[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 207 (Wednesday, October 26, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66333-66334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-27691]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-261; NRC-2011-0247]
Carolina Power & Light Company, H.B. Robinson Steam Electric
Plant, Unit No. 2; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an exemption pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) 50.46, ``Acceptance criteria for emergency core
cooling systems for light-water nuclear power reactors,'' and 10 CFR
part 50, appendix k, ``ECCS [Emergency Core Cooling System] Evaluation
Models,'' to allow for the use of M5 alloy fuel rod cladding for
Facility Operating License No. DPR-23, issued to Carolina Power & Light
Company (the licensee), for operation of the H. B. Robinson Steam
Electric Plant, Unit 2 (HBRSEP), located in Darlington County, South
Carolina. In accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, ``Criteria for and
identification of licensing and regulatory actions requiring
environmental assessments,'' the NRC staff prepared an environmental
assessment documenting its finding. The NRC staff concluded that the
proposed action will have no significant environmental impact.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would exempt the licensee from certain
requirements of 10 CFR 50.46 and appendix K to 10 CFR part 50.
Specifically, 10 CFR 50.46, paragraph (a)(1)(i) provides requirements
for reactors containing uranium oxide fuel pellets clad in either
zircaloy or ZIRLO. Additionally, appendix K to 10 CFR part 50 specifies
the use of zircaloy or ZIRLO fuel cladding when doing calculations for
energy release, cladding oxidation, and hydrogen generation after a
postulated loss-of-coolant accident. Therefore, both of these
regulations either state that either zircaloy or ZIRLO is used as the
fuel rod cladding material. The proposed exemption would allow the
licensee use of M5 cladding fuel assemblies into the core of HBRESP,
Unit 2. The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application dated October 19, 2010.
The Need for the Proposed Action
The proposed exemption is needed to allow the licensee to allow for
the use of M5 alloy fuel rod cladding at HBRSEP, Unit No. 2. The
licensee has requested an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR
50.46 and 10 CFR part 50, appendix K to allow for loading of M5
cladding fuel assemblies, in lieu of zircaloy or ZIRLO, into the core
during Refueling Outage 27 that is currently scheduled to begin on
October 29, 2011.
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 details of the NRC staff's safety evaluation
will be provided in the exemption that, if approved by the NRC, will be
issued as part of 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 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 nonradiological impacts, the proposed
action does not result in changes to land use or water use, or result
in changes to the quality or quantity of nonradiological effluents. No
changes to the National Pollution Discharge Elimination system permit
are needed. No effects on the aquatic or terrestrial habitat in the
vicinity or the plant, or to threatened, endangered, or protected
specifies under the Endangered Species Act, or impacts to essential
fish habitat covered by the Magnuson-Stevens Act are expected. There
are no impacts to the air or ambient air quality. There are no impacts
to historical and cultural resources. In addition, there are also no
known socioeconomic or environmental justice impacts associated with
such proposed action. 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 NRC staff considered
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no action'' alternative).
Denial of the exemption request would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. If the proposed action was denied, the licensee
would have to comply with the ECCS rules in 10 CFR 50.46 and appendix K
to 10 CFR part 50 regarding use of M5 cladding into the HBRSEP, Unit 2
core during the upcoming refueling outage. This would cause unnecessary
burden on the licensee, without a significant benefit in environmental
impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed exemption and the
``no action'' alternative are similar.
Alternative Use of Resources
The action does not involve the use of any different resources than
those considered in the Final Environmental Statement for the HBRSEP,
dated April 1975, as supplemented through the ``Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: H.B. Robinson
Steam Electric Plant, Unit 2--Final Report (NUREG--1437, Supplement
13).''
Agencies and Persons Consulted
In accordance with its stated policy, on October 17, 2011, the NRC
staff consulted with the South Carolina State official, Mark Yeager of
the South Carolina Bureau of Land and Waste Management, regarding the
environmental impact of the proposed action. The State official had no
comments.
[[Page 66334]]
Finding of No Significant Impact
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, ``Finding of No Significant Impact,'' and
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 October 19, 2010 (Agencywide Documents Access
and Management System (ADAMS), Accession No. ML102980142). This
document 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 are accessible electronically through ADAMS
in the NRC Library 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 send
an e-mail to [email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of October 2011.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Farideh E. Saba,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch II-2, Division of
Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2011-27691 Filed 10-25-11; 8:45 am]
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