[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 16, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55342-55344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22477]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-289; NRC-2019-0198]
Exelon Generation Company LLC; Three Mile Island Nuclear Station
Unit 1
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 exemptions in response to an April 12, 2019, request from
Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Exelon or the licensee), for Three Mile
Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (TMI-1), located in Londonderry Township
of Dauphin County, PA. One exemption would permit the licensee to use
funds from the TMI-1 decommissioning trust fund (DTF or the Trust) for
spent fuel management activities. Another exemption would allow the
licensee to use withdrawals from the Trust for these activities without
prior NRC notification. The NRC staff is issuing a final environmental
assessment (EA) and final finding of no significant (FONSI) impact
associated with the proposed exemptions.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
October 16, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0198 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-2019-0198. Address
questions about NRC docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Anne Frost;
telephone: 301-287-9232; 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: 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
Pursuant to section 50.12 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Specific exemptions,'' the NRC is considering
issuance of exemptions from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR
50.75(h)(1)(iv) for Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-50,
issued to Exelon for TMI-1, located in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
The proposed action is in response to the licensee's application for
exemption dated April 12, 2019. The exemptions would allow the licensee
to use funds from the Trust for spent fuel management activities
without prior notice to the NRC, in the same manner that funds from the
Trust are used under 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8) for decommissioning activities.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC has prepared an 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 (EIS) for
the proposed licensing action, and is issuing a FONSI.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would partially exempt Exelon from the
requirements set forth in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR
50.75(h)(1)(iv). Specifically, the proposed action would allow Exelon
to use funds from the Trust for spent fuel management activities not
associated with radiological decontamination and would exempt Exelon
from meeting the requirement for prior notification to the NRC for
these activities.
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Need for the Proposed Action
By letter dated June 20, 2017, Exelon informed the NRC that it
plans to permanently ceased power operations at TMI-1 on or about
September 30, 2019.
As required by 10 CFR 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 10 CFR 50.2. This definition addresses radiological
decontamination and does not include activities associated with spent
fuel management. Similarly, the requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv)
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, partial
exemptions from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) are
needed to allow Exelon to use funds from the Trust for spent fuel
management activities.
Exelon stated that Table 2 of the request for exemption dated April
12, 2019, demonstrates that the amount of money in the TMI-1 Trust as
of December 31, 2018, exceeds the amount of funds required to complete
radiological decommissioning of the site. The sufficiency of funds in
the Trust to cover the costs of activities associated with spent fuel
management and radiological decontamination through license termination
is supported by the TMI-1 Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities
Report submitted by Exelon in a letter dated April 5, 2019. The
licensee stated that it needs access to the funds in the Trust in
excess of those needed for radiological decontamination to support
spent fuel management activities not associated with radiological
decontamination.
The requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv) further provide that,
except for decommissioning withdrawals being made under 10 CFR
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 10 CFR
50.75(h)(1)(iv) is needed to allow Exelon to use funds from the Trust
for spent fuel management activities without prior NRC notification.
In summary, by letter dated April 12, 2019, Exelon requested
exemptions from NRC regulations to allow Trust withdrawals, without
prior written notification to the NRC, for spent fuel management
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
actions 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 to pay for activities
associated with spent fuel management. 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 its site-specific
decommissioning cost estimate and submitting its final radiation survey
and demonstrating 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 remaining balance, plus
expected rate of return, plus any other financial surety mechanism,
does not cover the estimated costs to complete the decommissioning,
additional financial assurance must be provided to cover the cost of
completion. These annual reports provide a means for the NRC to monitor
the adequacy of available funding. Since the exemptions would allow
Exelon to use funds in excess of those required for radiological
decontamination of the site and the adequacy of Trust funds dedicated
for radiological decontamination are not affected by the proposed
exemptions, 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 exemptions. 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, 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.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC 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 October 3, 2019, the
NRC notified the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania representative of the EA
and FONSI.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The licensee has requested exemptions from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A)
and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(1)(iv), which would allow Exelon to use funds from
the Trust for spent fuel management activities, without prior written
notification to the NRC.
The NRC is considering issuing the requested exemptions. The
proposed action would not significantly affect plant safety, would not
have a significant adverse effect on the
[[Page 55344]]
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 exemptions from requirements that are of a
financial or administrative nature and that do not have an impact of
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 notice. 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 EIS 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 Three Mile Island Nuclear Station,
Unit 1, Final Report,'' (NUREG-1437, Supplement 37), which provides the
latest environmental review of current operations and description of
environmental conditions at TMI-1.
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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4/12/2019......................... Letter from Exelon to NRC titled ``Request for Exemption ML19102A085
from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR
50.75(h)(1)(iv).
4/5/2019.......................... Letter from Exelon to NRC titled ``Three Mile Island ML19095A041
Nuclear Station, Unit 1--Post Shutdown Decommissioning
Activities Report''.
6/20/2017......................... Letter from Exelon to NRC titled ``Certification of ML17171A151
Permanent Cessation of Power Operations for Three Mile
Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1''.
6/2009............................ NUREG-1437, Supplement 37, ``Generic Environmental ML091751063
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants:
Regarding Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1''.
12/1972........................... NUREG-0552, ``Final Environmental Statement Related to ML19220C370
Operation of Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Units 1
and 2''.
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Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of October 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Justin C. Poole,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2019-22477 Filed 10-15-19; 8:45 am]
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