[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 169 (Thursday, August 30, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45875-45876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-21937]
[[Page 45875]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-369 and 50-370]
Duke Energy Corporation; McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2;
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of amendments to Duke Energy Corporation (DEC), for operation
of the McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, Facility Operating
License (FOLs) Nos. NPF-9 and NPF-17, respectively, located in
Mecklenberg County, North Carolina. 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 Proposed Action
The proposed action would amend the Facility Operating Licenses for
McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, by (a) deleting the license
conditions that have been fulfilled by actions that have been completed
or are imposed by other regulatory requirements, (b) changing the
license conditions that have been superseded by the current plant
status, and (c) incorporating other administrative changes. This
includes the following license conditions; for Unit 1: 1.H
Environmental Protection Plan, 2.C(1) Maximum Power Level, 2.C(3)
Initial Test Program, 2.C(4) Fire Protection Program, 2.C(5) Compliance
with Regulatory Guide 1.97, 2.C(6) Steam Generator Inspection, 2.C(7)
Environmental Qualification, 2.C(8) Radioactive Waste Treatment System,
2.C(9) Piping System Reanalysis, 2.C(10) Category I Masonry Walls,
2.C(11) NUREG-0737 Conditions for ``Fuel Loading and Low Power
Testing'', ``Full Power Requirements'', ``NRC Actions'' and ``Dated
Requirements'', 2.C(12) Steam Generator Design Modification, 2.C(13)
Additional Conditions, 2.D Exemptions from Appendix G to 10 CFR part
50, 2.E Security and Safeguards Plans, 2.F Deleted by prior amendment,
2.G Reporting of Violations, 2.H Notification of Accident, Appendix C:
Additional Conditions. For Unit 2: 1.H Environmental Protection Plan,
2.C(1) Maximum Power Level, 2.C(4) Thermal Sleeves, 2.C(5) Model D-3
Steam Generator, 2.C(6) Environmental Qualification, 2.C(7) Fire
Protection, 2.C(8) Heavy Loads, 2.C(9) Initial Test Program, 2.C(10)
NUREG-0737 Conditions, items (a)-(f), 2.C(11) Protection of the
Environment, 2.C(12) Reactor Trip breakers, 2.C(13) Additional
Conditions, Table 1: Reactor Trip Breakers and Reactor Trip Bypass
Breakers, 2.D Exemptions from Appendix G to 10 CFR Part 50, 2.E
Security and Safeguards Plans, 2.F Reporting of Violations, 2.G
Notification of Accident, 2.J Storage of Oconee spent fuel assemblies,
Attachment 1: Pre-operational Tests, Appendix D: Additional Conditions.
The proposed action is in accordance with DEC's application for an
amendment dated June 13, 2000.
The Need for the Proposed Action
When the FOLs, NPF-9 and NPF-17, were issued to the licensee, the
NRC staff deemed certain issues essential to safety and/or essential to
meeting certain regulatory interests. These issues were imposed as
license conditions in the FOLs. Since the units were licensed to
operate in the 1980s, most of these license conditions have been
fulfilled. For the license conditions that have been fulfilled, DEC
proposes to have them deleted from the FOLs.
The licensee also proposed to make changes to correct
administrative errors such as words inadvertently omitted, documents
erroneously cited, etc.
The proposed amendments involve administrative changes to the FOLs
only. No actual plant equipment, regulatory requirements, operating
practices, or analyses are affected by these proposed amendments. This
would eliminate unnecessary license conditions from the Facility
Operating Licenses.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that there is no significant environmental impact if the
amendments are granted. No changes will be made to the design and
licensing bases, and applicable procedures at the two units at McGuire
Nuclear Station will remain the same. Other than the administrative
changes, no other changes will be made to the FOLs, including the
Technical Specifications.
The staff has concluded that the proposed action will not increase
the probability or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made
in the types of any effluents that may be released offsite, and there
is no significant increase in occupational or public radiation
exposure. Accordingly, the NRC concludes that 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. The
proposed action does not affect non-radiological plant effluents and
has no other environmental impact. Accordingly, the NRC concludes that
there are no significant non-radiological 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
This action does not involve the use of any different resources
than those previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement
for the McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, dated April 1976 and
Addendum dated January 1981.
Agencies and Persons Contacted
In accordance with its stated policy, on January 10, 2001, the
staff consulted with the North Carolina State official, Jonny James of
the Bureau of Radiological Health, North Carolina Department of Health
and Environmental Control, regarding the environmental impact of the
proposed amendments. 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
amendments.
For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the
licensee's letter dated June 13, 2000. Documents may be examined, and/
or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room, located at One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,
Maryland. Publically available records will be accessible
electronically from the ADAMS Public Library component on the NRC Web
site, http://www.nrc.gov (the Public Electronic Reading Room). If you
do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR)
Reference
[[Page 45876]]
staff at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at [email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of August 2001.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert E. Martin,
Senior Project Manager, Section 1, Project Directorate II, Division of
Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-21937 Filed 8-29-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P