[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 245 (Monday, December 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71172-71173]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-31424]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-317 and 50-318]


Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Inc.; Calvert Cliffs Nuclear 
Power Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 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, Appendix E, Section IV.F.2.c for 
renewed Facility Operating Licenses Nos. DPR-53 and DPR-69, issued to 
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Inc. (CCNPPPI or the licensee), for 
operation of the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Units Nos. 1 and 
2, located in Calvert County, Maryland. 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, as described in the licensee's application for 
a one-time exemption to the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, 
Section F.2.c, dated November 24, 2003, would allow the licensee to 
reschedule the planned

[[Page 71173]]

offsite full-participation emergency exercise from 2003 to 2004 and 
subsequent exercises would be scheduled biennially from the year 2003.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed exemption from 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix E, Section 
IV.F.2.c is needed because the planned full-participation exercise 
scheduled for October 21, 2003, was not able to be performed. 
Preparation for Hurricane Isabel and subsequent recovery efforts had 
consumed Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and other local 
and State agencies having a role under the Emergency Response Plan such 
that full-participation was not able to be performed.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that the proposed exemption will not present an undue risk to 
the public health and safety. The details of the staff's Safety 
Evaluation will be provided in the exemption that will be issued as 
part of the letter to the licensee approving the exemption to the 
regulation. The action relates to the exercising of the emergency 
response plan which has no effect on the operation of the facility.
    The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability 
or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types, 
or amounts 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.
    In 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 resources than 
those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for 
the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant (CCNPP) dated April 1973 or the 
Final Environmental Impact Statement for licence renewal for the CCNPP 
dated October 1999.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On December 4, 2003, the staff consulted with the Maryland State 
official, Richard McLean of the Maryland Department of the Environment, 
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 November 24, 2003. 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 16th day of December 2003.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Richard J. Laufer,
Chief, Section 1, Project Directorate I, Division of Licensing Project 
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 03-31424 Filed 12-19-03; 8:45 am]
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