[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 250 (Tuesday, December 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79936-79937]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30948]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-362]


Southern California Edison Company; San Onofre Nuclear Generating 
Station, Unit 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 74, Section 74.19(c), for Facility Operating 
License No. NPF-15, issued to Southern California Edison Company (SCE, 
the licensee), for operation of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating 
Station (SONGS), Unit 3, located in San Diego County, California. 
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 regulation 10 CFR 74.19(c) states, ``Other than licensees 
subject to Sections 74.31, 74.33, 74.41, or 74.51, each licensee who is 
authorized to possess special nuclear material, at any one time and 
site location, in a quantity greater than 350 grams of contained 
uranium-235, uranium-233, or plutonium, or any combination thereof, 
shall conduct a physical inventory of all special nuclear material in 
its possession under license at intervals not to exceed 12 months.''
    By application dated January 14, 2008, the licensee requested an 
exemption from certain recordkeeping requirements in Section 74.19(c) 
for SONGS Unit 3. The exemption would allow SCE to deviate from the 
physical inventory requirements for 12 irradiated fission chambers 
removed from SONGS 3 in 1995 and in storage at the plant.
    The Need for the Proposed Action:
    The proposed action would allow the licensee to not have to perform 
physical inventory of the 12 irradiated fission chambers that are 
stored in the plant.
    The licensee pointed out that the as low as is reasonably 
achievable (ALARA) requirement in 10 CFR Part 20, ``Standards for 
protection against radiation,'' requires ``* * * making every 
reasonable effort to maintain exposures to radiation as far below the 
dose limits in this part as is practical consistent with the purpose 
for which the licensed activity is undertaken, * * *.'' This request 
for an exemption from the physical inventory requirements of 10 CFR 
74.19(c) would relieve SCE of significant and unnecessary personnel 
exposures with no decrease in quality and safety.
    Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action:
    NRC completed its safety evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that the exempting the licensee from performing a physical 
inventory of the 12 irradiated fission chambers in the plant is 
acceptable.
    The details of the 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

[[Page 79937]]

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 
the SONGS Units 2 and 3 dated May 12, 1981.
    Agencies and Persons Consulted:
    In accordance with its stated policy, on October 22, 2008, the 
staff consulted with the California State official, Roger Lupo of the 
Radiologic Health Branch of the California Department of Public Health, 
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.
    The licensee requested that the application be withheld from public 
disclosure, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, because it contained 
sensitive security-related information. The NRC staff agrees that the 
licensee's application dated January 14, 2008, contains security-
related information and should be withheld in its entirety. Therefore, 
no further details with respect to the proposed action are publicly 
available.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of December 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Nageswaran Kalyanam,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8-30948 Filed 12-29-08; 8:45 am]
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