[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47994-47996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12129]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-0320; NRC-2024-0099]


TMI-2SOLUTIONS, LLC.; Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit No. 
2; Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant 
Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment; issuance of 
programmatic agreement.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft environmental assessment (EA) and draft finding 
of no significant impact (FONSI) for a proposed amendment of NRC 
Possession Only License (POL) No. DPR-73 for the Three Mile Island 
Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2 (TMI-2), located in Londonderry Township, 
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The proposed amendment would ensure that 
TMI-2 Energy Solutions (TMI-2Solutions) can continue decommissioning 
the facility in accordance with NRC regulations. TMI-2Solutions will be 
engaging in certain major decommissioning activities, including the 
physical demolition of buildings previously deemed eligible for the 
National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The draft EA, 
``Environmental Assessment for Specific Decommissioning Activities at 
Three Mile Island, Unit 2 in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania,'' documents 
the NRC staff's environmental review of the license amendment 
application. The

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NRC is also issuing a final Programmatic Agreement (PA) under section 
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).

DATES: Submit comments on the draft EA by July 5, 2024. Comments 
received after this date will be considered, if it is practical to do 
so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for 
comments received on or before this date.

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-2024-0099. 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.
     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.
     Email comments to: [email protected].
    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: Jean Trefethen, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-0867; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0099 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this action. You may 
obtain publicly available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0099.
     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]. The ADAMS accession number for 
each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the 
first time that it is mentioned in this document.
     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.
     NRC's Public Project Website: Information related to the 
TMI-2 project can be accessed on NRC's TMI-2 public website at https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/decommissioning/power-reactor/three-mile-island-unit-2.html, under the section titled ``2.0 Site Status 
Summary,'' scroll down to ``Environmental Review of Cultural and 
Historic Resource Impacts from Decommissioning Activities'' and click 
on Environmental Assessment (EA), Draft Report for Comment.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2024-0099 in the subject line of 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. Background

    The Three Mile Island Nuclear Station (TMINS) is approximately 16 
kilometers (10 miles) southeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The TMINS 
site includes Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (TMl-1) and 
TMl-2. It encompasses approximately 178 hectares (440 acres), including 
the adjacent islands on the north end, a strip of land on the mainland 
along the eastern shore of the river, and an area on the eastern shore 
of Shelley Island. The TMINS site has significance in U.S. history 
because it is the site of the nation's most serious commercial nuclear 
power plant accident, occurring at TMI-2. On March 28, 1979, TMI-2 
experienced an accident initiated by interruption of secondary 
feedwater flow which led to a core heat up that caused fuel damage. The 
partial meltdown of the reactor core led to a very small offsite 
release of radioactivity. In response to this accident many changes 
occurred at nuclear power plants including emergency response planning, 
reactor operator training, human factors engineering, radiation 
protection, and heightened NRC regulatory oversight.

III. Introduction

    By letter dated February 22, 2023 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML23058A064), TMI-2Solutions requested an amendment to POL No. DPR-73. 
TMI-2Solutions will be engaging in certain major decommissioning 
activities, including the physical demolition of buildings previously 
deemed eligible for the NRHP. Because the impacts on the historic 
properties from these decommissioning activities have not been 
previously evaluated and are not bounded by the impact's discussion in 
NUREG-0586, ``Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement on 
Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities,'' TMI-2Solutions requested an 
amendment that would require evaluation of the impacts of the 
decommissioning activities on the NRHP-eligible properties, in 
compliance with paragraph 50.82(a)(6)(ii) of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
    Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8, the NRC is using its National 
Environmental Policy Act process for developing the environmental 
assessment (EA) to facilitate consultation pursuant to section 106 of 
the NHPA.
    Adverse effects to historic properties would result from 
decommissioning activities at TMI-2. Therefore, the NRC and consulting 
parties proceeded with development of a PA to resolve adverse effects. 
On March 6, 2024 (89 FR 16037)

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the draft PA was issued for public review and comment. One comment was 
received and considered before finalizing the PA. The final PA (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML24117A258) addresses the potential direct and indirect 
adverse effects from the decommissioning activities and ensures that 
appropriate mitigation measures are implemented. The NRC is issuing the 
final PA, which therefore, concludes NHPA Section 106 consultation.
    In accordance with NRC's regulations in 10 CFR part 51, 
``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 
Related Regulatory Functions,'' that implement the National Environment 
Protection Agency (NEPA), the NRC staff has prepared a draft EA 
documenting its environmental review of the license amendment 
application. Based on the environmental review, the NRC has made a 
preliminary determination that the proposed action will not 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment and that a 
FONSI is therefore appropriate. By this notice, the NRC is requesting 
public comment on the draft FONSI and supporting draft EA.

IV. Summary of Draft Environmental Assessment

    The draft EA is publicly available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML24117A224. A summary description of the proposed action and expected 
environmental impacts is provided as follows.

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is to amend POL No. DPR-73 so that TMI-
2Solutions can continue with certain major decommissioning activities 
planned under Phase 2 of its decommissioning schedule. Phase 2 
decommissioning activities include the removal of any radioactive 
components in preparation for demolition of structures, decommissioning 
and dismantlement of the TMI-2 site to a level that permits the release 
of the site, except for an area potentially to be set aside for storage 
of fuel-bearing material (small quantities of spent nuclear fuel, 
damaged core material, and high-level waste) on the independent spent 
fuel storage installation, backfilling of the site, license termination 
plan submittal and implementation, and site restoration activities. In 
order to comply with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(6)(ii), TMI-2Solutions requested 
that NRC evaluate the impacts of certain major decommissioning 
activities on historic and cultural resources and NRHP-eligible 
properties. The definition of major decommissioning activity is in 10 
CFR 50.2, which states ``Major decommissioning activity means, for a 
nuclear power reactor facility, any activity that results in permanent 
removal of major radioactive components, permanently modifies the 
structure of the containment, or results in dismantling components for 
shipment containing greater than class C waste in accordance with Sec.  
61.55 of this chapter.'' Due to radioactive contamination, the TMI-2 
structures must be demolished and removed during decommissioning.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    In the draft EA, the staff assessed the potential environmental 
impacts from the proposed license amendment to the following resource 
areas: land use; visual and scenic resources; the geologic environment; 
surface and groundwater resources; ecological resources; air quality; 
noise; historic and cultural resources; socioeconomic conditions; 
environmental justice; public and occupational health; transportation; 
and waste generation and management. The NRC staff also considered the 
cumulative impacts from past, present, and reasonably foreseeable 
actions when combined with the proposed action. The TMI-2 Historic 
District would be adversely affected by the TMI-2 decommissioning, and 
adverse effects cannot be avoided. The mitigation of adverse effects to 
the TMI-2 Historic District will be completed in accordance with the 
TMI-2 Demolition and Decommissioning Programmatic Agreement (NRC 
2024a).
    As part of the NRC's consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act, the NRC staff determined that the proposed action may 
affect, but is not likely to adversely affect, the Indiana bat (Myotis 
sodalis), northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), tricolored 
bat (Perimyotis subflavus), monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), 
northeastern bulrush (Scirpus ancistrochaetus), or green floater 
(Lasmigona subviridis). The NRC staff transmitted an email to the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service for its review and concurrence on May 24, 
2024 (ADAMS Accession No. ML24120A324).
    All other potential impacts from the proposed action were 
determined to not be significant, as described in the draft EA. The NRC 
staff found that there would be no significant negative cumulative 
impact to any resource area from the proposed action when added to 
other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternative to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered 
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). 
Under the no-action alternative, the NRC would deny the licensee's 
request for an amendment to allow for the continuation of major 
decommissioning activities under Phase 2. In this case, the NRC staff 
would not review the historic and cultural resource impacts of the 
major decommissioning activities as defined in 10 CFR 50.2 and would 
therefore disallow the removal of NRHP-eligible structures and any 
impacts to historic and cultural resources. However, due to the 
presence of radioactive contamination, TMI-2 structures, including the 
NRHP-eligible structures, must be removed during the decommissioning 
process. Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that denying the amendment 
request is not a reasonable alternative.

V. Draft Finding of No Significant Impact

    In accordance with the NEPA and 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has 
conducted an environmental review of a request for an amendment to POL 
No. DPR-73. The proposed amendment would revise POL No. DPR-73 to allow 
the licensee to conduct decommissioning at TMI-2 covering activities 
that were not previously addressed in the staff's environmental 
assessments (site-specific historical and cultural resources). Based on 
its environmental review of the proposed action, as documented in the 
draft EA, the NRC staff has preliminarily determined that granting the 
requested license amendment would not significantly affect the quality 
of the human environment. Therefore, the NRC staff has preliminarily 
determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that preparation of an 
environmental impact statement is not required for the proposed action 
and a FONSI is appropriate. Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.33(a), the NRC staff 
is making the draft FONSI and draft EA available for public review and 
comment.

    Dated: May 29, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert Sun,
Chief, Environmental Project Management Branch 2, Division of 
Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-12129 Filed 6-3-24; 8:45 am]
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