[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 17, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58196-58198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15712]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-302 and 72-1035; NRC-2024-0124]


Accelerated Decommissioning Partners Crystal River Unit 3, LLC; 
Crystal River Nuclear Power Station, Unit 3; Environmental Assessment 
and Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) and accompanying environmental 
assessment (EA) regarding the NRC's consideration of a license 
amendment request by Accelerated Decommissioning Partners Crystal River 
Unit 3, LLC (ADP) to approve the License Termination Plan (LTP) for the 
Crystal River Nuclear Power Station, Unit 3 (CR3), located in Citrus 
County, Florida. If approved, the amendment would add a license 
condition to the ADP license reflecting the NRC's approval of its LTP 
and establishing criteria for determining when changes to the LTP 
require prior NRC approval. ADP would use the LTP to meet the 
requirements for terminating the license and releasing the site for 
unrestricted use. Based on the EA, the NRC staff has concluded that 
there will be no significant impacts to environmental resources from 
the requested license amendment, and therefore, a FONSI is appropriate.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
July 17, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0124 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-2024-0124. 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 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]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Minor, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001, telephone: 816-200-1454; email: [email protected].

[[Page 58197]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering issuance of a license amendment request to 
approve the LTP for the CR3, located in Citrus County, Florida, as part 
of ADP's part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,'' 
Facility Operating License No. DPR-72. If granted, the license 
amendment would add a condition to ADP's license reflecting the NRC's 
approval of ADP's LTP and establishing criteria for determining when 
changes to the LTP require prior NRC approval. As required by 10 CFR 
part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing 
and Related Regulatory Functions,'' the NRC prepared an EA. Based on 
the results of the EA, the NRC has determined not to prepare an 
environmental impact statement for the license amendment request and is 
issuing a FONSI.
    Construction of the CR3 began in 1968, and the NRC issued an 
operating license to Duke Energy Florida (DEF) in 1977. The CR3 began 
commercial operation in March 1977. The CR3 stopped operations in 2009 
and was officially retired on February 5, 2013.
    On December 2, 2013, DEF submitted a Post-Shutdown Decommissioning 
Activities Report (PSDAR) to NRC selecting SAFSTOR as the plant 
decommissioning strategy. SAFSTOR is a method of decommissioning in 
which the nuclear facility is placed and maintained in a safe stable 
condition for a number of years until it is subsequently decontaminated 
and dismantled to levels that permit license termination. During 
SAFSTOR, a facility is left intact, but the fuel has been removed from 
the reactor vessel and radioactive liquids have been drained from 
systems and components and then processed. Radioactive decay occurs 
during SAFSTOR period, thus reducing the quantity of contaminated and 
radioactive material that must be disposed of during decontamination 
and dismantlement. In January 2018, DEF certified to the NRC that DEF 
had removed all spent fuel assemblies from the CR3 spent fuel pool and 
loaded the final storage cask used to store spent fuel at the CR3 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation.
    In 2020, the NRC approved the requested transfer of the CR3 from 
DEF to ADP to commence decontamination, dismantlement, and demolition. 
On October 1, 2020, ADP updated the PSDAR to change the plant 
decommissioning strategy from SAFSTOR to DECON, which is an option for 
reactor decommissioning in which the equipment, structures, and 
portions of a facility and site containing radioactive contaminants are 
removed or decontaminated to a level that permits termination of the 
license shortly after cessation of operations. ADP submitted the LTP on 
December 12, 2022, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(9), and submitted 
an updated LTP on March 29, 2024.

II. Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is the review and subsequent approval, if 
appropriate, of a license amendment to ADP to approve the LTP for the 
CR3. If approved, the amendment would add a license condition to the 
ADP license reflecting the NRC's approval of the LTP and establishing 
criteria for determining when changes to the LTP require prior NRC 
approval. The proposed action is described in ADP's 2022 LTP 
application, as supplemented by the updated 2024 LTP, and responses to 
requests for additional information dated May 9, 2024.

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

    The purpose of and need for the proposed action is to allow 
completion of decommissioning of the CR3 site by ADP, termination of 
the CR3 operating license by the NRC, and subsequent release of the 
site for unrestricted use. The NRC regulation at 10 CFR 50.82 sets 
forth the process for the licensee to decommission its nuclear power 
plant, including submission of the LTP. The NRC will approve the LTP, 
provided that the LTP meets the criteria in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(10).

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff considered the potential impacts of the proposed 
action on land use; visual and scenic resources/aesthetics; 
climatology, meteorology, and air quality; noise; geology and soils; 
water resources; historic and cultural resources; ecological resources; 
socioeconomics; public and occupation health; transportation and 
traffic; environmental justice; and waste management. The 
Decommissioning Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) (NUREG-
0586, Supplement 1, Volume 1) generically addressed many of the 
potential environmental impacts of decommissioning at the CR3. During 
its review of the LTP, the NRC concluded that the impacts for most 
resource areas--onsite land use; water resources; air quality; ecology, 
not including threatened and endangered species or outside the 
operational area; socioeconomics; historic and cultural resources 
within the operational area; aesthetics; noise; and transportation--
were still bounded by the Decommissioning GEIS. Therefore, the NRC does 
not expect impacts associated with these issues beyond those discussed 
in the GEIS, which concluded that the impact level for these issues was 
SMALL.
    Although the Decommissioning GEIS did evaluate radioactive waste 
management, the NRC staff determined that the GEIS had underestimated 
the volume of low-level radioactive waste that the CR3 would produce. 
Consequently, the NRC staff determined the effects of the proposed 
action of radioactive waste management for CR3 on a site-specific 
basis.
    In the Decommissioning GEIS, the NRC staff concluded that it could 
not necessarily determine the environmental impacts of decommissioning 
generically for six environmental resource areas (offsite land use, 
threatened and endangered species, aquatic ecology beyond the 
operational area, terrestrial ecology beyond the operational area, 
environmental justice, and historic and cultural resources beyond the 
operational area). The Decommissioning GEIS determined that for these 
six resource areas a site-specific analysis would be required as was 
done in the CR3 EA. In addition, topics not included in the 
Decommissioning GEIS that the NRC staff evaluated in the CR3 EA include 
the affected environment, climate change, cumulative impacts, and 
nonradioactive waste management.
    In the CR3 EA, the NRC staff evaluated the potential environmental 
impacts on the six site-specific environmental resource areas as well 
as the four resource areas not evaluated in the Decommissioning GEIS 
and did not identify any significant impacts. For the proposed action 
there are no planned activities outside of the operational area, and 
ADP plans to use best management practices and obtain all necessary 
licenses from Federal or State agencies to limit potential impacts and 
protect surrounding lands. Therefore, the proposed action would result 
in no significant impacts and there would be no significant cumulative 
effects when added to the past, present, or reasonably foreseeable 
future actions at the CR3 site.

[[Page 58198]]

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered the 
``no-action'' alternative. Under the no-action alternative, the NRC 
would not approve the LTP or the license amendment request because 
regulatory requirements have not been met.
    If the NRC was unable to approve the LTP because the regulatory 
requirements were not met, ADP would need to take additional actions to 
prepare an LTP that meets the requirements in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(10). 
Under that scenario, ADP would resubmit the LTP, activities at the CR3 
would likely continue, and the environmental impacts would not change 
as a result of the additional time required for the LTP resubmission.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On May 20, 2024, the NRC staff provided a copy of the draft EA to 
the Florida Department of Health for its review and comment. In a 
letter dated June 7, 2024, the State responded with no comments on the 
draft EA.
    NRC staff conducted National Historic Preservation Act consultation 
pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(c), including submitting required notification 
to the Florida State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and Advisory 
Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). The NRC staff solicited 
comments from the public on the historic and cultural resources 
sections of the draft EA and findings. Staff published the draft 
sections on the NRC website and electronically notified the four 
Federally recognized Indian Tribes with historic and ancestral ties to 
the project vicinity, the Florida SHPO, and members of the public who 
have indicated their interest in the CR3. No members of the public 
commented on the historic and cultural resources sections of the draft 
EA and findings. The NRC staff received a response from the Seminole 
Tribe of Florida indicating that the Tribe had no objections or other 
comments. The NRC staff did not receive a response from the other 
Indian Tribes it contacted. Staff made a determination of no historic 
properties affected and has received SHPO concurrence and no objections 
from other parties. The Florida SHPO responded on May 20, 2024, with 
its concurrence with NRC staff's determination. The ACHP responded on 
May 20, 2024, confirming receipt of NRC's notification pursuant to 36 
CFR 800.8(c).

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on its review of the proposed license amendment request, in 
accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has 
determined that issuing the requested amendment, if appropriate, 
amending ADP's DPR-72 license would not significantly affect the 
quality of human environment. No significant radiological or non-
radiological impacts are expected from the proposed action. Therefore, 
the NRC staff has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, 
``Determinations based on environmental assessment,'' preparation of an 
EIS is not required for the proposed action, and pursuant to 10 CFR 
51.32, ``Finding of no significant impact,'' a FONSI is appropriate. In 
accordance with 10 CFR 51.32(a)(4), this FONSI incorporates the EA set 
forth in this notice by reference.

IV. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through ADAMS.

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                                                        ADAMS accession
                 Document description                         No.
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ADP CR3, LLC, License Amendment Request, Addition of        ML22355A441.
 License Condition 2.C.21, ``License Termination
 Plan,'' dated December 12, 2022.....................
ADP CR3, LLC, Response to Request for Additional            ML24089A036.
 Information Regarding the LTP, dated March 29, 2024.
ADP CR3, LLC, Response to Request for Additional            ML24131A075.
 Information for the EA of the LTP, dated May 9, 2024
Crystal River LTP Environmental Assessment...........       ML24081A068.
NUREG-0586, Supplement 1, Volume 1 GEIS on                  ML023470304.
 Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities..................
Crystal River Unit 3--Post-Shutdown Decommissioning         ML13340A009.
 Activities Report, dated December 2, 2013...........
Crystal River Unit 3--30-Day Spent Fuel Cask                ML18015A006.
 Registration and Certification of Permanent Removal
 of All Spent Fuel Assemblies from the Spent Fuel
 Pools, dated January 15, 2018.......................
Transmittal of Draft EA to Florida Department of            ML24143A024.
 Health, dated May 20, 2024..........................
Florida Department of Health Comments on Draft EA,          ML24159A779.
 dated June 7, 2024..................................
Request to initiate Section 106 Consultation                 ML24054A076
 Regarding the License Termination Plan for Crystal           (Package).
 River, Unit 3, April 2, 2024........................
Florida SHPO Response to initiate Section 106               ML24143A021.
 Consultation Regarding the License Termination Plan
 for Crystal River, Unit 3, dated May 20, 2024.......
ACHP Response to initiate Section 106 Consultation          ML24143A013.
 Regarding the License Termination Plan for Crystal
 River, Unit 3, dated May 20, 2024...................
NRC Request for Concurrence with Endangered Species         ML24060A086.
 Act Determinations for Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear
 Generating Plant License Termination Plan, dated
 February 29, 2024...................................
Supplemental to Request for Concurrence with                ML24190A138.
 Endangered Species Act Determinations for Crystal
 River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant License
 Termination Plan, dated June 18, 2024...............
RAI2 NRC Response to FWS ESA Crystal River Unit 3           ML24191A423.
 LTP, dated July 3, 2024.............................
FWS Concurrence for Crystal River Unit 3.............       ML24190A191.
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    Dated: July 12, 2024.

    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. 2024-15712 Filed 7-16-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P