[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 190 (Monday, October 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58014-58015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16137]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-425]


Southern Nuclear Operating Company, et al.; Vogtle Electric 
Generating Plant, Unit 2; 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 54, section 54.17(c), for Facility Operating 
License No. NFP-81, issued to Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., 
(the licensee), for operation of Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Unit 
2 (Vogtle Unit 2), located in Burke County, Georgia. 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 licensee from the requirement 
of 10 CFR 54.17(c), which specifies that an applicant (for the purposes 
of license renewal, the licensee is the applicant) may apply for a 
renewed operating license no earlier than 20 years before the 
expiration of the operating license currently in effect.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application for an exemption dated May 22, 2006.

[[Page 58015]]

The Need for the Proposed Action

    In accordance with 10 CFR 54.17(c), the earliest date that the 
applicant could apply for a renewed operating license for Vogtle Unit 2 
would be February 9, 2009. The licensee plans to apply for license 
renewal for Vogtle Units 1 and 2 on June 28, 2007. Vogtle Unit 1 will 
have accumulated 20 years operating experience by June 28, 2007 and 
will meet the requirements of 10 CFR 54.17(c). The proposed exemption 
for Unit 2 is required to allow the licensee to apply for the renewal 
of both Vogtle operating licenses concurrently. The request seeks only 
schedular relaxation without any other substantive reliefs.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that the issuance of the proposed exemption will not have a 
significant environmental impact. The proposed schedular exemption 
pertains solely to the future submission of an application to renew the 
Vogtle 2 operating license. It causes no changes to the current design 
or operation of Vogtle 2 and imparts no prejudice in the future review 
of the application for license renewal.
    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

    This action does not involve the use of any different resources 
than those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement 
(FES) for Vogtle Unit 2, NUREG-1087, ``Final Environmental Statement 
Related to the Operation of the VEGP [Vogtle Electric Generating 
Plant], Units 1 and 2,'' dated December 1985.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on August 4, 2006, the staff 
consulted with the Georgia State official, Mr. Jim Hardeman of the 
Department of Natural Resources, 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 May 22, 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 11th day of September 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Christopher Gratton,
Sr. Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch II-1,Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing,Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E6-16137 Filed 9-29-06; 8:45 am]
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