[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 231 (Thursday, December 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74832-74834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30901]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-247 and 50-286; NRC-2011-0278]


Entergy Nuclear Indian Point Unit 2, LLC; Entergy Nuclear Indian 
Point Unit 3, LLC; Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Indian Point 
Nuclear Generating Units Nos. 2 and 3; Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of an exemption from the requirements of Title 10 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, Appendix R, ``Fire Protection 
Program for Nuclear Power Facilities Operating Prior to January 1, 
1979,'' for Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-26 and DPR-64 issued to 
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy or the licensee), for 
operation of the Indian

[[Page 74833]]

Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3 (IP2 and IP3) located in 
Westchester County, NY. 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

    Entergy proposed that the NRC grant exemptions to certain NRC 
requirements pertaining to the NRC Fire Regulations. The proposed 
action is detailed in the licensee's applications dated March 6, 2009, 
as supplemented by letters dated October 1, 2009, May 4, 2010, 
September 29, 2010, January 19, 2011, February 10, 2011, and May 26, 
2011. The licensee's applications and supplemental submissions are 
accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) with Accession Nos. ML090770151, ML090760993, 
ML092810230, ML092810231, ML101320230, ML101320263, ML102930237, 
ML102930234, ML110310013, ML110310242, ML110540321, ML110540322, 
ML11158A196, and ML11158A197.
    Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2006-10, ``Regulatory Expectations 
With Appendix R Paragraph III.G.2 Operator Manual Actions,'' documents 
the NRC position on the use of operator manual actions (OMAs) as part 
of a compliance strategy to meet the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, 
Appendix R, Section III.G.2. The NRC requires plants which credit 
manual actions for 10 CFR part 50, Appendix R, Section III.G.2 
compliance to obtain NRC approval for the manual actions using the 
exemption process in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 50.12. 
In response, the licensee proposed this licensing action which would 
exempt IP2 and IP3 from certain requirements of 10 CFR part 50, 
Appendix R, Section III.G.2.
    Entergy proposed a number of OMAs in lieu of one of the means 
specified in Section III.G.2 to ensure a train of equipment used for 
hot shutdown is available when redundant trains are in the same fire 
area. Therefore, Entergy requested exemptions from the requirements of 
10 CFR 50, Appendix R, Paragraph III.G.2 for IP2 and IP3 to the extent 
that OMAs are necessary to achieve and maintain hot shutdown for fire 
areas in which both trains of safe-shutdown cables or equipment are 
located in the same fire area. The fire areas involved are Fire Areas 
C, F, H, J, K, P, and YD for IP2 and Fire Areas AFW-6, PAB-2, ETN-4, 
TBL-5, and YARD-7 for IP3.
    Tables 2 through 8 for IP2 and Tables 2 through 9 for IP3 in 
Attachment 2 of the Entergy letters, dated October 1, 2009, list, on a 
fire area basis, the specific OMAs proposed for recovery or protection 
of the credited equipment train for achieving and maintaining hot 
shutdown conditions in these Appendix R, Paragraph III.G.2, fire areas.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is requested to permit the licensee an 
alternate method from those specified in 10 CFR Part 50, to achieve and 
maintain hot shutdown conditions in the event of a fire that could 
disable electrical cables and equipment in the Fire Areas of IP2 and 
IP3 listed in the licensee's request for exemption.
    The criteria for granting specific exemptions from 10 CFR part 50 
regulations are specified in 10 CFR 50.12. In accordance with 10 CFR 
50.12(a)(1), the NRC is authorized to grant an exemption upon 
determining that the exemption is authorized by law, will not present 
an undue risk to the public health and safety, and is consistent with 
the common defense and security.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the environmental impact of 
the proposed action. The staff has concluded that such actions would 
not adversely affect the environment. The proposed action would not 
result in an increased radiological hazard. There will be no change to 
the radioactive effluent releases that effect radiation exposures to 
plant workers and members of the public. No changes will be made to 
plant structures or the site property. Therefore, no changes or 
different types of radiological impacts are expected as a result of the 
proposed exemptions.
    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 or the plant, or to threatened, 
endangered, or protected species under the Endangered Species Act, or 
impacts to essential fish habitat covered by the Magnuson-Steven's Act 
are expected. There are no impacts to historical and cultural 
resources. There would be no impact to socioeconomic resources. 
Therefore, no changes or different types of non-radiological 
environmental impacts are expected as a result of the proposed 
exemptions.
    Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action. The details 
of the staff's safety evaluation will be provided in the exemption, 
when it is issued.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As alternatives to the proposed action, the NRC staff is 
considering denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' 
alternative) or requiring the licensee to modify the facility to 
achieve compliance with Appendix R. Denial of the application would 
result in no change in current environmental impacts. Modification of 
the facility may result in minor increases in local traffic from 
contractors hired to work at the facility. This would be considerably 
fewer than the large number of contractors that are hired for about 30 
days every spring to assist with the refueling outages at the facility. 
The environmental impacts of the proposed action and the alternative 
actions 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 
IP2, dated September 30, 1972, or the Final Environmental Statement for 
IP3, dated February 28, 1975.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on February 8, 2011, the 
staff consulted with the New York State (NYS) official, at the NYS 
Energy Research and Development Authority, regarding the environmental 
impact of the proposed action. The NYS official provided comments by 
email dated May 11, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. ML112010063). NYS opposed 
the granting of the requested exemptions to the licensee. NYS also 
stated an opinion that the public should be offered an opportunity to 
comment on the environmental impacts and potential alternatives to the 
proposed action. The NRC staff notes that there is no legal requirement 
to solicit public comment on exemption requests, and none has been 
solicited in this case. This exemption request will not have a 
significant effect on the environment, as the largest impact would be a 
small number of additional contractors working at the facility. The 
remainder of the NYS comments

[[Page 74834]]

concerned compliance with the NRC's fire protection rules, and will be 
addressed in a separate letter.

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 letters dated March 6, 2009, as supplemented by letters 
dated October 1, 2009, May 4, 2010, September 29, 2010, January 19, 
2011, February 10, 2011, and May 26, 2011. The licensee's applications 
and supplemental submissions are accessible electronically from the 
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) with 
Accession Nos. ML090770151, ML090760993, ML092810230, ML092810231, 
ML101320230, ML101320263, ML102930237, ML102930234, ML110310013, 
ML110310242, ML110540321, ML110540322, ML11158A196, and ML11158A197. 
Publicly available versions of the 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 documents 
created or received at the NRC are accessible electronically through 
the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) in the 
NRC Library at 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 email to 
[email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of November 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John P. Boska,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I-1, Division of 
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-30901 Filed 11-30-11; 8:45 am]
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