[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 28 (Friday, February 9, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5042-5043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-2835]



-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-445 and 50-446]


Texas Utilities Electric Company; Comanche Peak Steam Electric 
Station, Units 1 and 2; Notice of Issuance of Environmental Assessment 
and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is 
considering issuance of an exemption from certain requirements of its 
regulations for Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-87 and NPF-89, 
issued to Texas Utilities Electric Company (TU Electric, the licensee), 
for the Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station (CPSES), Units 1 and 2, 
located in Somervell County, Texas.

[[Page 5043]]


Identification of the Proposed Amendment

    The current licensing basis for CPSES allows up to 1116 fuel 
assemblies in two storage pools. The currently authorized as-installed 
configuration has 20 low density racks installed in Spent Fuel Pool No. 
1 (SFP1) (556 fuel assembly locations). The proposed action would 
authorize the use of high density spent fuel storage racks in Spent 
Fuel Pool No. 2 (SPF2) with a capacity for storing 735 fuel assemblies, 
for a total of 1291 fuel assemblies.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application for license amendment dated December 30, 1994, as 
supplemented by letters dated July 28, September 14, and November 29, 
1995, and January 2, 1996.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The ``Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS) on 
Handling and Storage of Spent Light Water Power Reactor Fuel,'' NUREG-
0575, Volumes 1-3, concluded that the environmental impact of interim 
storage of spent fuel was negligible and the cost of various 
alternatives reflects the advantage of continued generation of nuclear 
power with the accompanying spent fuel storage. Because the differences 
in design, the FGEIS recommended evaluating spent fuel pool expansion 
on a case-by-case basis.
    For CPSES, the expansion of the storage capacity of SFP2 will not 
create any significant additional radiological effects or 
nonradiological environmental impacts.
    The additional whole body dose that might be received by an 
individual at the site boundary and the estimated dose to the 
population within 80 kilometer radius is believed to be too small to 
have any significance when compared to the fluctuations in the annual 
dose this population receives from exposure to background radiation. 
The occupational radiation dose for the proposed operation of the 
expanded spent fuel pool is estimated to be less than one percent of 
the total annual occupational radiation exposure for this facility.
    The only nonradiological impact affected by the expansion of SFP2 
is the waste heat rejected. The total increase in heat load rejected to 
the environment will be small in comparison to the amount of total heat 
currently being released. There is no significant environmental impact 
attributed to the waste heat from the plant due to this very small 
increase.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The staff has reviewed the proposed spent fuel pool expansion to 
the facility relative to the requirements set forth in 10 CFR Part 51. 
Based on this assessment, the staff concludes that there is no 
significant radiological or nonradiological impacts associated with the 
proposed action and that the issuance of the proposed amendment to the 
license will have no significant impact on the quality of the human 
environment. Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, no environmental 
impact statement needs to be prepared for this action.
    For further details with respect to this action, see (1) the 
application for amendment to the TSs dated December 30, 1994, as 
supplemented July 28, September 14, and November 29, 1995, and January 
2, 1996, (2) the FGEIS on Handling and Storage of Spent Light Water 
Power Reactor Fuel (NUREG-0575), (3) the Final Environmental Statement 
for the CPSES, Units 1 and 2, dated October 1989, and (4) the 
Environmental Assessment dated February 5, 1996.
    These documents are available for public inspection at the 
Commission's Public Document Room, The Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, 
NW., Washington, DC, and at the local public document room located at 
the University of Texas at Arlington Library, Government Publications/
Maps, 702 College, P. O. Box 19497, Arlington, Texas 76019.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of February 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William D. Beckner,
Director, Project Directorate IV-1, Division of Reactor Projects III/
IV, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 96-2835 Filed 2-8-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P