[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 69254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-29060]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-335 and 50-389]


Florida Power and Light Company, et al., St. Lucie, 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 Title 10 of the CFR, part 54, section 
54.21(b), for Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-67 and NPF-16, issued 
to Florida Power & Light Company, et al. (the licensee), for operation 
of St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2, located in St. Lucie County, Florida.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would exempt the licensee from the requirement 
of 10 CFR 54.21(b), which specifies that an applicant (for the purposes 
of license renewal, the licensee is the applicant) must submit, each 
year following submittal of the license renewal application (LRA), and 
at least three months before scheduled completion of the NRC review, 
amendments to the renewal application that identify any change to the 
current licensing basis (CLB) of the facility that materially affects 
the contents of the LRA, including the final safety analysis report 
(FSAR) supplement.
    The NRC staff initiated the proposed action on its own initiative.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    In accordance with 10 CFR 54.21(b), the applicant is required to 
submit an LRA amendment by November 29, 2002, which is one year after 
the applicant submitted the application, and a second LRA amendment 
before April 3, 2003, which is three months prior to the scheduled 
completion of the NRC review. The exemption would allow the applicant 
to submit a single LRA amendment three months prior to the scheduled 
completion of the NRC review. The proposed action will reduce the 
burden on the staff and applicant associated with submitting two LRA 
amendments in a four month period.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The exemption, if granted, will permit the applicant to prepare and 
submit a single LRA amendment at least three months prior to the 
scheduled completion of the NRC review. In short, granting of the 
exemption will not necessitate, or lead to, changes to the as-built 
plant design, or to existing procedures at St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2.
    The staff evaluated potential radiological environmental impacts 
associated with the exemption. Since no plant design nor procedure 
changes will be made, no new accident causal mechanisms would be 
introduced.
    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 the potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed 
action does not affect any historic sites. The proposed action involves 
no plant design nor procedure changes, it does not increase or decrease 
nonradiological plant effluents, and has no other environmental impact 
from those previously evaluated by the staff in the final environmental 
statement (FES). 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.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered not 
issuing the exemption (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 resources not 
previously considered in the FES, for the St. Lucie Plant (NUREG-0842).

Agencies and Persons Contacted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on October 8, 2002, the staff 
consulted with Florida State official, William Passetti, Bureau of 
Radiation Control, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed 
action. The State official had no comments or objections.

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 
LRA for St. Lucie, Units 1 and 2. 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). The 
ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room is accessible from the NRC Web 
site at 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's PDR reference 
staff at 1-800-397-4229, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of November, 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samson Lee,
Chief, License Renewal Section, License Renewal and Environmental 
Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 02-29060 Filed 11-14-02; 8:45 am]
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