[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 15 (Friday, January 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3662-3664]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-01195]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-302; NRC-2015-0010]
Duke Energy Florida, Inc.; Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear
Generating Plant
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact;
final issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of exemptions in response to a March 28, 2014, request from
Duke Energy Florida, Inc. (DEF or the licensee), representing itself
and the other owners of the Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating
Plant (CR-3). One exemption would permit the licensee to use funds from
the CR-3 decommissioning trust (the Trust) for irradiated fuel
management and site restoration activities. Another exemption would
allow the licensee to use withdrawals from the Trust for these
activities without prior notification to the NRC. The NRC staff is
issuing a final Environmental Assessment (EA) and final Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI) associated with the proposed exemptions.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0010 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0010. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS public documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if that document
is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced. The request for exemption, dated March 28, 2014, is
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML14098A037.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Orenak, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3229; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering issuance of exemptions from Sections
50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 50.75(h)(2) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR) for Facility Operating License No. DPR-72, issued
to DEF, for CR-3, located in Citrus County, Florida. The licensee
requested the exemptions by letter dated March 28, 2014. The exemptions
would allow the licensee to use funds from the Trust for irradiated
fuel management and site restoration activities without prior notice to
the NRC, in the same manner that funds from the Trust are used under 10
CFR 50.82(a)(8) for decommissioning activities. Consistent with 10 CFR
51.21, the NRC has reviewed the requirements in 10 CFR 51.20(b) and 10
CFR 51.22(c) and has determined that an EA is the appropriate form of
environmental review. Based on the results of the EA, which is provided
in Section II below, the NRC is issuing this final FONSI.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would exempt DEF from meeting the requirements
set forth in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2).
Specifically, the
[[Page 3663]]
proposed action would allow DEF to use funds from the Trust for
irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities not
associated with radiological decontamination and would exempt DEF from
meeting the requirement for prior notification to the NRC for these
activities.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application dated March 28, 2014.
Need for the Proposed Action
By letter dated February 20, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML13056A005), DEF informed the NRC that it had permanently ceased power
operations at CR-3 and that the CR-3 reactor vessel had been
permanently defueled. CR-3 has not operated since September 2009.
As required by 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A), decommissioning trust
funds may be used by the licensee if the withdrawals are for legitimate
decommissioning activity expenses, consistent with the definition of
decommissioning in 10 CFR 50.2. This definition addresses radiological
decontamination and does not include activities associated with
irradiated fuel management or site restoration. Similarly, the
requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2) restrict the use of decommissioning
trust fund disbursements (other than for ordinary and incidental
expenses) to decommissioning expenses until final decommissioning has
been completed. Therefore, exemptions from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A) and
10 CFR 50.75(h)(2) are needed to allow DEF to use funds from the Trust
for irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities.
The licensee states that the Trust contains funds for
decommissioning that are commingled with funds intended for irradiated
fuel management and other site restoration activities not associated
with radiological decontamination. The adequacy of funds in the Trust
to cover the costs of activities associated with irradiated fuel
management and site restoration in addition to radiological
decontamination through license termination is supported by the CR-3
Annual Decommissioning and Irradiated Fuel Management Financial Status
Report submitted by DEF in a March 31, 2014, letter (ADAMS Accession
No. ML14098A039). The licensee states that it needs access to the funds
in the Trust in excess of those needed for radiological decontamination
to support irradiated fuel management and other site restoration
activities not associated with radiological decontamination.
The requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2) further provide that, except
for decommissioning withdrawals being made under 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8) or
for payments of ordinary administrative costs and other incidental
expenses of the Trust, no disbursement may be made from the Trust until
written notice of the intention to make a disbursement has been given
to the NRC at least 30 working days in advance of the intended
disbursement. Therefore, an exemption from 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2) is needed
to allow DEF to use funds from the Trust for irradiated fuel management
and site restoration activities without prior NRC notification.
In summary, by letter dated March 28, 2014, DEF requested
exemptions to allow Trust withdrawals, without prior written
notification to the NRC, for irradiated fuel management and site
restoration activities.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The proposed action involves exemptions from requirements that are
of a financial or administrative nature and that do not have an impact
on the environment. The NRC has completed its evaluation of the
proposed action and concludes that there is reasonable assurance that
adequate funds are available in the Trust to complete all activities
associated with decommissioning, site restoration, and irradiated fuel
management. There is no decrease in safety associated with the use of
the Trust to fund activities associated with irradiated fuel management
and site restoration. Section 50.82(a)(8)(v) of 10 CFR requires a
licensee to submit a financial assurance status report annually between
the time of submitting its decommissioning cost estimate and submitting
its final radiation survey and demonstrating that residual
radioactivity has been reduced to a level that permits termination of
its license. If the remaining balance, plus expected rate of return,
plus any other financial surety mechanism does not cover the estimated
costs to complete the decommissioning, additional financial assurance
must be provided. These annual reports provide a means for the NRC to
monitor the adequacy of available funding. Since the exemptions would
allow DEF to use funds from the Trust that are in excess of those
required for radiological decontamination of the site and the adequacy
of funds dedicated for radiological decontamination are not affected by
the proposed exemptions, there is reasonable assurance that there will
be no environmental impact due to lack of adequate funding for
decommissioning.
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 have any foreseeable impacts to land, air, or water
resources, including impacts to biota. In addition, there are 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 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 proposed action does not involve the use of any different
resources than those previously considered in the Final Environmental
Statement for CR-3, dated May 1973 (ADAMS Accession No. ML091520178).
Agencies or Persons Consulted
The staff did not enter into consultation with any other Federal
Agency or with the State of Florida regarding the environmental impact
of the proposed action. On October 14, 2014, the Florida state
representatives were notified of the EA and FONSI.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The licensee has proposed exemptions from 10 CFR 50.82(a)(8)(i)(A)
and 10 CFR 50.75(h)(2), which would allow DEF to use funds from the
Trust for irradiated fuel management and site restoration activities,
without prior written notification to the NRC.
[[Page 3664]]
Consistent with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC conducted the environmental
assessment for the proposed action included in Section II above and
incorporated by reference in this finding. On the basis of this
environmental assessment, the NRC concludes that the proposed action
will not have significant effects on the quality of the human
environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the proposed action. Other than the
licensee's letter, dated March 28, 2014, there are no other
environmental documents associated with this review. This document is
available for public inspection as indicated above.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of January, 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Douglas A. Broaddus,
Chief, Plant Licensing Branch IV-2 and Decommissioning Transition
Branch, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-01195 Filed 1-22-15; 8:45 am]
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