[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 158 (Monday, August 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43967-43968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-22084]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-213]


Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company, Haddam Neck Plant; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of no Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission or NRC) is 
considering issuance of an exemption from certain requirements of its 
regulations to Facility Operating License No. DPR-61, a license held by 
the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company (CYAPCO or the licensee). 
The exemption would apply to the Haddam Neck Plant (HNP), a permanently 
shutdown and defueled plant located at the CYAPCO site in Middlesex 
County, Connecticut.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    The proposed exemption would modify emergency response plan 
requirements, in response to the permanently shutdown and defueled 
status of the Haddam Neck facility.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated May 30, 1997, as supplemented or modified by letters 
of September 19, September 26, October 21, and December 18, 1997, and 
January 22, March 25, June 19, and July 31, 1998. The requested action 
would grant an exemption from certain requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(q) 
to discontinue offsite emergency planning activities and reduce the 
scope of onsite emergency planning.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    By letter dated December 5, 1996, the licensee submitted 
certifications that it had permanently ceased operations at HNP and 
that all fuel had been permanently removed from the reactor. In 
accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), upon docketing of the 
certifications, CYAPCO was no longer authorized to operate the reactor 
or to retain fuel in the reactor vessel. In this permanently shutdown 
and defueled condition, the facility poses a reduced risk to public 
health and safety. Because of this reduced risk, certain provisions of 
10

[[Page 43968]]

CFR 50.54(q) are no longer required. An exemption is required from 
portions of 10 CFR 50.54(q) to allow the licensee to implement a 
revised Defueled Emergency Plan (DEP) that is appropriate for the 
permanently shutdown and defueled reactor facility.

Environmental Impact of the Proposed Action

    The Commission has completed its evaluation of the proposed action. 
The Commission concludes that exemptions from certain portions of 10 
CFR 50.54(q) are acceptable given the reduced risk and reduced 
consequences of an accident occurring at a permanently defueled reactor 
site with a substantially reduced decay heat load produced by the spent 
fuel held in storage.
    The proposed change will not increase the probability or 
consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types of 
effluents that may be released off-site, and there is no significant 
increase in the allowable individual or cumulative occupational 
exposure. Accordingly, the Commission concludes that there are no 
significant radiological environmental impacts associated with the 
proposed action. With regard to potential non-radiological impacts, the 
proposed action does not affect non-radiological plant effluents and 
has no other environmental impact. Therefore, the Commission concludes 
that there are no significant non-radiological 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 
alternative with equal or greater environmental impact need not be 
evaluated. The principal alternative to the action would be to deny the 
request (no-action alternative). Denial of the exemption request would 
not change any 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 resources not previously 
considered in the final environmental statement related to operation of 
HNP issued in October 1973.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on August 5, 1998, the NRC 
staff consulted with Mr. D. Galloway of the State of Connecticut, 
Department of Environmental Protection, regarding the environmental 
impact of the proposed action. The NRC staff and the State official 
discussed the proposed issuance of the exemption. The State official 
did not object to issuance of the exemption.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of 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 this action, see the licensee's 
letters, dated May 30, September 19, September 26, October 21, and 
December 18, 1997, and January 22, March 25, June 19, and July 31, 
1998, which are available for public review at the NRC's Public 
Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC, 
and at the Local Public Document Room at the Russell Public Library, 
123 Broad Street, Middletown, Connecticut 06457.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of August 1998.

    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. 98-22084 Filed 8-14-98; 8:45 am]
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