[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