[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3662-3664]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01195]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-302; NRC-2015-0010]


Duke Energy Florida, Inc.; Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear 
Generating Plant

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 a March 28, 2014, request from 
Duke Energy Florida, Inc. (DEF or the licensee), representing itself 
and the other owners of the Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating 
Plant (CR-3). One exemption would permit the licensee to use funds from 
the CR-3 decommissioning trust (the Trust) for irradiated fuel 
management and site restoration activities. Another exemption would 
allow the licensee to use withdrawals from the Trust for these 
activities without prior notification to the NRC. The NRC staff is 
issuing a final Environmental Assessment (EA) and final Finding of No 
Significant Impact (FONSI) associated with the proposed exemptions.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0010 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain 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-2015-0010. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual 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 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 (if that document 
is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. The request for exemption, dated March 28, 2014, is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14098A037.
     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: Michael Orenak, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3229; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering issuance of exemptions from Sections 
50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 50.75(h)(2) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) for Facility Operating License No. DPR-72, issued 
to DEF, for CR-3, located in Citrus County, Florida. The licensee 
requested the exemptions by letter dated March 28, 2014. The exemptions 
would allow the licensee to use funds from the Trust for irradiated 
fuel management and site restoration activities without prior notice to 
the NRC, in the same manner that funds from the Trust are used under 10 
CFR 50.82(a)(8) for decommissioning activities. 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 has determined that an EA is the appropriate form of 
environmental review. Based on the results of the EA, which is provided 
in Section II below, the NRC is issuing this final FONSI.

II. Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would exempt DEF from meeting the requirements 
set forth in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2). 
Specifically, the

[[Page 3663]]

proposed action would allow DEF to use funds from the Trust for 
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities not 
associated with radiological decontamination and would exempt DEF from 
meeting the requirement for prior notification to the NRC for these 
activities.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated March 28, 2014.

Need for the Proposed Action

    By letter dated February 20, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML13056A005), DEF informed the NRC that it had permanently ceased power 
operations at CR-3 and that the CR-3 reactor vessel had been 
permanently defueled. CR-3 has not operated since September 2009.
    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. This definition addresses radiological 
decontamination and does not include activities associated with 
irradiated fuel management or site restoration. Similarly, the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2) restrict the use of decommissioning 
trust fund disbursements (other than for ordinary and incidental 
expenses) to decommissioning expenses until final decommissioning has 
been completed. Therefore, exemptions from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 
10 CFR 50.75(h)(2) are needed to allow DEF to use funds from the Trust 
for irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities.
    The licensee states that the Trust contains funds for 
decommissioning that are commingled with funds intended for irradiated 
fuel management and other site restoration activities not associated 
with radiological decontamination. The adequacy of funds in the Trust 
to cover the costs of activities associated with irradiated fuel 
management and site restoration in addition to radiological 
decontamination through license termination is supported by the CR-3 
Annual Decommissioning and Irradiated Fuel Management Financial Status 
Report submitted by DEF in a March 31, 2014, letter (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML14098A039). The licensee states that it needs access to the funds 
in the Trust in excess of those needed for radiological decontamination 
to support irradiated fuel management and other site restoration 
activities not associated with radiological decontamination.
    The requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2) further provide that, except 
for decommissioning withdrawals being made under 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8) or 
for payments of ordinary administrative costs and other incidental 
expenses of the Trust, no disbursement may be made from the Trust until 
written notice of the intention to make a disbursement has been given 
to the NRC at least 30 working days in advance of the intended 
disbursement. Therefore, an exemption from 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2) is needed 
to allow DEF to use funds from the Trust for irradiated fuel management 
and site restoration activities without prior NRC notification.
    In summary, by letter dated March 28, 2014, DEF requested 
exemptions to allow Trust withdrawals, without prior written 
notification to the NRC, for irradiated fuel management and site 
restoration activities.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action involves exemptions from requirements that are 
of a financial or administrative nature and that 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 decommissioning, site restoration, and irradiated fuel 
management. There is no decrease in safety associated with the use of 
the Trust to fund activities associated with irradiated fuel management 
and site restoration. Section 50.82(a)(8)(v) of 10 CFR requires a 
licensee to submit a financial assurance status report annually between 
the time of submitting its decommissioning cost estimate and submitting 
its final radiation survey and demonstrating that residual 
radioactivity has been reduced to a level that permits termination of 
its license. If the remaining balance, plus expected rate of return, 
plus any other financial surety mechanism does not cover the estimated 
costs to complete the decommissioning, additional financial assurance 
must be provided. These annual reports provide a means for the NRC to 
monitor the adequacy of available funding. Since the exemptions would 
allow DEF to use funds from the Trust that are in excess of those 
required for radiological decontamination of the site and the adequacy 
of funds dedicated for radiological decontamination are not affected by 
the proposed exemptions, 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 nonradiological impacts, the proposed 
action does not have any foreseeable impacts to land, air, or water 
resources, including impacts to biota. In addition, there are no known 
socioeconomic or environmental justice impacts associated with such 
proposed action. Therefore, there are no significant nonradiological 
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 proposed action does not involve the use of any different 
resources than those previously considered in the Final Environmental 
Statement for CR-3, dated May 1973 (ADAMS Accession No. ML091520178).

Agencies or Persons Consulted

    The staff did not enter into consultation with any other Federal 
Agency or with the State of Florida regarding the environmental impact 
of the proposed action. On October 14, 2014, the Florida state 
representatives were notified of the EA and FONSI.

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)(2), which would allow DEF to use funds from the 
Trust for irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities, 
without prior written notification to the NRC.

[[Page 3664]]

    Consistent with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC conducted the environmental 
assessment for the proposed action included in Section II above and 
incorporated by reference in this finding. On the basis of this 
environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that the proposed action 
will not have significant effects on the quality of the human 
environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an 
environmental impact statement for the proposed action. Other than the 
licensee's letter, dated March 28, 2014, there are no other 
environmental documents associated with this review. This document is 
available for public inspection as indicated above.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of January, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Douglas A. Broaddus,
Chief, Plant Licensing Branch IV-2 and Decommissioning Transition 
Branch, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-01195 Filed 1-22-15; 8:45 am]
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