[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 203 (Friday, October 19, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53269-53270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-26443]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-271]


Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power 
Station; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of an amendment to Facility Operating License No. DPR-28, 
issued to Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation (VYNPC, the 
licensee), for operation of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station 
(Vermont Yankee) located in Windham County, Vermont. Therefore, as 
required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is issuing this environmental 
assessment and finding of no significant impact.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would amend the Facility Operating License 
(FOL) by deleting obsolete information, correcting errors, and make 
administrative changes to enhance the context and provide consistency.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application for amendment dated April 23, 2001.

[[Page 53270]]

The Need for the Proposed Action

    When FOL DPR-28 was issued to the licensee and in subsequent 
amendments, the NRC staff deemed certain issues essential to safety 
and/or essential to meeting certain regulatory interests. These issues 
were imposed as license conditions in the FOL. Since the unit was 
licensed to operate in the 1970s, most of these license conditions have 
been fulfilled or changed. For the license conditions that have been 
fulfilled, the licensee proposed to have them deleted from the FOL. The 
license conditions that are incorrect or need to be updated are being 
changed.
    The licensee also proposed to make changes to correct 
administrative errors such as words misspelled and deleted documents 
being referenced and to provide clarifying information such as 
identifying deleted license conditions with the applicable amendment 
number and date and providing consistent paragraph identification.
    The fire protection license condition will also be changed to 
reflect an updated list of applicable NRC safety evaluation reports.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that there is no significant environmental impact if the 
amendment is granted. No changes will be made to the design and 
licensing basis, and the applicable procedures at Vermont Yankee will 
remain the same. Other than the administrative changes, no other 
changes will be made to the FOL, including the Technical 
Specifications.
    The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability 
or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types of 
any effluents that may be released off site, and there is no 
significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. 
Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts 
associated with the proposed action.
    With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed 
action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. It does 
not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no other 
environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant 
nonradiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed 
action.
    Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered 
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). 
Denial of the application 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 different resources 
than those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement 
for Vermont Yankee dated July 1972.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On August 6, 2001, the staff consulted with the Vermont State 
official, William Sherman of the Department of Public Service, 
regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State 
official had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes 
that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC 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 April 23, 2001. Documents may be examined, and/
or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located 
at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), 
Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible 
electronically from the ADAMS Public Library Component on the NRC web 
site, 
http://www.nrc.gov (Public Electronic Reading Room). If you do not have 
access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents 
located in ADAMS, contact the NRC PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-
4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail at [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of October 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert M. Pulsifer,
Project Manager, Section 2, Project Directorate I, Division of 
Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-26443 Filed 10-18-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P