[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 236 (Wednesday, December 9, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67943-67944]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32639]


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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 the requirements of 10 CFR 
50.54(w) and 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) regarding financial protection 
requirements to Facility Operating License No. DPR-36, a license held 
by the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company (MYAPCo or the licensee). The 
exemption would apply to the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station, a 
permanently shutdown plant located at the MYAPC site in Lincoln County, 
Maine.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would grant an exemption from the requirements 
of 10 CFR 50.54(w) regarding the amount of onsite property insurance 
required for the licensee and from the requirements of 140.11(a)(4) 
regarding the amount of offsite property insurance required for the 
licensee. The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated January 20, 1998. The requested action would allow 
MYAPCo to reduce onsite insurance coverage to $50 million and offsite 
coverage to $100 million. In addition, MYAPCo would be allowed to 
withdraw from the secondary liability coverage of requirements of 10 
CFR 140.11(a)(4).

Need for the Proposed Action

    Maine Yankee was shut down in December 1996. By letter dated August 
7, 1997, the licensee informed the Commission that it had decided to 
permanently cease operations at Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station 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 in the letter of August 7, 1997, the facility operating 
license no longer authorizes MYAPCo to operate the reactor and to load 
fuel in the reactor vessel. In this permanently shutdown condition, the 
facility poses a reduced risk to public health and safety.
    The proposed exemption is needed because the licensee's required 
insurance coverage significantly exceeds the potential cost 
consequences of radiological incidents possible at a permanently 
shutdown and defueled nuclear power plant that has cooled more than 21 
months. Since Maine Yankee no longer contributes as great a risk as 
does an operating plant, this reduction in risk should be reflected in 
the indemnification requirements to which the licensee is subject. 
Approval of this request would allow a more equitable allocation of 
financial risk.

Environmental Impact of the Proposed Action

    The NRC's evaluation of the proposed exemption from 10 CFR 50.54(w) 
and 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) indicates that issuance of the proposed 
exemption is an administrative action that will not have any 
environmental impact. The licensee maintains and operates the plant in 
a configuration necessary to support the safe storage of spent fuel and 
to comply with the facility operating license and NRC's rules and 
regulations.
    No changes are being made in the types or amounts of any 
radiological effluents that may be released off site. There is no 
significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. 
Accordingly, the Commission concludes that there are no significant 
radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
    With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed 
exemption does not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no 
other nonradiological environmental impact.
    Therefore, the Commission concludes that there are no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed exemption.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Since the Commission has concluded that there is no significant 
environmental impact associated with the proposed exemption, any 
alternatives with equal or greater environmental impact need not be 
evaluated. The principal alternative to the action would be to deny the 
request, thereby requiring the licensee to maintain insurance coverage 
required of an operating plant (no-action alternative); such an action 
would not enhance the protection of the environment. Denial of the 
application would result in no change in current environmental impacts. 
The impacts of the proposed action and the alternative 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 
Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station, (July 1972).

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on October 1, 1998, the NRC 
staff consulted with Mr. Patrick Dostie of the State of Maine, 
Department of Human Services, regarding the environmental impact of the 
proposed action. He did not object to issuance of the exemption.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the environmental assessment, the staff concludes 
that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment.
    Accordingly, the Commission will not prepare an environmental 
impact statement for the proposed exemption.

[[Page 67944]]

    For further details with respect to this action, see the licensee's 
letters, dated January 20 and May 15, 1998, which are available for 
public inspection at the Commission Public Document Room, Gelman 
Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, and at the Local Public 
Document Room at the Wiscasset Public Library, High Street, Post Office 
Box 367, Wiscasset, Maine, 04578.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December 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. 98-32639 Filed 12-8-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P