[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 98 (Monday, May 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29359-29360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7786]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos: STN 50-456; STN 50-457; STN 50-454; STN 50-455; 50-461; 
50-10; 50-237; 50-249; 50-373; 50-374; 50-352; 50-353; 50-219; 50-171; 
50-277; 50-278; 50-254; 50-265; 50-289; 50-295; 50-304]


Exelon Generation Company, LLC; Amergen Energy Company, LLC; 
Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2; Byron Station, Units 1 and 2; Clinton 
Power Station, Unit 1; Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Units 1, 2, and 
3; Lasalle County Station, Units 1 and 2; Limerick Generating Station, 
Units 1 And 2; Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station; Peach Bottom 
Atomic Power Station, Units 1, 2 and 3; Quad Cities Nuclear Power 
Station, Units 1 and 2; Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1; and 
Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2; Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of a schedular exemption from Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Sec.  50.54(a)(3), for the following 
facility operating licenses issued to Exelon Generation Company, LLC, 
and AmerGen Energy Company, LLC (the licensees) for operation of 
Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-72 and NPF-77 for the Braidwood 
Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Will County, Illinois; NPF-37 and 
NPF-66 for the Byron Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Ogle County, 
Illinois; NPF-62 for the Clinton Power Station, Unit 1, located in 
DeWitt County, Illinois; DPR-2, DPR-19, and DPR-25 for the Dresden 
Nuclear Power Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, located in Grundy County, 
Illinois; NPF-11 and NPF-18 for the LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 
2, located in LaSalle County, Illinois; NPF-39 and NPF-85 for Limerick 
Generating Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Montgomery County, 
Pennsylvania; DPR-16 for Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, 
located in Ocean County, New Jersey; DPR-12, DPR-44, and DPR-56 for 
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, located in York 
and Lancaster Counties, Pennsylvania; DPR-29 and DPR-30 for the Quad 
Cities Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Rock Island 
County, Illinois; DPR-50 for the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, 
Unit 1, located in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; and DPR-39 and DPR-48 
for the Zion Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Lake 
County, Illinois. 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 exempt the licensees from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(a)(3), pertaining to submitting periodic 
quality assurance topical report (QATR) changes that do not reduce 
commitments. The schedule for submitting QATR changes is described in 
10 CFR 50.71(e)(4), which requires that changes must be filed annually 
or 6 months after each refueling outage provided the interval between 
successive updates does not exceed 24 months. The licensees are 
proposing that changes to the common QATR that do not reduce 
commitments be submitted on a 24-month calendar schedule, not to exceed 
24 months from the previous submittal. The proposed schedule for 
submitting changes to the common QATR will not be coincident with any 
plant's refueling outage schedule or Updated Final Safety Analysis 
Report periodic updates.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated December 14, 2005.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is requested in order to eliminate a 
significant administrative and regulatory burden that would not serve 
the underlying purpose of the rule. The action relates to the periodic 
submittal of changes to the licensees' common QATR that do not reduce 
commitments, are strictly administrative changes, and which have no 
effect on the operation of the licensees' nuclear power facilities.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that the proposed exemption is administrative and would not 
affect any plant equipment, operation, or procedures.
    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. There is no significant 
increase in the amount of any effluent released off site. 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 non-radiological impacts, the proposed 
action does not have a potential to affect

[[Page 29360]]

any historic sites. It does not affect non-radiological plant effluents 
and has no other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no 
significant non-radiological 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 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 the same.

Alternative Use of Resources

    The proposed action does not involve the use of any different 
resources than those previously considered in the Final Environmental 
Statements related to the ownership or operation of Braidwood Station, 
Units 1 and 2, NUREG-1026, dated June 1984; Byron Station, Units 1 and 
2, NUREG-0848, dated April 1982; Clinton Power Station, Unit 1, NUREG-
0854, dated May 1982; Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, 
dated November 1973, and for Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Units 2 and 
3, NUREG-1437, Supplement 17, dated June 2004; LaSalle County Station, 
Units 1 and 2, NUREG-0486, dated November 1978; Limerick Generating 
Station, Units 1 and 2, dated November 1973; Oyster Creek Nuclear 
Generating Station, dated December 1974; Peach Bottom Atomic Power 
Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, dated April 1973, and for Peach Bottom 
Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3, NUREG-1437, Supplement 10, dated 
January 2003; Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, dated 
September 1972, and NUREG-1437, Supplement 16, dated June 2004; Three 
Mile Island, Unit 1, dated December 1972; and Zion Nuclear Power 
Station, Units 1 and 2, dated December 1972.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    Regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action, the NRC 
staff consulted with the following officials: Illinois State official 
for the facilities in Illinois, Mr. Frank Niziolek, Bureau of Nuclear 
Facility Safety, Illinois Emergency Management Agency, on March 28, 
2006; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania officials for Limerick, Peach 
Bottom, and Three Mile Island Stations, Mr. David Ney, Mr. Dennis 
Dyckman, and Mr. Michael Murphy, Bureau of Radiation Protection, 
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, on March 31, April 
3 and 17, 2006, respectively; and New Jersey State official for Oyster 
Creek Station, Mr. Richard Pinney, Bureau of Nuclear Engineering, New 
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, on April 3, 2006. The 
State officials 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 December 14, 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, 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 
at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or send an e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of May 2006.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Kahtan N. Jabbour,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III-2, Division of 
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E6-7786 Filed 5-19-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P