[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 72 (Friday, April 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19553-19554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3594]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-361 and 50-362]


Southern California Edison Company and San Diego Gas and Electric 
Company, the City of Riverside, California and the City of Anaheim, 
California, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 2 and 3; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of an exemption from Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Appendix G for Facility Operating License 
No. NPF-10 and NPF-15, issued to Southern California Edison (the 
licensee), for operation of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, 
Units 2 and 3 (SONGS 2 and 3), located in San Diego County, California. 
Therefore, as provided by 10 CFR 51.21 and 51.33, the NRC is issuing 
this environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    By letter dated January 28, 2005, the licensee submitted a license 
amendment request where, among other changes, the licensee requested 
the use of an alternate methodology for calculating the stress 
intensity factor KIm due to internal pressure loading. As 
required by the safety evaluation on topical report Combustion 
Engineering (CE) Topical Report NPSD-683-A, Revision 6, dated March 16, 
2001, the licensee, by its supplement dated January 12, 2006, included 
a request for an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, 
Appendix G for pressure temperature (P-T) limits since the alternate 
methodology applies the CE Nuclear Steam Supply System method for 
calculating KIm stress intensity values.
    The proposed action would exempt the licensee from certain 
requirements of Appendix G to 10 CFR Part 50 to allow the application 
of the methodology in CE NPSD-683-A, Revision 6, ``The Development of a 
RCS [Reactor Coolant System] Pressure and Temperature Limits Report for 
the

[[Page 19554]]

Removal of P-T Limits and LTOP [Low-Temperature Overpressure 
Protection] Setpoints from the Technical Specifications,'' for the 
calculation of flaw stress intensity factors due to internal pressure 
loadings (KIm).

The Need for the Proposed Action

    In the associated exemption, the staff has determined that, 
pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), the application of the regulation 
in the particular circumstances is not necessary to achieve the 
underlying purpose of the rule, based on the alternative methodology 
proposed in the licensee's amendment request. The proposed action would 
revise the currently-approved methodology for P-T limit calculations to 
incorporate the methodology approved for use in CE NPSD-683-A, Revision 
6. The topical report allows the use of an alternate methodology to 
calculate the flaw stress intensity factors due to internal pressure 
loadings (KIm). The exemption is needed because the 
methodology in CE NPSD-683-A, Revision 6, could not be shown to be 
conservative with respect to the methodology for the determination of 
KIm provided in Editions and Addenda of ASME Code, Section 
XI, Appendix G, through the 1995 Edition and 1996 Addenda (the latest 
Edition and Addenda of the ASME Code which had been incorporated into 
10 CFR 50.55a at the time of the staff's review of CE NPSD-683-A, 
Revision 6). Therefore, along with the supplement dated January 12, 
2006, the licensee submitted an exemption request, consistent with the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.60, to apply the KIm calculational 
methodology of CE NPSD-683-A, Revision 6, as part of the SONGS 2 and 3 
pressure temperature limit report (PTLR) methodology.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that the exemption described above would provide an adequate 
margin of safety against brittle failure of the reactor pressure vessel 
at SONGS 2 and 3. The details of the staff's safety evaluation will be 
provided in the exemption to Appendix G, which will allow the use of 
the methodology in Topical Report CE NPSD-683-A, Revision 6, to 
calculate the flaw stress intensity factors due to internal pressure 
loadings (KIm), that will be issued in a future letter to 
the licensee.
    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 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 SONGS 2 and 3 dated May 12, 1981.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On March 28, 2006, the staff consulted with the California State 
official, Steve Hsu of the Department of Health Services, Radiologic 
Health Branch, 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 exemption letter dated January 28, 2005, as supplemented by 
letter dated January 12, 2006. 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 7th day of April 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
N. Kalyanam,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 06-3594 Filed 4-13-06; 8:45 am]
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