[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 113 (Monday, June 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34273-34276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-14559]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-7018; NRC-2008-0369]


Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for 
Special Nuclear Material License Application From Tennessee Valley 
Authority for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 2, Spring City, TN

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Publication of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary T. Adams, Senior Environmental 
Engineer, Advanced Fuel Cycle, Enrichment, and Uranium Conversion 
Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: 301-492-3113; Fax number: 301-492-
3359; E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of a license to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), to authorize 
the receipt, possession, inspection, and storage of special nuclear 
material (SNM) in the form of 193 fresh fuel assemblies at TVA's Watts 
Bar site in Spring City, TN. This license would be subject to the 
requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
part 70. TVA plans to use this SNM in operating its proposed Watts Bar 
Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 (WBN2). TVA's request for authorization to 
operate WBN2 is the subject of a separate 10 CFR part 50 licensing 
action being evaluated by the NRC. TVA's existing reactor at the Watts 
Bar site, Unit 1 (WBN1), has operated since 1996.
    The NRC has prepared an environmental assessment (EA), set forth 
below, in support of the SNM storage license, in accordance with 10 CFR 
part 51 (Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing 
and Related Regulatory Functions), which implements section 102(2) of 
the National Environmental Policy Act

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(NEPA) of 1969, as amended 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq. Based on the EA, the 
NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is 
appropriate regarding issuance of the SNM license.

II. Background

    NEPA requires a Federal agency to prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) for any major federal action having the potential to 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Consistent 
with their responsibilities as Federal agencies under NEPA, both TVA 
and NRC previously prepared EISs regarding the operation of Units 1 and 
2 at the Watts Bar Nuclear site. Some of the relevant history in this 
regard is briefly summarized below.
    In 1978, the NRC published NUREG-0498, Final Environmental 
Statement Related to the Operation of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit No. 
1 and 2 (FES-OL). After safety issues were raised, TVA decided not to 
pursue its WBN reactor licenses for several years. Regarding operation 
of Unit 1, NRC prepared Supplement 1 to NUREG-0498 in April 1995 
(ML081430592), to evaluate changes in environmental impacts that 
occurred as a result of changes made in the WBN Plant design and 
methods of operations after the 1978 FES-OL.
    The TVA Final Supplemental EIS for Unit 2 was issued in June 2007 
(ML080510469). The related Record of Decision by the TVA Board of 
Directors was published in the Federal Register on August 15, 2007 (72 
FR 45859), and the 2007 EIS was submitted to the NRC on February 15, 
2008. Table 2-1 of the 2007 EIS provides a TVA summary of the potential 
environmental effects of operating WBN2.
    On March 4, 2009, pursuant to 10 CFR part 50, TVA submitted an 
updated application to the NRC for a power reactor operating license 
(OL) for WBN2 (ML090700378). The TVA Final Safety Analysis Report 
(FSAR) supporting the WBN2 OL request was submitted to the NRC on April 
30, 2009 (ML091400067).
    On September 11, 2009 (74 FR at 46799), the NRC published a notice 
of intent to prepare a second supplement to NUREG-0498--the NRC EIS for 
WBN that was issued in 1978 and supplemented in 1995. NRC anticipates 
that the draft of this second supplement will be published for public 
comment in mid-2011. The scope of the EA below is limited to assessing 
the potential impacts of the receipt, possession, inspection, and 
storage of fresh reactor fuel at the Watts Bar site that would be used 
to operate WBN2 if such authorization is later granted. The EA's scope 
does not include completion of construction, or operation, of WBN2.

III. Environmental Assessment

    Pursuant to 10 CFR part 70, Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear 
Material, TVA applied for an SNM license by application dated November 
12, 2009 (ML100120487). The license would authorize TVA to receive, 
possess, inspect, and store SNM (in the form of 193 fully-assembled 
fresh fuel assemblies) for potential future use in its proposed WBN2 
reactor.

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is to issue TVA a 10 CFR part 70 license 
authorizing it to receive, possess, inspect, and store SNM in the form 
of 193 fully-assembled fuel assemblies that would later form the 
initial reactor core of WBN 2. The SNM in the fuel assemblies would be 
enriched up to 5% in the isotope U-235. The fresh fuel assemblies for 
WBN2 would be received and stored in areas common to WBN1 and WBN2. 
Specifically, these assemblies would be stored either in the WBN1 
storage racks within the WBN1 fuel storage vault, or in the WBN1 spent 
fuel pool. TVA requested that its SNM license term last until June 30, 
2013, or until it receives an OL for WBN2. The safety and environmental 
reviews for the proposed WBN2 OL are not part of the proposed action 
evaluated in this EA.

Need for the Proposed Action

    TVA anticipates receiving the initial core of WBN 2 before NRC 
would issue the OL for the Unit 2 reactor. TVA needs this SNM license 
to authorize WBN 2 to receive, possess, inspect, and store the fresh 
fuel during the time period before the OL is issued. If an OL is 
issued, the OL would authorize use of the fresh fuel as well as the 
receipt, possession, storage, and use of additional fresh fuel that 
would be needed for operating WBN2. Thus, a separate Part 70 license 
would no longer be required and would be terminated.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    TVA needs this SNM license to authorize WBN2 to receive, possess, 
inspect, and store the fresh fuel assemblies during the time period 
before the issuance of any WBN2 OL. An alternative to the proposed 
action is for NRC not to issue the SNM license. In that case, TVA would 
be unable to receive the fresh fuel for the initial WBN2 reactor core, 
causing a start-up delay if the OL for WBN2 were later granted.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action and Alternatives

    Section 1.3 of the November 12, 2009, SNM license application 
describes the affected environment, including site geography, 
demographics, meteorology, hydrology, and geology. The proposed 
activity is limited to the receipt, possession, inspection, and storage 
of SNM in the form of 193 fuel assemblies, and would have no 
significant impact on any of these site features. Issuance of a license 
to receive, possess, inspect, and store SNM in the form of 193 fresh 
fuel assemblies at the Watts Bar site is thus not expected to have any 
significant impact on the environment. Table 2-1 in TVA's 2007 EIS 
provides a summary of the potential environmental effects of operating 
WBN2. TVA's EIS considers the impacts of WBN2 operation, including 
surface water quality; groundwater quality; aquatic ecology; 
terrestrial quality; threatened and endangered species; wetlands; 
natural areas; cultural resources; socioeconomics, environmental 
justice, and land use; floodplains and flood risk; seismic effects; 
climatology and meteorology; nuclear plant safety and security; 
radiological effects; radiological waste; and spent fuel transportation 
and storage. The impacts of the activities that would be authorized by 
the SNM license are a very small part of the overall impacts of the 
operation of WBN2.
    As discussed above, the fresh fuel would be received and stored in 
an existing auxiliary building containing a storage vault and a spent 
fuel pool where WBN1 fuel is currently stored. The uranium in fresh 
fuel decays primarily by alpha emission; alpha particles cannot escape 
the fuel cladding, so there are no worker exposures or environmental 
effluents from the alpha decay. Uranium also decays by spontaneous 
fission at a very low rate, thereby generating neutrons that escape the 
cladding and would result in an extremely low dose to an individual 
standing close to the fuel. Although fresh fuel emits neutrons, the 
neutrons do not become environmental effluents. There will be no change 
to radioactive effluents that affect radiation exposures to plant 
workers and members of the public because the WBN2 fuel is in the form 
of sealed fuel rods in finished assemblies.
    Part 20 of 10 CFR establishes standards for the protection of 
workers and members of the public against ionizing radiation resulting 
from activities conducted under licenses issued by the NRC. Under part 
20, the

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annual total effective dose equivalent must not exceed 1 mSv [0.1 rem] 
(100 mrem/1 mSv) for members of the public. The effluent limits in 10 
CFR part 20, Appendix B, ensure that the effluent discharges are kept 
within the annual part 20 dose limits. In addition to meeting the 
annual dose limits, an NRC licensee is required to have a program with 
the goal of achieving doses that are as low as reasonably achievable 
(ALARA). The worker protection and environmental protection programs 
that are currently used for the receipt and storage of WBN1 fuel would 
also be used for the receipt and storage of WBN2 fuel, and will ensure 
that there would be no significant exposure to workers and members of 
the public under the proposed action. Thus, the proposed action is not 
expected to have a significant environmental impact.
    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 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act are expected from the receipt 
and storage of fresh fuel at WBN2. There are no impacts to the air or 
ambient air quality. There are no impacts to historical and cultural 
resources. There would be no impact to socioeconomic resources.
    Section 3.16 of TVA's 2007 EIS quantifies the impacts of 
transportation of fresh fuel, enriched to 5% in the U-235 isotope. 
Transport of the 193 fresh fuel assemblies from a fuel fabrication 
facility would require approximately 20 truck trips. Un-irradiated new 
fuel assemblies will be shipped in packages that comply with the 
regulations in 10 CFR 71, Subpart E, Package Approval Standards. The 
only human exposure from the shipment of fresh fuel assemblies would be 
to those in direct view of the unpackaged assemblies and to assigned 
truck drivers. The exposure in the cab of a fuel transport truck was 
estimated to be 0.1 millirem per hour from neutrons, and exposure to 
transportation personnel was estimated to be less than 1 millirem per 
shipment. This level would not cause any significant health effects.
    If WBN2 is licensed to operate, TVA would comply with all NRC, 
State, and Federal requirements for the transport of un-irradiated 
fuel, as it currently does for fuel deliveries to WBN1. Therefore, 
based on the above, the NRC finds that the impacts of WBN2 fresh fuel 
transport and delivery on human health and the environment would be 
minimal.
    An alternative to the proposed action is for NRC not to issue the 
SNM license. In that case, TVA would be unable to receive, possess, and 
store the fresh fuel until and unless NRC issues the OL for WBN2 under 
10 CFR part 50, which would authorize these activities. Denial of the 
SNM application would result in no change in current environmental 
impacts.

Fuel Handling Accident Analyses

    The November 12, 2009, SNM license application includes analyses of 
three dropped fuel assembly accident scenarios and one dropped gate 
scenario. These analyses are part of the TVA FSAR (Section 9.0, 
Auxiliary Systems; 9.1, Fuel Storage and Handling; 9.1.1, New Fuel 
Storage; Section 9.1 9.1.1.3, Safety Evaluation) supporting its part 50 
application for a WBN2 OL (ML091400648), which TVA incorporated by 
reference in its SNM license application. Therein, TVA described the 
fresh fuel storage conditions and concluded that a criticality accident 
during receipt, inspection, possession, and storage is not credible. 
TVA determined, and NRC review confirmed, that there would be no 
significant environmental impacts from these accident scenarios. The 
radiation safety, criticality safety, and fire safety aspects of the 
proposed activities are evaluated in chapters 3, 4, and 5, 
respectively, of the Safety Evaluation Report supporting issuance of 
the SNM license.
    The NRC staff concluded that the proposed action to authorize WBN2 
to receive, possess, inspect, and store fresh fuel under 10 CFR, part 
70 would not significantly affect the environment.

Alternative Use of Resources

    The proposed action does not involve the use of any different 
resources than those considered in the NRC's Final Environmental 
Statement for the WBN1 and WBN2, NUREG-0498, dated December 1978, and 
the NRC's supplement to the Final Environmental Statement (NUREG-0498 
Supplement 1), dated April 1995 (ML081430592).

List of Agencies and Persons Consulted and Identification of Sources 
Used

    In accordance with Consultation Procedures in Appendix D of NUREG-
1748, Environmental Review Guidance for Licensing Actions Associated 
with NMSS Programs, August 2003, on September 30, 2010, the NRC staff 
consulted with Ruben Crosslin of the Tennessee Bureau of Radiological 
Health, regarding this EA. The State official had no comments on the 
draft EA.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC reviewed the documents submitted by TVA in support of its 
Part 70 license application for the WBN2 facility--including those 
incorporated by reference from its part 50 operating license 
application for the WBN2 facility--and found no significant 
environmental impacts from the proposed fresh fuel assembly storage and 
handling. On the basis of this EA, 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 EIS 
for the proposed action.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
license and supporting documentation, are available electronically at 
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide 
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for 
the documents related to this Notice are:
    TVA Application for a Special Nuclear Material License for Watts 
Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 in Accordance with 10 CFR part 70, ``Domestic 
Licensing of Special Nuclear Material,'' dated November 12, 2009 
(ML100120487).
    TVA Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN)--Unit 2--Final Safety Analysis 
Report (FSAR), Amendment 93, dated April 30, 2009 (ML091400067).
    TVA Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN)--Unit 2--Final Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Completion and Operation of 
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2, dated June 2007 (ML080510469).
    NRC Generic Environmental Impact Statement, License Renewal of 
Nuclear Plants, Main Report, Section 6.3--Transportation, Table 9.1 
Summary of findings on NEPA issues for license renewal of nuclear power 
plants NUREG-1437, Volume 1, Addendum 1, dated August 1999 
(ML040690720).
    NRC Final Environmental Statement related to the operation of Watts 
Bar Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2, dated April 1995 (ML081430592).

    If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact

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the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff 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 PDR, O1F21, 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 7th day of June, 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert K. Johnson,
Chief Fuel Manufacturing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
[FR Doc. 2011-14559 Filed 6-10-11; 8:45 am]
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