[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]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P