[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 221 (Friday, November 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62559-62560]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24792]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2019-0226]


Agency Action Regarding the Exploratory Process for the 
Development of an Advanced Nuclear Reactor Generic Environmental Impact 
Statement

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Gather information that would be used to determine whether to 
prepare a Generic Environmental impact statement for the construction 
and operation of advanced nuclear reactors.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is conducting an 
exploratory process to gather information on potential environmental 
impacts resulting from the construction and operation of advanced 
nuclear reactors. The NRC is planning to conduct two public meetings 
and a workshop to explore the interaction of various advanced nuclear 
reactor designs with the environment. NRC intends to gather information 
that will inform its decision on whether to proceed with the 
development of a generic environmental impact statement for the 
construction and operation of advanced nuclear reactors (ANR GEIS). The 
intent of an ANR GEIS is to improve the efficiency of the environmental 
review process.

DATES: The NRC intends to hold two public meeting in November of 2019 
to solicitate public input regarding the development of an ANR GEIS. 
The NRC anticipates that the public workshop would occur during the 
month of December 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0226. Address 
questions about NRC dockets 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.
     Email comments to: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack Cushing, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1424, and email: 
[email protected]. Mallecia Sutton, Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 
301-415-0673, and email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0226 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0226.
     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].
     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2019-0226 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at 
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions 
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    The NRC is soliciting input from stakeholders regarding the 
development of an ANR GEIS for the construction and operation of 
advanced nuclear reactors. The NRC will hold two public meetings during 
the month of November 2019 and a workshop in December 2019 to discuss 
stakeholder input. The NRC expects to gather input from stakeholders 
until December 31, 2019.
    If developed, an ANR GEIS would streamline the environmental review 
process for advanced nuclear reactor environmental reviews. The ANR 
GEIS

[[Page 62560]]

would also determine which environmental impacts would result in 
essentially the same (generic) impact for various types of advanced 
nuclear power plants and which ones could result in different levels of 
environmental impacts requiring a plant-specific analysis. 
Environmental reviews for advanced nuclear reactor licenses would 
incorporate the ANR GEIS by reference and provide site-specific 
information in a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, thereby 
streamlining the environmental review process.
    The input received in the public meetings will inform the NRC on 
whether to prepare an ANR GEIS. If, after gathering stakeholder input, 
the NRC has sufficient information to begin development of a GEIS, the 
staff will begin the scoping process and develop a schedule for 
completion of an ANR GEIS at that time.

III. Request for Information

    This notice informs the public of the NRC's intention to gather 
input from stakeholders to assess whether to proceed with the 
development of an ANR GEIS.
    The NRC will need to:
    a. Seek and obtain input from stakeholders on whether an ANR GEIS 
would improve the efficiency of the environmental review process, where 
the advanced nuclear reactors would be located, the types of 
technologies that would be involved, and which environmental impacts 
should be addressed in the ANR GEIS;
    b. Assess whether an ANR GEIS could avoid duplication of effort and 
focus the review on important environmental issues; and
    c. Investigate how an ANR GEIS can align with the goals and best 
practices of Federal government efforts to streamline the National 
Environmental Policy Act processes.
    Below are specific questions that the NRC is seeking stakeholder 
feedback on:
    a. Should the scope of the ANR GEIS include reactors regardless of 
technology or be limited to specific reactor technologies?
    b. What reactor sizes (footprint) and power levels should the NRC 
include in the scope the ANR GEIS?
    c. One possible option NRC is considering is limiting the ANR GEIS 
to certain regions with common environmental conditions. Should the NRC 
consider the geographical site of a reactor when developing the scope 
of the ANR GEIS? Should the NRC consider a set of bounding plant 
parameters when developing the scope of the ANR GEIS? If so, what 
parameters should be considered?

IV. Public Meetings and Workshop

    The NRC will hold two Category 2 public meetings to solicitate 
information regarding development of an ANR GEIS. The two meetings will 
be held in November 2019 and the workshop will be held in December 
2019. The meeting dates and locations will be posted on the NRC's 
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg. The public is invited 
to discuss regulatory issues with the agency at designated points that 
will be identified on the agenda. The NRC's Policy Statement, 
``Enhancing Public Participation on NRC Meetings,'' effective May 28, 
2002 (67 FR 36920), applies to this meeting. The policy statement may 
be found electronically under the NRC's public website (https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/policy/67fr36920.html), and contains information regarding visitors and 
security.
    The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with 
disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation 
to participate in this meeting or need the meeting notice or the 
transcript or other information from the meeting in another format 
(e.g., Braille, large print), please notify the NRC's meeting contact. 
Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on 
a case-by-case basis.

V. Procedural Requirements

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    This Federal Register Notice does not contain new or amended 
information collection requirements that are subject to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing information 
collection requirements were approved by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB), approval number 3150-0021.

Public Protection Notification

    The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless the document requesting 
or requiring the collection displays a currently valid OMB control 
number.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of November 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John R. Tappert,
Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2019-24792 Filed 11-14-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P