[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89049-89052]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26109]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-397; NRC-2024-0160]
Energy Northwest; Columbia Generating Station; 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 considering
issuance of an amendment to Renewed Facility Operating License No. NPF-
21, issued on May 22, 2012, held by Energy Northwest for the operation
of Columbia Generating Station (Columbia) located in Benton County,
Washington, on land leased from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The proposed amendment would revise the Columbia Emergency Plan by
changing the emergency response organization (ERO) staffing plan. The
NRC staff evaluated the potential environmental effects of the proposed
action (license amendment request) and is issuing an environmental
assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI).
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
November 12, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0160 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available
[[Page 89050]]
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-2024-0160. 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,
information for 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: Mahesh L. Chawla, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-8371; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
By letter dated January 30, 2024, as supplemented by letters dated
March 20, September 10, and September 24, 2024, Energy Northwest
submitted a request to amend Renewed Facility Operating License No.
NPF-21, issued to Energy Northwest, for the operation of Columbia
Generating Station (Columbia), which is located in Benton County,
Washington, on land leased from the DOE. If approved, the proposed
amendment would revise the emergency plan to be consistent with the
guidance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Radiological
Emergency Preparedness (REP) document in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1,
``Criteria for Preparation and Evaluation of Radiological Emergency
Response Plans and Preparedness in Support of Nuclear Power Plants,''
Revision 2, December 2019. The proposed changes would revise the
Columbia Emergency Plan by changing the ERO staffing plan to align
staff functions and major task delineations, specifically, the on-shift
and augmenting positions assigned within certain functional areas and
remove references to non-minimum augmented ERO positions from the
Columbia Emergency Plan while retaining appropriate positions in the
applicable implementing procedures.
Each licensee for a nuclear power plant is required to establish an
emergency plan to be implemented in the event of an accident in
accordance with part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and
Utilization Facilities,'' section 50.47, ``Emergency plans,'' and
appendix E, ``Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Production and
Utilization Facilities,'' of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR). The emergency plan covers preparation for
evacuation, sheltering, and other actions to protect people living near
the nuclear power plant in the event of an accident. An effective
emergency preparedness program decreases the likelihood of an
initiating event at a nuclear facility proceeding to a severe accident.
Emergency preparedness cannot affect the probability of the initiating
event, but a high level of emergency preparedness increases the
probability of accident mitigation if the initiating event proceeds
beyond the need for initial operator actions.
The regulations in 10 CFR 50.54(q)(2) require licensees for nuclear
power plants to follow and maintain the effectiveness of an emergency
plan that meets the standards in 10 CFR 50.47(b) and the requirements
in 10 CFR part 50, appendix E. Sections 50.54(q)(3) and (4) of 10 CFR
specify the process by which a licensee may make changes to its
emergency plan. In accordance with 10 CFR 50.54(q)(4), Energy Northwest
submitted the January 30, 2024, license amendment request, pursuant to
10 CFR 50.90, to obtain NRC approval of the proposed changes to the
Columbia Emergency Plan prior to implementation.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, ``Criteria for and identification
of licensing and regulatory actions requiring environmental
assessments,'' the NRC prepared the following environmental assessment
(EA) that analyzes the environmental impacts of the proposed licensing
action. Based on the results of this EA, and in accordance with 10 CFR
51.31(a), the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact
statement for the proposed licensing action and is issuing a finding of
no significant impact (FONSI).
In addition to this EA, the NRC is conducting a safety evaluation
of Energy Northwest's proposed changes to the Columbia Emergency Plan,
which will be documented separately. The safety evaluation of the
proposed changes to the emergency plan will determine whether Columbia
would continue to meet the requirements in 10 CFR 50.47(b) and the
requirements in 10 CFR part 50, appendix E with the requested
amendment.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would revise the ERO staffing plan identified
in the Columbia Emergency Plan, including the on-shift and augmenting
ERO staffing requirements. The proposed revisions would remove
reference to non-minimum augmenting ERO positions from the Columbia
Emergency Plan while retaining appropriate positions in implementing
procedures. The proposed action would also align the ERO staffing plan
with the functions and major task delineations related to on-shift and
augmenting ERO positions assigned within certain functional areas.
The NRC staff notes that Energy Northwest's request referred to on-
shift and minimum augmenting ERO positions. Although NUREG-0654/FEMA-
REP-1 does not refer to minimum augmenting ERO positions, the NRC staff
understands phrases like minimum augmenting ERO positions to refer to
those positions described in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1. Similarly, the NRC
staff understands phrases like non-minimum augmented ERO positions to
refer to positions described by the Columbia Emergency Plan beyond
those described in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1. For clarity, this
environmental assessment will refer to augmenting ERO positions instead
of minimum augmenting ERO positions when discussing the positions
described in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1 but will refer to non-minimum
augmenting ERO positions when discussing positions beyond those
described in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1.
The proposed action is in accordance with Energy Northwest's
request for a license amendment, to revise the Columbia Emergency Plan
dated January 30, 2024, notice of which the NRC published in the
Federal Register (89 FR 49238).
Need for the Proposed Action
If granted, the proposed action would align the Columbia Emergency
Plan
[[Page 89051]]
with the NRC's guidance for EROs in NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, Revision 2.
The application states that Energy Northwest shared the proposed
Columbia Emergency Plan changes with offsite response organizations for
the State of Washington, Benton County, and Franklin County, and these
organizations had no concerns.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The proposed action consists of changes related to staffing
positions, position descriptions, titles, duties, duty locations, and
response times specified in the Columbia Emergency Plan. The on-shift
and augmenting ERO staffing requirements listed in the emergency plan
would be revised. The proposed revisions include eliminating ERO
positions; adding ERO positions; changing position descriptions,
titles, duties, and duty locations; changing response times, and
relocating certain position descriptions to other parts of the
emergency plan or to implementing procedures.
The proposed changes would have no direct impacts on land use or
water resources, including terrestrial and aquatic biota, as the
proposed action involves no new construction, ground disturbing
activities, or modification of nuclear power plant operational systems.
For the same reasons, there would also be no changes to the quality or
quantity of non-radiological effluents and no changes to the nuclear
plant's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits.
Overall staffing levels are not expected to increase; therefore, worker
vehicle air emissions are not expected to increase. In addition, for
the reasons stated previously in this notice, there would be no
noticeable effect on socioeconomic conditions in the region, no
environment justice impacts, and no impacts to historic properties and
cultural resources from the proposed licensing action. Therefore, there
would be no significant non-radiological environmental impacts
associated with the proposed agency action.
In addition, the proposed licensing action would not have a
significant effect on the probability or consequences of radiological
accidents because the emergency plan must continue to meet the
standards of 10 CFR 50.47(b) and the requirements in 10 CFR part 50,
appendix E. For the same reasons there would be no change to the types
or amounts of non-radioactive effluents, there would also be no change
to the types or amounts of radioactive effluents released into the
environment and, therefore, no change in occupational or public
radiation exposure from the proposed changes. Therefore, there would be
no significant radiological impacts associated with the proposed agency
action.
The NRC staff therefore concludes that the proposed licensing
action would not significantly affect plant safety and would not have a
significant adverse effect on the probability of or consequences from
an accident. Accordingly, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed
agency action would have no significant environmental effect on the
quality of the human environment.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
denial of the license amendment request (i.e., the ``no-action''
alternative). Denial of the license amendment request would result in
no change in current environmental impacts at Columbia. As determined
above, the proposed action would have no significant environmental
effect on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the
environmental impacts of the proposed action and the no action
alternative would be similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
There are no unresolved conflicts concerning alternative uses of
available environmental resources under the proposed action.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
No additional agencies or persons were consulted regarding the
environmental impact of the proposed action. Because the proposed
action is not a type of activity that has the potential to cause
effects on historic properties, the NRC has no further obligations
under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Similarly,
the proposed action would not affect threatened or endangered species.
Therefore, consultation under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act
is not required. However, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.91(b), the
licensee provided copies of its application to the State of Washington,
and the NRC staff will consult with the State prior to issuance of the
amendment.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Energy Northwest has requested a license amendment pursuant to 10
CFR 50.90, consistent with the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(q),
``Emergency plans,'' to revise the Columbia Emergency Plan by removing
references to non-minimum augmenting ERO positions from the Emergency
Plan while retaining appropriate positions in implementing procedures.
The amendment would also revise the Columbia Emergency Plan by changing
ERO staffing requirements to align staff functions and major task
delineations, specifically, the on-shift and augmenting positions
assigned within certain functional areas.
The environmental effects of the proposed license request are
described in the EA, presented in Section II of this notice, and
incorporated by reference in this FONSI. In the EA, the NRC staff
determined the proposed licensing action would not have a significant
adverse effect on the probability of or consequences from an accident,
and would not have any significant radiological or non-radiological
environmental effects. Based on information presented in the EA, the
NRC concludes that the proposed agency action would not have a
significant impact on the quality of the human environment.
Accordingly, there is no need to prepare an environmental impact
statement for this proposed action.
As required by 10 CFR 51.32(a)(5), the most recent document
describing the environmental effects of ongoing reactor operations and
a description of environmental conditions at Columbia is the ``Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants:
Regarding Columbia Generating Station, Final Report,'' NUREG-1437,
Supplement 47, April 2012.
This FONSI and other related documents may be examined, and/or
copied for a fee, at the NRC's PDR, located at One White Flint North,
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. Publicly available
records are accessible electronically from ADAMS Public Electronic
Reading Room on the internet at the NRC's website: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who
encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS should
contact the NRC's PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or
301 415 4737, or by email to [email protected].
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through ADAMS.
[[Page 89052]]
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Document description ADAMS accession No.
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Energy Northwest, Columbia Generating ML24030A844.
Station, Docket No. 50-397, License
Amendment Request to Revise Columbia
Generating Station Emergency Plan, dated
January 30, 2024.
Energy Northwest, Columbia Generating ML24081A193.
Station, Docket No. 50-397, Supplement to
License Amendment Request to Revise
Columbia Generating Station Emergency
Plan, dated March 20, 2024.
Energy Northwest, Columbia Generating ML24254A366.
Station, Docket No. 50-397, Response to
Request for Additional Information
Regarding License Amendment Request to
Revise Columbia Emergency Plan, dated
September 10, 2024.
Energy Northwest, Columbia Generating ML24269A254.
Station, Docket No. 50-397, Supplement to
Response to Request for Additional
Information Regarding License Amendment
Request to Revise Columbia Emergency Plan,
dated September 24, 2024.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and ML19347D139.
Federal Emergency Management Agency,
``Criteria for Preparation and Evaluation
of Radiological Emergency Response Plans
and Preparedness,'' NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1,
Revision 2, dated December 2019.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, letter ML18022A352.
to Nuclear Energy Institute, ``Alternative
Guidance for Licensee Emergency Response
Organizations,'' dated June 12, 2018.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ML12096A334.
``Generic Environmental Impact Statement
for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants:
Regarding Columbia Generating Station,''
NUREG-1437, Supplement 47, Volume 1, dated
April 2012.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ML12096A336 (Package).
``Generic Environmental Impact Statement
for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants:
Regarding Columbia Generating Station,''
NUREG-1437, Supplement 47, Volume 2, dated
April 2012.
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Dated: November 5, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mahesh Chawla,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2024-26109 Filed 11-8-24; 8:45 am]
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