[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 143 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44109-44110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-18962]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-443]


FPL Energy Seabrook, LLC, Et al.; Seabrook Station; Environmental 
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is 
considering issuance of an exemption from Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, section 50.60, ``Acceptance 
criteria for fracture prevention measures for light-water nuclear power 
reactors for normal operation,'' and 10 CFR part 50, appendix G, 
``Fracture Toughness Requirements,'' for Facility Operating License No. 
NPF-86, issued to FPL Energy Seabrook, LLC, et al. (the licensee), for 
operation of the Seabrook Power Station, located in Seabrook, New 
Hampshire. 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 exempt the licensee from the requirements 
of 10 CFR part 50, section 50.60(a) and Appendix G, and allow the use 
of American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel 
Code (ASME Code) Code Case N-641 in the development of the Seabrook 
Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) Pressure and Temperature (P-T) limits. 
These limits would be used through 20 effective full-power years of 
operation.
    10 CFR 50.60(a) requires, in part, that except where an exemption 
is granted by the Commission, all light-water nuclear power reactors 
must meet the fracture toughness requirements for the reactor coolant 
pressure boundary set forth in appendices G and H to 10 CFR part 50. 
Appendix G to 10 CFR part 50 requires that P-T limits be established 
for RPVs during normal operating and hydrostatic or leak-rate testing 
conditions. Specifically, 10 CFR part 50, Appendix G states, ``The 
appropriate requirements on both the pressure-temperature limits and 
the minimum permissible temperature must be met for all conditions.'' 
Additionally, the appendix specifies that the requirements for these 
limits are given in the ASME Code, section XI, appendix G limits.
    ASME Code Case N-641 permits the use of alternate reference 
fracture toughness curves (i.e., use of the ``KIC fracture 
toughness curve'' instead of the

[[Page 44110]]

``KIA fracture toughness curve,'' as defined in ASME Code, 
section XI, appendices A and G, respectively) for reactor vessel 
materials in determining the P-T limits for heatup, cooldown, and 
inservice testing.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated October 11, 2002.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The provisions of ASME Code Case N-641 were incorporated in 
appendix G of section XI of the ASME Code in the 1998 though the 2000 
Addenda, which is the edition and addenda of record in the 2003 Edition 
of 10 CFR part 50. However, the proposed action is needed to apply Code 
Case N-641, because the Seabrook licensing basis has only been updated 
to include the 1995 Edition through the 1996 Addenda of the ASME Code.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that, as set forth below, there are no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the use of ASME Code Case N-641 
in developing RPV P-T limits for heatup, cooldown, and inservice 
testing. The proposed action does not adversely affect the integrity of 
the reactor vessel or the function of the reactor vessel to act as a 
radiological barrier during an accident.
    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 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 non-radiological impacts, the proposed 
action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. The 
proposed action does not affect non-radiological plant effluents and 
has no other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant 
non-radiological 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 resources than 
those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for 
the Seabrook Station, Unit No. 1, dated December 1982.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On June 4, 2003, the staff consulted with the New Hampshire State 
Official, Mike Nawoj of the New Hampshire Office of Emergency 
Management, and with the Massachusetts State Official, Diane Brown-
Couture, of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, regarding 
the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State Officials 
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 October 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 21st day of July, 2003.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James W. Clifford,
Chief, Section 2, Project Directorate I, Division of Licensing Project 
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 03-18962 Filed 7-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P