[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 98 (Thursday, May 22, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21952-21953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09237]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-261; NRC-2025-0076]
Duke Energy Progress, LLC; H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant,
Unit No. 2; Notice of Intent To Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will conduct a
scoping process to gather information necessary to prepare a
supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) to evaluate the
environmental impacts for the subsequent renewal of the renewed
facility operating license for H.B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit
No. 2 (RNP). The NRC is seeking public comment on this action.
DATES: Submit comments on the scope of the SEIS by June 23, 2025.
Comments received after this 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 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-2025-0076. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Bridget Curran;
telephone: 301-415-1003; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information
Contact section of this document.
Email comments to: [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: Karen Loomis, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5142; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2025-0076 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:
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2025-0076.
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 RNP subsequent license renewal
application is available in ADAMS under Package Accession No.
ML25091A290.
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 RNP subsequent license
renewal application, including the environmental report (ER), is
available for public review at the following public library location:
Hartsville Memorial Library, 147 West College Ave., Hartsville, SC
29550.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2025-0076 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
[[Page 21953]]
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
By letter dated April 1, 2025, Duke Energy Progress, LLC (Duke)
submitted to the NRC an application for subsequent license renewal
(SLR) of RNP Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-32 for an
additional 20 years of operation. This submission initiated the NRC's
proposed action of determining whether to grant the SLR application.
RNP is located in Darlington County, approximately 5 miles west-
northwest of Hartsville, in northeastern South Carolina. The current
RNP license expires at midnight on July 31, 2030. 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 license for RNP to
midnight on July 31, 2050. A notice of receipt and availability of the
application was published in the Federal Register on April 21, 2025 (90
FR 16707). A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application and
of an opportunity to request a hearing was published in the Federal
Register on May 8, 2025 (90 FR 19535) and is available on the Federal
rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov) by searching for
Docket ID NRC-2025-0076.
III. Request for Comment
This notice informs the public of the NRC's intention to conduct
environmental scoping and prepare a SEIS related to the SLR application
for RNP and provides the public an opportunity to participate in the
environmental scoping process, as defined in 10 CFR 51.29, ``Scoping-
environmental impact statement and supplement to environmental impact
statement,'' and 10 CFR 51.116, ``Notice of intent.''
The regulations in 36 CFR 800.8, ``Coordination with the National
Environmental Policy Act,'' allow agencies to use their National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.)
(NEPA), process to fulfill the requirements of Section 106 of the
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (54 U.S.C.
300101, et seq.) (NHPA). Therefore, pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(c), the
NRC intends to use its process and documentation required for the
preparation of the SEIS on the proposed action to comply with Section
106 of the NHPA in lieu of the procedures set forth at 36 CFR 800.3
through 800.6.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, Duke submitted
an ER as part of the SLR application. The ER was prepared pursuant to
10 CFR part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic
Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,'' and is publicly available
in ADAMS under Accession No. ML25091A296. The ER will also be available
for viewing at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/robinson-subsequent.html.
The NRC intends to gather the information necessary to prepare the
SEIS as a plant-specific supplement to NUREG-1437, ``Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants''
(ADAMS Package Accession No. ML24087A133). The SEIS will evaluate the
environmental impacts of SLR for RNP, and reasonable alternatives
thereto. Possible alternatives to the proposed action include the no-
action alternative and reasonable alternative energy sources. This
notice is being published in accordance with NEPA and the NRC's
regulations at 10 CFR part 51.
As part of its environmental review, the NRC will first conduct a
scoping process for the SEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter,
will prepare a draft SEIS for public comment. Participation in this
scoping process by members of the public and local, State, Tribal, and
Federal government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the
SEIS will be used to accomplish the following:
a. Define the proposed action that is to be the subject of the
SEIS;
b. Determine the scope of the SEIS and identify the significant
issues to be analyzed in depth;
c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are
peripheral or are not significant or that have been covered by prior
environmental review;
d. Identify any environmental assessments and other environmental
impact statements that are being or will be prepared that are related
to, but are not part of, the scope of the SEIS under consideration;
e. Identify other environmental review and consultation
requirements related to the proposed action;
f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation
of the environmental analyses and the NRC's tentative planning and
decision-making schedule;
g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate
assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the SEIS to
the NRC and any cooperating agencies; and
h. Describe how the SEIS will be prepared, including any contractor
assistance to be used.
The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
a. The applicant, Duke;
b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved or that is
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
d. Any affected Indian Tribe;
e. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to
participate in the scoping process; and
f. Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave
to intervene under 10 CFR 2.309.
Participation in the scoping process for the RNP SLR SEIS does not
entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to which the
SEIS relates.
Dated: May 19, 2025.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John Moses,
Deputy Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial
Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2025-09237 Filed 5-21-25; 8:45 am]
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