[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40989-40990]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-15321]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-219]
Amergen Energy Company, LLC Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating
Station; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of schedular exemptions from Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Section 50.71(e)(4) for Facility
Operating License No. DPR-16, which authorizes operation of the Oyster
Creek Nuclear Generating Station (OCNGS), a boiling-water reactor
facility, located in Ocean County, New Jersey. Therefore, pursuant to
10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is issuing this environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50,
Paragraph 50.71(e)(4) requires that licensees provide the NRC with
updates to the Updated Final Safety Analysis Report (UFSAR) annually or
6 months after each refueling outage provided the interval between
successive updates does not exceed 24 months. The revisions must
reflect changes up to 6 months prior to the date of filing. This
regulation would require the licensee to submit the next OCNGS UFSAR
update by April 25, 2005, which is 24 months after the most recent
update (April 25, 2003).
The licensee requested a one-time schedular exemption from the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4), extending the filing date by
``approximately 6 months.'' This one-time schedular exemption would
thus extend the 24-month interval between the last and next filing to
be 30 months. Since the licensee last submitted an update on April 25,
2003, this proposed one-time, 6-month extension would permit the next
update be as late as October 25, 2005.
The licensee also requested a permanent schedular exemption to
allow filing of all future UFSAR updates up to 12 months, instead of 6
months, after completion of a refueling outage. Thus, accordingly to
the licensee's current refueling schedule, this would permit the
licensee to file future updates in the fall of odd-numbered years.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application for exemption dated March 26, 2004.
The Need for the Proposed Action
In its March 26, 2004, application, the licensee stated that
following the schedular requirements of 10 CFR 50.72(e)(4) literally
means that the licensee has to file both OCNGS and Peach Bottom Atomic
Power Station (PBAPS, owned by the licensee's parent company, Exelon)
UFSAR updates in the same time frame (i.e., spring) of odd-numbered
years. Such filing schedule for both OCNGS and PBAPS constitutes a
hardship for the licensee and its parent company Exelon; additional
temporary resources would have to be employed in order to
simultaneously
[[Page 40990]]
prepare both OCNGS and PBAPS updates.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that the exemption is administrative and would not affect any
plant equipment, operation, or procedures. The UFSAR contains the
analysis, assumptions, and technical details of the facility design and
operating parameters. Until the UFSAR is updated, the recent changes
are documented in the licensee's written evaluations of changes
prepared pursuant to 10 CFR 50.59, and in the NRC's Safety Evaluations
for actions requiring prior approval. A delay in submitting the UFSAR
update will not change the plant design or the manner in which it is
operated.
The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability
or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types of
effluents that may be released off site, and there is no significant
increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. Therefore, there
are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with
the proposed action.
With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed
action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. It does
not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no other
environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant
nonradiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed
action.
Accordingly, the NRC staff concludes that there are no significant
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative).
Denial of the application would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action
and the alternative action are similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
The action does not involve the use of any different resource than
those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for
OCNGS, dated December 1974, published by the Atomic Energy Commission.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On May 11, 2004, the NRC staff consulted with the New Jersey State
official, Mr. Rich Pinney of the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection, Bureau of Nuclear Engineering, regarding the environmental
impact of the proposed action. The State official had no comments.
Finding of No Significant Impact
On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes
that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the
quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined
not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed
action.
For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the
licensee's letter dated March 26, 2004. Documents may be examined, and/
or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located
at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be
accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and
Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the
Internet at the NRC Web site, 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 PDR
Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by
e-mail to [email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of June, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Peter S. Tam,
Senior Project Manager, Section 1, Project Directorate I, Division of
Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 04-15321 Filed 7-6-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P