[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 178 (Friday, September 14, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52585-52586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-18141]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. STN 50-456 and STN 50-457]


Exelon Generation Company, LLC, Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 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 50, section 46, and Appendix K to section 50, 
for Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-72 and NPF-77, issued to Exelon 
Generation Company, LLC (the licensee), for operation of the Braidwood 
Station (Braidwood), Units 1 and 2 located in Will County, Illinois. 
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 allow the use of AREVA NP Inc. (AREVA) 
modified Advanced Mark-BW fuel assemblies.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated September 26, 2006, as supplemented by letter dated 
August 8, 2007.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would allow up to eight AREVA modified Advanced 
Mark-BW fuel assemblies to be placed in nonlimiting Braidwood, Unit 1 
core locations. Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, ``Specific Exemptions,'' the 
licensee has requested an exemption to 10 CFR 50.46, ``acceptance 
criteria for emergency core cooling systems for light-water nuclear 
power reactors,'' that requires, among other items, that ``each boiling 
or pressurized light-water nuclear power reactor fueled with uranium 
oxide pellets within cylindrical zircaloy or ZIRLO cladding, must be 
provided with an emergency core cooling system (ECCS) that must be 
designed so that its calculated cooling performance following 
postulated loss-of-coolant accidents conforms to the criteria set forth 
in paragraph (b) of this section.'' Appendix K to 10 CFR Part 50, 
``ECCS Evaluation Models,'' requires, among other items, that the rate 
of energy release, hydrogen generation, and cladding oxidation from the 
metal/water reaction shall be calculated using the Baker-Just equation. 
The regulation at 10 CFR 50.46 and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, make no 
provisions for use of fuel rods clad in a material other than zircaloy 
or ZIRLO. The licensee will irradiate eight assemblies using fuel rods 
clad with AREVA's M5 alloy in Braidwood, Unit 1. Since the material 
specifications of the M5 alloy differ from the specification for 
zircaloy or ZIRLO, a plant-specific exemption is required to support 
the use of the eight assemblies.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its safety evaluation of the proposed action 
and concludes that application of 10 CFR 50.46, and Appendix K to 10 
CFR 50, is not necessary for the licensee to achieve its underlying 
purposes.
    The details of the NRC 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

    The action does not involve the use of any different resources than 
those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for 
Braidwoood NUREG-1026, dated June 1984.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on August 29, 2007, the NRC 
staff consulted with the Illinois State official, Mr. Frank Niziolek of 
the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, 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 September 26, 2006, as supplemented by letter 
dated August 8, 2007. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a 
fee, at the NRC's

[[Page 52586]]

Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public 
File Area O1F21, 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 10th day of September, 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert F. Kuntz,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III-2. Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing. Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E7-18141 Filed 9-13-07; 8:45 am]
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