public interest.
III. Summary of Draft Environmental
Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action and
Need
The proposed action is for the NRC to
issue CPs to Kairos authorizing
construction of the two proposed
Hermes 2 reactors. The NRC issuance of
CPs would constitute authorization for
Kairos to proceed with the construction
of the Hermes 2 reactors, two fluoride
salt-cooled test reactor units, at the East
Tennessee Technology Park in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee.
The issuance of a CP is a separate
licensing action from the issuance of an
operating license (OL). If the NRC issues
CPs for Hermes 2 and Kairos were to
seek NRC approval to operate Hermes 2,
then Kairos would have to submit a
separate application for OLs pursuant to
the NRC’s regulations, and Kairos would
have to obtain NRC approval before it
could operate the Hermes 2 test reactors.
The NRC staff would review any
application for an OL for Hermes 2 for
new and significant information related
to the environmental impacts of
operating and decommissioning Hermes
2 that might alter the staff’s conclusions
made in the EA for the CP application.
The need for Hermes 2 is to
demonstrate key elements of the Kairos
Power Fluoride Salt-Cooled, High
Temperature Reactor technology for
possible future commercial deployment.
The technology is an advanced nuclear
reactor technology that leverages TRIstructural ISOtropic particle fuel in
pebble form combined with a lowpressure fluoride salt coolant. Hermes 2
would support Kairos’s reactor
development program, which relies on
learning and risk reduction by
narrowing the design space through
progressive test cycles. Construction
and operation of Hermes 2 also would
provide validation and qualification
data to support potential future
commercial reactors using the Kairos
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 82 / Friday, April 26, 2024 / Notices
Power Fluoride Salt-Cooled, High
Temperature Reactor technology.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
In the draft EA, the NRC staff assessed
the potential direct and indirect
environmental impacts from the
proposed action associated with the
following relevant resource areas: land
use and visual resources; air quality and
noise; hydrogeology and water
resources; ecological resources; historic
and cultural resources; socioeconomics
and environmental justice; human
health; nonradiological waste
management; uranium fuel cycle and
radiological waste management;
transportation of radioactive material;
and postulated accidents. The NRC staff
also considered the cumulative impacts
from past, present, and reasonably
foreseeable future actions when
combined with the proposed action.
The NRC staff determined that the
environmental impacts of the proposed
action would be SMALL for each
potentially affected environmental
resource, meaning that the
environmental effects are not detectable
or are so minor that they will neither
destabilize nor noticeably alter any
important attribute of the resource. In
addition, the NRC staff determined that
the projected effects of climate change
would not alter any of the impact
determinations described in the EA.
Furthermore, the NRC staff found that
there would be no significant negative
cumulative impact to any resource area
from the proposed action when added to
other past, present, and reasonably
foreseeable future actions.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
The NRC staff identified a range of
reasonable alternatives to the proposed
action and the environmental impacts of
the alternatives as appropriate. The NRC
staff determined that there are no
alternatives that meet the need for the
proposed action and that are
environmentally preferrable to the
proposed action.
IV. Draft Finding of No Significant
Impact
The proposed action before the NRC
is whether to issue CPs (one for each
unit) to Kairos to authorize construction
of the two proposed reactors (units)
making up the Hermes 2 project. The
NRC has conducted an environmental
review of a request for NRC issuance of
CPs for the Hermes 2 project and
prepared an EA. This draft FONSI
incorporates by reference the EA
summarized in Section II of this notice
and referenced in Section V of this
notice. On the basis of the EA, and its
determination that the environmental
impacts would be SMALL for each
potentially affected resource area, the
NRC staff has preliminarily determined
that the proposed action would not have
a significant effect on the quality of the
human environment. Accordingly, the
NRC staff has made a preliminary
determination that preparation of an EIS
is not required for the proposed action
and that a FONSI is appears warranted.
This finding and the related
environmental documents referenced
throughout the EA are available for
public inspection as discussed in the EA
and Section I of this notice. The NRC’s
staff’s determination is tentative. Before
making a final determination, the NRC
staff also will consider comments
received on the draft EA and draft
FONSI over a 30-day public comment
period from Federal, State, local, and
Tribal officials, and members of the
public. Once NRC makes a final
determination, it will publish the final
EA and final FONSI or proceed to
prepare an EIS.
V. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the
following table are available to
interested persons through one or more
of the following methods, as indicated.
ADAMS accession No./Federal
Register
notice (FRN)
Document description
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Construction Permits for the Kairos
Hermes 2 Test Reactors, Draft Report for Comment, dated April 2024.
Letter to NRC from Kairos, Responses to Requests for Confirmatory Information for the Environmental Report, dated March 4, 2024.
Letters to NRC from Kairos, Responses to General Audit Questions, dated October 27, 2023 ......................
FRN: Kairos Power LLC Hermes 2- Construction Permit Application; Opportunity to Request a Hearing and
Petition for Leave to Intervene, dated November 22, 2023.
FRN: Acceptance for docketing of the Kairos Power LLC Hermes 2 Test Reactor Construction Permit,
dated September 15, 2023.
FRN: Receipt and Availability. Hermes 2 Receipt of Application, August 4, 2023 ...........................................
Letter to NRC from Kairos, Submittal of the Construction Permit Application for the Hermes 2 Kairos Power
Fluoride Salt-Cooled, High Temperature Non-Power Reactor, dated July 14, 2023.
Kairos Power LLC—Construction Permit for Hermes Test Reactor, dated December 14, 2023 .....................
NUREG–2263, Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction Permit for the Kairos Hermes Test
Reactor, Final Report, dated August 2023.
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Dated: April 22, 2024.
ML24103A002.
ML24065A100 (Package).
ML23300A141 (Package) and
ML23300A144.
88 FR 81439.
88 FR 63632.
88 FR 51876.
ML23195A121 (Package).
ML23338A258.
ML23214A269.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel Barnhurst,
Chief, Environmental Project Management
Branch 3, Division of Rulemaking,
Environmental, and Financial Support, Office
of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024–08964 Filed 4–25–24; 8:45 am]
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 82 (Friday, April 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32462-32464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08964]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-611 and 50-612; NRC-2023-0138]
Kairos Power, LLC; Hermes 2; Draft Environmental Assessment and
Draft Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment a draft environmental assessment (EA) and draft finding
of no significant impact (FONSI) for proposed issuance of construction
permits (CP) to Kairos Power, LLC (Kairos). The CPs would authorize the
construction of two non-power test reactors termed Hermes 2, adjacent
to the Hermes test reactor (Hermes), on a 185-acre site located in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee. Kairos was issued a CP for Hermes, Construction
Permit No. CPTR-6, on December 14, 2023. The Hermes 2 test reactors
would demonstrate additional key elements of the Kairos Power Fluoride
Salt-Cooled, High Temperature Reactor technology for possible future
commercial deployment. The technology is an advanced nuclear reactor
technology that leverages TRI-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) particle
fuel in pebble form combined with a low-pressure fluoride salt coolant.
The NRC has prepared a draft EA and draft FONSI that consider the
environmental impacts associated with issuing the CPs.
DATES: Submit comments by May 28, 2024. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practicable to do so, but the NRC is
able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this
date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by using any of the following
methods; however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission
through the Federal rulemaking website:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://regulations.gov
and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0138. 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.
Email: Comments may be submitted to the NRC electronically
using the email address: [email protected].
Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop:
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peyton Doub, telephone: 301-415-6703,
email: [email protected] and Mary Richmond, telephone: 301-415-7218,
email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0138 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://regulations.gov
and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0138.
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.
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
[[Page 32463]]
time (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
NRC's Public Project Website: The draft EA and draft FONSI
can be accessed online at the Hermes 2--Kairos project specific web
page at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/non-power/new-facility-licensing/hermes2-kairos.html.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through any of the
methods outlined in ADDRESSES section of this document. Please include
Docket ID NRC-2023-0138 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
On July 14, 2023, Kairos submitted, pursuant to part 50 of title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of
Production and Utilization Facilities,'' an application for CPs for the
Hermes 2 test reactor facility (a ``testing facility'' as defined in 10
CFR 50.2), that would consist of two fluoride salt-cooled test reactor
units at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A
notice of receipt and availability of the application was published in
the Federal Register on August 4, 2023 (88 FR 51876). The Hermes 2
site, adjacent to the Hermes test reactor, is situated in the Heritage
Center Industrial Park of the East Tennessee Technology Park that was
established by the City of Oak Ridge on land formerly owned by the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) for the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant
(ORGDP). The site was occupied by DOE Buildings K-31 and K-33, both of
which were part of the ORGDP.
The NRC staff determined that Kairos submitted the application in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.101(a)(5), and a notice of the acceptability
of docketing of Kairos's CP application was published in the Federal
Register on September 15, 2023 (88 FR 63632). The docket numbers
established for this application are 50-611 and 50-612 for Units 1 and
2, respectively. A notice of opportunity to request a hearing and
petition for leave to intervene (88 FR 81439) was published in the
Federal Register on November 22, 2023.
Section 104 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and its
implementing regulations authorize the NRC to issue CPs for testing
facilities. To issue a CP, the NRC is required to consider the
environmental impacts of the proposed action under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The NRC's environmental
protection regulations that implement NEPA in 10 CFR part 51 identify
actions for which the NRC prepares an environmental impact statement
(EIS). CPs for test reactors are an action identified as requiring an
EIS.
However, based on a review of the environmental report (ER)
submitted as part of the CP application for Hermes 2 and the results of
the EIS recently issued for the Hermes test reactor, the NRC staff
concluded that it would be prudent to first prepare a draft
environmental assessment (EA) to determine whether preparation of an
EIS would be necessary or whether a finding of no significant impact
(FONSI) could be issued for the Hermes 2 CP based on factors unique to
the Hermes 2 CP application. These factors include: (1) the similar
design of Hermes 2 and Hermes, (2) the proposed siting of Hermes 2
within a few hundred feet of Hermes, (3) the industrial nature and
heavy prior disturbance of the site, (4) the recent thorough NEPA
review performed by the staff as published in its final EIS for Hermes,
and (5) the staff's final EIS for Hermes covering the same site as
Hermes 2 and documenting all impacts as SMALL.
The NRC staff has prepared a draft EA and draft FONSI documenting
its environmental review of the Hermes 2 CP application. Based on the
environmental review, the NRC staff has made a preliminary
determination that the proposed action would not significantly affect
the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the NRC staff has made
a preliminary determination that it will not prepare an EIS and that a
draft FONSI appears warranted.
The staff will consider comments received on the draft EA and draft
FONSI over a 30-day public comment period from Federal, State, local,
and Tribal officials, and members of the public. After consideration of
these public comments, the NRC staff will make a final determination as
to whether preparation of an EIS is necessary or whether a FONSI can be
issued for the Hermes 2 CP application. However, exemptions from
certain regulations in 10 CFR part 51 would be necessary to issue a
final EA and final FONSI to support issuance of the Hermes 2 CPs. In
accordance with 10 CFR 51.6, the NRC may grant exemptions from the
requirements of 10 CFR part 51 if it determines that the exemptions are
authorized by law and are otherwise in the public interest.
III. Summary of Draft Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action and Need
The proposed action is for the NRC to issue CPs to Kairos
authorizing construction of the two proposed Hermes 2 reactors. The NRC
issuance of CPs would constitute authorization for Kairos to proceed
with the construction of the Hermes 2 reactors, two fluoride salt-
cooled test reactor units, at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee.
The issuance of a CP is a separate licensing action from the
issuance of an operating license (OL). If the NRC issues CPs for Hermes
2 and Kairos were to seek NRC approval to operate Hermes 2, then Kairos
would have to submit a separate application for OLs pursuant to the
NRC's regulations, and Kairos would have to obtain NRC approval before
it could operate the Hermes 2 test reactors. The NRC staff would review
any application for an OL for Hermes 2 for new and significant
information related to the environmental impacts of operating and
decommissioning Hermes 2 that might alter the staff's conclusions made
in the EA for the CP application.
The need for Hermes 2 is to demonstrate key elements of the Kairos
Power Fluoride Salt-Cooled, High Temperature Reactor technology for
possible future commercial deployment. The technology is an advanced
nuclear reactor technology that leverages TRI-structural ISOtropic
particle fuel in pebble form combined with a low-pressure fluoride salt
coolant. Hermes 2 would support Kairos's reactor development program,
which relies on learning and risk reduction by narrowing the design
space through progressive test cycles. Construction and operation of
Hermes 2 also would provide validation and qualification data to
support potential future commercial reactors using the Kairos
[[Page 32464]]
Power Fluoride Salt-Cooled, High Temperature Reactor technology.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
In the draft EA, the NRC staff assessed the potential direct and
indirect environmental impacts from the proposed action associated with
the following relevant resource areas: land use and visual resources;
air quality and noise; hydrogeology and water resources; ecological
resources; historic and cultural resources; socioeconomics and
environmental justice; human health; nonradiological waste management;
uranium fuel cycle and radiological waste management; transportation of
radioactive material; and postulated accidents. The NRC staff also
considered the cumulative impacts from past, present, and reasonably
foreseeable future actions when combined with the proposed action.
The NRC staff determined that the environmental impacts of the
proposed action would be SMALL for each potentially affected
environmental resource, meaning that the environmental effects are not
detectable or are so minor that they will neither destabilize nor
noticeably alter any important attribute of the resource. In addition,
the NRC staff determined that the projected effects of climate change
would not alter any of the impact determinations described in the EA.
Furthermore, the NRC staff found that there would be no significant
negative cumulative impact to any resource area from the proposed
action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable
future actions.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
The NRC staff identified a range of reasonable alternatives to the
proposed action and the environmental impacts of the alternatives as
appropriate. The NRC staff determined that there are no alternatives
that meet the need for the proposed action and that are environmentally
preferrable to the proposed action.
IV. Draft Finding of No Significant Impact
The proposed action before the NRC is whether to issue CPs (one for
each unit) to Kairos to authorize construction of the two proposed
reactors (units) making up the Hermes 2 project. The NRC has conducted
an environmental review of a request for NRC issuance of CPs for the
Hermes 2 project and prepared an EA. This draft FONSI incorporates by
reference the EA summarized in Section II of this notice and referenced
in Section V of this notice. On the basis of the EA, and its
determination that the environmental impacts would be SMALL for each
potentially affected resource area, the NRC staff has preliminarily
determined that the proposed action would not have a significant effect
on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC staff has
made a preliminary determination that preparation of an EIS is not
required for the proposed action and that a FONSI is appears warranted.
This finding and the related environmental documents referenced
throughout the EA are available for public inspection as discussed in
the EA and Section I of this notice. The NRC's staff's determination is
tentative. Before making a final determination, the NRC staff also will
consider comments received on the draft EA and draft FONSI over a 30-
day public comment period from Federal, State, local, and Tribal
officials, and members of the public. Once NRC makes a final
determination, it will publish the final EA and final FONSI or proceed
to prepare an EIS.
V. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADAMS accession No./Federal
Document description Register notice (FRN)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No ML24103A002.
Significant Impact for the Construction
Permits for the Kairos Hermes 2 Test
Reactors, Draft Report for Comment, dated
April 2024.
Letter to NRC from Kairos, Responses to ML24065A100 (Package).
Requests for Confirmatory Information for
the Environmental Report, dated March 4,
2024.
Letters to NRC from Kairos, Responses to ML23300A141 (Package) and
General Audit Questions, dated October 27, ML23300A144.
2023.
FRN: Kairos Power LLC Hermes 2- 88 FR 81439.
Construction Permit Application;
Opportunity to Request a Hearing and
Petition for Leave to Intervene, dated
November 22, 2023.
FRN: Acceptance for docketing of the Kairos 88 FR 63632.
Power LLC Hermes 2 Test Reactor
Construction Permit, dated September 15,
2023.
FRN: Receipt and Availability. Hermes 2 88 FR 51876.
Receipt of Application, August 4, 2023.
Letter to NRC from Kairos, Submittal of the ML23195A121 (Package).
Construction Permit Application for the
Hermes 2 Kairos Power Fluoride Salt-
Cooled, High Temperature Non-Power
Reactor, dated July 14, 2023.
Kairos Power LLC--Construction Permit for ML23338A258.
Hermes Test Reactor, dated December 14,
2023.
NUREG-2263, Environmental Impact Statement ML23214A269.
for the Construction Permit for the Kairos
Hermes Test Reactor, Final Report, dated
August 2023.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated: April 22, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel Barnhurst,
Chief, Environmental Project Management Branch 3, Division of
Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-08964 Filed 4-25-24; 8:45 am]
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