[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 6 (Monday, January 10, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1469-1470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-216]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-317 and 50-318; NRC-2011-0004]


Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, LLC; Calvert Cliffs Nuclear 
Power Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of 
an exemption from Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 
50.46 and 10 CFR part 50, appendix K, for Facility Operating License 
Nos. DPR-53 and DPR-69, issued to Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, 
LLC, the licensee, for operation of the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power 
Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 (Calvert Cliffs), located in Calvert County, 
Maryland. 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 would provide an exemption from the 
requirements of: (1) 10 CFR 50.46, ``Acceptance criteria for emergency 
core cooling systems for light-water nuclear power reactors,'' which 
requires that the calculated emergency core cooling system (ECCS) 
performance for reactors with zircaloy or ZIRLO fuel cladding meet 
certain criteria, and (2) 10 CFR part 50, appendix K, ``ECCS Evaluation 
Models,'' which presumes the use of zircaloy or ZIRLO fuel cladding 
when doing calculations for energy release, cladding oxidation, and 
hydrogen generation after a postulated loss-of coolant-accident.
    The proposed action would allow the licensee to use M5, an advanced 
alloy fuel cladding material for pressurized-water reactors (PWRs), in 
lieu of zircaloy or ZIRLO, the materials assumed to be used in the 
cited regulations, at Calvert Cliffs. The proposed action is in 
accordance with the licensee's application dated November 23, 2009 
(Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. 
ML093350189).

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 50.46 and 10 CFR part 50, 
appendix K require the demonstration of adequate ECCS performance for 
light-water reactors that contain fuel consisting of uranium oxide 
pellets enclosed in zircaloy or ZIRLO tubes. Each of these regulations, 
either

[[Page 1470]]

implicitly or explicitly, assumes that either zircaloy or ZIRLO is used 
as the fuel rod cladding material.
    In order to accommodate the high fuel rod burnups that are required 
for modern fuel management and core designs, Framatome developed the M5 
advanced fuel rod cladding material. M5 is an alloy comprised primarily 
of zirconium (~99 percent) and niobium (~1 percent) that has 
demonstrated superior corrosion resistance and reduced irradiation-
induced growth relative to both standard and low-tin zircaloy. However, 
since the chemical composition of the M5 advanced alloy differs from 
the specifications of either zircaloy or ZIRLO, use of the M5 advanced 
alloy falls outside of the strict interpretation of these regulations. 
Therefore, approval of this exemption request is needed to permit the 
use of the M5 advanced alloy as a fuel rod cladding material at Calvert 
Cliffs.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its environmental assessment of the proposal 
to use M5 advanced alloy for fuel rod cladding at Calvert Cliffs and 
has concluded that the proposed exemption will not present any undue 
risk to public health and safety. The underlying purposes of 10 CFR 
50.46 and 10 CFR part 50, appendix K, are to ensure that facilities 
have adequate acceptance criteria for the ECCS, and to ensure that 
cladding oxidation and hydrogen generation are appropriately limited 
during a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) and conservatively accounted 
for in the ECCS evaluation model, respectively. Topical Report (TR) 
BAW-10227P, ``Evaluation of Advanced Cladding and Structural Material 
(M5) in PWR Reactor Fuel,'' which was approved by the NRC on February 
4, 2000, demonstrated that the effectiveness of the ECCS will not be 
affected by a change from zircaloy to M5. In addition, TR BAW-10227P 
demonstrated that the Baker-Just equation (used in the ECCS evaluation 
model to determine the rate of energy release, cladding oxidation, and 
hydrogen generation) is conservative in all post-LOCA scenarios with 
respect to M5 advanced alloy as a fuel rod cladding material or in 
other assembly structural components. The licensee will use NRC-
approved methods for the reload design process for Calvert Cliffs 
reloads with M5. 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, if granted.
    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.
    The proposed action does not result in changes to land use or water 
use, or result in changes to the quality or quantity of non-
radiological effluents. No changes to the National Pollution Discharge 
Elimination System permit are needed. No effects on the aquatic or 
terrestrial habitat in the vicinity of the plant, or to threatened, 
endangered, or protected species under the Endangered Species Act, or 
impacts to essential fish habitat covered by the Magnuson-Stevens Act 
are expected. There are no impacts to the air or ambient air quality. 
There are no impacts to historical and cultural resources. There would 
be no noticeable effect on socioeconomic conditions in the region. 
Therefore, no changes or different types of non-radiological 
environmental impacts are expected as a result of 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 
Calvert Cliffs dated April 1973, and the Generic Environmental Impact 
Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Calvert Cliffs Nuclear 
Power Plant (NUREG-1437, Supplement 1), dated October 1999.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on November 29, 2010, the 
staff consulted with the Maryland State official, Susan Gray of the 
Maryland Department of Natural Resources, 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 November 23, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML093350189). 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 3rd day of January 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Douglas V. Pickett,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I-1, Division of 
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-216 Filed 1-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P