[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 185 (Friday, September 22, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57407-57408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24363]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-2]


Virginia Electric and Power Company Issuance of Environmental 
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Regarding the Proposed 
Amendment to Revise Technical Specifications of License No. SNM-2501

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is 
considering issuance of an amendment, pursuant to 10 CFR 72.56, to 
Special Nuclear Material License No. 2501 (SNM-2501) held by Virginia 
Electric and Power Company (Virginia Power) for the Surry independent 
spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). The requested amendment would 
revise the Technical Specifications (TS) of SNM-2501 to specifically 
permit the use of the TN-32 storage cask to store spent fuel with a 
higher initial enrichment and burnup than currently specified in the TS 
for the Surry ISFSI.

Environmental Assessment (EA)

    Identification of Proposed Action: By letter dated November 15, 
1999, as supplemented, Virginia Power requested an amendment to revise 
the TS of SNM-2501 for the Surry ISFSI. The changes would specifically 
permit the use of the TN-32 storage cask to store spent fuel with a 
higher initial enrichment and burnup than currently specified in the 
TS. Currently the TS for the Surry ISFSI limit the fuel to be stored in 
the TN-32 to the following: initial enrichment of  3.85 % 
(wt U-235), assembly average burnup of 

[[Page 57408]]

40,000 MWD/MTU, and heat generation of  0.847 Kw/assembly. 
This amendment requests the limits be amended to match those approved 
for the TN-32 storage cask per the Certificate of Compliance (CoC) and 
Safety Evaluation Report (SER) issued in March 2000. Those approved 
limits are as follows: initial enrichment of  4.05% (wt U-
235), assembly average burnup  45,000 MWD/MTU, and heat 
generation of  1.02 Kw/assembly.
    Need for the Proposed Action: The proposed action is necessary to 
allow continued storage of spent fuel in dry casks. Without this 
amendment Surry will be unable to load spent fuel in TN-32 casks 
because their remaining fuel has the higher enrichment and burnup. If 
unable to store spent fuel in TN-32's, Surry will not be able to retain 
full core offload capability. Surry would eventually have to find an 
alternate means to store fuel, or shut down.
    Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: The NRC has completed 
its evaluation of the proposed action and concludes that granting the 
request for amendment to allow the storage of spent fuel assemblies 
with burnup and initial enrichment of up to 45,000 MWD/MTU and 4.05% 
(wt U-235), respectively, in TN-32 casks used at the Surry ISFSI, will 
not increase the probability or consequence of accidents beyond that 
bounded by previous analysis. In March 2000, the NRC issued a CoC and 
SER for the TN-32 allowing storage of spent fuel in the TN-32 under a 
general license, with the higher enrichment and burnup, resulting in no 
significant environmental impact. No changes are being made in the 
types of any effluents that may be released offsite. With regard to 
radiological impacts, the addition of higher burnup and initial 
enrichment spent fuel assemblies was calculated to yield an average 
surface dose rate of 224 mrem/hour at the TN-32 cask side surface. A 
reevaluation of occupational doses based on actual operating experience 
from loading 39 casks, indicates that the overall exposure to workers 
during cask loading, transport, and emplacement will decrease from the 
original estimate of 21.2 person-rem to 11.9 person-rem. The dose to 
the closest real receptor due to Surry ISFSI operations was calculated 
to be 6 x 10-\1\ mrem/year. This dose is several orders-of-
magnitude below natural background radiation levels and is an 
insignificant amount when compared to the 10 CFR Part 72.104 whole-body 
dose limit of 25 mrem/year. The annual whole-body dose to the closest 
real receptor from all Surry operations is 16 mrem, which is below the 
10 CFR Part 72.104 limit. Based on the occupational and public dose 
analysis results, there are no significant radiological environmental 
impacts associated with the proposed action.
    The amendment only affects the requirements associated with the 
content of the casks and does not affect non-radiological plant 
effluents or any other aspects of the environment. Therefore, there are 
no significant non-radiological environmental impacts associated with 
the proposed action.
    Accordingly, the Commission concludes that there are no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
    Alternative to the Proposed Action: The alternative to the proposed 
action would be to deny the request for amendment (i.e., the ``no-
action'' alternative). Denial of the proposed action would result in 
Surry storing spent fuel in the spent fuel pool. Without dry cask 
storage, Surry would lose the capability to maintain full core offload 
and eventually would have to shut down due to lack of storage space.
    Increased storage in the spent fuel pool could potentially lead to 
greater occupational exposure than dry cask storage due to the 
proximity of workers to the fuel. The environmental impacts of the 
alternative action could be greater than the proposed action.
    Given that the alternative action of denying the approval for 
amendment has no lesser environmental impacts associated with it, and 
considering that the proposed action would result in storage of fuel in 
the TN-32 casks at Surry ISFSI as already approved for storage under a 
general license, the Commission concludes that the preferred 
alternative is to grant this amendment.
    Agencies and Persons Consulted: On August 18, 2000, Mr. Les Foldese 
of the Virginia Department of Health, Radiological Health Programs, was 
contacted regarding the proposed action and had no concerns.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed 
in accordance with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR Part 51. Based 
upon the foregoing Environmental Assessment, the Commission finds that 
the proposed action of granting an amendment to permit the use of the 
TN-32 dry storage cask to store spent fuel with a higher initial 
enrichment ( 4.05% wt U-235) and burnup ( 45,000 
MWD/MTU) at the Surry ISFSI will not significantly impact the quality 
of the human environment. Accordingly, the Commission has determined 
not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed 
exemption.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the amendment 
application dated November 15, 1999, as supplemented. In accordance 
with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' a copy of the 
application, as supplemented, will be available electronically for 
public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW. 
(Lower Level), Washington, DC, or from the Publically Available Records 
(PARS) components of the NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is 
accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of September 2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
E. William Brach,
Director, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 00-24363 Filed 9-21-00; 8:45 am]
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