[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 164 (Friday, August 23, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44339-44340]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18161]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 72-1031, 72-44, 50-528, 50-529, and 50-530; NRC-2019-0161]
Arizona Public Service Company; Palo Verde Nuclear Generating
Station; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation
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 an
exemption request from Arizona Public Service Company to allow the Palo
Verde Nuclear Generating Station to load spent fuel with a larger
pellet diameter than is authorized in the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage
cask system in Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 7. The
NRC prepared an environmental assessment (EA) documenting its finding.
The NRC concluded that the proposed action would have no significant
environmental impact. Accordingly, the NRC staff is issuing a finding
of no significant impact (FONSI) associated with the proposed
exemption.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
August 19, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0161 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-2019-0161. Address
questions about NRC docket IDs 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]. The ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced in this document (if that document is available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced.
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: Bernard White, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-415-6577; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is reviewing an exemption request from Arizona Public
Service Company, dated July 5, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. ML19186A449).
Arizona Public Service Company is requesting an exemption from the
requirements of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR)
Sec. Sec. 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(3), 72.212(b)(5)(i), 72.214, and the
portion of 72.212(b)(11) that requires compliance with the terms,
conditions, and specifications of the Certificate of Compliance No.
1015, for spent fuel storage at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating
Station independent spent fuel storage installation.
Specifically, Arizona Public Service Company requested an exemption
to load and store Combustion Engineering spent fuel with a larger
maximum pellet diameter than authorized in Amendment No. 7 of
Certificate of Compliance No. 1031 for the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage
system.
II. Environmental Assessment Summary
Under the requirements of Sec. Sec. 51.21 and 51.30(a), the NRC
staff developed an environmental assessment (ADAMS Accession No.
ML19205A273) to evaluate the proposed action, which is for the NRC to
grant an exemption to Arizona Public Service Company to allow loading
and storage of spent fuel with a larger maximum pellet diameter than
that is authorized in Amendment No. 7 of the NAC International (NAC)
CoC No. 1031 for the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage system.
The EA defines the NRC's proposed action (i.e., to grant the
exemption request per 10 CFR 72.7) and the purpose of and need for the
proposed action. Evaluations of the potential environmental impacts of
the proposed action and alternatives to the proposed action are
presented, followed by the NRC's conclusion.
This EA evaluates the potential environmental impacts of granting
the exemption to load and store spent fuel with a maximum pellet
diameter than authorized in Certificate of Compliance No. 1031,
Amendment No. 7 in the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage system at the Palo
Verde Nuclear Generating Station site. The potential environmental
impact of using NRC-approved storage casks was initially analyzed in
the EA for the rulemaking to provide for the storage of spent fuel
under a general license on July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181). The
environmental assessment for the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage system,
Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 7, (82 FR 25931)
tiers off the environmental assessment for the 1990 final rule.
NRC staff finds that the environmental effects from this exemption
request is bounded by the EA for Certificate of Compliance No. 1031,
Amendment No. 7, and that there will be no significant environmental
impacts from the proposed action. The proposed action does not change
the types or quantities of effluents that may be released offsite, and
it does not increase occupational or public radiation exposure. The
request by Arizona Public Service Company to increase the pellet
diameter without a corresponding increase in the uranium oxide loading
of fuel assemblies will not result an inadvertent criticality event.
Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts
associated with the proposed action. There is no change to the non-
radiological effluents. The proposed action will take place within the
site boundary and does not have other environmental impacts. Thus, the
proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of
the human environment. Therefore, the environmental impacts of the
proposed action are no greater than those described in the EA for the
rulemaking
[[Page 44340]]
to add the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage system, Certificate of Compliance
No. 1031, Amendment No. 7 to 10 CFR 72.214.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC staff has prepared an EA and associated FONSI in support of
the proposed action. The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed
action, for the NRC to grant the exemption requested for Palo Verde
Nuclear Generating Station, allowing the use of a larger pellet
diameter in Amendment No. 7 for the MAGNASTOR[supreg] storage system,
will not significantly impact the quality of the human environment, and
that the proposed action is the preferred alternative. The
environmental impacts are bounded by the previous EA for the rulemaking
to add the Certificate of Compliance No. 1031, Amendment No. 7, cask
system to 10 CFR 72.214.
The NRC provided the Arizona Department of Health Services-Bureau
of Radiation Control a draft copy of this EA for review in an email
dated July 24, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. ML19205A323).
The NRC staff has determined that this exemption 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.
Therefore, the NRC finds that there are no significant
environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that preparation of
an environmental impact statement is not warranted. Accordingly, the
NRC has determined that a FONSI is appropriate.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of August, 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John B. McKirgan,
Chief, Spent Fuel Licensing Branch, Division of Spent Fuel Management,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2019-18161 Filed 8-22-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P