[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 184 (Monday, September 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59580-59581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24151]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-237, 50-249, 50-254, and 50-265]


Exelon Generation Company, LLC; Dresden Nuclear Power Station, 
Units 2 and 3, Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of an exemption from certain requirements of 10 CFR 
50.71(e)(4) for Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-19 and DPR-25, 
issued to Exelon Generation Company, LLC (the licensee), for operation 
of the Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Units 2 and 3, located in Grundy 
County, Illinois, and for Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-29 and 
DPR-30, issued to the licensee, for operation of the Quad Cities 
Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Rock Island County, 
Illinois. 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 grant a schedular extension for Dresden 
Nuclear Power Station (Dresden), Units 2 and 3, and for Quad Cities 
Nuclear Power Station (Quad Cities), Units 1 and 2, for submittal of 
revised Updated Final Safety Analysis Reports (UFSARs) from the 
regularly scheduled dates. 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) requires that subsequent 
revisions to the UFSAR be submitted periodically to the NRC provided 
that the interval between successive updates does not exceed 24 months. 
The Dresden and Quad Cities UFSAR revisions are currently submitted on 
a 24-month cycle. The next scheduled date for submittal of the revised 
UFSAR for Dresden is June 30, 2003, and for Quad Cities is October 20, 
2003. However, the licensee plans to submit revised UFSARs along with 
Operating License Renewal Applications (LRAs) for Dresden and Quad 
Cities in January 2003. The licensee plans to resume the established 
schedule for submittal of the UFSAR revisions in 2005 for both 
stations. The licensee requests a one-time exemption to postpone 
submittal of the revised Dresden and Quad Cities UFSARs until 2005.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated August 9, 2002.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The licensee proposes to submit revised UFSARs with LRAs in January 
2003, and to resume the established schedule for submittal of UFSAR 
revisions for Dresden on June 30, 2005, and for Quad Cities on October 
20, 2005. An exemption is required because 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) requires 
that subsequent revisions to the UFSAR be submitted periodically to the 
NRC provided that the interval between successive updates does not 
exceed 24 months.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that there are no significant adverse environmental impacts 
associated with the proposed action.
    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 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

    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, Units 2 and 3, dated November 1973, 
and for the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, dated 
September 1972.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On August 22, 2002, the staff consulted with the Illinois State 
official, Mr. F. Niziolek of the 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

[[Page 59581]]

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 August 9, 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 17th day of September, 2002.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Anthony J. Mendiola,
Chief, Section 2, Project Directorate III, Division of Licensing 
Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 02-24151 Filed 9-20-02; 8:45 am]
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