[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 39 (Wednesday, February 28, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9036-9037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3476]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 [Docket Nos. 50-259, 50-260, and 50-296]


Tennessee Valley Authority; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 
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 R, for Facility Operating 
License Nos. DPR-33, DPR-52, and DPR-68, issued to the Tennessee Valley 
Authority (TVA, the licensee), for operation of the Browns Ferry 
Nuclear Plant (BFN), Units 1, 2, and 3, located in Limestone County, 
Alabama. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 50.21, 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 intervening combustibles such as 
the 480V Reactor Building Vent Boards 1B, 2B, and 3B; small panels in 
Units 1, 2 and 3; and the 1-hour fire rated fire wrap (Thermo-lag) 
material in the 20-foot separation zones identified.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated October 26, 2006, as supplemented by a letter dated 
January 11, 2007.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    Section III.G of Appendix R to 10 CFR Part 50 is related to fire 
protection features to ensure that components of redundant trains of 
equipment, including cables and circuits, to achieve and maintain safe-
shutdown are free of fire damage. Either the fire protection 
configurations must meet the specific requirements of Section III.G or 
an alternative fire protection configuration must be justified by a 
fire hazard analysis.
    During the September 2006 NRC audit of the Unit 1 Fire Protection 
Program, it was identified that 20-foot separation zones included 
intervening combustibles that were not specifically addressed in an 
approved exemption by the NRC dated October 21, 1988. TVA

[[Page 9037]]

has requested this exemption in order to revise the October 1988 
exemption to include additional combustibles such as the 480V Reactor 
Building Vent Boards 1B, 2B, and 3B; small panels in Units 1, 2 and 3; 
and the one hour fire rated fire wrap (Thermo-lag) material for the 20-
foot separation zones identified.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability 
or consequences of accidents. The NRC staff has completed its 
evaluation of the proposed exemption and associated amendment and finds 
that the calculated total doses remain within the acceptance criteria 
of 10 CFR 50.67 and General Design Criterion 19, and there is no 
significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. The 
NRC staff, thus, concludes that granting the proposed exemption would 
result in no significant radiological environmental impact.
    The proposed action does not affect nonradiological plant effluents 
or historical sites, and has no other environmental impact. Therefore, 
there are no significant nonradiological impacts associated with the 
proposed exemption.
    Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

Alternative 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 exemption would result in no change in current 
environmental impacts. Thus, 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 BFN dated September 1, 1972, for Units 1, 2, and 3.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on February 6, 2007, the NRC 
staff consulted with the Alabama State official, Kirk Whatley of the 
Office of Radiological Control, 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 Commission 
concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect 
on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the Commission 
has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the 
proposed action.
    For further details with respect to the purposed action, see the 
licensee's letter dated October 26, 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 O-1 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 20th day of February 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Eva A. Brown,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch II-2, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E7-3476 Filed 2-27-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P