[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46927-46928]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13330]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-285]


Omaha Public Power District; Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1; 
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) 50.46 and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, for Facility 
Operating License No. DPR-40, issued to Omaha Public Power District 
(OPPD, the licensee), for operation of the Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1 
(Fort Calhoun Station), located in Washington County, Nebraska. 
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 allow the Fort Calhoun Station to use M5 
an advanced alloy fuel cladding material for pressurized-water reactors 
(PWRs).
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated August 11, 2005, as revised by letter dated November 
8, 2005, and as supplemented by letter dated April 12, 2006.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is needed so that OPPD can use M5 an advanced 
alloy for fuel rod cladding and other assembly structural components at 
the Fort Calhoun Station. Section 50.46 and Part 50 of 10 CFR, Appendix 
K, make no provisions for use of fuel rods clad in a material other 
than zircaloy or ZIRLO. Since the chemical composition of the M5 alloy 
differs from the specifications for zircaloy or ZIRLO, a plant-specific 
exemption is required to allow the use of the M5 alloy as a cladding 
material or in other assembly structural components at the Fort Calhoun 
Station.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The underlying purposes of 10 CFR 50.46 and 10 CFR Part 50, 
Appendix K, are to ensure that facilities have

[[Page 46928]]

adequate acceptance criteria for the emergency core cooling system 
(ECCS), and to ensure that cladding oxidation and hydrogen generation 
are appropriately limited during a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) and 
conservatively accounted for in the ECCS evaluation model, 
respectively. Neither 10 CFR 50.46 nor 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, 
explicitly allows the use of M5 as a fuel rod cladding material or for 
other assembly structural components. Topical Report (TR) BAW-10227P, 
``Evaluation of Advanced Cladding and Structural Material (M5) in PWR 
Reactor Fuel,'' which was approved by the NRC on February 4, 2000, 
demonstrated that the effectiveness of the ECCS will not be affected by 
a change from zircaloy to M5. In addition, TR BAW-10227P demonstrated 
that the Baker-Just equation (used in the ECCS evaluation model to 
determine the rate of energy release, cladding oxidation, and hydrogen 
generation) is conservative in all post-LOCA scenarios with respect to 
M5 advanced alloy as a fuel rod cladding material or in other assembly 
structural components. The licensee will use NRC-approved methods for 
the reload design process for Fort Calhoun Station reloads with M5. The 
NRC has completed its safety evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that licensee's request to use the M5 advanced alloy for fuel 
rod cladding and in other assembly structural components in lieu of 
zircaloy or ZIRLO is acceptable.
    The details of the staff's safety evaluation will be provided in 
the exemption that will be issued as part of the letter to the licensee 
approving the exemption to the regulation.
    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 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 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 Fort Calhoun Station dated August 1972.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on June 14, 2006, the staff 
consulted with the Nebraska State official, Julia Schmitt of the 
Department of Health and Human Services Regulation and Licensor, 
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 August 11, 2005, as revised by letter dated 
November 8, 2005, and as supplemented on April 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 send an e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of August 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Alan B. Wang,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E6-13330 Filed 8-14-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P