[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 234 (Wednesday, December 5, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63268-63269]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30110]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-348 and 50-364]


Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., et al.; Joseph M. 
Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2; Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of amendments to Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-2 and 
NPF-8, issued to Southern Nuclear Operating Company Inc., et al. (the 
licensee), for operation of the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1 
and 2, located in Houston County, Alabama.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would amend the Facility Operating Licenses 
(FOLs) for Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, and to delete 
license conditions that have been completed or are otherwise no longer 
in effect. These activities have now been completed and the license 
conditions are either obsolete or are no longer needed.
    The proposed action is in response to the licensee's application 
dated December 8, 2000.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    When the FOLs, NPF-2 and NPF-8, were issued to the licensee, 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 FOLs, with deadlines for their 
implementation. Since the units were licensed to operate in the late 
1970s and early 1980s, most of these license conditions have been 
fulfilled. For the license conditions that have been fulfilled, the 
licensee proposed to have them deleted from the FOLs.
    The licensee also proposed to make changes to correct 
administrative errors such as words inadvertently omitted, documents 
erroneously cited, etc.
    The proposed amendments involve administrative changes to the FOLs 
only. No actual plant equipment, regulatory requirements, operating 
practices, or analyses are affected by these proposed amendments.

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 
amendments are granted. No changes will be made to the design and 
licensing bases, and applicable procedures at the two units at the 
Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, will remain the same. 
Other than the administrative changes, no other changes will be made to 
the FOLs, including the Technical Specifications.
    The changes will not increase the probability or consequences of 
accidents, no changes are being made in the types of any effluents that 
may be released offsite, and there is no significant increase in the 
allowable individual or cumulative occupational 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 
action does not involve 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 Commission concludes that there are no significant

[[Page 63269]]

nonradiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed 
action.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Since the Commission has concluded 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 action, the staff 
considered denial of the proposed action. 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 resources not 
previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement related to 
the McGuire Nuclear Station.

Agencies and Persons Contacted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on January 10, 2001, the 
staff consulted with the Alabama State official, Kirk Whatley of the 
Office of Radiation Control, Alabama Department of Public Health, 
regarding the environmental impact of the proposed amendments. The 
State official had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based upon the foregoing environmental assessment, the Commission 
concludes that the proposed amendments 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 amendments.
    For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the 
licensee's letter dated December 8, 2000. Documents may be examined, 
and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room, located at 
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, 
Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically 
from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) 
Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC web site, 
http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html. If you do not have access to 
ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in 
ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-
800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by email to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of November, 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Frank Rinaldi,
Project Manager, Section 1, Project Directorate II, Division of 
Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-30110 Filed 12-4-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P