[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 4 (Thursday, January 6, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 800-801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 52-037; NRC-2008-0556]
Ameren Missouri, Combined License Application for Callaway Plant
Unit 2; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an exemption from Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), Sec. 50.71(e)(3)(iii) for the Callaway Plant
(Callaway), Unit 2, Combined License (COL) Application, Docket Number
52-037, submitted by Union Electric Company, doing business as Ameren
UE (Ameren) for the proposed facility to be located in Callaway
[[Page 801]]
County, Missouri. The NRC's review activities relating to the Callaway,
Unit 2, COL application remain suspended since June 29, 2009, based on
Ameren's request of June 23, 2009. Furthermore, the adjudicatory
proceedings related to the Callaway, Unit 2, COL application were
terminated by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) after
agreements were made between Ameren, the NRC, and the petitioners for
intervention, as documented in ``AMERENUE (Callaway Plant Unit 2)
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER (Approving Settlement Agreement and Terminating
Contested Adjudicatory Proceeding) LBP-09-23 (August 28, 2009)''
(ML092400189). In accordance with 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 action is a one-time schedule exemption from the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii). During the period from the
docketing of a COL application until the NRC makes a finding under 10
CFR 52.103(g) pertaining to facility operation, Union Electric Company,
doing business as Ameren Missouri (Ameren) as of October 1, 2010, as
noted in its letter to the NRC dated October 26, 2010, must, pursuant
to 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii), submit an annual update to the Final Safety
Analysis Report (FSAR). Ameren requested a one-time exemption from the
10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) requirements to submit the scheduled 2010 and
2011 COL application FSAR updates, and proposed for approval a new
submittal deadline of December 31, 2012, for the next FSAR update. The
proposed exemption would allow Ameren to submit the next FSAR update at
a later date, but still in advance of the NRC reinstating its review of
the application, and in any event, by December 31, 2012. The current
FSAR update schedule could not be changed, absent the exemption. The
NRC is authorized to grant the exemption pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12.
The proposed action is in response to Ameren's request dated
October 26, 2010, and can be found in the Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS) under accession number ML103090556.
Need for the Proposed Action
The Callaway, Unit 2, COL application is based upon and linked to
the U.S. EPR reference COL (RCOL) application for UniStar's Calvert
Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3 (CCNPP3). The proposed action is
needed to allow Ameren to submit the next FSAR update prior to any
request to the NRC to resume review of the COL application and, in any
event, by December 31, 2012.
Ameren has requested a one-time exemption from the requirements
specified in 10 CFR 50.71(e)(3)(iii) in order to reduce the burden
associated with identifying and incorporating all committed changes
made to the RCOL application since the last revisions to the RCOL
application and the U.S. EPR design control documents (DCD), when the
updated FSAR will not be reviewed by the NRC until the application
review is resumed.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that there are no environmental impacts associated with the
proposed exemption. The proposed exemption is solely administrative in
nature in that it pertains to the schedule for submittal to the NRC of
revisions to a COL application under 10 CFR Part 52.
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 offsite. There is no significant
increase in the amount of any effluent released offsite. 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 any foreseeable impacts to land, air, or water
resources, including impacts to biota. In addition, there are also no
known socioeconomic or environmental justice impacts associated with
the proposed action. 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 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. Therefore, the environmental impacts of the
proposed action and the alternative action are similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
After the environmental scoping meeting was held on February 18,
2009, and prior to issuance of the scoping summary report and the
subsequent Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the NRC suspended the
Callaway, Unit 2, COL application review activities effective June 29,
2009, based on Ameren's request of June 23, 2009. The proposed action,
therefore, does not involve the use of any different resources than
those considered during the environmental scoping process.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
Contacting the State of Missouri and, in particular, the Missouri
Department of Health and Senior Services, by the NRC staff for comments
regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action was not
necessary, since the review of the Callaway, Unit 2, COL application is
suspended until further notice.
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
Ameren's letter dated October 26, 2010. 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 O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be
accessible electronically from the 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 via e-mail at [email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of December 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Prosanta Chowdhury,
Project Manager, EPR Projects Branch, Division of New Reactor
Licensing, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2011-9 Filed 1-5-11; 8:45 am]
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