[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 32354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15137]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-320]


Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact 
Regarding the Extension of Possession-only License No. DPR-73; GPU 
Nuclear Corporation Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is considering 
issuance of an amendment to Possession-Only License No DPR-73 which 
allows GPU Nuclear Corporation (the licensee) to possess but not 
operate the permanently shut down Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, 
Unit 2 (TMI-2). The amendment would extend the expiration date of the 
license from November 9, 2009, to April 19, 2014.

Description of the Proposed Action

    TMI-2 has been shut down since the March 28, 1979 accident. The 
facility has been defueled to the extent practicable and has been 
partially decontaminated. It is now in a safe storage mode called Post-
Defueling Monitored Storage (PDMS). The licensee intends to keep TMI-2 
in PDMS until the TMI-1 license expires on April 19, 2014, at which 
time the units would be decommissioned simultaneously.

Environmental Impacts

    The staff evaluated the potential environmental and safety 
consequences of PDMS in Final Supplement 3 to the Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement Related to Decontamination and Disposal 
of Radioactive Wastes Resulting from the March 28, 1979 Accident at 
Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 2 (PEIS Supplement 3 or NUREG-
0683 Supplement 3), dated August 1989. The staff evaluated radiological 
and non-radiological impacts associated with the licensee's proposal 
and seven staff identified alternatives. The licensee's proposal 
included storage of TMI-2 until the end of the TMI-1 license in the 
year 2014. The staff concluded that each of the alternatives (with the 
exception of the no-action alternative) were within applicable 
regulatory limits and could each be implemented without significant 
environmental impact. The potential health impact on both workers and 
the offsite public from any of the alternatives was very small. The 
staff concluded that none of the alternatives was obviously superior to 
the licensee's proposal from the perspective of environmental impacts. 
Although the quantitative estimates of potential impacts varied among 
the alternatives, the differences were not judged sufficiently large to 
allow for identification of an obviously superior alternative. The 
staff further concluded that the licensee's proposal was 
environmentally acceptable and would not significantly affect the 
quality of the human environment. The staff reviewed the conclusions of 
the 1989 PEIS Supplement 3 and the current TMI-2 conditions now that 
the facility is in long-term storage. The staff determined that the 
conclusions reached with respect to environmental impact associated 
with long-term storage of TMI-2 in the 1989 PEIS Supplement 3 are still 
valid.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on the foregoing environmental assessment, the Commission has 
concluded that the proposed action will not have a significant effect 
on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the Commission 
has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for 
this proposed action.
    For further details with respect to this action see the licensee's 
environmental evaluation dated March 11, 1987, the licensee's request 
for a license amendment dated October 9, 1991, and the staff's PEIS 
Supplement 3 dated August 1989. These documents are available for 
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman 
Building, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC 20555 and at the Government 
Publications Section, State Library of Pennsylvania, Walnut Street and 
Commonwealth Avenue, Box 1601, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of June 1995.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Seymour H. Weiss,
Director, Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning Project Directorate, 
Division of Project Support, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-15137 Filed 6-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M