[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 111 (Wednesday, June 9, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32372-32373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-13021]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-327 and 50-328]
Tennessee Valley Authority; Sequoyah Nuclear Plant; Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an exemption from the requirements in Title 10 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Appendix G, ``Fracture
Toughness Requirements'' for Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-77 and
DPR-79, issued to Tennessee Valley Authority (the licensee), for
operation of the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant (SQN), located in Hamilton
County, Tennessee. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC is
issuing this environmental assessment and finding of no significant
impact.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed exemption would allow use of the methods described in
WCAP-15984, Revision 1, ``Reactor Vessel Closure Head/Vessel Flange
Requirements Evaluation for Sequoyah Units 1 and 2,'' instead of the
requirements in 10 CFR Part 50,
[[Page 32373]]
Appendix G, footnote 2 to Table 1, ``Pressure and Temperature
Requirements for the Reactor Pressure Vessel,'' for the SQN.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application dated September 6, 2002, as supplemented on December 19,
2002, March 28, June 24, September 3, October 22, and December 18,
2003. The supplemental letters provided clarifying information that did
not expand the scope of the original request.
The Need for the Proposed Action
The licensee's exemption request was made in support of an
associated licensing action, submitted in the same letter, to adopt a
Pressure-Temperature Limit Report for SQN, Units 1 and 2. Section
50.12(a) of 10 CFR allows licensees to apply for an exemption from the
requirements of Part 50 if, (1) the exemption will not present an undue
risk to the protection of public health and safety and common defense
and security and (2) the application of the regulation in the
particular circumstances is not necessary to achieve the underlying
purpose of the rule. The licensee has stated that compliance with the
reactor pressure vessel (RPV) flange minimum temperature requirements
of Appendix G to 10 CFR Part 50 is not necessary to meet the underlying
purpose of the rule (i.e., to provide adequate margins of safety with
regard to pressure boundary integrity for any condition of normal
operation for the service life of the RPV).
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that the exemption described above would continue to satisfy
the underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.68(b)(1). The details of the
staff's safety evaluation will be provided with the letter to the
licensee approving the exemption to the regulation.
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. 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 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 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 resources than
those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for
the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 dated February 13, 1974.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On April 28, 2004, the staff consulted with the Tennessee State
official, Elizebeth Flannagin of the Tennessee Bureau of Radiological
Health, 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 September 6, 2002, as supplemented on December
19, 2002, March 28, June 24, September 3, October 22, and December 18,
2003. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 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 at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or send
an e-mail to [email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of June, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William F. Burton,
Acting Chief, Section 2, Project Directorate II, Division of Licensing
Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 04-13021 Filed 6-8-04; 8:45 am]
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