[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 190 (Monday, October 3, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59860-59863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21319]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Clinch River Nuclear Site Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technology 
Park Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Record of decision.

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SUMMARY: This notice is provided in accordance with the Council on 
Environmental Quality's regulations and Tennessee Valley Authority's 
(TVA's) procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA). TVA has selected the Preferred Alternative identified in 
the Clinch River Nuclear (CRN) Site Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technology 
Park Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS). The 
Notice of Availability of the Final PEIS for the Clinch River Nuclear 
Site Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technology Park was published in the 
Federal Register on July 29, 2022. The Preferred Alternative, 
Alternative D--Nuclear Technology Park at Area 1 and Area 2 with Small 
Modular Reactors (SMRs) and/or Advanced Non-Light Water Reactors

[[Page 59861]]

(Non-LWRs), provides the necessary flexibility in achieving the purpose 
and need of the project to support TVA's goal of demonstrating the 
feasibility of deploying advanced nuclear reactor technologies at the 
CRN Site capable of incrementally supplying clean, secure, and reliable 
power that is less vulnerable to disruption. As defined in the PEIS, 
advanced reactors can include non-LWRs and LWRs. SMRs are a type of 
advanced LWR reactor with an electrical output of generally no more 
than 300 megawatts electric (MWe).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: J. Taylor Johnson, NEPA Compliance 
Specialist, Tennessee Valley Authority, 1101 Market Street, BR 2C-C, 
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402; by telephone (423) 751-2732, or email at 
[email protected]. The Final PEIS, this Record of Decision (ROD) and 
other project documents are available on TVA's website https://www.tva.gov/nepa.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: TVA is a corporate agency of the United 
States that provides electricity for business customers and local power 
distributors serving 10 million people in the Tennessee Valley--an 
80,000-square-mile region comprised of Tennessee and parts of Virginia, 
North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky. TVA 
receives no taxpayer funding and derives virtually all revenues from 
the sale of electricity. In addition to operating and investing 
revenues in its power system, TVA provides flood control, navigation, 
and land management for the Tennessee Valley watershed and provides 
economic development and job creation assistance within the Service 
area.
    In May 2016, TVA submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the CRN Site for two 
or more new nuclear power units demonstrating small modular reactor 
(SMR) technology, with a total combined nuclear generating capacity not 
to exceed 800 MWe. The NRC prepared and released a Final Environmental 
Impact Statement (NRC ESP FEIS) to assess the environmental impacts of 
the action proposed in the TVA ESP application (ESPA). The NRC ESP FEIS 
identified issuance of an ESP for the CRN Site as the preferred 
alternative.
    Following the NRC ESP FEIS publication in April 2019, the NRC 
issued an ESP to TVA on December 19, 2019, which is valid for up to 20 
years. The ESP represents NRC's approval of the CRN Site as suitable 
for the future demonstration of the construction and operation of two 
or more SMRs with characteristics presented in the ESPA, but it does 
not authorize TVA to construct or operate a nuclear facility. Prior to 
construction or operation of advanced nuclear reactors at the CRN Site, 
TVA must apply for and receive additional permits and licenses from the 
NRC.
    In June 2019, TVA released the agency's Integrated Resource Plan 
(IRP) Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the Final 2019 
IRP. The IRP identified the various generating resources that TVA 
intends to pursue to meet the energy needs of the Tennessee River 
Valley over a 20-year planning period. The 2019 IRP recommended that 
TVA continue to evaluate emerging nuclear technologies, including SMRs, 
as part of technology innovation efforts aimed at developing future 
electricity generation capabilities. In December 2021, the TVA Board of 
Directors authorized the implementation of a New Nuclear Program to 
advance SMR planning efforts at the CRN Site, and to explore plans for 
potential additional reactors at other locations on the TVA system to 
support TVA's 2050 decarbonization aspiration. The Final PEIS for the 
Clinch River Nuclear Site Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technology Park is 
TVA's next step in exploring the potential for new nuclear generation 
on the TVA system, to pursue the recommendations of the IRP.

Nuclear Reactor Designs Considered

    Nuclear technology alternatives considered by TVA for the CRN Site 
include both SMRs and advanced non-LWRs, both further defined in the 
PEIS. Potential SMR reactor designs analyzed in the PEIS include low- 
or high-power pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors. 
Potential advanced non-LWR reactor designs analyzed in the PEIS include 
thermal, molten salt graphite-moderated; thermal, fluoride salt 
coolant, graphite-moderated; high temperature gas, graphite-moderated, 
helium-cooled; molten chloride fast reactors; and micro reactors.

Alternatives Considered

    TVA considered four alternatives in the Draft PEIS and Final PEIS 
located in two different areas (Area 1 and Area 2) on the site 
identified as suitable for Nuclear Technology Park development. Area 1 
includes lands previously disturbed by the Clinch River Breeder Reactor 
Project that were evaluated in the ESPA Environmental Report (ER). A 
portion of Area 2 was also evaluated in the ESPA ER for a proposed 
temporary laydown area.
    The four alternatives considered by TVA in the PEIS are:
    Alternative A--No Action. Under this alternative, TVA would not 
seek additional approvals from the NRC for the CRN Site, and a Nuclear 
Technology Park and advanced nuclear reactors would not be further 
explored, constructed, operated, and therefore not decommissioned at 
the CRN Site. The CRN Site would continue to be managed in accordance 
with the Watts Bar Reservoir Land Management Plan, and TVA would 
continue routine maintenance and clearing associated with the 
transmission lines that currently traverse the CRN Site. As this 
alternative would not support TVA's nuclear technology innovation 
efforts aimed at developing future generation capabilities, the No 
Action Alternative would not meet the purpose and need for the proposed 
action. It does, however, represent current conditions and provides a 
benchmark for comparing the environmental impacts of implementation of 
Alternatives B, C, and D.
    Alternative B--Nuclear Technology Park at Area 1 with SMRs and/or 
Advanced Non-LWRs. Under Alternative B, potential project activities 
would include site preparation, construction, operation, and 
decommissioning of one or more advanced nuclear reactor(s) at Area 1 of 
the CRN Site. This alternative consists of two options for development 
of Area 1: Alternative B1--Construction of one or more SMRs or 
Alternative B2--Construction of one or more SMRs and/or advanced non-
LWRs.
    Alternative C--Nuclear Technology Park at Area 2 with Advanced Non-
LWRs. Under this alternative, potential project activities would 
include site preparation, construction, operation, and potential 
decommissioning of one or more advanced non-LWRs at Area 2 on the CRN 
Site.
    Alternative D--Nuclear Technology Park at Area 1 and Area 2 with 
SMRs and/or Advanced Non-LWRs, potential activities would include site 
preparation, construction, operation, and decommissioning of one or 
more advanced nuclear reactor(s) at Area 1 and Area 2 on the CRN Site. 
One or more SMRs and/or advanced non-LWRs could be constructed at Area 
1 and one or more advanced non-LWRs could be constructed at Area 2.

Environmentally Preferred Alternative

    The PEIS includes baseline information for understanding the 
potential environmental and socioeconomic impacts associated with the 
alternatives considered by TVA.

[[Page 59862]]

TVA considered 20 resource areas related to the human and natural 
environments and the impacts on these resources associated with each 
Nuclear Technology Park alternative. Alternative A--No Action would 
result in the lowest level of environmental impacts as the 
construction- and operation-related impacts resulting from Alternatives 
B through D on Areas 1 and 2 would be avoided. However, Alternative A--
No Action does not meet the purpose and need for the project.
    Implementation of Alternative D, TVA's preferred alternative, would 
result in minor to moderate unmitigated impacts to the environment. 
These impacts would be related to stormwater discharge into local 
surface waters and groundwater; alteration of stream habitat; loss of 
vegetated land cover; impacts to wetlands; and increased noise, dust, 
traffic, and air emissions. Minor to moderate adverse impacts during 
construction would result from soil disturbance and erosion; impacts to 
onsite streams; and shoreline alteration. Moderate impacts would 
include loss of upland plant and animal communities; loss of habitat 
for listed bat species; disruption of views from adjacent properties; 
removal of low-quality forest and herbaceous habitat; impacts to three 
small areas of native cedar glades; and traffic increases at selected 
intersections within the local transportation network.
    Potential impacts to two state-listed plant species--rigid sedge 
and pale green orchid--could occur from the proposed development of the 
161-kV offsite transmission line. These impacts would be mitigated to 
the extent possible through minimization measures and TVA's planned 
efforts to expand the Grassy Creek Habitat Protection Area (HPA) by 
about 14 acres in the area where these plants are located.
    Moderate impacts to six archaeological sites determined to be 
eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) 
would occur due to construction disturbance from the project but would 
be mitigated through a Programmatic Agreement (PA) between TVA and the 
Tennessee State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). The proposed 
action would also result in minor to moderate beneficial impacts 
associated with increased employment, payroll, and tax revenues.
    Minor impacts during operation of the Nuclear Technology Park would 
include localized alteration of hydrologic patterns, limited scour 
diversion from the use and discharge of cooling water from and into the 
Clinch River arm of the Watts Bar Reservoir, noise, increased traffic, 
and impacts associated with design basis accidents, severe accidents, 
and plant security. The combined environmental impacts from the uranium 
fuel cycle, the storage of spent fuel onsite, radioactive waste 
management, and the transportation of unirradiated fuel and radioactive 
waste would be minor.
    The environmentally preferred action alternative that meets the 
project purpose and need is Alternative B--Nuclear Technology Park at 
Area 1 with SMRs and/or advanced non-LWRs. Alternative B would meet the 
purpose and need of the project and would have less impacts than 
Alternative D as Area 2 would not be disturbed. However, as the project 
would be limited to only the use of Area 1, there would be less 
flexibility for project activities and less opportunity for exploring 
technologies that could assist in meeting the project goals.
    Impacts associated with Alternative C would be somewhat reduced 
relative to Alternative D, as the majority of Area 1 would not be 
disturbed. However, as the project would be limited to only the use of 
Area 2, and the advanced non-LWR technologies are less mature and 
further from commercialization than SMRs, there is limited flexibility 
to meet the purpose and need of the project.

Decision

    Informed by the summary of the submitted alternatives, information, 
and analyses in the Final PEIS, TVA certifies it has considered all of 
the alternatives, information, analyses, and objections submitted by 
State, Tribal, and local governments and public commenters for 
consideration in developing the PEIS. TVA has selected the preferred 
alternative identified in the Final PEIS, Alternative D--Nuclear 
Technology Park at Area 1 and Area 2 with SMRs and/or advanced Non-
LWRs. This alternative was selected over Alternative B--Nuclear 
Technology Park at Area 1 with SMRs and/or advanced non-LWRs and 
Alternative C--Nuclear Technology Park at Area 2 with advanced Non-
LWRs, as it would best achieve the purpose and need of the project by 
providing the greatest flexibility to support TVA's goal of 
demonstrating the feasibility of deploying advanced nuclear reactor 
technologies at the CRN Site.

Public Involvement

    On February 2, 2021, TVA published a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the 
Federal Register announcing that it planned to prepare a PEIS to 
address future actions at the CRN Site relating to construction and 
operation of a Nuclear Technology Park. The NOI initiated a public 
scoping period, which concluded on March 19, 2021. In addition to the 
NOI in the Federal Register, TVA contacted local, state, and federal 
agencies, local power companies, and directly served customers, and 
sent a media advisory to news outlets across the TVA service area. A 
public notice advertisement was also placed in the Roane County News, 
Knoxville News Sentinel, News-Herald, Oak Ridger, Courier News, and on 
the TVA website. As part of Scoping, TVA hosted a live virtual scoping 
webinar on March 1, 2021, to gather input from the public and 
stakeholders. A total of 98 individuals, including members of the 
general public and representatives of a variety of organizations as 
well as TVA, registered for the meeting, and 58 attended the question-
and-answer session following the presentation. During the scoping 
period, TVA received 45 comment submissions from members of the pubic, 
local government, and state and federal agencies. Comment submissions 
were carefully reviewed and summarized in a Scoping Report included in 
Appendix C of the PEIS.
    The Draft PEIS was released to the public on February 18, 2022, and 
a Notice of Availability including a request for comments on the Draft 
PEIS was published in the Federal Register on February 18, 2022. The 
Draft PEIS was posted on TVA's website and hard copies were available 
by request. Additionally, TVA held a virtual public open house on March 
10, 2022. Approximately 160 individuals registered for the event which 
was attended by 75 individuals at the event's peak attendance. 
Attendees included individuals from the general public, NRC, EPA, TVA, 
and local media. TVA accepted and answered questions from the attendees 
following the presentation. TVA's public and agency involvement for the 
Draft PEIS included a 45-day public comment period, which closed on 
April 4, 2022.
    TVA received 18 comment submissions, which included emails and 
submissions through the project website and virtual meeting room. 
Comment submissions were carefully reviewed and consisted of 72 
individual comment statements. The most frequently mentioned topics 
from the public comments were related to support for the project, the 
impact from site development on threatened and endangered species, 
concern for habitat loss, impacts to water quality of the Clinch River 
arm of the Watts Bar Reservoir from general site development and 
runoff, as well as concern about fuel leaks and spent fuel storage. TVA

[[Page 59863]]

provided responses to these comments, made appropriate minor revisions 
to the Draft PEIS, and issued the Final PEIS.
    The Notice of Availability for the Final PEIS was published in the 
Federal Register on July 29, 2022.

Mitigation Measures

    TVA will use the following means to avoid or minimize environmental 
harm: Appropriate best management practices during any site 
preparation, construction, operation, and decommissioning of advanced 
nuclear reactors, including those described in A Guide for 
Environmental Protection and Best Management Practices for Tennessee 
Valley Authority, the Tennessee Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook, 
the project-specific stormwater pollution prevention plan, and those 
associated with a site-specific Integrated Pollution Prevention Plan.
    In addition, TVA will:
     Conduct additional site-specific investigations to 
evaluate the presence of karst features in areas proposed for structure 
development.
     Ensure that any disturbance of contaminated sediments 
within the Clinch River arm of the Watts Bar Reservoir would be subject 
to the terms of the Watts Bar Interagency Agreement that includes the 
USACE, U.S. Department of Energy, TDEC, and the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, to coordinate review of permitting and 
authorization.
     Minimize the noise effects of blasting by requiring the 
construction contractor to develop a blasting plan to include 
notifications to local officials, emergency departments, and 
neighboring businesses and residents.
     Minimize noise impacts based on further analysis and/or 
modeling to determine offsite operational noise impacts when designs 
for specific reactor and cooling technologies are developed.
     Minimize the effect of construction dewatering on 
groundwater levels in the areas surrounding any potential excavation 
and reduce the need for dewatering by appropriately blocking or 
grouting fractures and cavities transmitting large amounts of water. As 
appropriate, TVA will assess the effects of dewatering by monitoring 
groundwater levels surrounding the excavation and water levels in 
potentially affected surface waterbodies.
     Limit any new rail line construction to the north side of 
the rail spur, thereby avoiding 100- and 500-year floodplains.
     Minimize permanent and temporary impacts to wetlands and 
other sensitive resources during the design phase of any reactor to be 
constructed on site. If impacts to wetlands are not avoidable, CWA 
permitting with the USACE and TDEC will be conducted as appropriate.
     Establish a buffer around forested wetland W019, which is 
rated as having exceptional value, such that it would not be impacted 
by project activities.
     Design the diffuser ports that are part of the discharge 
system to direct effluent upwards into the water column so that limited 
physical alteration or scouring occurs, thereby minimizing impacts to 
benthic habitats.
     Work to minimize and avoid impacts in native cedar glade 
areas during design, construction, and operation.
     Time any proposed actions within 660 feet of active osprey 
nests to avoid nesting seasons, or coordinate with the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture Wildlife Services for guidance to ensure compliance 
under Executive Order 13186.
     When feasible, remove trees within the Project Area in 
winter (October 15-March 31) when most species of migratory birds would 
not be nesting and/or would be away from the region.
     Review any proposed tree removal plans once site-specific 
designs are completed to determine if impacts to potentially suitable 
Indiana bat and northern long-eared bat habitat may occur. Consultation 
under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act will occur, as 
appropriate, when specific designs have been selected, the scope of 
each project has been refined, and impacts to federally listed bats can 
be properly assessed.
     Ensure that state-listed plant species including the rigid 
sedge and pale green orchid are not significantly impacted by designing 
the proposed offsite transmission line to avoid the species and their 
habitat to the greatest extent possible. TVA transmission engineers 
will consult with the TVA botanist during design to ensure the location 
of the habitat is considered early in the process.
     Pursue expansion of the Grassy Creek HPA by about 14 acres 
to provide additional protection to the state-listed rigid sedge and 
pale green orchid.
     Use site design to minimize and avoid impacts to streams 
and wetlands where feasible to lessen potential impacts to suitable 
habitat for the southeastern shrew and other riparian dependent rare 
species.
     Take steps to address localized traffic congestion by 
staggering work shifts to avoid localized delays at key intersections, 
installing traffic lights and stop signs, and adding turning lanes as 
appropriate to the level of traffic present.
     Equip mechanical draft cooling towers with efficient drift 
eliminators and/or other design attributes to reduce particulate matter 
emissions.
     Maintain the grounds of the Hensley Cemetery and avoid the 
cemetery during construction, operation and maintenance activities. The 
cemetery would remain accessible to those individuals with familial 
connection to individuals buried at Hensley Cemetery.
     Per the stipulations of the Programmatic Agreement (PA) 
executed between TVA, and the Tennessee State Historic Preservation 
Officer with concurring parties of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians 
and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, TVA will 
seek ways to avoid or minimize adverse project impacts on NRHP-eligible 
archaeological sites, and if avoidance or sufficient minimization are 
not possible, TVA will mitigate the adverse effects in accordance with 
the stipulations of the PA. TVA will consult with the Tennessee SHPO 
and federally recognized tribes throughout the process.

Robert M. Deacy, Sr.,
Senior Vice President, Clinch River Project, Tennessee Valley 
Authority.
[FR Doc. 2022-21319 Filed 9-30-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-08-P