[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 133 (Friday, July 11, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37318-37319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-18209]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-309]


Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company, Maine Yankee Atomic Power 
Station; 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-36 issued to Maine 
Yankee Atomic Power Company (the licensee), for operation of the Maine 
Yankee Atomic Power Station located in Lincoln County, Maine.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would exempt Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company 
from the requirements of 10 CFR 70.24(a), which requires a monitoring 
system that will energize clearly 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 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 19, 1996.

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 5.0 weight percent Uranium-235 
and because commercial nuclear plant licensees have procedures and 
design features to prevent inadvertent criticality, the staff has 
determined that an inadvertent criticality would not likely occur due 
to the handling of special nuclear material at a commercial power 
reactor. The requirements of 10 CFR 70.24(a), 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 Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station 
Technical Specifications, 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. Technical Specifications 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 criticality in the fuel 
storage and handling system shall be prevented by physical systems or 
processes, preferably by use of geometrically safe configurations. This 
is met at Maine Yankee, as identified in the Technical Specifications 
and the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR). Maine Yankee 
Technical Specifications, Section 1.1, Fuel Storage, requires that fuel 
shall be stored in vertical racks that are designed to maintain fuel 
assembly center-to-center distances that will assure K-effective is 
less than or equal to 0.95 even with the pool filled with unborated 
water. The Technical Specification places limitations on the storage 
arrangements of fuel assemblies within certain regions of the spent 
fuel pool based on the nominal initial enrichment and the average 
burnup experienced by the assembly. Section 3.4.9, Criticality of Fuel 
Assemblies, of the UFSAR provides a description of the methods used by 
the licensee to preclude criticality of fuel assemblies outside the 
reactor. Section 5.2, Fuel Building, of the UFSAR provides a physical 
description of the licensee's new-fuel storage building, spent fuel 
pool and associated fuel handling equipment.

[[Page 37319]]

    The proposed exemption would not result in any significant 
radiological impacts. The proposed exemption would not affect 
radiological plant effluent nor cause any significant occupational 
exposures since the Technical Specifications, design controls including 
geometric spacing of fuel assembly storage spaces and administrative 
controls preclude inadvertent criticality.
    The amount of radioactive waste would not be changed by the 
proposed exemption.
    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.

Alternatives 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 
Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on June 20, 1997, the staff 
consulted with Mr. Pat Dostie of the State of Maine, Office of Nuclear 
Safety, regarding the environmental impact of this 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 19, 1996, 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, D.C., 
and at the local public document room located at the Wiscasset Public 
Library, High Street, P. O. Box 367, Wiscasset, Maine, 04578.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of July 1997.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ronald B. Eaton,
Acting Director, Project Directorate I-3, Division of Reactor Projects 
I/II, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 97-18209 Filed 7-10-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P