[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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