[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 131 (Monday, July 10, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35577-35579]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-16848]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
Adoption of Final Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.
ACTION: Adoption of Final Environmental Impact Statement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with TVA's procedures implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and consistent with 40 CFR 1506.3
(1993), TVA has decided to adopt a Final Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement (FSEIS) that was issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) in late April 1995. This FSEIS is entitled, ``Final
Environmental Statement related to the operation of Watts Bar Nuclear
Plant Units 1 and 2, Supplement No. 1.'' Notice of the availability of
this FSEIS was published in the Federal Register on May 5, 1995 (60 FR
22,389). TVA has determined that the FSEIS meets the standards for an
adequate FSEIS and can be adopted.
ADDRESSES: The FSEIS can be inspected by the public at the following
places:
TVA Corporate Library, East Tower Building, 400 West Summit Hill Drive,
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902;
TVA Corporate Library, Signal Place, 1101 Market Street, Chattanooga,
Tennessee 37402;
and
TVA Technical Library, A100 National Environmental Research Center, CTR
1E, Muscle Shoals, Alabama 35660.
Copies of the FSEIS may also be obtained by writing or calling:
Dale V. Wilhelm, Team Leader, Environmental Management Staff, 400 West
Summit Hill Drive, WT 8C-K, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902, (615) 632-6693.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jon M. Loney, Manager, Environmental Management Staff, Tennessee Valley
Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 8C-K, Knoxville, Tennessee
37902, (615) 632-2201.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On or about April 21, 1995, NRC released a
FSEIS on the operation of TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN). The
supplement addresses changes in the plant design and the environment
that occurred after NRC issued its ``Final Environmental Statement'' in
1978 on the operation of the plant. NRC concluded in the FSEIS that
there have been no significant changes in potential environmental
impacts associated with plant operation from those evaluated in its
1978 document. The FSEIS also concluded that TVA's preoperational and
operational environmental and radiological monitoring programs were
appropriate for establishing baseline conditions and for assessing
resulting environmental impacts. Finally, the FSEIS concluded that the
analysis of severe accident mitigation design alternatives for the
plant demonstrated that none would be cost beneficial for further
mitigating environmental impacts beyond the procedural changes which
TVA had already committed to implement.
Background
TVA is the electric supplier to an 80,000 square mile area
containing parts of seven States. It and the distributors of the
electricity, which TVA generates, serve about 7.5 million people. TVA
currently has 25,600 megawatts of generating capacity on its system.
This includes coal-fired units, nuclear units, hydro-electric units,
combustion turbines, and pumped storage hydro units.
TVA's WBN is located in Rhea County, Tennessee, approximately 13
kilometers (8 miles) southeast of Spring City, Tennessee, and 80
kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The site is
located adjacent to TVA's Watts Bar Dam Reservation at Tennessee River
Mile 528. WBN is a two unit pressurized water reactor nuclear plant.
Each of its units has a nameplate capacity of 1,170 megawatts. TVA
expects to load fuel in Unit 1 in the Fall of 1995. Unit 2 is
approximately 65 percent complete. Alternatives to TVA completing Unit
2 are being evaluated as part of an integrated resource planning (IRP)
process and an associated EIS. The IRP is scheduled to be completed in
December 1995. In December 1994, the TVA Board of Directors announced
that based on interim data from the IRP, it would not be in TVA's or
its customers' interests for TVA itself to complete Unit 2.
In August 1970, TVA proposed to construct and operate WBN in order
to meet forecasted power needs in the TVA region. The Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC), now NRC, issued construction permits for the two
units on January 23, 1973. TVA commenced construction of WBN in 1973.
In 1976, TVA applied to NRC for licenses to operate WBN.
At the time TVA sought operating licenses, construction of WBN Unit
1 was 85 percent complete and Unit 2 was 65 percent complete. TVA's
proposed fuel loading dates for the units were December 1979 and
September 1980, respectively. However, licensing of the plant was
delayed and the construction permits for the units were extended by
NRC. The delay was due in part to installation of modifications that
NRC ordered for most nuclear plants following the 1979 incident at the
Three
[[Page 35578]]
Mile Island nuclear plant. In addition, the need for power in the TVA
region and elsewhere in the country dramatically changed from the need
forecasted in the early 1970s. After the Arab oil embargo in the mid-
1970s, energy consumption in the country substantially declined. In the
mid-1980's, plant licensing was delayed while TVA resolved a number of
WBN-specific safety concerns that were raised by employees and the
public. TVA implemented a series of corrective actions and plant
modifications to prepare WBN Unit 1 for operation.
It takes many years to plan, permit, and construct new energy
sources or to plan and deploy energy conservation programs (demand-side
management programs). Years before the demand for electric energy
arises, electric utilities have typically had to make decisions about
the energy resource mix that they want on their systems to meet future
demands. If no action is taken, a utility risks being unable to meet
demand and the customers in its service territory would not be served.
TVA, like most utilities, projects or forecasts the future demand for
power in its region. Determining the need for power of future ``load''
on an utility system depends on two factors: (1) The capabilities of
currently available energy resources, and (2) the forecast of future
energy needs. If the forecasted need for power exceeds available
capabilities to provide that power, additional energy resources must be
obtained by the utility. These resources can be in the form of self-
built generating facilities, purchases from other energy generators, or
energy conservation measures that reduce the potential demand to levels
capable of being met with existing energy resources.
TVA routinely produces three load forecasts to help in making
energy resource decisions--a high-, medium-, and low-load forecast. The
high forecast is designed to project a level of future energy demand
for which there is a 90 percent chance or probability of not being
exceeded. For the medium forecast, there is a 50 percent probability of
not being exceeded; for the low forecast, a 10 percent probability of
not being exceeded.
Under all of TVA's current forecasts, there is a need for
additional energy resources in the immediate future to meet the demand
for energy in the TVA region. In the medium-load forecast, there is a
need in 1996 for the capacity of WBN Unit 1 (1170 megawatts) as well as
an additional 850 megawatts. Under the high-load forecast, there is a
need beyond WBN Unit 1's capacity for an additional 1500 megawatts in
1996. Only under the low-load forecast is there a slight surplus of
capacity in 1996 of 300 megawatts with the capacity of WBN Unit 1
online.
Operating WBN Unit 1 will help meet projected future loads on the
TVA power system at a very economically competitive cost. TVA has
invested $6.4 billion in the construction of WBN Unit 1 and facilities
which are shared in common with Unit 2. These costs have already been
incurred and cannot be avoided even if TVA now chooses to meet future
needs some other way. Operating the unit will allow TVA the opportunity
of earning a return on the agency's investment. Compared to purchasing
power or meeting demand with coal-fired generation or combustion
turbine units, operation of WBN Unit 1 will be among TVA's lowest cost
generating sources. WBN Unit 1's operating costs are projected to be
approximately 1.7 cents/kwh. In contrast, the operating costs of
alternative generating sources would range from 2.0 to 6.0 cents/kwh.
Environmental Reviews
In accordance with NEPA, TVA prepared and released in November 1972
a Final EIS on the potential environmental impacts associated with
constructing and operating WBN. AEC relied on the TVA EIS when it
issued construction permits to the plant in 1973. When TVA began the
operating license application process for the WBN units in 1976, it
updated the environmental analyses and information about the plant in a
report entitled ``Environmental Information Statement,'' and
supplemented this report in 1977 to respond to NRC questions. This
report and supplement were made part of the public record for the
plant. Relying in part on TVA's analyses and information, NRC then
issued its 1978 Final EIS. This EIS supplemented the earlier TVA EIS,
and focused on the potential environmental impacts associated with
operating WBN.
In 1993, TVA initiated an interdisciplinary environmental review of
WBN. The purpose of this review was to determine if there were any new,
significant environmental impacts related to WBN that had not been
addressed in TVA's 1972 EIS. This review relied on the substantial
amount of environmental-related data that TVA had collected through its
preoperational monitoring programs at WBN and a number of special
environmental studies that TVA had conducted over the years at WBN.
Review findings were documented in an August 1993 report entitled
``Review of Final Environmental Statement, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant
Units 1 and 2.'' Based on this review, TVA determined:
The [1972] EIS concluded that the principal ways the plant will
interact with the environment are: (1) Releases of small quantities of
radioactivity to air and water, (2) release of minor quantities of heat
and non-radioactive waste waters to TVA's Chickamauga Reservoir and
major quantities of heat and water vapor from the plant's cooling
towers into the atmosphere, (3) loss of aquatic life (such as fish
larvae and plankton) that is drawn into the water intake, and (4) a
change in land use from farming to industrial. These conclusions remain
valid today.
* * * * *
Changes have occurred since the release of WBN's EIS in 1972. Most
of these changes involve design modifications or changes in expected
operational practices which improve safety or lessen potential
environmental impacts. Additional information about environmental
conditions in the vicinity of WBN has also been developed. None of the
changes or new information materially affect impact projections in the
EIS.
In September 1994, NRC decided to issue a formal supplement to its
1978 Final EIS. NRC released a Draft SEIS for public comment in
November 1994. A public meeting to obtain comments on the Draft SEIS
was held on January 10, 1995 in Sweetwater, Tennessee. NRC issued its
FSEIS in late April 1995. Consistent with TVA's 1993 review, NRC did
not identify any changes to WBN, significant new circumstances, or
environmental concerns that substantially differed from those addressed
earlier.
The FSEIS reached the following conclusions:
There are no changes in the design of WBN that result in
significant change in environmental impacts.
Changes in proposed WBN operations have occurred but these
changes do not result in significant environmental impacts.
Changes in the population and demographics of the region
have occurred; however these changes are not significant and changes in
employment at the plant have not had significant socioeconomic impacts.
Land use and water use impacts essentially remain
unchanged.
Regional climatology and WBN site meteorology have not
changed significantly.
There have been no significant changes in the terrestrial
and aquatic environments in the vicinity of WBN.
There have been no significant changes to the background
of
[[Page 35579]]
radiological characteristics in the vicinity of the plant.
Based on available data, it does not appear that any
minority or low income communities would be disproportionally affected
by WBN operations.
The action before NRC is responding to TVA's request for an
operating license for Watts Bar Unit 1. A favorable decision would
allow the operation of the unit by TVA. Although the actions before the
two agencies are essentially the same from the perspective of potential
environmental consequences, it was deemed inappropriate for TVA to
participate as a cooperating agency in the preparation and issuance of
the SEIS because TVA is the applicant for the NRC operating license.
However, TVA provided NRC and its contractor, Pacific Northwest
Laboratory, substantial amounts of environmental data, information, and
analyses that it had collected and prepared over the years for WBN.
Much of this data and information were used in the FSEIS.
In its regulations implementing NEPA, the Council on Environmental
Quality (CEQ) strongly encourages agencies to reduce the paperwork and
duplication that have frequently been the hallmarks of NEPA reviews.
One of the methods identified by CEQ to accomplish these goals is
adopting the environmental documents prepared by other agencies. 40 CFR
1500.4(n) (1994). Under applicable regulations, TVA is allowed to adopt
the NRC FSEIS as its own.
TVA has carefully reviewed the FSEIS and has concluded that it
adequately updates the earlier environmental reviews, adequately
assesses the remaining environmental impacts associated with operation
of WBN Unit 1, and is an adequate supplement. This review has been
documented in a TVA publicly-available report entitled, ``Supplemental
Environmental Review, Operation of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant.''
Accordingly, TVA hereby adopts NRC's ``Final Environmental Statement
related to the operation of Wattts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2,
Supplement No. 1.''
Dated: June 30, 1995.
Kathryn J. Jackson,
Senior Vice President, Resource Group.
[FR Doc. 95-16848 Filed 7-7-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-01-M