[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 216 (Tuesday, November 10, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58063-58064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27057]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0491; Docket No. 50-315]


Indiana Michigan Power Company, Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, 
Unit 1; 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, Sec.  26.205(d)(4) [10 CFR 2.205(d)(4)], 
for Facility Operating License No. DPR-58, issued to Indiana Michigan 
Power Company (the licensee), for operation of the Donald C. Cook 
Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 (CNP-1), located in Berrien County. 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 is a one-time scheduler exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 26.205(d)(4). Under routine work conditions, 
licensees shall ensure that work hour schedules for certain individuals 
meet the requirements as specified in 10 CFR 26.205(d)(3). The 
regulations permit licensees to use less restrictive work hour limits 
as specified in 10 CFR 26.205(d)(4) during the first 60 days of a unit 
outage. The proposed exemption would allow the less restrictive working 
hour limitations during a 60-day period that will encompass restart of 
CNP-1 from its current extended outage and would apply only to 
operations and maintenance personnel. Because CNP-1 entered its current 
outage in September 2008 and the first sixty days of the outage have 
elapsed, the less restrictive work hours of 10 CFR 26.205(d)(4) to 
support unit restart would not apply absent the exemption. The NRC is 
authorized to grant the exemption pursuant to 10 CFR 26.9.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's request 
dated September 18, 2009 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML092680722), as supplemented by letter 
dated October 15, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML092990410).

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is requested to support restart activities for 
CNP-1 from the current extended forced outage which began on September 
20, 2008, as a result of a main turbine failure. Operations and 
maintenance personnel are subject to the new working hour limitations 
specified in 10 CFR part 26, subpart I, implemented by the licensee on 
October 1, 2009. Since CNP-1 has been in its current outage for over 
one year, the less restrictive work hour requirements of 10 CFR 
26.205(d)(4) would not be available to accommodate the increased 
workload associated with restart of CNP-1, as those requirements are 
only available for the first 60 days of a unit outage.
    The licensee has requested a one-time scheduler exemption to allow 
use of the work hour limitations specified in 10 CFR 26.205(d)(4) to 
support restart activities from the current CNP-1 extended outage.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and 
concludes that there are no environmental impacts associated with the 
proposed exemption. 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 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 also no 
known socioeconomic or environmental justice impacts associated with 
such 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.

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. Therefore, 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 
related to operation of the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 
2, dated August 1973, and the Generic Environmental Impact Statement 
for License Renewal of the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 
(NUREG-1437, Supplement 20), dated May 2005.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On October 19, 2009, the staff consulted with the Michigan State 
official, Mr. Ken Yale, of the Michigan Department of Environmental 
Quality, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The 
State official had no comments.

[[Page 58064]]

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 18, 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 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 4th day of November 2009.

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Terry A. Beltz,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III-1, Division of 
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9-27057 Filed 11-9-09; 8:45 am]
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