[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79975-79976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22478]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-395; NRC-2023-0152]
Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc.; Virgil C. Summer Nuclear
Station, Unit No. 1; Notice of Intent To Prepare Environmental Impact
Statement
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will prepare a
supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) to evaluate the
environmental impacts for the subsequent license renewal (SLR) of
Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-12 for Virgil C. Summer
Nuclear Station, Unit No. 1 (V.C. Summer).
DATES: October 1, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0152 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may
obtain publicly available information related to this action by any of
the following methods:
[[Page 79976]]
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0152. 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, 301-415-4737, or
by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced in this document (if it is available in ADAMS) is
provided the first time that it is referenced.
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.
Public Library: A copy of the SLR application for V.C.
Summer, including the environmental report (ER), is available for
public review at the following public library location: Fairfield
County Library, 300 West Washington St., Winnsboro, SC 29180.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Conway, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1335; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On August 17, 2023, Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc. submitted
to the NRC an application for SLR of Renewed Facility Operating License
No. NPF-12 for V.C. Summer, for an additional 20 years of operation
(ADAMS Accession No. ML23233A172). This submission initiated the NRC's
proposed action of determining whether to grant the SLR application.
The V.C. Summer unit is a pressurized-water reactor designed by
Westinghouse and is located near Jenkinsville, South Carolina. The
current renewed operating license for V.C. Summer expires August 6,
2042. The SLR application was submitted pursuant to part 54 of title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Requirements for Renewal
of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants,'' and seeks to extend
the renewed facility operating license for V.C. Summer to midnight on
August 6, 2062.
On November 3, 2023, the NRC published a notice of intent to
conduct a scoping process and prepare a site-specific environmental
impact statement (EIS) (88 FR 75627). Consistent with Commission Legal
Issuance (CLI)-22-03, the SLR application contained an ER in which the
impacts of all environmental issues were evaluated on a site-specific
basis, and the NRC staff initiated a review to address the impacts for
all such issues during the SLR period in a site-specific EIS. The NRC
staff stated in the original notice of intent that it would first
conduct a scoping process for the site-specific EIS and then prepare a
draft site-specific EIS for public comment. During the 30-day scoping
period, the NRC received comments through written correspondence and
two public meetings.
II. Discussion
On August 6, 2024, the NRC published a final rule in the Federal
Register (89 FR 64166) revising its environmental protection
regulations in 10 CFR part 51, ``Environmental protection regulations
for domestic licensing and related regulatory functions.'' The final
rule updates the potential environmental impacts associated with the
renewal of an operating license for a nuclear power plant for up to an
additional 20 years for either an initial license renewal or one period
of SLR. Revision 2 to NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (LR GEIS) (ADAMS
Package Accession No. ML24087A133) provides the technical basis for the
final rule. The revised LR GEIS supports the updated list of
environmental issues and associated environmental impact findings
contained in table B-1 in appendix B to subpart A of the revised 10 CFR
part 51 for both initial license renewals and one period of SLR.
The final rule became effective on September 5, 2024, 30 days after
its publication in the Federal Register, and staff must now consider
the new and modified issues, as applicable, in its license renewal
EISs. Accordingly, the NRC staff intends to prepare a plant-specific
supplement to the LR GEIS for the V.C. Summer SLR application. In
contrast to the previously planned site-specific EIS, the SEIS will
rely on the LR GEIS determinations for Category 1 (generic) issues that
apply to all or a distinct subset of nuclear power plants. Site-
specific information will be considered only on Category 2 (site-
specific) issues and will be screened for new and significant
information on Category 1 issues.
The NRC staff has determined that the original scoping period
conducted for a site-specific EIS review is sufficient to include any
comments that would have been submitted for a SEIS that relies on site-
specific determinations for Category 2 issues and on the LR GEIS
generic determinations for Category 1 issues; therefore, an additional
scoping period will not be conducted. All information submitted during
the 30-day scoping period that began November 3, 2023, will be
considered and evaluated as appropriate during the development of the
staff's SEIS for the V.C. Summer SLR. When issued, the draft SEIS will
be made available for public comment in accordance with 10 CFR 51.73.
Dated: September 26, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen Koenick,
Chief, Environmental Project Management Branch 1, Division of
Rulemaking, Environment, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-22478 Filed 9-30-24; 8:45 am]
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