[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57137-57138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18042]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-7513; NRC-2021-0193]


Kairos Power, LLC; Hermes Test Reactor; Environmental Impact 
Statement; Notice of Availability

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-2263, ``Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Construction Permit for the Kairos Hermes Test 
Reactor: Final Report.'' The NRC staff is issuing a final EIS as part 
of the review of the application submitted by Kairos Power,

[[Page 57138]]

LLC (Kairos) for a construction permit (CP). The Hermes test reactor is 
proposed to be built in the City of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

DATES: The final EIS is available as of August 22, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0193 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 http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0193. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov 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 http://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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. The final EIS is available in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML23214A269. The ADAMS accession number for 
additional documents referenced in this document (if it is available in 
ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned as follows.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.
     Project website: The final EIS can be accessed online at 
the Hermes--Kairos project specific web page at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/non-power/hermes-kairos.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tamsen Dozier, Office of Nuclear 
Materials Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2272, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    By letter to the NRC dated September 29, 2021 (ADAMS Package 
Accession Number No. ML21272A375), Kairos Power LLC (Kairos) submitted 
an application for a construction permit for the Hermes non-power test 
reactor, pursuant to part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and 
Utilization Facilities,'' and section 104c of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended. Additionally, by letter dated October 31, 2021 (ADAMS 
Package Accession No. ML21306A131), Kairos submitted an Environmental 
Report (ER) in support of its Hermes construction permit application. 
The test reactor is proposed to be built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
    By letter dated November 29, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML21319A354), the NRC staff informed Kairos of its determination that 
the Kairos application for a construction permit for the Hermes test 
reactor was acceptable for docketing under Docket No. 50-7513.
    A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application was 
published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2021 (86 FR 68290) and 
a notice of opportunity for hearing was published on February 9, 2022 
(87 FR 7503). A notice of intent to prepare an EIS and to conduct 
scoping process was published in the Federal Register on February 18, 
2022 (87 FR 9394). A notice of availability of the draft EIS was 
published by the NRC in the Federal Register on September 29, 2022 (87 
FR 59124). The public comment period for the draft EIS closed on 
December 6, 2022. Public comments are addressed in Appendix G in the 
final EIS (ADAMS Accession No. ML23214A269). This notice is being 
published in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended and the NRC's regulations in 10 CFR part 51.
    In addition, as outlined in 36 CFR 800.8(c), ``Coordination with 
the National Environmental Policy Act,'' the NRC staff used the process 
and documentation for the preparation of the EIS to comply with section 
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in lieu of the 
procedures set forth on 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6.

II. Discussion

    As discussed in the final EIS, the NRC staff's recommendation 
related to the environmental aspects of the proposed action is that the 
CP should be issued once the NHPA Section 106 process is complete. This 
recommendation is based on: (1) the ER submitted by Kairos, as revised; 
(2) consultation with Federal, State, Tribal and local agencies; (3) 
the NRC staff's consideration of comments received during the 
environmental review; and (4) the staff's independent review and 
assessment summarized in the final EIS, including the potential 
mitigation measures identified in the ER and in the final EIS.
    In addition, in making its recommendation, the NRC staff has 
concluded that there are no environmentally preferable or obviously 
superior sites in the region of interest.

    Dated: August 17, 2023.

    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. 2023-18042 Filed 8-21-23; 8:45 am]
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