[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7406-7407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-3896]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-361 and 50-362]


Southern California Edison Company, San Diego Gas and Electric 
Company, The City of Riverside, California, The City of Anaheim, 
California, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 2 and 3; 
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-10 and 
NPF-15, issued to Southern California Edison Company, et al. (the 
licensee), for operation of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station 
(SONGS), Units 2 and 3, located in San Diego County, California. 
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 Proposed Action

    The proposed action would amend the Facility Operating Licenses 
(FOLs) for SONGS, Units 2 and 3, to delete license conditions that have 
been fulfilled and to make other administrative and editorial changes.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated March 21, 2001, as supplemented by letter dated 
January 11, 2002.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    When the FOLs, NPF-10 and NPF-15, 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 upon their issuance and during 
subsequent operation of the plant, with deadlines for their 
implementation. Since the units were licensed to operate in the 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 
the license to reflect the deletion of the completed license 
conditions.
    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 will be no significant environmental impact if the 
amendments are granted. No changes will be made to the design and 
licensing bases, and applicable procedures at SONGS, Units 2 and 3 will 
remain the same. Other than the administrative changes, no other 
changes will be made to the FOLs, including the Technical 
Specifications.
    The proposed actions 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 offsite, 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 affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no other 
environmental impacts. Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no 
significant nonradiological environmental impacts associated with the 
proposed action.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Since the NRC has concluded that 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 NRC 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 did not involve the use of any resources different 
than those

[[Page 7407]]

resources previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement 
related to the SONGS Nuclear Generating Station.

Agencies and Persons Contacted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on January 25, 2002, the NRC 
staff consulted with the California State official, Mr. Steve Hsu, of 
the Radiologic Health Branch of the State Department of Health 
Services, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed actions. 
The State official had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes 
that the proposed actions 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 
actions.
    For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the 
licensee's letter dated March 21, 2001, as supplemented by letter dated 
January 11, 2002. 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 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public 
Electronic Reading Room on the internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/html. Persons who do not have access to 
ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in 
ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-
800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of February 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John B. Hickman,
Acting Chief, Section 2, Project Directorate IV, Division of Licensing 
Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 02-3896 Filed 2-15-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P