[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 115 (Friday, June 14, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35989-35990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-14088]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-391; NRC-2008-0369]


Tennessee Valley Authority; Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 2

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final environmental statement; issuance.

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

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) has published the final version of Supplement 2 to 
NUREG-0498, ``Final Environmental Statement, Related to the Operation 
of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN), Unit 2'' (SFES).

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0369 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access information related to this document, which the NRC 
possesses and is publicly available, using any of the following 
methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0369. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number 
for Supplement 2 to NUREG-0498 is ML13144A202. The ADAMS accession 
number for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elaine N. Keegan, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-8517; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA or the 
applicant) submitted its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Completion and Operation of WBN Unit 2 (June 2007), 
(FSEIS) by letter dated February 15, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML080510469), pursuant to Part 51 of Title 10 of the Code of the 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
    On June 30, 1976, TVA submitted an application for an operating 
license for WBN Unit 2, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50. An updated 
operating license application was submitted on March 4, 2009. The 
proposed action in response to the updated application is the issuance 
of an operating license that would authorize TVA to possess, use, and 
operate a second light-water nuclear reactor (the facility), WBN Unit 
2, located on the applicant's site in Rhea County, Tennessee. The WBN 
Unit 2 would operate at a steady-state power level of 3411 megawatts 
thermal.
    A notice of receipt and availability of the updated application, 
which included the FSEIS, was published in the Federal Register on May 
1, 2009 (74 FR 20350). A notice of intent to prepare a supplement to 
the final environmental statement, which was prepared and published in 
1978 and to conduct the scoping process was published in the Federal 
Register on September 11, 2009 (74 FR 46799). On October 6, 2009, the 
NRC held two scoping meetings in Sweetwater, Tennessee, to obtain 
public input on the scope of the environmental review. The NRC also 
solicited comments from Federal, State, Tribal, regional, and local 
agencies.
    The draft SFES was published in October 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML112980199). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Notice of Filing 
in the Federal Register (76 FR 70130) indicated a 75-day comment 
period, commencing on November 10, 2011, to allow members of the public 
to comment on the results of the NRC staff's review. This was amended 
in the Federal Register on November 18, 2011, to a 45-day comment 
period (76 FR 71560). On December 8, 2011, two public meetings were 
held in Sweetwater, Tennessee. At the meetings, the NRC staff described 
the results of the NRC environmental review, answered questions related 
to the review, and provided members of the public with information to 
assist them in formulating their comments. Based on comments received 
at the public meetings, the comment period was extended by the NRC to 
January 24, 2012 (76 FR 80409). When the comment period ended on 
January 24, 2012, the NRC staff considered and addressed all the 
comments received.
    As discussed in the Section 9.6 of the supplement, the NRC staff's 
recommendation to the Commission related to the environmental aspects 
of the proposed action is that environmental impacts are not great 
enough to deny the option of issuing the operating license for Watts 
Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 2. This recommendation is based on (1) the 
application, including the February 15, 2008, final Environmental 
Impact Statement submitted by TVA as the Environmental Report, and 
responses to staff requests for additional information submitted by 
TVA; (2) the NRC staff's review conducted for the 1978 Final 
Environmental Statement to support the Operating License (FES-OL); (3)

[[Page 35990]]

consultation with Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies; (4) the 
NRC staff's own independent review of information available since the 
preparation and publication of the 1978 FES-OL; and (5) the assessments 
summarized in this SFES, including consideration of public comments 
received during scoping and on the draft SFES.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of June 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert J. Pascarelli,
Chief, Plant Licensing Branch II-1, Division of Operating Reactor 
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2013-14088 Filed 6-13-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P