[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 23, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9002-9003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03810]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-09; NRC-2016-0036]


Fort St. Vrain Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact; 
issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering a 
license amendment request for the Special Nuclear Materials License 
SNM-2504 for the Fort St. Vrain (FSV) independent spent fuel storage 
installation (ISFSI) located in Weld County, Colorado. The NRC staff is 
issuing an environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant 
impact (FONSI) associated with the proposed action.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
February 23, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0036 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-2016-0036. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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.
     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: Jean Trefethen, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0867, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering a license amendment request for Special 
Nuclear Materials License Number SNM-2504 for the FSV ISFSI located in 
Weld County, Colorado (ADAMS Accession Nos.: ML15069A007, ML15084A014, 
and ML15331A359, respectively). The applicant, the U.S. Department of 
Energy (DOE) Idaho Operations Office, is proposing to amend Technical 
Specifications (TS) 3.3.1, ``Seal Leak Rate,'' to revise the response 
time to complete some of the corrective actions in TS 3.3.1 if the leak 
rate limit is exceeded. Also proposed is: (i) Addition of Section 
5.5.5, ``Aging Management Program,'' to the TS Table of Contents of 
Appendix A to license SNM-2504, (ii) clarification to language in Item 
6 of Section 5.5.2, ``Essential Programs Control Program,'' and (iii) 
addition of a notation that the license was renewed. The NRC staff has 
prepared a final EA as part of its review of this proposed license 
amendment in accordance with the requirements in part 51 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Based on the final EA, the 
NRC has determined that a FONSI is appropriate. The NRC is also 
conducting a safety evaluation of the proposed license amendment 
pursuant to 10 CFR part 72, ``Licensing Requirements for the 
Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive 
Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater-Than-Class C Waste,'' and the 
results will be documented in a separate Safety Evaluation Report 
(SER). If DOE's request is approved, the NRC will issue the license 
amendment following publication of this final EA and FONSI and 
completion of the SER.

II. Final Environmental Assessment Summary

    The irradiated fuel in the ISFSI is contained in fuel storage 
containers (FSC), which are sealed with double metal O-ring seals 
between the FSC body and the lid. TS 3.3.1 in Appendix A of license 
SNM-2504 requires that the FSC or storage well seal leakage rate not 
exceed 1 x 10\3\ reference cubic centimeters per second (ref-cm\3\/s). 
The TS requires the licensee to test the leak rate of one FSC from each 
vault every 5 years. The TS also calls for specific corrective actions 
to be performed within a specified amount of time if the leak rate 
limit is exceeded for one or two seals on FSCs or storage wells. If 
approved, the proposed license amendment would allow DOE to revise the 
response time to complete the following corrective actions in TS 3.3.1 
if the leak rate limit is exceeded: (i) Lengthen the response time for 
completing corrective actions A.1.1, A.1.2.1, and A.1.2.2 from seven 
days to 21 days, and (ii) lengthen the response time for completing 
corrective action A.2 from 30 days to 45 days. In addition, the 
amendment would include the following changes that are administrative 
in nature: (i) addition of Section 5.5.5, ``Aging Management Program,'' 
to the TS Table of Contents of Appendix A to license SNM-2504, (ii) 
clarification to language in item 6 of section 5.5.2, ``Essential 
Programs Control Program,'' and (iii) addition of a notation that the 
license was renewed. As documented in the EA, this portion of the 
proposed action that includes changes that are administrative in nature 
meets the categorical exclusion provision in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(11).
    The NRC has assessed the potential environmental impacts associated 
with the proposed action of amending SNM-2504 TS 3.3.1, as well as the 
no-action alternative, and has documented the results in the final EA 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16028A407). The NRC staff performed its 
environmental review in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 
51. In conducting the environmental review, the NRC considered 
information in the license amendment application; information in the 
responses to the NRC's requests for additional information (RAIs); and 
communications with DOE, the Colorado State Historic Preservation 
Office, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Colorado Department 
of Public Health and Environment.

[[Page 9003]]

    As documented in the EA, the NRC staff concluded that the proposed 
action will not authorize or result in changes to licensed operations, 
land-disturbing activities, or changes in the types, characteristics, 
or quantities of radiological or non-radiological effluents released 
into the environment from the ISFSI. The staff also concluded that the 
radiological or non-radiological impacts from approval of the license 
amendment request would be small, and the proposed action would not 
significantly contribute to cumulative impacts. In addition, the staff 
does not expect that the proposed action would adversely affect any 
offsite population and, thus, no special circumstances were identified. 
The Colorado State Historic Preservation Office concurred with the 
NRC's determination that the proposed action would not affect historic 
properties, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concurred with the 
NRC's determination that the proposed action would not affect listed 
species or critical habitats. Furthermore, the NRC determined that the 
proposed action is more favorable than the no-action alternative 
(denial of the license amendment request), which would require DOE to 
complete the required corrective actions within the currently specified 
response times. Therefore, the NRC concluded that the proposed action 
will not result in a significant effect on the quality of the human 
environment.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on its review of the proposed action, in accordance with the 
requirements in 10 CFR part 51, the NRC has concluded that the proposed 
action, amendment of NRC Special Nuclear Materials License No. SNM-2504 
for the FSV ISFSI located in Weld County, Colorado, will not 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, 
the NRC has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that preparation of 
an environmental impact statement is not required for the proposed 
action and a FONSI is appropriate.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of February 2016.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Acting Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and 
Environmental Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016-03810 Filed 2-22-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P