[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10107-10109]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02963]



[[Page 10107]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-269, 50-270, and 50-287; NRC-2021-0146]


Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC; Oconee Nuclear Station, Units 1, 2, 
and 3; Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Request for comment; public comment meetings; opportunity to 
request a hearing and to petition for leave to intervene.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft Site-Specific Supplement 2, Second Renewal, to the 
Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for License Renewal of 
Nuclear Plants, NUREG-1437, regarding the proposed subsequent renewal 
of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-38, DPR-47, and DPR-55, 
for an additional 20 years of operation for Oconee Nuclear Station, 
Units 1, 2, and 3 (Oconee Station). Oconee Station is located in 
Seneca, South Carolina, approximately 30 miles west of Greenville. 
Possible alternatives to the proposed action of subsequent license 
renewal (SLR) include no action and reasonable replacement power 
alternatives. A new notice of opportunity to request a hearing and 
petition for leave to intervene is also being issued.

DATES: The staff will hold two public meetings, one in-person near 
Oconee Station and one through online webinar and teleconference call, 
on the draft site-specific environmental impact statement (EIS), 
including a presentation on the preliminary findings and a transcribed 
public comment session. The in-person meeting will be held on February 
21, 2024, at 7 p.m. eastern time (ET) at the Madren Conference Center 
on the grounds of Clemson University. The virtual meeting will be held 
February 27, 2024, at 1 p.m. ET. The public meeting details can be 
found on the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule at https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg. Members of the public are invited to submit comments within 45 
days of an upcoming Federal Register notice anticipated to be published 
on February 16, 2024, by the Environmental Protection Agency. Comments 
received after that date will be considered if it is practical to do 
so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments 
received on or before that date. Requests for a hearing or petitions 
for leave to intervene must be filed by April 15, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website:
     Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0146. 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.
     Email: Comments may be submitted to the NRC electronically 
using the email address [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: Lance Rakovan, Senior Environmental 
Project Manager, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 
301-415-2589; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0146 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
obtain publicly available information related to this action using any 
of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0146.
     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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. Draft Site-Specific Supplement 2, 
Second Renewal, to the GEIS for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, 
NUREG-1437, is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML24033A298.
     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. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Public Library: A copy of the draft Site-Specific 
Supplement 2, Second Renewal, to the GEIS for License Renewal of 
Nuclear Plants, NUREG-1437, regarding the proposed subsequent renewal 
of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-38, DPR-47, and DPR-55, 
for an additional 20 years of operation for Oconee Station, will be 
available for public review at the Oconee County Public Library, 300 E 
South 2nd St., Seneca, SC 29678.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2021-0146 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 issuing for public comment draft Site-Specific 
Supplement 2, Second Renewal, to the GEIS for License Renewal of 
Nuclear Plants, NUREG-1437, regarding the proposed subsequent renewal 
of

[[Page 10108]]

Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-38, DPR-47, and DPR-55, for 
an additional 20 years of operation for Oconee Station. Draft site-
specific Supplement 2, Second Renewal, to the GEIS includes the 
preliminary analysis that evaluates the environmental impacts of the 
proposed action and alternatives to the proposed action. It considers 
the impacts of all subsequent license renewal issues applicable to 
Oconee Station subsequent license renewal on a site-specific basis. The 
NRC staff prepared the draft site-specific Supplement 2, Second 
Renewal, to the GEIS for Oconee Station in accordance with the 
Commission's decisions in Commission Legal Issuance (CLI)-22-03 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML22055A527), that references CLI-22-02 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML22055A496), both dated February 24, 2022. Based on the NRC 
staff's (i) review of the SLR application, 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, Tribal, and local governmental 
agencies and consideration of input from other stakeholders; and (iii) 
independent environmental review as documented in the draft site-
specific EIS, the NRC staff's preliminary recommendation is that the 
adverse environmental impacts of subsequent license renewal for Oconee 
Station are not so great that preserving the option of subsequent 
license renewal for energy-planning decisionmakers would be 
unreasonable.

III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To 
Intervene

    As the Commission directed in CLI-22-03, a new notice of 
opportunity to request a hearing and petition for leave to intervene is 
being issued.
    Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any 
persons (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may 
file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene 
(petition) with respect to the action. Petitions shall be filed in 
accordance with the Commission's ``Agency Rules of Practice and 
Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult 10 CFR 
2.309. If a petition is filed, the presiding officer will rule on the 
petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
    Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of 
publication of this notice in accordance with the filing instructions 
in the ``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document. 
Petitions and motions for leave to file new or amended contentions that 
are filed after the deadline will not be entertained absent a 
determination by the presiding officer that the filing demonstrates 
good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i) 
through (iii).
    A State, local governmental body, federally recognized Indian 
Tribe, or designated agency thereof, may submit a petition to the 
Commission to participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h) no later 
than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice. 
Alternatively, a State, local governmental body, federally recognized 
Indian Tribe, or agency thereof may participate as a non-party under 10 
CFR 2.315(c).
    For information about filing a petition and about participation by 
a person not a party under 10 CFR 2.315, see ADAMS Accession No. 
ML20340A053 (https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML20340A053) and on the NRC's public website 
at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate.

IV. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)

    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including 
documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body, 
federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that 
requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. The E-Filing process requires 
participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the 
internet, or in some cases, to mail copies on electronic storage media, 
unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as further 
discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions is 
located in the ``Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC'' 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056) and on the NRC's public website at 
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the 
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by 
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID) 
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing 
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise 
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or 
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the 
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the 
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the proceeding if the 
Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. After a digital ID certificate is 
obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory 
documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on submissions is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the 
time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be 
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system 
no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date. Upon receipt of a 
transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends 
the submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing 
system also distributes an email that provides access to the document 
to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who have 
advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in 
the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those 
participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants 
(or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a 
digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are filed to 
obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic 
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's 
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by 
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. 
and 6 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and 
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper 
format. Such filings must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner

[[Page 10109]]

are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants. 
Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still 
meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1), 
unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10 
CFR 2.302(g)(1).
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID 
certificate as previously described, click ``cancel'' when the link 
requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the 
NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access any 
publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket. 
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information 
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone 
numbers in their filings unless an NRC regulation or other law requires 
submission of such information. With respect to copyrighted works, 
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory 
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants 
should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.
    Detailed information about the subsequent license renewal process 
can be found on the NRC's public website, under Reactor License 
Renewal, at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html. Materials involving the request to renew the operating 
licenses for Oconee Station are available for public inspection at the 
NRC's PDR, and at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/subsequent-license-renewal.html.

    Dated: February 8, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen S. Koenick,
Chief, Environmental Project Management Branch 1, Division of 
Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-02963 Filed 2-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P