[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 98 (Tuesday, May 22, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28715-28716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9846]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No.: 70-1151]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Renewal for Westinghouse Electric 
Corporation, Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility, Columbia, SC

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Adams, Senior Project Manager, 
Fuel Manufacturing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T-8F42, Washington, DC 20555. 
Telephone: (301) 415-7249; fax number: (310) 415-5955; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the renewal 
of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-1107 for the continued 
operation of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Columbia Fuel 
Fabrication Facility (CFFF) located near Columbia, South Carolina. This 
renewal would authorize the licensee to receive and possess nuclear 
materials at CFFF in order to fabricate and assemble nuclear fuel 
components under the provisions of 10 CFR part 70, Domestic Licensing 
of Special Nuclear Material. If approved, the renewed license term 
would be for 20 years. The NRC has prepared an environmental assessment 
(EA) in support of this action in accordance with the requirements of 
10 CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding 
of No Significant Impact is appropriate. If approved, the renewed 
license would be issued following the publication of this Notice.

II. EA Summary

Proposed Action

    The proposed action is to renew the SNM-1107 license for a 20-year 
period, thereby authorizing WEC to continue manufacturing nuclear fuel 
at CFFF. The current license authorizes WEC to receive, possess, use, 
and transfer special nuclear material at the CFFF in accordance with 
the requirements of 10 CFR part 70. The renewed license would provide 
the same continued authorization to WEC. WEC's request for the renewal 
was previously noticed in the Federal Register on December 29, 2005, 
(70 FR 249) with an opportunity to request a hearing. No hearing 
requests were received.

Need for the Proposed Action

    CFFF is one of several facilities that fabricates fuel assemblies 
for commercial light-water cooled nuclear reactors. Continued 
production of the fuel assemblies is needed to meet the anticipated 
steady or increasing demand for electricity generated by these nuclear 
power reactors. WEC plans to continue to be a major supplier of this 
type of fuel through continued operations at the CFFF under its renewed 
NRC license.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff concluded that the proposed renewal, for a 20-year 
period, of license SNM-1107, involving the continued operations at the 
WEC CFFF, will not result in a significant impact to the environment. 
No significant impacts to site ecology are anticipated because of the 
proposed action. The proposed action will not adversely affect federal 
or state-listed threatened or endangered species nor other flora and 
fauna in the site vicinity. No significant impacts to regional historic 
and cultural resources are anticipated because of the proposed action. 
The license renewal request does not require altering undeveloped 
portions of the site. The proposed action can be viewed as a 
continuation of impacts and can be evaluated based on the previous 
impacts from past operations.
    Airborne effluents released through stacks and liquid effluents 
released in the Congaree River are below and are anticipated to remain 
below regulatory limits for nonradiological and radiological 
contaminants. No significant impacts to air quality from radiological 
contaminants are anticipated because of the proposed action. The CFFF 
radiological gaseous emissions are within the 10 CFR part 20 limits. 
The levels of radioactive material in the discharged liquid effluent 
from CFFF are monitored and have historically remained below 10 CFR 
part 20 limits. Finally, doses to the general public have been a small 
fraction of the annual limit in 10 CFR 20.1301 and occupational 
exposures are also below the annual limit in 10 CFR 20.1201.

[[Page 28716]]

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    The NRC staff consulted with other agencies regarding the proposed 
action. These agencies include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(FWS), the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental 
Control (SCDHEC), the South Carolina Department of Archives and 
History, i.e. the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and the 
Catawba Indian Nation, i.e. the local Tribal Historic Preservation 
Office (THPO). These consultations were intended to ensure that the 
requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act 
and Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act were met and provided the 
designated state liaison agency the opportunity to comment on the 
proposed action.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff concludes that the renewal of license SNM-1107 
involving the continued operation of the CFFF site near Columbia will 
not result in a significant impact to the environment. The facility 
already exists, and no substantial changes to the facility or its 
operation are associated with the license renewal. The proposed action 
can be considered a continuation of impacts and was evaluated based on 
impacts from past operations. Gaseous emissions and liquid effluents 
are within regulatory limits for nonradiological and radiological 
components. Public and occupation radiological dose exposures are below 
10 CFR part 20 regulatory limits.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA, the NRC has concluded that there are no 
significant environmental impacts from the proposed action and has 
determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
renewal and supporting documentation, are available electronically at 
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide 
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for 
the documents related to this notice are:

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                Document                       ADAMS  accession No.
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License Renewal Application............  ML052990073
NRC Letter to THPO.....................  ML063120174
NRC Letter to SHPO.....................  ML063050373
NRC Letter to SCDHEC...................  ML063040417
NRC Letter to FWS......................  ML063060187
Request for Additional Information       ML062020156
 (RAI).
RAI Responses..........................  ML061880362/ML061460118
THPO letters to NRC....................  ML0634901270/ML070710156
SHPO letter to NRC.....................  ML070030536
SCDHEC letter to NRC...................  ML063610016
FWS letter to NRC......................  ML070050255
Environmental Assessment...............  ML070510647
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    If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by e-mail to [email protected].
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O-1F21, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 
contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of April 2007.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Gregory Suber,
Acting Chief, Environmental Review Branch, Division of Waste Management 
and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and 
Environmental Management Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-9846 Filed 5-21-07; 8:45 am]
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