[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40989-40990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15321]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-219]


Amergen Energy Company, LLC Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating 
Station; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of schedular exemptions from Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Section 50.71(e)(4) for Facility 
Operating License No. DPR-16, which authorizes operation of the Oyster 
Creek Nuclear Generating Station (OCNGS), a boiling-water reactor 
facility, located in Ocean County, New Jersey. Therefore, pursuant to 
10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is issuing this environmental assessment and 
finding of no significant impact.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, 
Paragraph 50.71(e)(4) requires that licensees provide the NRC with 
updates to the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) annually or 
6 months after each refueling outage provided the interval between 
successive updates does not exceed 24 months. The revisions must 
reflect changes up to 6 months prior to the date of filing. This 
regulation would require the licensee to submit the next OCNGS UFSAR 
update by April 25, 2005, which is 24 months after the most recent 
update (April 25, 2003).
    The licensee requested a one-time schedular exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4), extending the filing date by 
``approximately 6 months.'' This one-time schedular exemption would 
thus extend the 24-month interval between the last and next filing to 
be 30 months. Since the licensee last submitted an update on April 25, 
2003, this proposed one-time, 6-month extension would permit the next 
update be as late as October 25, 2005.
    The licensee also requested a permanent schedular exemption to 
allow filing of all future UFSAR updates up to 12 months, instead of 6 
months, after completion of a refueling outage. Thus, accordingly to 
the licensee's current refueling schedule, this would permit the 
licensee to file future updates in the fall of odd-numbered years.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application for exemption dated March 26, 2004.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    In its March 26, 2004, application, the licensee stated that 
following the schedular requirements of 10 CFR 50.72(e)(4) literally 
means that the licensee has to file both OCNGS and Peach Bottom Atomic 
Power Station (PBAPS, owned by the licensee's parent company, Exelon) 
UFSAR updates in the same time frame (i.e., spring) of odd-numbered 
years. Such filing schedule for both OCNGS and PBAPS constitutes a 
hardship for the licensee and its parent company Exelon; additional 
temporary resources would have to be employed in order to 
simultaneously

[[Page 40990]]

prepare both OCNGS and PBAPS updates.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that the exemption is administrative and would not affect any 
plant equipment, operation, or procedures. The UFSAR contains the 
analysis, assumptions, and technical details of the facility design and 
operating parameters. Until the UFSAR is updated, the recent changes 
are documented in the licensee's written evaluations of changes 
prepared pursuant to 10 CFR 50.59, and in the NRC's Safety Evaluations 
for actions requiring prior approval. A delay in submitting the UFSAR 
update will not change the plant design or the manner in which it is 
operated.
    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 staff 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 NRC 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 
OCNGS, dated December 1974, published by the Atomic Energy Commission.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On May 11, 2004, the NRC staff consulted with the New Jersey State 
official, Mr. Rich Pinney of the New Jersey Department of Environmental 
Protection, Bureau of Nuclear Engineering, 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 March 26, 2004. Documents may be examined, and/
or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located 
at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1F21, 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 23rd day of June, 2004.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Peter S. Tam,
Senior Project Manager, Section 1, Project Directorate I, Division of 
Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 04-15321 Filed 7-6-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P