[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 20, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75487-75488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7515]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-443]


FPL Energy Seabrook, LLC, Seabrook Station Unit No. 1; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is 
considering issuance of an amendment pursuant to Title 10 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, for Facility Operating License 
No. NPF-86 issued to FPL Energy Seabrook, LLC (the licensee), for 
operation of Seabrook Station, Unit No. 1 (Seabrook), located in 
Rockingham County, 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 extend the expiration date of the 
operating license for Seabrook from October 17, 2026, to March 15, 
2030.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application for amendment dated March 28, 2005, as supplemented 
September 23, 2005.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The current operating licensed term for Seabrook ends on October 
17, 2026. This is 40 years from the date of the zero-power operating 
license, which was issued on October 17, 1986. The amendment would 
extend the expiration date of the operating license from October 17, 
2026, to March 15, 2030. The extended date for termination of the 
operating license would be 40 years after issuance of the full-power 
operating license which was issued on March 15, 1990. This would allow 
the licensee to recapture approximately 41 months of additional plant 
operation for the unit. This proposed amendment is not a request for 
license renewal pursuant to 10 CFR Part 54.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that there are no significant environmental considerations 
involved with the proposed action. The extension of the operating 
licenses does not affect the design or operation of the plant, does not 
involve any modifications to the plant or any increase in the licensed 
power for the plant, and will not create any new or unreviewed 
environmental impacts that were not considered in the Final 
Environmental Statement (FES) related to the operation of Seabrook, 
NUREG-0895, dated December 1982. The evaluations presented in the FES 
were of the environmental impacts of generating power at Seabrook and 
the basis for granting a 40-year operating license for Seabrook. The 
environmental impacts of the proposed action are based on the 
evaluations in the FES. It should be noted that the Seabrook license 
was amended on February 28, 2005, to allow an increase in maximum core 
power by 5.2% (from 3411 megawatts thermal (MWt) to 3587 MWt). The 
environmental assessment of the power uprate was published in the 
Federal Register on February 14, 2005 (70 FR 7525).
    The FES which, in general, assesses various impacts associated with 
operation of the facility in terms of annual impacts, and balances 
these against the anticipated annual energy production benefits.
    The offsite exposure from releases during postulated accidents has 
been previously evaluated in the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report 
(UFSAR) for Seabrook. The results are acceptable when compared with the 
criteria defined in 10 CFR Part 100, as

[[Page 75488]]

documented in the Commission's Safety Evaluation Report, NUREG-0896, 
dated March 1983, and its nine supplements. As a result of this action 
there is no change in the types, frequency, or consequences of design-
basis accidents.
    The NRC staff has concluded that the impacts associated with the 
addition of approximately 41 months to the license expiration date are 
not significantly different from the operating license duration 
assessed in the Seabrook FES. Therefore, the staff concluded that the 
FES sufficiently addresses the environmental impacts associated with a 
full 40-year operating period for Seabrook.
    The annual occupational exposure of workers at the plant, station 
employees and contractors, is reported in the Annual Operating Report 
submitted by the licensee. The lowest exposure value is for a year 
without a refueling outage, and the highest value is for a year with a 
refueling outage. In Section 5.9.3.1.1 of the FES, the average 
occupational exposure for a pressurized water reactor was reported as 
440 person-rems. Therefore, the expected annual occupational exposure 
for the proposed extended period of operation does not change previous 
conclusions presented in the FES on occupational exposure.
    The offsite exposure from releases during routine operations has 
been previously evaluated in Section 5.9.3 of the FES. During the low-
power license, the plant was restricted to no more than five percent of 
rated power for no longer than 0.75 effective full power hours, and the 
generation of radioactivity at the plant was significantly smaller than 
would have occurred if the plant were at full-power operation. 
Therefore, the addition of approximately 41 months of operation that 
the licensee has requested does not change previous conclusions 
presented in the FES on annual public doses.
    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 concluded 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 resource than 
those previously considered in the FES for Seabrook.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On December 8, 2005, the staff consulted with the New Hampshire 
State official, Mr. Mike Nawoj, and the Massachusetts State official, 
Mr. James Muckerheid, 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 concluded 
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 28, 2005 as supplemented September 23, 
2005. 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 O1 F21, 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 6th day of December 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Darrell J. Roberts,
Branch Chief, Plant Licensing Branch I-2, Division of Operating Reactor 
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E5-7515 Filed 12-19-05; 8:45 am]
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