[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 119 (Thursday, June 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28538-28540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13053]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-289 and 50-320; NRC-2017-0146]
Exelon Generation Company, LLC; Three Mile Island Nuclear
Station, Units 1 and 2
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
issuance of an amendment to Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-
50 held by Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Exelon, the licensee) for
the operation of Three Mile Island Nuclear Station (TMI), Units 1 and
2, located in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The proposed amendment
would allow for changes to TMI's Radiological Emergency Plan Annex
staffing levels to align with Exelon's standard fleet Emergency
Response Organization (ERO) framework. In accordance with the
Possession-Only License No. DPR-73 Post-Defueling Monitored Storage
Safety Analysis Report for TMI, Unit 2, the emergency plan for Unit 1
is considered to encompass Unit 2. Therefore, an amendment to the Unit
2 license is not required. The NRC is issuing an environmental
assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) associated
with the proposed license amendment.
DATES: The EA referenced in this document is available on June 22,
2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0146 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-2017-0146. 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 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Justin C. Poole, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2048; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of a license amendment pursuant to
section 50.54 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
``Conditions of licenses,'' paragraph (q), ``Emergency plans,'' to
Renewed Facility Operating License No DPR-50 held by Exelon for the
operation of TMI, Units 1 and 2, located in Dauphin County,
Pennsylvania. In accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC performed the
following EA that analyzes the environmental impacts of the proposed
[[Page 28539]]
licensing action. Based on the results of this EA, and in accordance
with 10 CFR 51.31(a), the NRC has determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the proposed licensing action, and
is issuing a FONSI.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would revise the Radiological Emergency Plan
Annex for TMI in order to allow changes to staffing levels to align
with Exelon's standard fleet ERO framework. The proposed changes would
decrease the on-shift radiation protection technician staffing from
three to two technicians. The proposed amendment would also make
changes to the staffing of on-shift maintenance personnel.
Specifically, the amendment would: (1) Revise the on-shift position of
operations support center director (renamed repair team lead) to remove
the requirement that the position be from the maintenance organization;
(2) remove two dedicated maintenance technicians from the on-shift
staffing total; and (3) remove two additional personnel from the repair
and corrective actions major task and assign them to respond within 60
minutes, as well as one additional staff person to respond within 90
minutes.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application dated July 15, 2016 (ADAMS Package Accession No.
ML16201A306), as supplemented by letter dated February 13, 2017 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML17045A036).
Need for the Proposed Action
Nuclear power plant owners, government agencies, and state and
local officials work together to create a system for emergency
preparedness and response that will serve the public in the unlikely
event of an emergency. An effective emergency preparedness program
decreases the likelihood of an initiating event at a nuclear power
reactor proceeding to a severe accident. Emergency preparedness cannot
affect the probability of the initiating event, but a high level of
emergency preparedness increases the probability of accident mitigation
if the initiating event proceeds beyond the need for initial operator
actions.
Each licensee is required to establish emergency plans to be
implemented in the event of an accident. These emergency plans, in
part, cover preparations for evacuation, sheltering, and other actions
to protect individuals near plants in the event of an accident.
The NRC, as well as other Federal and state regulatory agencies,
reviews emergency plans to ensure that the condition of emergency
preparedness provides reasonable assurance that adequate protective
measures can and will be taken in the event of a radiological
emergency.
Separate from this environmental assessment, the NRC staff is
performing a safety assessment of Exelon's proposed changes to the
emergency plan for TMI. This safety review will be documented in a
safety evaluation report. The safety evaluation report will determine
whether, with the proposed changes to the emergency plan for TMI, there
continues to be reasonable assurance that adequate protective measures
can and will be taken in the event of a radiological emergency at TMI,
in accordance with the standards of 10 CFR 50.47(b) and the
requirements in appendix E to 10 CFR part 50.
The proposed action is needed to align TMI's Radiological Emergency
Plan Annex staffing levels with Exelon's standard fleet ERO framework.
This will improve consistency throughout the Exelon fleet regarding the
application of operating experience and process improvements from other
Exelon fleet sites and will provide flexibility in staffing ERO
positions with qualified personnel from either the operations or
maintenance organizations.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC staff has completed its evaluation of the environmental
impacts of the proposed action.
The proposed action consists mainly of administrative changes
related to the staffing levels and positions of the TMI emergency plan.
These changes include (a) decreasing radiation protection technician
staffing from three to two technicians, (b) renaming the on-shift
``operations support center director'' to ``repair team lead'' and
removing the requirement that the position be filled by a ``maintenance
team lead,'' (c) removing two dedicated maintenance technicians from
the on-shift staffing total, (d) removing one Mechanical and one
Electrical/Instrumentation and Control Maintenance Technician assigned
concurrent duties, and (e) adding one Mechanical Maintenance Technician
and one Electrical Maintenance Technician as 60-minute augmentation
responders and one Maintenance Instrumentation and Control Technician
as a 90-minute augmentation responder.
With regard to potential non-radiological environmental impacts,
the proposed changes would have no direct impacts on land use or water
resources, including terrestrial and aquatic biota, as they involve no
new construction or modification of plant operational systems. There
would be no changes to the quality or quantity of non-radiological
effluents and no changes to the plant's National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit are needed. Changes in staffing levels could
result in minor changes in vehicular traffic and associated air
pollutant emissions, but no significant changes in ambient air quality
would be expected from the proposed changes. In addition, there would
be no noticeable effect on socioeconomic conditions in the region, no
environment justice impacts, and no impacts to historic and cultural
resources from the proposed changes. Therefore, there are no
significant non-radiological environmental impacts associated with the
proposed action.
With regard to potential radiological environmental impacts, if the
NRC staff's safety review of the proposed changes to the TMI emergency
plan determines that, with the proposed changes, the emergency plan
continues to meet the standards of 10 CFR 50.47(b) and the requirements
in appendix E to 10 CFR part 50, then the proposed action would not
increase the probability or consequences of radiological accidents.
Additionally, the NRC staff has concluded that the proposed changes
would have no direct radiological environmental impacts. There would be
no change to the types or amounts of radioactive effluents that may be
released and, therefore, no change in occupational or public radiation
exposure from the proposed changes. Moreover, no changes would be made
to plant buildings or the site property from the proposed changes.
Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts
associated with the proposed action.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative).
Denial of the license amendment request would result in no change in
current environmental impacts. Accordingly, the environmental impacts
of the proposed action and the no-action alternative are similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
The proposed action does not involve the use of any different
resources than those previously considered.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
No additional agencies or persons were consulted regarding the
[[Page 28540]]
environmental impact of the proposed action.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54(q), the licensee has requested a license
amendment to Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-50 for the
operation of TMI to allow staffing changes to the Radiological
Emergency Plan Annex for TMI. The NRC is considering issuing the
requested amendment. On the basis of the EA included in Section II of
this document and incorporated by reference into this finding, the NRC
concludes that the proposed action would not have a significant effect
on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has
determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the
proposed action.
The related environmental document is NUREG-1437, ``Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,
Supplement 37, Regarding Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1,
Final Report,'' and is available for public inspection at ADAMS
Accession No. ML091751063. NUREG-1437, Supplement 37, provides the
latest environmental review of current operations and a description of
environmental conditions at TMI.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of June 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Booma Venkataraman,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2017-13053 Filed 6-21-17; 8:45 am]
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