[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 122 (Wednesday, June 25, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34320-34321]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16611]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-334]


Duquesne Light Company, et al.; 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 No. DPR-66, issued to 
Duquesne Light Company, et al. (the licensee), for operation of the 
Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 1 (BVPS-1), located in Beaver 
County, Pennsylvania.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would exempt the licensee from the requirements 
of 10 CFR 70.24, which require a monitoring system that will energize 
clear audible alarms if accidental criticality occurs in each area in 
which special nuclear material is handled, used, or stored. The 
proposed action would also exempt the licensee from the requirements to 
maintain emergency procedures for each area in which this licensed 
special nuclear material is handled, used, or stored to ensure that all 
personnel withdraw to an area of safety upon the sounding of the alarm, 
to familiarize personnel with the evacuation plan, and to designate 
responsible individuals for determining the cause of the alarm, and to 
place radiation survey instruments in accessible locations for use in 
such an emergency.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application for exemption dated December 18, 1996, as supplemented by 
letters dated April 10 and June 11, 1997.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The purpose of 10 CFR 70.24 is to ensure that if a criticality were 
to occur during the handling of special nuclear material, personnel 
would be alerted to that fact and would take appropriate action. At a 
commercial nuclear power plant the inadvertent criticality with which 
10 CFR 70.24 is concerned could occur during fuel handling operations. 
The special nuclear material that could be assembled into a critical 
mass at a commercial nuclear power plant is in the form of nuclear 
fuel; the quantity of other forms of special nuclear material that is 
stored on site is small enough to preclude achieving a critical mass. 
Because the fuel is not enriched beyond a nominal 5.0 weight percent 
Uranium-235 and because commercial nuclear plant licensees have 
procedures and design features that prevent inadvertent criticality, 
the staff has determined that an inadvertent criticality is highly 
unlikely as a result of the handling of special nuclear material at a 
commercial power reactor. The requirements of 10 CFR 70.24, therefore, 
are not necessary to ensure the safety of personnel during the handling 
of special nuclear materials at commercial power reactors.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The Commission has completed its evaluation of the proposed action 
and concludes that there is no significant environmental impact if the 
exemption is granted. Inadvertent or accidental criticality will be 
precluded through compliance with the BVPS-1 Technical Specifications 
(TSs), the design of the fuel storage racks providing geometric spacing 
of fuel assemblies in their storage locations, and administrative 
controls imposed on fuel handling procedures. TSs requirements specify 
reactivity limits for the fuel storage racks and minimum spacing 
between the fuel assemblies in the storage racks.
    Appendix A of 10 CFR Part 50, ``General Design Criteria for Nuclear 
Power Plants,'' Criterion 62, requires that the criticality in the fuel 
storage and handling system be prevented by physical systems or 
processes, preferably by use of geometrically-safe configurations. This 
is met at BVPS-1, as identified in the TSs and the Updated Final Safety 
Analysis Report (UFSAR). BVPS-1 TS 5.3.1.2 states that the new fuel 
storage racks are designed and shall be maintained with a nominal 21-
inch center-to-center distance between fuel assemblies placed in the 
storage racks. This spacing requirement ensures that keff 
will be  0.95 if the loaded new fuel storage racks are 
flooded with unborated water and that keff will be 
 0.98 if the loaded new fuel storage racks are moderated by 
aqueous foam. UFSAR Section 9.12.1.1 (Preventation of Fuel Storage 
Criticality) states that new fuel assemblies will be stored dry and 
vertically in the new fuel storage racks with a minimum center-to-
center spacing of 21 inches.
    The proposed exemption would not result in any significant 
radiological impacts. The proposed exemption would not affect 
radiological plant effluents nor cause any significant occupational 
exposures since the TSs, design controls (including geometric spacing 
of fuel assembly storage spaces) and administrative controls preclude 
inadvertent criticality. The amount of

[[Page 34321]]

radioactive waste would not be changed by the proposed exemption.
    Accordingly, the Commission concludes that the proposed action 
would result in no significant radiological environmental impact.
    The proposed exemption does not result in any significant 
nonradiological environmental impacts. The proposed exemption involves 
features located entirely within the restricted area as defined in 10 
CFR Part 20. It does not affect non-radiological plant effluents and 
has no other environmental impact. Accordingly, the Commission 
concludes that there are no significant non-radiological environmental 
impacts associated with the proposed action.

Alternative to the Proposed Action

    Since the Commission has concluded that there is no measurable 
environmental impact associated with the proposed action, any 
alternatives with equal or greater environmental impact need not be 
evaluated. As an alternative to the proposed exemption, the staff 
considered denial of the requested exemption. Denial of the request 
would result in no change in current environmental impacts. The 
environmental impacts of the proposed action and the alternative action 
are similar.

Alternative Use of Resources

    This action does not involve the use of any resources not 
previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for the 
Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 1, dated July 1973.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on June 3, 1997, the staff 
consulted with the Pennsylvania State official, Mr. Richard Janati of 
the Bureau of Radiation Protection, Department of Environmental 
Protection, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. 
The State official had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based upon the environmental assessment, the Commission concludes 
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 the 
proposed action.
    For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the 
licensee's letter dated December 18, 1996, as supplemented April 10 and 
June 11, 1997, which is available for public inspection at the 
Commission's Public Document Room, which is located at The Gelman 
Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, and at the local public 
document room located at the B. F. Jones Memorial Library, 663 Franklin 
Avenue, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania 15001.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of June, 1997.

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Chester Poslusny,
Acting Director, Project Directorate I-2, Division of Reactor 
Projects--I/II, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 97-16611 Filed 6-24-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P