[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29784-29785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-2586]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-8]


Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant; Issuance of Environmental 
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Regarding an Amendment

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph M. Sebrosky, Senior Project 
Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555. Telephone: (301) 415-1132; fax number:(301) 425-8555; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC 
or the Commission) is considering issuance of an amendment to Special 
Materials License No. 2505 that would add the NUHOMS-32P as an optional 
design to the existing NUHOMS-24P design for dry storage of spent 
nuclear fuel. Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, Inc. (CCNPP) is 
currently storing spent nuclear fuel at the Calvert Cliffs independent 
spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) located in Calvert County, 
Maryland.

Environmental Assessment (EA)

    Identification of Proposed Action: By letter dated December 12, 
2003, as supplemented, CCNPP submitted a request to the NRC to amend 
the license (SNM-2505) to add the NUHOMS-32P as an optional design to 
the existing NUHOMS-24P design for dry storage of spent fuel. The 
NUHOMS-32P design stores eight more spent fuel assemblies than the 
NUHOMS-24P design.
    The proposed action before the NRC is whether to approve the 
amendment.
    Need for the Proposed Action: The proposed action would allow CCNPP 
to optimize its dry spent fuel storage capacity by upgrading portions 
of its ISFSI to use the NUHOMS-32P dry shielded canister. The proposed 
action would allow CCNPP to reduce the minimum number of canister 
loadings each year from four (using the NUHOMS-24P design) to three 
(with the NUHOMS-32P design).
    Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: The staff has 
determined that the proposed action would not endanger life or 
property. No effluents are released from the ISFSI during operation and 
the proposed changes have no impact to dry shielded canister loading 
activities. Therefore, there is no significant change in the type or 
significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be 
released offsite. There is also no significant increase with regard to 
individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposures because of 
the proposed action. The proposed amendment includes a technical 
specification change that would specify that the current neutron source 
term technical specification limit of <=2.23E8 would apply to the 
NUHOMS-24P design and that the NUHOMS-32P design would have a neutron 
source assembly technical specification limit of <=3.3E8 neutrons/
second/assembly. The contact dose rate for the NUHOMS-32P design in a 
loss of neutron shielding accident with the revised neutron source term 
is 1517 mrem/hr. The contact dose rate for the NUHOMS-24P design in a 
loss of neutron shielding accident is 1126 mrem/hr. The regulatory 
limit for a design basis accident is 5 rem at 100 meters in accordance 
with 10 CFR 72.106. When compared to the regulatory limit, the dose 
rate increase from a loss of neutron shielding for the NUHOMS-32P 
design would be a minimal change from the dose rate for a loss of 
neutron shielding accident for a NUHOMS-24P design. All of the other 
proposed changes have no impact on radiation exposure. Therefore, there 
are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with 
the proposed action.
    The amendment only affects the requirements associated with the 
loading of the casks and does not affect non-radiological plant 
effluents or any other aspects of the environment. Therefore, there are 
no significant non-radiological impacts associated with the proposed 
action.
    Accordingly, the Commission concludes that there are no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
    Alternative to the Proposed Action: As an alternative to the 
proposed action, the staff considered denial of the amendment request 
(i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). Approval or denial of the 
amendment request would result in minimal change in the environmental 
impacts. Therefore, the environmental impacts of the proposed action 
and the alternative action are similar.
    Agencies and Persons Consulted: On April 28, 2005, Richard McLean 
of the State of Maryland was contacted regarding the proposed action 
and had no concerns. The NRC staff has determined that consultation 
under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act is not required for this 
specific amendment and will not affect listed species or critical 
habitat. The NRC staff has also determined that the proposed action is 
not a type of activity having the potential to cause effects on 
historic properties. Therefore, no consultation is required under 
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
    Conclusions: The staff has reviewed the amendment request submitted 
by CCNPP and has determined that adding the NUHOMS-32P as an optional 
design to the existing NUHOMS-24P design for dry storage of spent 
nuclear fuel would have no significant impact on the environment.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed 
in accordance with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR part 51. Based 
upon the foregoing EA, the NRC finds that the proposed action of 
approving the amendment to the license will not significantly impact 
the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has 
determined that an environmental impact statement for the proposed 
license amendment is not warranted.
    The request for amendment was docketed under 10 CFR part 72, Docket 
72-8. For further details with respect to this action, see the proposed 
license amendment dated December 12, 2003, as supplemented, by a letter 
dated May 12, 2004. The NRC maintains an Agencywide Documents Access 
Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's 
public documents. These documents may be accessed through the NRC's 
Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Copies of the referenced documents will also be 
available for review at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD, 20852. PDR reference staff can be 
contacted at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to [email protected]. 
The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 11th of May, 2005.

[[Page 29785]]

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Joseph M. Sebrosky,
Senior Project Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E5-2586 Filed 5-23-05; 8:45 am]
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