[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 61 (Friday, March 28, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16729-16731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-6388]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-289]
Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1; Notice of Intent To
Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process
AmerGen Energy Company, LLC (AmerGen) has submitted an application
for renewal of Facility Operating License No. DPR-50 for an additional
20 years of operation at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1
(TMI-1). TMI-1 is located in Londonderry Township in Dauphin County,
Pennsylvania, on the northern end of Three Mile Island near the eastern
shore of the Susquehanna River.
The operating license for TMI-1 expires on April 19, 2014. The
application for renewal, dated January 8, 2008, was submitted pursuant
to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 54. A
notice of receipt and availability of the application, which included
the environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on
January 31, 2008 (73 FR 5877). A notice of acceptance for docketing of
the application for renewal of the facility operating license was
published in the Federal Register on March 14, 2008 (73 FR 13923). The
purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be preparing an environmental impact
statement (EIS) related to the review of the license renewal
application and to provide the public an opportunity to participate in
the environmental scoping process, as defined in 10 CFR 51.29. In
addition, as outlined in 36 CFR 800.8, ``Coordination with the National
Environmental Policy Act,'' the NRC plans to coordinate compliance with
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act in meeting the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, AmerGen
submitted the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared
pursuant to 10 CFR part 51 and is publicly available at the NRC Public
Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the NRC's Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (ADAMS). The ADAMS Public Electronic
Reading Room is accessible at http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The Accession Numbers for the ER are ML080220255,
ML080220257, ML080220261, and ML080220282. Persons who do not have
access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents
located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC's PDR Reference staff by
telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at
[email protected]. The ER may also be viewed on the Internet at www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/three-mile-island.html. In addition, the ER is available for public inspection
near TMI-1 at the following three locations: Londonderry Township
Municipal Building, 783 South Geyers Church Road, Middletown, PA 17057;
Middletown Public Library, 20 North Catherine Street, Middletown, PA
17057; and Penn State Harrisburg Library, 351 Olmsted Drive,
Middletown, PA 17057.
This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the
information necessary to prepare a plant-specific supplement to the
Commission's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' (NUREG-1437) related to the review
of the application for renewal of the TMI-1 operating license for an
additional 20 years. Possible
[[Page 16730]]
alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action
and reasonable alternative energy sources. The NRC is required by 10
CFR 51.95 to prepare a supplement to the GEIS in connection with the
renewal of an operating license. This notice is being published in
accordance with NEPA and the NRC's regulations found in 10 CFR part 51.
The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the supplement to
the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft
supplement to the GEIS for public comment. Participation in the scoping
process by members of the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal
government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the
supplement to the GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:
a. Define the proposed action which is to be the subject of the
supplement to the GEIS.
b. Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify
the significant issues to be analyzed in depth.
c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are
peripheral or that are not significant.
d. Identify any environmental assessments and other EISs that are
being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of, the
scope of the supplement to the GEIS being considered.
e. Identify other environmental review and consultation
requirements related to the proposed action.
f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation
of the environmental analyses and the Commission's tentative planning
and decision-making schedule.
g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate
assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the supplement
to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies.
h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared, and
include any contractor assistance to be used.
The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
a. The applicant, AmerGen Energy Company, LLC.
b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved, or that is
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards.
c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards.
d. Any affected Indian tribe.
e. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to
participate in the scoping process.
f. Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave
to intervene.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26, the scoping process for an EIS may
include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant issues
related to a proposed activity and to determine the scope of issues to
be addressed in an EIS. The NRC has decided to hold public meetings for
the TMI-1 license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings
will be held on Thursday, May 1, 2008; there will be two sessions at
two different locations to accommodate interested parties. The first
session will be held at The Elks Theatre, 4 West Emaus Street,
Middletown, PA 17057, and will convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue
until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session will be held at
Londonderry Elementary School, 260 Schoolhouse Road, Middletown, PA
17057, and will convene at 7 p.m. with a repeat of the overview
portions of the afternoon meeting and will continue until 10 p.m., as
necessary. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) An
overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review process, the
proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review
schedule; and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies,
organizations, and individuals to submit comments or suggestions on the
environmental issues or the proposed scope of the supplement to the
GEIS. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one
hour prior to the start of each session at the same location. No formal
comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS will be
accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments
must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in
writing, as discussed below. Persons may register to attend or present
oral comments at the meetings on the scope of the NEPA review by
contacting the NRC License Renewal Project Manager, Ms. Sarah Lopas, by
telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1147, or by e-mail to the NRC at
[email protected] no later than April 24, 2008. Members of the public may
also register to speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of
each session. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time
available, depending on the number of persons who register. Members of
the public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to
speak, if time permits. Public comments will be considered in the
scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS. Ms. Lopas will need to
be contacted no later than April 24, 2008, if special equipment or
accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the
public meeting, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request
can be accommodated.
Members of the public may send written comments on the
environmental scope of the TMI-1 license renewal review to: Chief,
Rulemaking, Directives and Editing Branch, Division of Administrative
Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the
publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice.
Comments may also be delivered to the NRC, Room T-6D59, Two White Flint
North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, from 7:30 a.m.
to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. To be considered in the scoping
process, written comments should be postmarked by May 30, 2008.
Electronic comments may be sent by e-mail to the NRC at
[email protected], and should be sent no later than May 30,
2008, to be considered in the scoping process. Comments will be
available electronically and accessible through ADAMS at http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm.
Participation in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS
does not entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to
which the supplement to the GEIS relates. Notice of opportunity for a
hearing regarding the renewal application was the subject of the
aforementioned Federal Register notice (73 FR 13923). Matters related
to participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be
discussed at this public meeting.
At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a
concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached, including
the significant issues identified, and will send a copy of the summary
to each participant in the scoping process. The summary will also be
available for inspection in ADAMS at http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the
draft supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of separate
notices and separate public meetings. Copies will be available for
public inspection at the above-mentioned addresses, and one copy per
request will be provided free of charge. After receipt and
consideration of the comments, the NRC will prepare a final
[[Page 16731]]
supplement to the GEIS, which will also be available for public
inspection.
Information about the proposed action, the supplement to the GEIS,
and the scoping process may be obtained from Ms. Lopas at the
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of March 2008.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo,
Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8-6388 Filed 3-27-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P