[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13015-13018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-04542]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-271; NRC-2015-0157]
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power
Station
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft environmental assessment and finding of no significant
impact; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment a draft environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no
significant impact (FONSI) regarding the issuance of two exemptions in
response to a January 6, 2015 request from Entergy Nuclear Operations,
Inc. (Entergy or the licensee), representing itself and the other
owners of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY). The exemptions
allow the licensee to use funds from the VY decommissioning funds trust
(the Trust) for irradiated fuel management activities without prior
notice to the NRC.
DATES: Submit comments by April 7, 2017. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this
date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
[[Page 13016]]
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0157. 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.
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration,
Mail Stop: OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack D. Parrott, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6634; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0157 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0157.
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 it is available
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in 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.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2015-0157 in the subject line of your
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
On June 23, 2015 (80 FR 35992), the NRC issued exemptions from
Sec. Sec. 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 50.75(h)(2) of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) to Entergy, for VY's Facility Operating
License No. DPR-28. The VY facility is located in Windham County,
Vermont. The licensee requested the exemptions by letter dated January
6, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15013A171). The exemptions allow the
licensee to use funds from the Trust for irradiated fuel management
activities without prior notice to the NRC, in the same manner that
funds from the Trust are used under Sec. 50.82(a)(8) for
decommissioning activities.
At the time of issuance, the NRC's approval of the exemptions
referenced the categorical exclusion criteria under Sec. 51.22(c)(25).
However, on November 4, 2015, the State of Vermont, the Vermont Yankee
Nuclear Power Corporation, and Green Mountain Power Corporation
(together, Petitioners) filed a petition (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16137A554) with the Commission that, in part, challenged that the NRC
staff had not conducted a NEPA-compliant analysis in conjunction with
the exemption request. The Commission directed, in their October 27,
2016 decision on the petition (ADAMS Accession No. ML16301A083) that
the staff conduct an EA to examine the environmental impacts, if any,
associated with the exemptions. Therefore, consistent with Commission
direction and with Sec. 51.21, the NRC has prepared this draft EA to
document its environmental review for the exemption requests. Based on
the results of the EA, the NRC has determined it is not necessary to
prepare an environmental impact statement and is therefore issuing this
draft FONSI.
III. Draft Environmental Assessment
Description of the Action
The exemption request by Entergy on January 6, 2015, and granted by
the NRC on June 23, 2015, exempts Entergy from the requirements set
forth in Sec. Sec. 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2).
Specifically, the exemptions allow Entergy to use funds from the Trust
for irradiated fuel management activities, not associated with
radiological decontamination, and exempt Entergy from meeting the
requirement for prior notification to the NRC for these disbursements.
Need for the Action
By letter dated January 12, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15013A426),
Entergy informed the NRC that it had permanently ceased power
operations at VY and that the VY reactor vessel had been permanently
defueled.
Entergy stated that it needed access to the funds in the Trust, in
excess of those needed for radiological decontamination, to support
irradiated fuel management activities not associated with radiological
decontamination. As required by Sec. 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 Sec. 50.2. This
definition addresses radiological decontamination and does not include
activities associated with irradiated fuel management. Similarly, the
requirements of Sec. 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, Entergy needed exemptions from Sec. Sec.
50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 50.75(h)(2) to allow the use of funds from the
Trust for irradiated fuel management activities without prior notice of
disbursement.
Entergy stated that the Trust contains funds for decommissioning
that are commingled with funds intended for irradiated fuel management
activities not associated with radiological decontamination. The VY
Annual Decommissioning Financial Status
[[Page 13017]]
Report (ADAMS Accession No. ML15092A141) submitted by Entergy on March
30, 2015, to the NRC supports the adequacy of funds in the Trust to
cover the costs of activities associated with irradiated fuel
management and radiological decontamination through license
termination.
The requirements of Sec. 50.75(h)(2) further provide that, except
for decommissioning withdrawals being made under Sec. 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 Sec. 50.75(h)(2) was needed
to allow Entergy to use funds from the Trust for irradiated fuel
management activities without prior NRC notification.
Environmental Impacts of the Action
The exemptions from requirements related to use and notification of
Trust funds are of a financial nature and allow Entergy to pay for
irradiated fuel management activities with Trust funds. The exemptions
do not authorize any additional regulatory or land-disturbing
activities, but do allow Entergy to finance irradiated fuel management
activities, which support decommissioning.
In granting the exemptions, the NRC completed its safety evaluation
and concluded that there was reasonable assurance that adequate funds
are available in the Trust to complete all activities associated with
decommissioning and irradiated fuel management activities. There is no
decrease in safety associated with the use of the Trust to fund
activities associated with irradiated fuel management.
The licensee has a comprehensive, regulation-based decommissioning
funding oversight program to provide reasonable assurance that
sufficient funding will be available for radiological decommissioning.
After submitting its site-specific Decommissioning Cost Estimate and
until the licensee has completed its final radiation survey and
demonstrated that residual radioactivity has been reduced to a level
that permits termination of its license, Sec. 50.82(a)(8)(v) requires
a licensee to annually submit a financial assurance status report. The
report must include, among other things, amounts spent on
decommissioning, remaining Trust balance, and estimated costs to
complete radiological decommissioning. 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, the
Sec. 50.82(a)(8)(vi) specifies that additional financial assurance
must be provided. These annual reports provide a means for the NRC to
monitor the adequacy of available funding.
Additionally, in accordance with the VY Renewed Facility Operating
License (ADAMS Accession No. ML15117A551), Condition 3.J.a.(iii), the
decommissioning trust agreement must provide that no disbursements or
payments from the Trust, other than for ordinary administrative
expenses, shall be made by the trustee until the trustee has first
given thirty days prior written notice to the NRC. Article IV, Section
4.05 of the Master Decommissioning Trust Agreement (ADAMS Accession No.
ML15111A086), by and between Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC, and
The Bank of New York Mellon as Trustee, provides that no disbursements
or payments shall be made by the Trustee, other than administrative
expenses, in accordance with Section 4.02 of the Master Trust
Agreement, until the Trustee has first given the NRC 30 days prior
written notice of payment; provided, however, that no disbursement or
payment from the Trust shall be made if the Trustee receives prior
written notice of objection from the Director of the Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
The second exemption, which was also granted, exempted Entergy from
Sec. 50.75(h)(2). This exemption did not apply to VY at the time of
the request because license condition 3.J.a(iii) was still in effect.
Section 50.75(h)(2) would have applied if Entergy's the September 2014
license amendment request to remove the license condition had been
approved (ADAMS Accession No. ML14254A405). Entergy withdrew that
license amendment request on September 22, 2015 (ADAMS Accession Nos.
ML15267A074 and ML15265A583, respectively), therefore the second
exemption request has not been implemented. License condition
3.J.a(iii) is still in effect and VY remains subject to the
disbursement notification condition in the license.
The environmental impacts of decommissioning have been generically
evaluated by the NRC and documented in NUREG-0586, Supplement 1
(Decommissioning Generic Environmental Impact Statement [GEIS]).
Entergy's Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activity Report (ADAMS
Accession No. ML14357A110) stated that impacts from planned
decommissioning activities at VY are less than and bounded by the
impacts considered in the Decommissioning GEIS and NUREG-1496, Generic
Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological
Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities.
The NRC agreed with Entergy's conclusion that VY decommissioning
activities were bounded by previous analyses (ADAMS Accession No.
ML15343A210).
The exemptions do not authorize Entergy to perform new land-
disturbing activities that could affect land use, soils and geology,
water resources, ecological resources, or historic and cultural
resources. The exemptions do not authorize Entergy to conduct
additional regulatory activities, outside those already licensed by the
NRC, therefore there are no incremental effects to air quality, traffic
and transportation, socioeconomics, environmental justice, or
accidents. The exemptions will not increase the probability or
consequences of accidents. As a result of the exemptions, there are no
changes in the types or amounts of effluents that are, or may be,
released offsite. Entergy must continue to comply with all appropriate
NRC regulations related to occupational and public radiation exposure
and thus the exemptions will not result in an increase to occupational
or public doses. Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no
potential environmental impacts as a result of the granted exemptions.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Action
As an alternative to the action, the NRC staff could have denied
Entergy's exemption request. Denial of the exemption request would have
resulted in Entergy operating the facility as licensed, thus the
environmental impacts would be the same as those already considered by
the previous environmental review in NUREG-1437, Supplement 30
regarding renewal of VY's operating license.
Agencies or Persons Consulted
On December 15, 2016, the NRC notified the State of Vermont of the
draft EA and FONSI. The NRC staff has determined that the exemptions
would have no impact on historic and cultural resources or ecological
resources and therefore no consultations are necessary under Section 7
of the Endangered Species Act and Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act, respectively.
On November 4, 2015, the Petitioners filed a petition with the
Commission
[[Page 13018]]
that challenged the NRC staff's approval of Entergy's exemption
requests. The Petitioners raised concerns about the use of Trust fund
for costs associated with irradiated fuel management, citing that a
potential shortfall in the Fund would result in radiological and
environmental consequences as well as economic risk to the Vermont
taxpayers. As discussed earlier, the NRC has determined that there is
reasonable assurance that adequate funds are available in the Trust to
complete all activities associated with decommissioning and irradiated
fuel management activities. Further, the NRC has concluded in this EA
that there are no environmental impacts as a result of the exemptions.
IV. Finding of No Significant Impact
Entergy proposed exemptions from Sec. Sec. 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and
50.75(h)(2) to allow the licensee to use funds from the Trust for
irradiated fuel management activities, without prior written
notification to the NRC. The NRC granted the exemptions on June 23,
2015.
Consistent with Sec. 51.21, the NRC conducted the environmental
assessment for the exemptions included in Section II of this document
and incorporated by reference in this finding. On the basis of this
environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that the exemptions did
not, and will not, have significant effects on the quality of the human
environment. Accordingly, the NRC has decided not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the action.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of March, 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bruce Watson,
Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of Decommissioning,
Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2017-04542 Filed 3-7-17; 8:45 am]
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