[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 150 (Friday, August 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48044-48045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16627]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-1151; NRC-2015-0039]


Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC; Columbia Fuel Fabrication 
Facility

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental impact statement; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), NUREG- 2248, 
``Environmental Impact Statement for the License Renewal of the 
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility In Richland County, South Carolina'' 
for Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC's (WEC) license renewal 
application to renew its special nuclear material (SNM) license SNM-
1107 to continue to operate its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility 
(CFFF) for an additional 40 years. The CFFF is located in Hopkins, 
South Carolina, and manufactures nuclear fuel assemblies for commercial 
nuclear power plants. If the WEC's license renewal request is granted, 
as proposed, the license would be effective for 40 years from the date 
the NRC approves the renewal.

DATES: The final EIS referenced in this document is available on August 
5, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0039 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-2015-0039. Address 
questions about Docket IDs to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; 
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 final EIS is available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML22201A131.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.
     Project Website: Information related to the WEC project 
can be accessed on the NRC's WEC website at https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/fc/westinghouse-fuel-fab-fac-sc-lc.html. Under the section 
titled ``Operating,'' scroll down to ``Key Documents'' and click on 
final EIS, NUREG-2248.
     Public Libraries: A copy of the final EIS will be made 
available at the following public libraries:

Richland Public Library--Main; 1431 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Richland Public Library--Lower Richland; 9019 Garners Ferry Road, 
Hopkins, SC 29061
Richland Public Library--Eastover; 608 Main Street, Eastover, SC 29044

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stacey Imboden, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-2462; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    In accordance with section 51.118 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Final environmental impact statement--
notice of availability,'' the NRC is making available NUREG-2248, which 
concerns the NRC's final EIS for the proposed renewal of WEC's license 
SNM-1107 for an additional 40 years. A Notice of Availability of the 
draft EIS (NUREG-2248) was published in the Federal Register (FR) on 
August 6, 2021, by the NRC (86 FR 43276) and the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (86 FR 43236). The public comment period on the draft 
EIS closed on September 20, 2021. On September 28, 2021, the NRC re-
opened the public comment period until November 19, 2021 to allow more 
time for the public to submit comments (86 FR 53694). The comments 
received are addressed in the final EIS. The final EIS is available as 
indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this document.

II. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing the final EIS for an application from WEC 
requesting to renew its SNM license SNM-1107 to continue operating the 
CFFF for an additional 40 years. The CFFF is located in Hopkins, South 
Carolina, and has been operating since 1969. The WEC's license (SNM-
1107) was last renewed by the NRC in 2007 for 20 years and will expire 
in September 2027. The proposed action is the renewal of the SNM-1107 
license to allow the WEC to continue licensed operations and activities 
at the CFFF site for an additional 40 years from the date the NRC 
approves the license renewal request.
    The final EIS is being issued as part of the NRC's process to 
decide whether to renew the SNM-1107 license pursuant to 10 CFR part 
70. In this final EIS, the NRC staff has assessed the potential 
environmental impacts of the license renewal for an additional 40 
years. The NRC staff assessed the impacts of the proposed action, the 
no-action alternative, and a 20-year license

[[Page 48045]]

renewal alternative on land use; transportation; geology and soils; 
water resources; ecological resources; air quality; noise; historical 
and cultural resources; visual and scenic resources; socioeconomics; 
environmental justice, public and occupational health, and waste 
management. Additionally, the final EIS analyzes and compares the 
benefits and costs of the proposed action and the alternatives. In 
preparing this final EIS, the NRC staff also considered, evaluated, and 
addressed the public comments received on the draft EIS. Appendix D of 
the final EIS summarizes the public comments received and the NRC's 
responses.
    After comparing the impacts of the proposed action to those of the 
No-Action alternative and the 20-year license renewal alternative, the 
NRC staff, in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 51, 
recommends the proposed action. This recommendation is based on (i) 
review of the license renewal application request, which includes the 
environmental report, supplemental documents, and the licensee's 
responses to the NRC staff's requests for additional information; (ii) 
consultation with Federal, State, and Tribal agencies and input from 
other stakeholders; (iii) the NRC staff's independent review; and (iv) 
the NRC staff's assessments in the final EIS.

    Dated: July 29, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Christopher M. Regan,
Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental and Financial Support, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2022-16627 Filed 8-4-22; 8:45 am]
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