[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 247 (Thursday, December 27, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66765-66766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-28129]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-458; NRC-2017-0141]
Entergy Operations, Inc.; River Bend Station, Unit 1
AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
ACTION: License renewal and record of decision; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued
Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-47 to Entergy Operations,
Inc. (Entergy or licensee), for River Bend Station, Unit 1 (RBS).
Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-47 authorizes Entergy to
operate RBS at reactor core power levels not in excess of 3,091
megawatts thermal and in accordance with the provisions of the RBS
renewed license and technical specifications. In addition, the NRC has
prepared a record of decision (ROD) that supports the NRC's decision to
issue Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-47.
DATES: The NRC issued Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-47 on
December 20, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0141 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 website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0141. Address
questions about docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Krupskaya Castellon;
telephone: 301-287-9221; 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 ``Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or
301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience
of the reader, instructions about obtaining materials referenced in
this document are provided in the ``Availability of Documents''
section.
NRC's Public Document Room: You may examine and purchase
copies of public documents at the NRC's Public Document Room, Room O1-
F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emmanuel Sayoc, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-4084; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC hereby gives notice that it has issued Renewed Facility
Operating License No. NPF-47 to Entergy Operations, Inc. (Entergy or
licensee), the operator of River Bend Station, Unit 1 (RBS). Renewed
Facility Operating License No. NPF-47 authorizes Entergy to operate RBS
at reactor core power levels not in excess of 3,091 megawatts thermal
and in accordance with the provisions of the RBS renewed license and
technical specifications. The NRC's record of decision (ROD) supports
the NRC's decision to issue Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-
47 and is available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) under Accession No. ML18284A374.
The NRC staff documented its environmental review of the RBS
license renewal application in the ROD and the final supplemental
environmental impact statement (FSEIS) for RBS, which it published
November
[[Page 66766]]
8, 2018 as Supplement 58 to NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants Regarding River Bend
Station, Unit 1, Final Report'' dated November 8, 2018'' (ADAMS
Accession No. ML18310A072). As part of its environmental review, the
NRC considered a range of reasonable alternatives to RBS license
renewal. These alternatives included generating replacement energy from
a new nuclear reactor, from supercritical pulverized coal (SCPC) power,
from natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) power, or from a combination
alternative (natural gas combined-cycle, biomass, and demand-side
management). The NRC also considered the no-action alternative (simply
not issuing the renewed license for RBS). Ultimately, the NRC
determined that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal
for RBS are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal
for energy planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable.
RBS is a boiling-water reactor located approximately 38.6 km (24
miles) northwest of Baton Rouge, LA. Entergy's application for RBS
license renewal, dated May 25, 2017 (ADAMS Package Accession No.
ML17153A282), as supplemented by letters dated through October 9, 2018,
complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the NRC's regulations. As required
by the Act and the NRC's regulations in Chapter 1, ``Nuclear Regulatory
Commission,'' of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
``Energy,'' the NRC has made appropriate findings, which are set forth
in the license. The NRC published a public notice in the Federal
Register on May 31, 2016, announcing its proposed issuance of the
renewed license and an opportunity for a hearing (81 FR 34379). No
adjudicatory matters are pending before the Commission or the Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board Panel regarding the RBS license renewal
application.
For more information on the issuance of the renewed license for
RBS, see: (1) Entergy's license renewal application for RBS dated May
25, 2017 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML17153A282), as supplemented by
letters through October 9, 2018, (2) the NRC's safety evaluation
report, which documents the staff's safety review of the license
renewal application (published on August 16, 2018, ADAMS Accession No.
ML18212A151, as revised on October 18, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML18291B147)), (3) the NRC's final supplemental environmental impact
statement (NUREG-1437, Supplement 58) for RBS, which documents the
staff's environmental review of the RBS license renewal (published on
November 8, 2018 ADAMS Accession No. ML18310A072), and (4) the NRC's
record of decision for this action (ADAMS Accession No. ML18284A374).
II. Conclusion
As discussed in Chapter 5 of the final supplemental environmental
impact statement for the RBS license renewal (Supplement 58 to NUREG-
1437), the NRC determined that the adverse environmental impacts of
license renewal for River Bend Station, Unit 1 are not so great that
preserving the option of license renewal for energy-planning
decisionmakers would be unreasonable. The NRC based its recommendation
on: (1) The analysis and findings in NUREG-1437, ``Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,''
(2) Entergy's license renewal application, including its environmental
report and other documents submitted by Entergy, (3) consultation with
Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies, (4) the NRC staff's
independent environmental review, and (5) consideration of public
comments received during the scoping process and on the draft
supplemental environmental impact statement.
Dated at Rockville, MD, this 20th day of December 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
George A. Wilson, Jr.,
Director, Division of Materials and License Renewal, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2018-28129 Filed 12-26-18; 8:45 am]
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