[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 18 (Monday, January 29, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4048-4049]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1345]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-245]


Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact 
Related to Exemption From the Recordkeeping Requirements of 10 CFR Part 
50 for Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., License DPR-21, Millstone, 
Connecticut

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Hickman, Division of Waste 
Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State 
Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop: T7E18, Washington, DC 20555-00001. 
Telephone: (301) 415-3017; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
granting a partial exemption from the recordkeeping requirements of 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.59(d)(3); 10 
CFR 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix A Criterion 1; and 10 CFR part 
50, Appendix B Criterion XVII, for the Millstone Power Station, Unit 1 
(Millstone Unit 1) as requested by Dominion Nuclear Connecticut (DNC or 
the Licensee) on June 8, 2006. An Environmental Assessment (EA) was 
performed by the NRC staff in support of its review of the exemption 
request.

II. Environmental Assessment

Background

    Millstone Unit 1 was a single-cycle, boiling water reactor with a 
Mark I containment which was designed, furnished and constructed by 
General Electric Company as the prime contractor for the licensee. The 
General Electric Company engaged Ebasco Services Incorporated as the 
architect-engineer. Millstone Unit 1 had a reactor thermal output of 
2011 megawatts and a net electrical output of 652.1 megawatts. The 
Millstone site is located in the town of Waterford, New London County, 
Connecticut, on the north shore of Long Island Sound.
    Construction of Millstone Unit 1 was authorized by a provisional 
construction permit CPPR-20, on May 19, 1966, in AEC Docket 50-245. 
Millstone Unit 1 was completed and ready for fuel loading during 
October 1970. The plant went into commercial operation on December 28, 
1970. On July 21, 1998, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(i) and 10 CFR 
50.82(a)(1)(ii), the licensee certified to the NRC that, as of July 17, 
1998, Millstone Unit No. 1 had permanently ceased operations and that 
fuel had been permanently removed from the reactor vessel. The issuance 
of this certification fundamentally changed the licensing basis of 
Millstone Unit 1 in that the NRC issued 10 CFR part 50 license no 
longer authorizes operation of the reactor or emplacement or retention 
of fuel in the reactor vessel.
    Safety related structures, systems, and components (SSCs) and SSCs 
important to safety remaining at Millstone Unit 1 are associated with 
the spent fuel pool island where the Millstone Unit 1 spent fuel is 
stored. Other than non-essential systems supporting the balance of 
plant facilities, the remaining plant equipment has been de-energized, 
disabled and abandoned in place or removed from the unit and can no 
longer be used for power generation.
    This EA has been developed in accordance with the requirements of 
10 CFR 51.21.

Proposed Action

    DNC is requesting an exemption from the record retention 
requirements of: (1) 10 CFR 50.59(d)(3), which requires certain records 
be maintained until ``termination of a license issued pursuant to'' 
Part 50; (2) 10 CFR 50.71(c) which requires that records required by 
the regulations, by license condition, or by technical specifications 
must be retained for the period specified by the appropriate 
regulation, license condition, or technical specification or if a 
retention period is not otherwise specified, these records must be 
retained until the Commission terminates the facility license; (3) 10 
CFR Part 50 Appendix A Criterion 1, which requires certain records be 
retained ``throughout the life of the unit''; and (4) 10 CFR Part 50 
Appendix B Criterion XVll, which requires certain records be retained 
consistent with regulatory requirements for a duration established by 
the licensee.
    DNC proposes to eliminate record retention requirements for 
Millstone

[[Page 4049]]

Unit 1 SSCs associated with safe power generation that have been de-
energized, disabled, and abandoned in place or removed from the unit. 
DNC is not requesting an exemption associated with record keeping 
requirements for storage of spent fuel in the Millstone Unit 1 spent 
fuel pool or for systems required to support the safe storage of spent 
fuel.

Need for Proposed Action

    The requested exemption and application of the exemption will 
eliminate the requirement to maintain records that are no longer 
necessary due to the permanently shutdown status of the facility and 
thereby reduce the financial burden on ratepayers associated with the 
storage of a large volume of records.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is purely administrative in nature and 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 the amount of any 
effluent released offsite. 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 it has no other 
environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant 
nonradiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed 
action.
    Accordingly, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will have 
no significant effect on the environment.

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). 
Under this alternative DNC would continue to store the records in 
question until license termination which would result in no change in 
current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the 
proposed action and the alternative action are similar.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    None.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on this review, the NRC staff has concluded that there are no 
significant impacts on the quality of the human environment. 
Accordingly, the staff has determined that preparation of an 
Environmental Impact Statement is not warranted, and a Finding of No 
Significant Impact is appropriate.

IV. Further Information

    For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the 
licensee's letter dated June 8, 2006, (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML061590490). The NRC Public Documents Room is located at NRC 
Headquarters in Rockville, MD, and can be contacted at (800) 397-4209. 
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's (ADAMS) Public Library component on the NRC Web 
site, http://www.nrc.gov (the Public Electronic Reading Room). 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 at 
[email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of January, 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Keith I. McConnell,
Deputy Director, Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery, Licensing 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
 [FR Doc. E7-1345 Filed 1-26-07; 8:45 am]
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