[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 228 (Tuesday, November 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70588-70589]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28379]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-498, and 50-499; NRC-2010-0375]


STP Nuclear Operating Company; South Texas Project

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final supplement 48 to generic environmental impact statement 
for license renewal of nuclear plants; issuance.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) has published the final, plant-specific, Supplement 48 
to the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of 
Nuclear Plants (GEIS),'' NUREG-1437 (ML13322A890), regarding the 
renewal of operating license NPF-76 and NPF-80 for an additional 20 
years of operation for the South Texas Project (STP). The STP site is 
located in Bay City, Texas. Possible alternatives to the proposed 
action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative 
energy sources.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2010-0375 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2010-0375. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; 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-
4837, or by email to [email protected]. 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. Additional information regarding accessing materials 
related to this action is under Section II, Document Availability 
heading in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
     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: Tam Tran, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-3617; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC received an application, dated October 25, 2010 
(ML103360179), from STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC), filed 
pursuant to Section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 
and Part 54 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), to 
renew the operating license for STPNOC. Renewal of the license would 
authorize the applicant to operate the facility for an additional 20-
year period beyond the period specified in the current operating 
license. The current operating licenses for STPNOC, Units 1 and 2 (NPF-
76 and NPF-80), expires on August 20, 2027, and December 15, 2028.
    The final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) is 
being issued as part of the NRC's process to decide whether to issue 
renewed licenses to STPNOC, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 54. The final SEIS 
was prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the NRC's regulations for implementing 
NEPA in 10 CFR Part 51. In the final SEIS, the NRC staff assessed the 
potential environmental impacts from the operation, refurbishment, and 
decommissioning of the proposed STP license renewal. The NRC staff 
assessed the impacts of the proposed action on land use, historic and 
cultural resources, air quality, geology and soils, water resources, 
ecological resources, transportation, public and occupational health, 
waste management, socioeconomics, and environmental justice. In 
preparing this final SEIS, the NRC staff also reviewed, considered, 
evaluated, and addressed the public comments received during the 
scoping process and on the draft SEIS.
    In addition to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered a 
reasonable range of alternatives, including the no-action alternative. 
Under the no-action alternative, the NRC would deny STPNOC's request 
for renewed operating licenses for the STP units. Other alternatives 
the NRC staff considered include: (1) natural gas-fired combined cycle 
(NGCC); (2) new nuclear; (3) supercritical coal; (4) combination 
alternative (NGCC, wind, and energy conservation and efficiency); (5) 
purchased power; (6) offsite new nuclear-, gas-, or coal-generation; 
(7) energy conservation and energy efficiency; (8) wind power; (9) 
solar power; (10) hydroelectric power; (11) ocean wave and current 
energy; (12) geothermal power; (13) municipal solid waste; (14) 
biomass; (15) biofuels; (16) oil-fired power; (17) fuel cells; and (18) 
delayed retirement. These alternatives, except for the NGCC, new 
nuclear, supercritical coal, combination alternative, and purchased 
power were eliminated from further analysis because of technical, 
resource availability, or current commercial limitations that would not 
justify inclusion in the range of reasonable alternatives.
    As discussed in Section 9.4 of the final supplement, the NRC staff 
determined that the adverse environmental impacts of renewed licenses 
for STPNOC are not great enough to deny this option for energy planning 
decision-makers. This recommendation is based on: (1) the analysis and 
findings in the GEIS; (2) information provided in the environmental 
report and other documents submitted by STPNOC; (3) consultation with 
Federal, State, local, and tribal government agencies; (4) the NRC 
staff's own independent environmental review; and (5) consideration of 
public comments received during the scoping process and on the draft 
SEIS.

II. Document Availability

    Documents related to this notice are available on the NRC's Plant 
Application for Licenses Renewal Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/south-texas-project.html. The final SEIS for the proposed STP project may also be 
accessed on the internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/ and selecting ``Supplement 48.''

[[Page 70589]]

    The STPNOC's license application, the STPNOC's Environmental 
Report, and the NRC's final SEIS are available in ADAMS under Accession 
Numbers ML103010262, ML103010263, and ML13322A890.
    A copy of the final SEIS will be available at the Bay City Library, 
1100 7th Street, Bay City, TX 77414.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of November, 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian D. Wittick,
Chief, Projects Branch 2, Division of License Renewal, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2013-28379 Filed 11-25-13; 8:45 am]
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