[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 184 (Friday, September 21, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48720-48721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23614]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-29]
Yankee Atomic Electric Company, Yankee Nuclear Power Station;
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an exemption from 10 CFR part 73.55(d)(5) for Facility
Operating License No. DPR-3, issued to Yankee Atomic Electric Company
(YAEC, or the licensee), for operation of the Yankee Nuclear Power
Station (YNPS), located in Franklin County, Massachusetts. 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 proposed action would exempt the YNPS Independent Spent Fuel
Storage Installation (ISFSI) from some requirements of 10 CFR 73.55,
``Requirements for physical protection of licensed activities in
nuclear power reactors against radiological sabotage.'' Specifically,
YAEC would be granted an exemption from 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) related to
access requirements. The proposed action is in accordance with the
licensee's application dated September 28, 2000, as supplemented by
letters dated October 12, 2000, April 18, 2001, May 29, 2001, and June
28, 2001.
The Need for the Proposed Action
YNPS was shut down in October 1991. On February 27, 1992, the
licensee informed the Commission that it had decided to permanently
cease operations at YNPS and that all fuel had been permanently removed
from the reactor. The NRC, in a license amendment dated August 5, 1992,
modified License No. DPR-3 to a Possession Only License (POL). The
license is conditioned so that YAEC is not authorized to operate the
reactor and fuel may not be placed in the reactor vessel, thus
formalizing the YAEC commitment to permanently cease power operations.
The YNPS spent nuclear fuel is currently being stored in the spent fuel
pool, which is protected by a physical protection system meeting the
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55, with exemptions as previously issued by
the NRC. To complete the plant site decommissioning process, the spent
fuel will be removed from the spent fuel pool and transferred to an
onsite ISFSI for interim storage. Under the provisions of 10 CFR Part
72, Subpart K, General License for Storage of Spent Fuel at Power
Reactor Sites, YAEC is required to meet the physical protection
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55 for an ISFSI at a reactor site. YAEC
proposed alternative approaches to meet the provisions of portions of
10 CFR 73.55 related to the security organization, physical barriers,
access requirements, detection aids, communications, and response
requirements. However, the staff determined that, with regard to the
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5), the measures proposed by YAEC did
not meet the criteria of 10 CFR 73.55(a) to be authorized as
alternative measures. However, the staff also concluded that pursuant
to 10 CFR 72.7 and 10 CFR 73.5, the proposed alternatives to the
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55(d)(5) that YAEC requested could be granted
as an exemption.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that granting an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR
73.55 would not have a significant impact on the environment.
The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability
or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types of
any effluents that may be released off site, and 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 a potential to affect any historic sites. It does
not affect
[[Page 48721]]
nonradiological plant effluents and has no other environmental impact.
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 action does not involve the use of any different resource than
those previously considered in previous reviews for the Yankee Nuclear
Power Station. The plant was licensed prior to the requirement for
issuance of a Final Environmental Statement.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On August 21, 2001, the staff consulted with the Massachusetts
State official, Jim Muckerheide of the Massachusetts Emergency
Management Agency, regarding the environmental impact of the proposed
action. 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
action.
Further details with respect to the proposed action may be found in
the licensee's letter dated September 28, 2000, as supplemented by
letters dated October 12, 2000, April 18, 2001, May 29, 2001, and June
28, 2001. 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 ADAMS
Public Library component on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov (the
Public Electronic Reading Room). 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 by e-mail at [email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of September 2001.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen Dembek,
Chief, Section 2, Project Directorate IV, Division of Licensing Project
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-23614 Filed 9-20-01; 8:45 am]
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