[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 85 (Friday, May 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25156-25158]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10097]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-305; NRC-2013-0056]
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact;
Final Issuance: Dominion Energy Kewaunee; Kewaunee Power Station
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact;
final issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of exemptions in response to an April 4, 2013, request from
Dominion Energy Kewaunee (DEK, the licensee). One exemption would
permit the licensee to use a portion of the funds from the Kewaunee
Power Station (KPS) decommissioning trust fund (Trust) for irradiated
fuel management activities. Another exemption would allow the licensee
to make the withdrawals from the Trust for irradiated fuel management
activities without prior notification to the NRC. The NRC staff is
issuing an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant
Impact associated with the proposed exemptions.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0056 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may access publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0056. 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 obtain publicly available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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
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Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, 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. The
request for exemption, dated April 4, 2013, is available electronically
under ADAMS Accession No. ML13098A031. The supplement, dated November
6, 2013, is available at ADAMS Accession No. ML13312A916.
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: William Huffman, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, 301-415-2046; [email protected]; U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of exemptions from Part 50, Section
82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR Part 50 Section 75(h)(1)(iv) of Title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) for Renewed Facility Operating
License No. DPR-43, issued to Dominion Energy Kewaunee (DEK, the
licensee), for the Kewaunee Power Station located in Kewaunee County,
Wisconsin. The licensee requested the exemptions by letter dated April
4, 2013, and supplemented its request by letter dated November 6, 2013.
The exemptions would allow the licensee to use a portion of the funds
from the KPS Trust for irradiated fuel management activities without
prior notification to the NRC. Consistent with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC
has reviewed the requirements in 10 CFR 51.20(b) and 10 CFR 51.22(c)
and determined that an environmental assessment is the appropriate form
of environmental review. Based on the results of the environmental
assessment, which is provided in Section II below, the NRC is issuing
this final finding of no significant impact.
II. Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would exempt DEK from meeting the requirements
set forth in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv). The
proposed action would allow DEK to use a portion of the funds from the
Trust for irradiated fuel management without prior notification to the
NRC.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application dated April 4, 2013, as supplemented by letter dated
November 6, 2013.
The Need for the Proposed Action
By letter dated February 25, 2013, DEK informed the NRC of its
intention to permanently cease operation of KPS on May 7, 2013 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML13058A065). By separate letters dated February 26,
2013, DEK submitted an update to the KPS Irradiated Fuel Management
Plan, as required by 10 CFR 50.54(bb), and a Post-Shutdown
Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR), as required by 10 CFR
50.82(a)(4)(i) (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML13059A028 and ML13063A248,
respectively). On May 7, 2013, DEK permanently ceased power operations
at KPS. On May 14, 2013, DEK certified that it had permanently defueled
the KPS reactor vessel (ADAMS Accession No. ML13135A209).
As required by 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A), decommissioning trust
funds may be used by the licensee if the withdrawals are for legitimate
decommissioning activity expenses, consistent with the definition of
decommissioning in 10 CFR 50.2. The definition of ``decommissioning''
in 10 CFR 50.2 does not include activities associated with irradiated
fuel management. Similarly, the requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv)
restrict the use of decommissioning trust fund withdrawals (other than
for ordinary and incidental expenses) to decommissioning expenses until
final decommissioning is completed. Therefore, exemptions from 10 CFR
50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) are needed to allow DEK to
use funds from the Trust for irradiated fuel management.
The licensee states that the Trust contains funds for
decommissioning comingled with funds needed for irradiated fuel
management not associated with radiological decontamination. The
adequacy of the Trust to cover the costs of activities associated with
irradiated fuel management and radiological decontamination through
license termination is supported by the site specific decommissioning
cost estimate in the PSDAR and the KPS updated Irradiated Fuel
Management Plan. The licensee needs access to the funds in excess of
those needed for radiological decontamination to support irradiated
fuel management not associated with radiological decontamination.
The requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) further provide that,
except for decommissioning withdrawals being made under 10 CFR
50.82(a)(8) or for payment of ordinary and incidental expenses, no
disbursement may be made from the Trust without written notice to the
NRC at least 30 working days in advance. Therefore an exemption from 10
CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) is needed to allow DEK to use funds from the Trust
for irradiated fuel management without prior NRC notification.
In summary, by letter dated April 4, 2013, as supplemented by
letter dated November 6, 2013, DEK requested exemptions to allow Trust
withdrawals, without prior written notification to the NRC, for
irradiated fuel management consistent with both the KPS updated
Irradiated Fuel Management Plan and the PSDAR.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The proposed action involves exemptions from requirements that are
of a financial or administrative nature which do not have an impact on
the environment. The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed
action and concludes that there is reasonable assurance that adequate
funds are available in the Trust to complete all activities associated
with license termination and irradiated fuel management. There is no
decrease in the safety associated with the Trust being used to fund
activities associated with irradiated fuel management. The exemptions
would permit the use of Trust funds to effectuate DEK's plan to manage
irradiated fuel in accordance with the updated Irradiated Fuel
Management Plan and PSDAR. Since the exemption would allow DEK to use
funds from the Trust that are in excess of those required for
radiological decontamination of the site and the funds dedicated for
radiological decontamination are not affected by the proposed
exemption, there is reasonable assurance that there will be no
environmental impact due to lack of adequate funding for
decommissioning.
The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability
or consequences of accidents. No changes are being made in the types of
effluents that may be released offsite. There is no significant
increase in the amount of any effluent released offsite. There is no
significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure.
Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts
associated with the proposed action.
With regard to potential non-radiological impacts, the proposed
action does not have any foreseeable impacts to land, air, or water
resources,
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including impacts to biota. In addition, there are also no known
socioeconomic or environmental justice impacts associated with such
proposed action. Therefore, there are no significant non-radiological
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative).
Denial of the application would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action
and the alternative action 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
the KPS, dated December 1972, and the ``Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants Regarding Kewaunee
Power Station, Final Report,'' NUREG-1437, Supplement 40, dated August
2010 (ADAMS Accession No. ML102150106).
Agencies or Persons Consulted
The staff did not enter into consultation with any other Federal
Agency or with the State of Wisconsin regarding the environmental
impact of the proposed action. On April 10, 2014, the Wisconsin state
representative was notified.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The licensee has proposed exemptions from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A)
and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) which would allow DEK to use funds from the
Trust for irradiated fuel management activities in accordance with the
updated Irradiated Fuel Management Plan and PSDAR, without prior
written notification to the NRC.
The NRC decided not to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
for the proposed action. On the basis of the environmental assessment
included in Section II above and incorporated by reference in this
finding, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will not have
significant effects on the quality of the human environment.
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a finding of no significant
impact is appropriate.
Other than the licensee's letters, dated April 4, 2013, as
supplemented by letter dated November 6, 2013, there are no other
environmental documents associated with this review. These documents
are available for public inspection as indicated above.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of April 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Douglas A. Broaddus,
Chief, Plant Licensing IV-2 and Decommissioning Transition Branch,
Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2014-10097 Filed 5-1-14; 8:45 am]
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