[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 176 (Monday, September 14, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47030-47031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-21974]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-298; NRC-2009-0398]
Nebraska Public Power District: Cooper Nuclear Station;
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), paragraph 50.54(o), and 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix
J, Option B, Sections III.A and III.B, for Facility Operating License
No. DPR-46, issued to Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD, the
licensee), for operation of the Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS), located
in Nemaha County, Nebraska. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the
NRC performed an environmental assessment. Based on the results of the
environmental assessment, the NRC is issuing a finding of no
significant impact.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would permit exclusion of the main steam (MS)
pathway leakage contribution (1) from the overall integrated leakage
rate Type A test measurement required by Appendix J, Option B, Section
III.A, and (2) from the sum of the leakage rates from Type B and Type C
test measurements required by Appendix J, Option B, Section III.B.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application dated October 13, 2008, as supplemented by letters dated
April 8, May 29, June 12, and September 1, 2009. The licensee's
application included a corresponding license amendment request, which
has been evaluated by the NRC staff separately from the exemption
request.
The Need for the Proposed Action
Paragraph 50.54(o) of 10 CFR Part 50 requires that primary reactor
containments for water-cooled power reactors be subject to the
requirements of Appendix J to 10 CFR Part 50. Appendix J specifies the
leakage test requirements, schedules, and acceptance criteria for tests
of the leak-tight integrity of the primary reactor containment, and of
systems and components which penetrate the containment. Option B,
Section III.A requires that the overall integrated leak rate not exceed
the allowable leakage (La) with margin, as specified in the Technical
Specifications (TSs). The overall integrated leak rate, as specified in
the 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix J definitions, includes the contribution
from MS pathway leakage. The MS pathway includes the leakage from the
four MS line penetrations plus the leakage from the MS inboard drain
line. By letter dated October 30, 2006, and corresponding License
Amendment No. 226, dated October 31, 2006, the NRC previously granted
the licensee an exemption for the four MS line penetrations from the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(o) and 10 CFR 50, Appendix J, Option B,
Sections III.A and III.B. By letter dated October 13, 2008, the
licensee has requested an exemption from Option B, Section III.A,
requirements to permit exclusion of the entire MS pathway leakage (the
MS line penetrations and the MS inboard drain line leakage) from the
overall integrated leak rate test measurement. Option B, Section III.B
of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix J, requires that the sum of the leakage
rates of Type B and Type C local leak rate tests be less than the
performance criterion (La) with margin, as specified in the TSs. The
licensee's letter also requests an exemption from this requirement, to
permit exclusion of the MS pathway contribution to the sum of the Type
B and Type C test measurements.
The above-cited requirements of Appendix J require that MS pathway
leakage measurements be grouped with the leakage measurements of other
containment penetrations when containment leakage tests are performed.
These requirements are inconsistent with the design of the CNS and the
analytical models used to calculate the radiological consequences of
design-basis accidents. At CNS, and similar facilities, the leakage
from primary containment penetrations, under accident conditions, is
collected and treated by the secondary containment system, or would
bypass the secondary containment. However, the leakage from the MS
pathway is collected and treated via an Alternative Leakage Treatment
(ALT) path having different mitigation characteristics. In performing
accident analyses, it is appropriate to group various leakage effluents
according to the treatment they receive before being released to the
environment (i.e., bypass leakage is grouped, leakage into secondary
containment is grouped, and ALT leakage is grouped), with specific
limits for each group defined in the TSs. The proposed exemption would
permit ALT path leakage to be independently grouped with its unique
leakage limits.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that the environmental impacts would not be significant.
The details of the staff's safety evaluation will be provided in
the exemption and corresponding license amendment that will be issued
as part of the letters to the licensee approving the exemption to the
regulation and the license amendment.
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 offsite. There is no significant
increase in the amount of any effluent released offsite. 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 any foreseeable impacts to land, air, or water
resources, including impacts to biota. In addition, there are no known
socioeconomic or environmental justice impacts associated with the
proposed action. 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.
[[Page 47031]]
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 Cooper Nuclear Station dated February 1973.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
In accordance with its stated policy, on March 30, 2009, the staff
consulted with the Nebraska State official, Ms. Julia Schmitt of the
Office of Radiological 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.
For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the
licensee's letter dated October 13, 2008, as supplemented by letters
dated April 8, May 29, June 12, and September 1, 2009. 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 O1 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 2nd day of September 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Carl F. Lyon,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9-21974 Filed 9-11-09; 8:45 am]
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