[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 20, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43186-43188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17888]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-293; NRC-2019-0152]
Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc; Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station
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 exemption in response to a November 16, 2018, request
from Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (ENOI or the licensee) on behalf
of Entergy Nuclear Generation Company (ENGC) (to be renamed Holtec
Pilgrim, LLC) and Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC (HDI),
related to Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (Pilgrim), located in Plymouth
County, Massachusetts. The proposed action would permit Holtec Pilgrim,
LLC and HDI to use funds from the Pilgrim decommissioning trust fund
(the Trust) for management of spent fuel and site restoration
activities. The staff is issuing a final environmental assessment (EA)
and a final finding of no significant impact (FONSI) associated with
the proposed exemption.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
August 20, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0152 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0152. Address
questions about NRC docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9127; 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 https://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 at 1-800-397-4209, 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 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: Scott P. Wall, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2855; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
Pursuant to section 50.12 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Specific exemptions,'' the NRC is considering
issuance of an exemption from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) for Renewed
Facility Operating License No. DPR-35, issued to HDI for Pilgrim,
located in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. By letter dated November 16,
2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18320A031), ENOI, on behalf of itself,
Entergy Nuclear Generation Company (ENGC) (to be known as Holtec
Pilgrim, LLC), Holtec International (Holtec), and HDI submitted a
License Transfer Application (LTA) requesting that the NRC consent to
the proposed direct and indirect transfer of the Pilgrim Renewed
Facility Operating License No. DPR-35 and the general license for the
Pilgrim ISFSI (collectively referred to as the facility). Specifically,
the Applicants requested that the NRC consent to the direct transfer of
ENOI's currently licensed authority (licensed operator for
decommissioning) to HDI. In addition, the Applicants requested the
indirect transfer of control of ENGC's ownership interests in the
facility licenses to
[[Page 43187]]
Holtec. In Enclosure 2 of the November 16, 2018, LTA, HDI requested an
exemption from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A). The exemption would allow
Holtec Pilgrim, LLC and HDI to use funds from the Trust for spent fuel
management and site restoration activities, in the same manner that
funds from the Trust are used under 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8) for radiological
decommissioning activities. This exemption would only apply following
NRC approval of the LTA and closing of the underlying transaction.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC has prepared an
environmental assessment (EA) that analyzes the environmental effects
of the proposed 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 finding of no significant impact (FONSI).
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would partially exempt Holtec Pilgrim, LLC and
HDI from the requirements set forth in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A).
Specifically, the proposed action would allow Holtec Pilgrim, LLC and
HDI to use funds from the Trust for spent fuel management and site
restoration activities not associated with radiological decommissioning
activities.
The proposed action is also described in the licensee's application
dated November 16, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18320A031).
Need for the Proposed Action
By letter dated November 10, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML15328A053), ENOI informed the NRC that it planned to permanently
cease power operations at Pilgrim no later than June 1, 2019. ENOI
permanently ceased power operations at Pilgrim on May 31, 2019. ENOI
permanently defueled Pilgrim on June 9, 2019.
As required by 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A), decommissioning trust
funds may be used by Holtec Pilgrim, LLC and HDI if the withdrawals are
for legitimate decommissioning activity expenses, consistent with the
definition of decommissioning in 10 CFR 50.2. This definition addresses
radiological decontamination and does not include activities associated
with spent fuel management or site restoration. Therefore, exemption
from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) is needed to allow Holtec Pilgrim, LLC
and HDI to use funds from the Trust for spent fuel management and site
restoration activities.
HDI stated that Table 1 of the application dated November 16, 2018,
demonstrates that the Trust contains the amount needed to cover the
estimated costs of radiological decommissioning, as well as spent fuel
management and site restoration activities. The adequacy of funds in
the Trust to cover the costs of activities associated with spent fuel
management, site restoration, and radiological decontamination through
license termination is supported by the revised Pilgrim Post-Shutdown
Decommissioning Activities Report submitted by HDI in a letter dated
November 16, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. ML18320A034), as supplemented by
letters dated January 9, 2019 and July 29, 2019 (ADAMS Accession Nos.
ML19015A020 and ML19210E470, respectively). HDI stated that it needs
access to the funds in the Trust to support spent fuel management and
site restoration activities not associated with radiological
decontamination.
In summary, by letter dated November 16, 2018, HDI requested an
exemption from NRC regulations to allow Trust withdrawals for spent
fuel management and site restoration activities.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The proposed action involves regulatory requirements that are of a
financial or administrative nature and that do not have an impact on
the environment. The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed
action and concludes that there is reasonable assurance that adequate
funds are available in the Trust to complete all activities associated
with radiological decommissioning. There would be no decrease in safety
associated with the use of the Trust to fund activities associated with
spent fuel management and site restoration. The NRC regulations in 10
CFR 50.82(a)(8)(v) require licensees to submit a financial assurance
status report annually between the time of submitting their
decommissioning cost estimate until they submit their final radiation
survey and demonstrate that residual radioactivity has been reduced to
a level that permits termination of the operating license. Section
50.82(a)(8)(vi) of 10 CFR requires that if the sum of the balance of
any remaining decommissioning funds, plus expected rate of return, plus
any other financial surety mechanism relied upon by the licensee, does
not cover the estimated costs to complete the decommissioning, the
financial assurance status report must include additional financial
assurance to cover the cost of completion. These annual reports provide
a means for the NRC to monitor the adequacy of available funding. The
proposed exemption would allow Holtec Pilgrim, LLC and HDI to use Trust
funds to support spent fuel management and site restoration activities
not associated with radiological decontamination. The NRC staff has
determined that there is reasonable assurance of adequate funding for
radiological decommissioning based on the remaining Trust funds
dedicated for radiological decontamination. Specifically, HDI has
provided detailed, site-specific, cost-estimates for radiological
decommissioning that the NRC staff finds sufficiently demonstrate that
the Trust funds dedicated to radiological decommissioning are adequate.
Thus, there is reasonable assurance that there will be no environmental
effect due to lack of adequate funding for decommissioning.
The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability
or consequences of radiological accidents or change the types of
effluents released offsite. In addition, there would be no significant
increase in the amount of any radiological effluent released offsite,
and no significant increase in occupational or public radiation
exposure. There would be no materials or chemicals introduced into the
plant affecting the characteristics or types of effluents released
offsite. In addition, waste processing systems would not be affected by
the proposed exemption. Therefore, there would be no significant
radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
Regarding potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed action
would have no direct impacts on land use or water resources, including
terrestrial and aquatic biota, as it involves no new construction or
modification of plant operational systems. There would be no changes to
the quality or quantity of nonradiological effluents, and no changes to
the plant's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits
would be needed. In addition, there would be no noticeable effect on
socioeconomic and environmental justice conditions in the region, no
air quality impacts, and no potential to affect historic properties.
Therefore, there would be no significant nonradiological environment
impacts associated with the proposed action.
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there would be no significant
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
[[Page 43188]]
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
the denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action''
alternative). Denial of the exemption request would result in no change
in current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the
proposed action and the alternative action would be similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
There are no unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of
available resources under the proposed action.
Agencies or Persons Consulted
No additional agencies or persons were consulted regarding the
environmental impact of the proposed action. On August 14, 2019, the
NRC notified the Commonwealth of Massachusetts representative of the EA
and FONSI.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The requested exemption from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) would allow
Holtec Pilgrim, LLC and HDI to use funds from the Trust for spent fuel
management and site restoration activities.
The NRC is considering issuing the requested exemption. The
proposed action would not significantly affect plant safety, would not
have a significant adverse effect on the probability of an accident
occurring, and would not have any significant radiological or
nonradiological impacts. The reason the human environment would not be
significantly affected is that the proposed action involves an
exemption from requirements that are of a financial or administrative
nature that do not have an impact on the human environment. Consistent
with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC conducted the EA for the proposed action,
and this FONSI incorporates by reference the EA included in Section II
of this document. Therefore, the NRC concludes that the proposed action
will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human
environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined there is no need to
prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action.
As required by 10 CFR 51.32(a)(5), the related environmental
document is the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License
Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Regarding Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station,
Final Report,'' January 2007 (NUREG-1437, Supplement 29, Volumes 1 and
2), which provides the latest environmental review of current
operations and description of environmental conditions at Pilgrim.
The finding and other related environmental documents may be
examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room
(PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland 20852. Publicly-available records are accessible
electronically from ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room on the
internet at the NRC's website: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS should contact the
NRC's PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected].
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
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ADAMS Accession
Date Title No.
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6/10/2019.................... Letter from Entergy ML19161A033
to NRC titled
``Certifications of
Permanent Cessation
of Power Operations
and Permanent
Removal of Fuel from
the Reactor Vessel''.
11/16/2018................... Letter from Entergy ML18320A031
to NRC titled
``Application for
Order Consenting to
Direct and Indirect
Transfers of Control
of Licenses and
Approving Conforming
License Amendment;
and Request for
Exemption from 10
CFR
50.82(a)(8)(i)(A)''.
11/16/2018................... Letter from HDI to ML18320A040
NRC titled
``Notification of
Revised Post-
Shutdown
Decommissioning
Activities Report
and Revised Site-
Specific
Decommissioning Cost
Estimate for Pilgrim
Nuclear Power
Station''.
11/10/2015................... Letter from Entergy ML15328A053
to NRC titled
``Notification of
Permanent Cessation
of Power
Operations''.
7/2007....................... NUREG-1437, ML071990020;
Supplement 29, ML071990027
``Generic
Environmental Impact
Statement for
License Renewal of
Nuclear Plants:
Regarding Pilgrim
Nuclear Power
Station,'' Volumes 1
and 2.
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Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of August, 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott P. Wall,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III, Division of
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2019-17888 Filed 8-19-19; 8:45 am]
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