[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 237 (Friday, December 12, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57788-57791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22657]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-285; NRC-2025-1831]
Omaha Public Power District; Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1;
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 Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) to approve the
License Termination Plan (LTP), Revision 2 for the Fort Calhoun
Station, Unit 1 (FCS), located in Washington County, Nebraska. If
approved, the amendment would edit the dose calculations and final site
survey (FSS) requirements for the Auxiliary Building basement and
Containment Building for concrete structures deeper than 3 meters (m)
(9.8
[[Page 57789]]
feet [ft]). OPPD 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 is available on
December 12, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2025-1831 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-2025-1831. 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.
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 ADAMS Public 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 of 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Isaac Johnston, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5649; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of a license amendment request to
approve the LTP, Revision 2 for the FCS, located in Washington County,
Nebraska, as part of OPPD'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-40. If
granted, the license amendment would update the dose calculations and
FSS requirements for the Auxiliary Building basement and adjacent
Containment Building for concrete structures deeper than 3 m (9.8 ft).
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 (EIS) for the license
amendment request and is issuing a FONSI.
The construction permit for FCS was issued by the NRC in 1968, with
the operating license issued by the NRC to OPPD in 1973. The FCS began
commercial operation in September 1973. OPPD submitted the
Certification of Permanent Cessation of Power Operations in August 2016
in accordance with 10 CFR 50.82 (a)(1)(i) and shutdown FCS on October
24, 2016. Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(ii), on November 13, 2016, the
OPPD certified to the NRC that as of November 2016, all fuel had been
removed from the FCS reactor vessel and placed into the FCS spent fuel
pool.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(4)(i), the OPPD submitted its initial
Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) on March 30,
2017, and supplemented it by letter dated December 14, 2017. The PSDAR
described OPPD's selection of the SAFSTOR method for decommissioning
the FCS. The FCS reactor remained in SAFSTOR until December 16, 2019.
On December 16, 2019, as supplemented by letter dated July 16,
2020, the OPPD submitted a revised PSDAR to the NRC to reflect schedule
changes and select a new method for decommissioning the FCS pursuant to
10 CFR 50.82(a)(7). The revised PSDAR described OPPD's selection of the
DECON method for decommissioning the FCS.
By letter dated May 18, 2020, the OPPD certified to the NRC as of
May 13, 2020, all spent fuel assemblies had been permanently
transferred out of the FCS spent fuel pool and placed in storage within
the independent spent fuel storage installation. The OPPD submitted the
LTP on August 3, 2021, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(9). The LTP
was approved by the NRC on January 31, 2024.
On June 18, 2024, as supplemented by letters dated January 16,
2025, March 24, 2025, July 28, 2025, and July 31, 2025, the OPPD
submitted an LTP license amendment for the FCS requesting a license
amendment to edit dose modeling and final site survey methodologies for
the Auxiliary Building basement and Containment Building.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action is the review and subsequent approval, if
appropriate, of a license amendment to OPPD to approve the LTP,
Revision 2 for the FCS. If approved, the amendment would update the
dose calculations and FSS requirements for the Auxiliary Building for
concrete structures deeper than 3 m (9.8 ft).
The proposed action is described in the OPPD's 2024 LTP application
and responses to requests for additional information dated January 16,
2025, and July 28, 2025. On July 31, 2025, OPPD requested a revised
scope of the review to include two areas of the Containment Building
along with the initial request for the Auxiliary Building basement.
Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action
The purpose of and need for the proposed action is to allow for
completion of decommissioning of the FCS site by the OPPD, termination
of the FCS operating license by the NRC, and subsequent release of the
FCS 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, historical and cultural resources; visual and
scenic resources; meteorology, climatology, and air quality; noise;
geology and soils; water 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)
[[Page 57790]]
generically addressed many of the potential environmental impacts of
decommissioning at the FCS. During its review of the FCS 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; socioeconomics; historic and cultural resources
within the operational area; aesthetics; noise; transportation; and
nonradioactive waste management--were still bounded by the
Decommissioning GEIS and 2023 EA for the LTP, Revision 1. Therefore,
the NRC does not expect impacts associated with these resource areas
beyond those discussed in the GEIS, which concluded that the impact
level for these resource areas was SMALL, or the 2023 LTP EA, which
concluded that the potential impacts for these resource areas were not
significant.
In the Decommissioning GEIS, the NRC staff concluded that it could
not determine the environmental impacts of decommissioning generically
for five environmental resource areas (offsite land use, threatened and
endangered species, aquatic ecology beyond the operational area,
terrestrial ecology beyond the operational area, and historic and
cultural resources beyond the operational area). The Decommissioning
GEIS determined that for these five resource areas a site-specific
analysis would be required.
In the 2023 FCS LTP EA, the NRC staff evaluated the potential
environmental impacts on five site-specific environmental 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 the OPPD commits to
using best management practices and obtaining all necessary licenses
from Federal or State agencies to protect the surrounding lands. The
proposed action would result in no significant change to the off-site
impacts and there would be no significant cumulative effects when added
to the past, present, or reasonably foreseeable future actions at the
FCS site.
The proposed action includes the use of grout in excavated trenches
in the Auxiliary Building and several subsurface structures in the
Containment Building as well as alterations to the dose calculations
and final site survey methodologies for these areas. The grout would
prevent groundwater in-leakage through cracks in the concrete. All
grouted areas are greater than 3 m (9.8 ft) below ground surface and
would be backfilled with clean fill material following plans described
in the approved LTP, Revision 1. The proposed action does not include
any new ground disturbing activities, the use of any previously
undisturbed land, or alterations to site surface waters or vegetated
lands. The NRC staff conclude that the proposed action would not alter
any potential impacts on land use or historical and cultural resources
as considered in the 2023 FCS LTP EA, which concluded no significant
impact for both resource areas.
The NRC staff reviewed the proposed changes to the final site
survey methodologies and dose calculations and found no significant
changes to the potential environmental impacts as considered in the
decommissioning GEIS and 2023 FCS LTP EA. The revised dose calculations
demonstrate that decommissioning and unrestricted release of the site
would meet applicable NRC regulations in 10 CFR part 20. The grout in
and overlapping the edges of the trenches and concrete structures
deeper than 3 m (9.8 ft) below ground surface would limit radioisotope
diffusional release into site groundwater. Therefore, the NRC staff
conclude the proposed license amendment would result in no significant
impacts to water resources or public and occupational health.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
the ``no-action'' alternative. Under the no-action alternative, the NRC
would not approve the LTP license amendment request because regulatory
requirements have not been met. If the NRC was unable to approve the
LTP, Revision 2 because the regulatory requirements were not met, the
OPPD would need to take additional actions to prepare an LTP that meets
the requirements in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(10) or continue decommissioning
activities under the currently approved LTP, Revision 1. Under this
scenario, until the OPPD resubmits the LTP, activities at FCS would
likely continue and the environmental impacts would neither increase
nor decrease as a result of the additional time required for the LTP
resubmission.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On August 15, 2025, the NRC staff provided a copy of the draft EA
to the State of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and
Nebraska Department of Water Energy, and the Environment for their
review and comment. The Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and the
Environment responded by a letter dated September 22, 2025. The
Department provided a list of potential state permits and requirements
for the project and requested the applicant engage the Department if
any new permits or alterations to current permits are required for the
proposed action. The state requested clarification on the grouting used
at the site. The NRC staff provided additional information on the grout
source and method of placement to the state on November 24, 2025.
By letter dated August 7, 2025, the NRC staff provided a copy of
the draft EA to the Nebraska Field Office of the Fish and Wildlife
Services and requested conference concurrence for the NRC's
determination of not likely to adversely affect for two proposed
species, the monarch butterfly and Western regal fritillary. In a
letter dated September 25, 2025, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) concurred with the NRC's determination that the proposed action
would not adversely affect listed species or critical habitat.
Therefore, the NRC staff consider consultation under Section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act has been completed.
The NRC staff determined the proposed action does not have the
potential to cause effects to historic properties, assuming such
properties were present. Therefore, pursuant to 36 CFR 800.3(a)(1), the
NRC has no further National Historic Preservation Act Section 106
obligations. On August 18, 2025, the NRC staff provided courtesy
notification and a copy of the draft EA to the Nebraska State Historic
Preservation Officer. In a letter dated August 25, 2025, the Nebraska
State Historical Society responded that the proposed undertaking is
unlikely to affect any cultural resources and confirmed the NRC staff's
no historic properties affected determination.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on its review of the 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, of the OPPD's
Facility Operating License No. DPR-40 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
[[Page 57791]]
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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Document description ADAMS accession No.
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Omaha Public Power District Post-Shutdown ML17089A759, ML17348A623,
Decommissioning Activities Reports and ML19351E355, and
supplemental letters, dated March 30, ML20202A654.
2017, December 14, 2017, December 16,
2019, and July 16, 2020.
Omaha Public Power District--Certification ML16242A127.
of Permanent Cessation of Power
Operations, dated August 25, 2016.
Omaha Public Power District--Certification ML16319A254.
of Permanent Removal of Fuel from the
Reactor Vessel, dated November 13, 2016.
Omaha Public Power District--Certification ML20139A138.
of Permanent Removal of all Spent Fuel
Assemblies from the Spent Fuel Pool,
dated May 18, 2020.
Ft. Calhoun Station Unit 1, License ML21271A178 (Package).
Amendment Request (LAR) 21-01, LIC 21-
0005, dated August 3, 2021.
Omaha Public Power District--Response to ML22167A199 and ML23060A197.
Fort Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1--
Requests for Additional Information dated
June 15, 2022, and February 27, 2023.
Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1--Safety ML24019A168.
Evaluation Report for approval of License
Termination Plan, dated January 31, 2024.
Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1--License ML24177A132.
Amendment Request (LAR) to Revise License
Termination Plan (LTP), dated November
11, 2024.
Omaha Public Power District--Response to ML25016A212.
Fort Calhoun Station, Unit No. 1
Acceptance of Requested Licensing Action
Re: License Amendment Request to Revise
the License Termination Plan (L-2024-LLA-
0095), dated January 16, 2025.
Omaha Public Power District--Response to ML25083A220 (Package).
Request for License Amendment to Revise
License Termination Plan--Request for
Additional Information, Environmental,
dated March 24, 2025.
Fort Calhoun, Unit 1, Independent Spent ML25211A290.
Fuel Storage Installation--Response to
Audit Report for Omaha Public Power
District Request to Revise License
Termination Plan Requirements and Request
for Additional Information (EPID L-2024-
LLA-0095), dated July 28, 2025.
Omaha Public Power District--Fort Calhoun ML25218A293.
Station, Unit 1, Supplement to the
License Amendment Request (LAR) to Revise
License Termination Plan (LTP), dated
July 31, 2025.
Final Generic Environmental Impact ML023470304.
Statement on Decommissioning of Nuclear
Facilities (NUREG-0586, Supplement 1,
Vol. 1), dated November 2002.
Final Environmental Assessment for Fort ML25220A249.
Calhoun, Unit 1 License Amendment
Request, dated December 8, 2025.
NRC to FWS, Request for Concurrence, dated ML25206A090.
August 7, 2025.
NRC Email to Nebraska State Historic ML25267A098.
Preservation Officer--Fort Calhoun
Station License Amendment Request, dated
August 18, 2025.
NRC letter to Nebraska Department of ML25267A099.
Health and Human Services and Nebraska
Department of Water, Energy, and the
Environment--Request for State Review of
Environmental Assessment for Fort Calhoun
License Amendment Request, dated August
15, 2025.
FWS Signed Fort Calhoun Concurrence ML25273A132.
Request, dated September 25, 2025.
Nebraska State Historic Preservation ML25267A100.
Officer--Response Letter Fort Calhoun
License Termination Washington County NP,
dated August 25, 2025.
Nebraska Department of Water, Energy and ML25267A097.
Environment--Comment Response on Fort
Calhoun License Amendment Request Draft
Environmental Assessment, dated September
22, 2025.
NRC Form 699--CONVERSATION RECORD--Email ML25330A002.
to Nebraska Department of Water, Energy,
and the Environment Regarding Fort
Calhoun Station, dated November 24, 2025.
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Dated: December 10, 2025.
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. 2025-22657 Filed 12-11-25; 8:45 am]
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