[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 122 (Friday, June 25, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36446-36447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-15441]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 52-011; NRC-2008-0252]


Southern Nuclear Operating Company et al.; Notice of Availability 
of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for 
License Amendment to Early Site Permit Issued to Southern Nuclear 
Operating Company et al., for Vogtle Electric Generating Plant ESP Site 
Located in Burke County, GA

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terri Spicher, Project Manager, AP1000 
Branch 1, Division of New Reactors Licensing, Office of New Reactors, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. 
Telephone: (301) 415-1670; fax number: (301) 415-6323; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of 
an amendment to Early Site Permit (ESP) No. ESP-004, issued to Southern 
Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) and several co-applicants (Georgia 
Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric 
Authority of Georgia, and the City of Dalton, Georgia), for the Vogtle 
Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) ESP site located in Burke County, 
Georgia. The proposed amendment would modify the Vogtle Electric 
Generating Plant ESP site safety analysis report (SSAR) to allow the 
use of Category 1 and 2 backfill obtained from onsite borrow areas not 
previously specifically identified in the VEGP ESP SSAR.
    NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of 
this amendment in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. 
Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant 
Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The NRC staff's review of the safety 
aspects of the amendment request will be documented in a separate 
safety evaluation report (SER); if warranted by the results of that 
evaluation, the amendment would be issued following the publication of 
this Notice.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of the proposed amendment is to authorize a change to 
the early site permit issued to SNC for the Vogtle Electric Generating 
Plant ESP site located in Burke County, Georgia. Specifically, the 
proposed amendment would modify the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant 
ESP SSAR to allow the use of Category 1 and 2 backfill obtained from 
onsite borrow areas that were not previously specified in the VEGP ESP 
SSAR.
    By letter dated May 13, 2010, the applicant requested that the NRC 
consider issuing a limited scope approval (LSA) of a subset of onsite 
locations pending the NRC determination on the remainder of the borrow 
sources identified in the LAR. The borrow sources encompassed by this 
limited scope approval are in areas for which impacts were previously 
analyzed in the environmental review documented in NUREG 1872, Vol. 1, 
Final Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at 
the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Site (ESP FEIS) (NRC 2008). Under 
10 CFR 51.21, ``Criteria for and Identification of Licensing and 
Regulatory Actions Requiring Environmental Assessments,'' the NRC 
prepared an EA that evaluated the impacts associated with the LSA and, 
based on that EA, reached a Finding of No Significant Impact. The LSA 
portion of the LAR was approved as Amendment No. 1 to ESP number ESP-
004 on May 21, 2010. By letter dated May 24, 2010, the applicant 
clarified the scope of the remainder of its April 20 LAR by limiting 
the request to three other specific portions of the

[[Page 36447]]

VEGP site (i.e., other than those already approved by Amendment 1) that 
would be used as additional onsite sources of Category 1 and Category 2 
backfill. The environmental impacts from disturbance of these borrow 
locations were not previously evaluated in the ESP FEIS or in the LSA 
EA; accordingly, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.45, the May 24, 2010 letter also 
included an environmental report (ER) assessing the impacts associated 
with the remaining portion of the revised LAR.
    The staff has prepared the EA in support of its review of the 
proposed license amendment. The EA evaluates the activities associated 
with acquiring backfill from those on-site areas specified in SNC's 
letter of May 24, 2010 and summarizes the radiological and 
nonradiological environmental impacts that may result from granting the 
amendment request. The staff has determined that granting the proposed 
amendment would not result in significant nonradiological impacts to 
land use, surface and groundwater resources, terrestrial and aquatic 
resources, threatened and endangered species, socioeconomic factors and 
environmental justice, cultural and historical resources, air quality, 
and nonradiological human health. In addition, the staff has determined 
that there are no significant radiological health impacts associated 
with the proposed action.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA, the NRC has concluded that there are no 
significant environmental impacts from the proposed amendment and has 
determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at 
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System 
(ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents, 
may be accessed from this site. The ADAMS accession numbers for the 
documents related to this notice are: The application dated April 20, 
2010, as supplemented by letters dated April 23, 28, May 5, 10, 13, 20, 
and 24 2010 is available at ML101120089, ML101160531, ML101230337, 
ML101270283, ML101330141, ML101340649, ML101440385, and ML101470212 
respectively. The EA and Finding of No Significant Impact evaluation is 
available at ML101670592. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or 
who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS 
should contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff by 
telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), O 1 F21, One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 21st day of June, 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Terri Spicher,
Project Manager, AP1000 Branch1, Division of New Reactors Licensing, 
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2010-15441 Filed 6-24-10; 8:45 am]
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