[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 150 (Thursday, August 5, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47469-47470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17852]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-346]
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, Davis-Besse Nuclear Power
Station, Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
amending an exemption from (1) Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, Appendix K, section I.D.1, which requires
that accident evaluations use the combination of emergency core cooling
system (ECCS) subsystems assumed to be operative ``after the most
damaging single failure of ECCS equipment has taken place;'' and (2)
requirements of 50.46(a)(1)(ii), for Facility Operating License No.
NPF-3, issued to FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC or the
licensee), for operation of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station
(DBNPS), located in Ottawa County, Ohio. 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 original exemption issued on May 5, 2000, exempted the licensee
from the single-failure requirement for the two systems for preventing
boric acid precipitation during the long-term cooling phase following a
loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). Additionally, the action exempted the
licensee from the calculation requirements of 50.46(b)(5) and Appendix
K, section I.A.4 for the second or backup system for preventing boric
acid precipitation. The proposed action would amend the existing
exemption by approving a new system to prevent boric acid
precipitation. This new system would become the primary system and the
current primary system would become the backup system. The current
backup system would no longer be credited as part of the licensing
basis, although it would remain as a third option procedurally. As
such, the part of the existing exemption related to the calculation
requirements of 50.46(b)(5) and Appendix K, section I.A.4 would be
removed from the exemption as it only applied to the current backup
system and is no longer needed.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application dated February 13, 2004.
The Need for the Proposed Action
The proposed action provides a new active means of preventing boric
acid precipitation within the reactor vessel core region following a
LOCA. The new system has fewer vulnerabilities and meets calculation
requirements without an exemption, unlike the system to be removed from
the licensing basis.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that the proposed amended exemption would continue to satisfy
the underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.46 and 10 CFR part 50, Appendix K.
Additionally, the proposed action does not involve radioactive wastes,
release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, solid radioactive
waste, or liquid effluents released to the environment.
The DBNPS systems were evaluated in the Final Environmental
Statement (FES) dated October 1975 (NUREG 75/097). The proposed amended
exemption will not involve any change in the waste treatment systems
described in the FES.
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 the amount of any effluent 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 non-radiological impacts, the proposed
action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. It does
not affect non-radiological plant effluents and has no other
environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant non-
radiological 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
DBNPS, NUREG 75/097, dated October 1975.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On May 25, 2004, the staff consulted with the Ohio State official,
C. O'Claire of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, regarding the
environmental impact of the proposed action. The State official had no
comments.
[[Page 47470]]
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 February 13, 2004 (ADAMS ML040490242), and the
existing exemption approved by NRC letter dated May 5, 2000 (ADAMS
ML003712264). 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 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 send an e-mail to [email protected].
Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of July, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jon B. Hopkins,
Senior Project Manager, Project Directorate III, Section 2, Division of
Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 04-17852 Filed 8-4-04; 8:45 am]
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