[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 65 (Friday, April 4, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16202-16203]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-8646]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 72-16 (50-338, -339]
Virginia Electric and Power Company, Notice of Issuance of
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation at the North Anna Nuclear
Power Station
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is
considering issuance of a materials license under the requirements of
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 72 (10 CFR Part 72),
to Virginia Electric and Power Company (the applicant), authorizing the
construction and operation of an independent spent fuel storage
installation (ISFSI) located at its North Anna Nuclear Power Station in
Louisa County, Virginia. The Commission's Spent Fuel Project Office in
the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards has completed its
environmental review in support of the issuance of a materials license.
The ``Environmental Assessment (EA) Related to Construction and
Operation of the North Anna Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation'' has been issued in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51.
Summary of Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed
Action: The proposed licensing action would authorize the applicant
to construct and operate a dry storage ISFSI. The ISFSI is to provide
additional interim storage of spent nuclear fuel generated from the
continued operation of the North Anna Nuclear Power Station Units 1 and
2. The proposed ISFSI spent fuel cask is designed by Transnuclear, Inc.
The spent fuel cask, referred to as TN-32, is a smooth right-circular
cylinder of multi-wall construction that holds a fuel basket designed
to accommodate 32 pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel assemblies. The
license for an ISFSI under 10 CFR Part 72 is issued for 20 years, but
the applicant may apply to the Commission to renew the license, if
necessary, prior to its expiration.
Need for the Proposed Action
The spent fuel assemblies generated from the operation of the North
Anna Nuclear Power Station Units 1 and 2 are currently stored onsite in
a spent fuel pool. Under the current refueling schedule for the North
Anna Units 1 and 2, the capability to discharge an entire core (157
assemblies) will be lost in early 1999, and the spent fuel pool will be
at its capacity by late 2000. Therefore, additional spent fuel storage
capacity is needed in 1998. Delay in the
[[Page 16203]]
availability of this additional storage capacity may cause a reduction
in the power operation or temporary shutdown of Units 1 and 2. The
applicant's proposed action would provide the additional capacity
required to store spent fuel that is expected to be generated at the
North Anna Nuclear Power Station through the end of its currently
licensed operating life.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
Construction of the proposed ISFSI will affect approximately 4.4 ha
(11 acres) of the 422 ha (1,043 acres) site area which is committed to
nuclear power plant development. With good construction practices, the
potential for fugitive dust, erosion, and noise impacts typical of the
planned construction activities can be controlled to insignificant
levels. The only resources committed irretrievably are the steel,
concrete, and other construction materials in the ISFSI slab and
storage cask. Therefore, no significant construction impacts are
anticipated.
The routine operation of the proposed ISFSI involves only dry
storage of spent nuclear fuel that is sealed in containers (TN-32
casks); there will be no gaseous or liquid effluents released to the
environment. External exposure to direct and scattered radiation is the
primary pathway of radiation exposure to workers and the general
public. The dose to the nearest resident from routine ISFSI operation
is estimated to be about 10 Sv/yr (1.0 mrem/yr). The combined
dose to the nearest resident from the ISFSI and the nuclear power plant
operation is about 58 Sv/yr (5.8 mrem/yr). These doses are
well below the 250 Sv/yr (25 mrem/yr) limit specified in 10
CFR 72.104. These doses are a small fraction of the natural background
from terrestrial and cosmic radiation of about 1,100 Sv/yr
(110 mrem/yr) in the State of Virginia.
The dose to an individual at the nearest site boundary from a
hypothetical accident has been calculated to be 0.49 mSv (0.049 rem)
(whole-body) which is well below the 50 mSv (5 rem) criteria set forth
in 10 CFR 72.106(b) and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
protective action guidelines.
There are no nonradiological impacts resulting from the routine
ISFSI operation. The operational noise associated with the proposed
action will result from the transfer of casks from the North Anna
Nuclear Power Station protected area to the ISFSI. Noise associated
with this operation is onsite and is expected to be minimal; no adverse
impacts to the general public are anticipated.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
If a permanent Federal repository were available, the preferred
alternative would be to ship spent fuel to the repository for disposal.
The Department of Energy is currently working to develop a repository,
as required under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, but is not likely to
have a licensed repository ready to receive spent fuel before 2010.
Although DOE recommended that a Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS)
facility be constructed and operated for interim storage, this proposed
action has not taken place so far. Given the uncertainties of schedules
for a repository and MRS, these alternatives, therefore, do not meet
the near-term interim storage needs of the applicant. Given these
conditions, a number of alternatives for the storage of spent fuel
prior to the selection of the dry storage ISFSI are discussed in the
EA. These alternatives included: (a) expansion of the existing pool,
(b) construction of a new storage pool, (c) increasing capacity of the
existing pool, (d) spent fuel rod consolidation, (e) transshipment to
Surry Nuclear Power Station ISFSI, (f) reduction in rate of spent fuel
generation by using high burnup fuel or by reduction in operation, and
(g) no action alternative. As discussed in the EA, the Commission has
concluded there are no significant environmental impacts associated
with the proposed dry storage ISFSI, and other alternatives were not
chosen because of the time required for the design and licensing, its
high cost, or the storage limitation for expanding existing pool
storage at the North Anna Nuclear Power Station.
Agencies and Persons Contacted
Officials from the State of Virginia Bureau of Radiological Health,
as well as the Department of Environmental Quality, were contacted in
preparing this assessment.
Finding of No Significant Impact
The staff has reviewed the environmental impacts of the proposed
ISFSI relative to the requirements set forth in 10 CFR Part 51 and
prepared an EA. Based on the EA, the staff concludes that there are no
significant radiological or non-radiological impacts associated with
the proposed action and that issuance of a license will have no
significant impact on the quality of the human environment. Therefore,
pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31 and 51.32, a finding of no significant impact
is appropriate and an environmental impact statement need not be
prepared for the issuance of a materials license for the North Anna
ISFSI.
For further details related to this proposed action, the EA and the
application, dated May 9, 1995, as supplemented, are available for
public inspection, and for copying for a fee, at the NRC Public
Document Room, Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20555
and at the Local Public Document Room for North Anna located at the
University of Virginia, Alderman Library, Charlottesville, Virginia
22903.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of March 1997.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Charles J. Haughney,
Deputy Director, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 97-8646 Filed 4-3-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P