[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 212 (Thursday, November 2, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55741-55742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27193]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-344]
Portland General Electric Company; Trojan Nuclear Plant;
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is
considering issuance of an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR
140.11(a)(4) to Facility Operating License No. NPF-1 issued to Portland
General Electric (PGE or the licensee) for the Trojan Nuclear Plant
(TNP) located at the licensee's site in Columbia County, Oregon. The
exemption would be effective on November 9, 1995, 3 years from the date
of final shutdown of the reactor.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of Proposed Action
The proposed action would grant an exemption from the requirements
of 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) reducing the primary financial protection that
shall be maintained by the licensee for the facility from $200 million
to $100 million. Exemption will be granted from participation in the
industry retrospective rating plan (secondary level financial
protection) for TNP. The licensee requested the exemption in a letter
dated April 6, 1995.
The Need for the Proposed Action
TNP was permanently shut down on November 9, 1992. In a license
amendment dated May 5, 1993, the NRC modified Facility Operating
License No. NPF-1 to a possession-only license (POL). The license is
conditioned so that PGE is not authorized to operate or place fuel in
the reactor vessel, thus formalizing the licensee's commitment to
permanently cease power operations. The plant will have been shut down
for 3 years at the time the exemption becomes effective, and
radioactive decay will have significantly reduced the radionuclide
inventory and decay heat of the spent fuel. Because sufficient spent
fuel cooling period of 3 years has elapsed, the potential for
significant offsite consequences no longer exists at TNP. Therefore,
the requested exemption addresses two areas for relief in financial
protection requirements: (1) A reduction in the primary financial
protection coverage requirements from $200 million to $100 million and
(2) withdrawal from participation in the industry retrospective rating
plan. Because TNP no longer contributes as great a risk to the industry
retrospective rating plan participants as an operating plant, this
reduction in risk should be reflected in the indemnification
requirements to which the licensee is subject. Approval of this request
would allow a more equitable allocation of financial risk.
Environmental Impact of the Proposed Action
The proposed action does not involve any environmental impacts. The
proposed exemption involves changes in insurance and/or indemnity
requirements, for which the Commission in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(10) has
determined that a license amendment would meet the criteria for
categorical exclusion from the need for either an environmental
assessment or an environmental impact statement. Therefore, the
Commission has determined that this exemption will have no significant
impact on the environment.
Because the proposed action does not involve a change in plant
operation or configuration, there is reasonable assurance that the
proposed action would not increase the probability or the consequences
of an accident or reduce the margin of safety, no changes would be made
in the types or quantities of effluents that may be released offsite,
and there would be no significant increase in the allowable individual
or cumulative radiation exposure.
Accordingly, the Commission concludes that this proposed action
would result in no significant radiological environmental impact.
With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed
action does not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no other
environmental impact. Therefore, the Commission concludes that there
are no significant nonradiological impacts associated with the proposed
action.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
Because the Commission has concluded that there are no measurable
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action, any
alternative with equal or greater environmental impacts need not be
evaluated.
[[Page 55742]]
The principal alternative would be to deny the action. This
alternative would not reduce the environmental impacts of plant
operation and would not enhance the protection of the environment nor
public health and safety.
Alternative Use of Resources
This action does not involve the use of any resources not
previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for TNP
dated August 1973.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
The NRC staff consulted with a representative of the State of
Oregon regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The
representative had no comments.
Finding of No Significant Impact
The Commission has determined not to prepare an environmental
impact statement for the proposed exemption.
On the basis of the foregoing environmental assessment, the
Commission concludes that the proposed action will not have a
significant effect on the quality of the human environment.
For further details with respect to this action, see the licensee's
application for exemption dated April 6, 1995, which is available for
public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, Gelman
Building, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC 20555, and at the Local
Public Document Room for TNP at the Branford Price Millar Library,
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon 97207.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of October 1995.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Seymour H. Weiss,
Director, Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning Project Directorate,
Division of Reactor Program Management Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-27193 Filed 11-1-95; 8:45 am]
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