[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 110 (Friday, June 7, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 39446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-14343]



[[Page 39446]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-10]


Exelon Generation Company, Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of an exemption from Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) part 140, Section 140.11(a)(4) for Facility 
Operating License No. DPR-2, issued to Exelon Generation Company (EGC, 
the licensee), for operation of the Dresden Nuclear Power Station 
(DNPS), Unit 1, located approximately 50 miles southwest of Chicago, in 
Grundy County, Illinois. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the 
NRC is issuing the environmental assessment and finding of no 
significant impact.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would grant an exemption from the requirement 
of 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) regarding one of the two financial protection 
requirements.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated December 18, 2001, as supplement by letter dated 
February 13, 2002.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    DNPS, Unit 1 was shut down in October 1978. On July 23, 1986, USNRC 
issued Amendment No. 36 to License DRP-2 for DNPS, Unit 1 changing the 
license to possess-but-not-operate status. The licensee at that time, 
Commonwealth Edison, informed the NRC that it had decided to 
permanently cease operations at DNPS, Unit 1, and that all fuel had 
been permanently removed from the reactor. In accordance with 10 CFR 
50.82, upon docketing of the certifications in August 31, 1984, the 
facility operating license no longer authorizes the licensee to operate 
the reactor and to load fuel into the reactor vessel. In this 
permanently shutdown condition, the facility poses a reduced risk to 
public health and safety compared to when it was operating.
    The proposed exemption is needed because the licensee's required 
insurance coverage exceeds the costs of potential accidents considered 
for a permanently defueled reactor with all spent fuel removed from the 
spent fuel pool. A letter received on February 13, 2002, notified the 
NRC that as of January 15, 2002, the DNPS, Unit 1 fuel storage pool no 
longer contains spent fuel assemblies. Because DNPS, Unit 1 no longer 
presents as great a risk as does an operating reactor plant, this 
reduction in risk should be reflected in the indemnification 
requirements to which the licensee is subject. Approval of the proposed 
exemption would allow a more equitable allocation of financial risk 
commensurate with the risks to the public.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that the exemption only involves changes to indemnity 
insurance. The exemption would allow EGC to withdraw from participation 
in the secondary insurance pool based on the permanently defueled 
status of DNPS, Unit 1.
    The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability 
or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types of 
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 the potential to affect any historic sites. It 
does not affect 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 and to require EGC to maintain the 
insurance coverage required of an operating plant (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

    The action does not involve the use of any different resource than 
those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for 
the Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1, dated November 1973.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On May 9, 2002, the staff consulted with the Illinois State 
official, Frank Niziolek, of the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety, 
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 December 18, 2002, as supplemented by letter 
dated February 13, 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 31st day of May, 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen Dembek,
 Chief, Section 2, Project Directorate IV, Division of Licensing 
Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 02-14343 Filed 6-6-02; 8:45 am]
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