83 FR 4932 - North Anna Power Station Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 23 (February 2, 2018)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the renewal of NRC special nuclear materials (SNM) license SNM-2507 for the continued operation of the North Anna Power Station's (NAPS) specifically licensed independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) in Louisa County, Virginia. The NRC has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) for this proposed license renewal in accordance with its regulations in title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The NRC is also conducting a safety evaluation of the proposed license renewal.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 23 (Friday, February 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4932-4934]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02111]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-16; NRC-2016-0177]


North Anna Power Station Independent Spent Fuel Storage 
Installation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact; 
issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
the renewal of NRC special nuclear materials (SNM) license SNM-2507 for 
the continued operation of the North Anna Power Station's (NAPS) 
specifically licensed independent spent fuel storage installation 
(ISFSI) in Louisa County, Virginia. The NRC has prepared an 
environmental assessment (EA) for this proposed license renewal in 
accordance with its regulations in title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR). Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a 
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The NRC is 
also conducting a safety evaluation of the proposed license renewal.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
February 2, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0177 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 website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0177. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document.
     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: Jean Trefethen, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0867, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering the renewal of license SNM-2507 for Virginia 
Electric and Power Company and the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative's 
(collectively referred to as Dominion) NAPS specifically licensed ISFSI 
located in Louisa County, Virginia (ADAMS Accession No. ML16153A140) 
for an additional 40 years. License SNM-2507 allows Dominion to store 
spent nuclear fuel from NAPS Units 1 and 2 in the specifically licensed 
ISFSI. The current license will expire on June 30, 2018. If approved, 
Dominion would be able to continue to possess, store and continue to 
load and place casks with spent nuclear fuel at the NAPS specifically-
licensed ISFSI in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 72, 
``Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear 
Fuel, High-Level Radioactive Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater than 
Class C Waste.''
    The NRC staff has prepared a final EA as part of its review of this 
proposed license renewal in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR 
part 51,

[[Page 4933]]

``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 
Related Regulatory Functions.'' Based on the final EA, the NRC has 
determined that an environmental impact statement is not required for 
this proposed action and a FONSI is appropriate. The NRC is also 
conducting a safety evaluation of the proposed license renewal pursuant 
to 10 CFR part 72 and the results will be documented in a separate 
safety evaluation report (SER). If Dominion's request is approved, the 
NRC will issue the license renewal and publish a separate notice of 
issuance in the Federal Register.
    In 1998, the NRC issued a 20-year license to Dominion to receive, 
possess, store, and transfer spent nuclear fuel generated at the NAPS 
Units 1 and 2 to a specifically licensed ISFSI located on the NAPS 
site. License SNM-2507 allows Dominion to store 84 Transnuclear-32 (TN-
32) sealed surface storage casks (TN-32 casks) on three pads (i.e., 28 
TN-32 casks per pad). Each TN-32 cask is designed to hold 32 
pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel assemblies (NRC, 1997). Prior to 
issuance of the license, the NRC prepared a final EA (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML123480192) and determined that the construction and operation of 
the ISFSI would not have a significant impact on the quality of the 
human environment. That FONSI was published on April 4, 1997 (62 FR 
16202).
    In addition, the NRC recently approved a license amendment request 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML17234A539) from Dominion to place one cask (the 
28th and final cask to be placed on Pad 1 of the specifically licensed 
ISFSI) with high burnup spent nuclear fuel (i.e., spent fuel with 
burnup greater than 45,000 MWD/MTU) in a Modified TN-32B High Burn-up 
Cask (TN-32B HBU) on this specifically licensed ISFSI to support the 
High Burnup Dry Storage Cask Research and Development Project. The NRC 
staff's EA in support of that license amendment request was published 
in June 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16168A104). On November 30, 2017, 
Dominion placed in service the TN-32B HBU cask with high burnup fuel in 
Pad 1 of the specifically licensed ISFSI. Currently, the specifically 
licensed ISFSI consists of one pad (Pad 1) with 28 spent fuel storage 
casks, the 28th of which is TN-32B HBU.
    The Dominion ISFSI is located in rural Louisa County, Virginia, 
approximately 64 kilometers (km) [40 miles (mi)] northwest of Richmond, 
Virginia and approximately 35 km (22 mi) southwest of Fredericksburg, 
Virginia. The NAPS site is located approximately 10 km (6 mi) northeast 
of the town of Mineral, Virginia.
    On May 25, 2016, the licensee submitted their application for a 40-
year license renewal of the NAPS specifically licensed ISFSI (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML16153A140).

II. Final Environmental Assessment Summary

    Dominion is requesting to renew its specifically licensed ISFSI for 
an additional 40 year-period. The current license will expire on June 
30, 2018. Specifically, if approved Dominion would be able to continue 
to possess, store and to load and place casks with spent nuclear fuel 
from NAPS Units 1 and 2 at the NAPS specifically licensed ISFSI in 
accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 72. In accordance with 
license SNM-2507, Dominion uses the TN-32 casks and a TN-32B HBU cask.
    The NRC has assessed the potential environmental impacts of the 
proposed action; and alternatives to the proposed action including 
renewing the license for a 20 year-period, and the no-action 
alternative. The results of the NRC's environmental review can be found 
in the final EA (ADAMS Accession No. ML17311A450). The NRC staff 
performed its environmental review in accordance with the requirements 
in 10 CFR part 51. In conducting the environmental review, the NRC 
considered information in the license renewal application (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML16153A140); information in the responses to the NRC's 
requests for additional information (ADAMS Accession No. ML17025A128); 
communications and consultation with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, 
Virginia State Historic Preservation Office, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service (FWS), and the Virginia Department of Health.
    Approval of Dominion's proposed license renewal would allow the 
continued storage of spent nuclear fuel for an additional 40 years. In 
addition, the casks would be subject to NRC's review and oversight to 
ensure the casks are designed and maintained in accordance with the 
regulatory limits in 10 CFR parts 20 and 72. Furthermore, Dominion 
maintains a radiation protection program for NAPS Units 1 and 2 and the 
specifically licensed ISFSI in accordance with 10 CFR part 20 to ensure 
that radiation doses are as low as is reasonably achievable. 
Accordingly, no significant radiological or non-radiological impacts 
are expected to result from approval of the license renewal request, 
and the proposed action would not significantly contribute to 
cumulative impacts at the NAPS site. Additionally, there would be no 
disproportionately high and adverse impacts on minority and low-income 
populations.
    In its license renewal request, Dominion is proposing no changes in 
how it handles or stores spent fuel at the NAPS specifically licensed 
ISFSI. Approval of the proposed action would not result in any new 
construction or expansion of the existing ISFSI footprint beyond that 
previously approved. The ISFSI is a passive facility that produces no 
liquid or gaseous effluents. No significant radiological or 
nonradiological impacts are expected from continued normal operations. 
Occupational dose estimates associated with the proposed action and 
continued normal operation and maintenance of the ISFSI are expected to 
be at as low as reasonably achievable levels and within the limits of 
10 CFR 20.1201. Therefore, the NRC staff has determined that pursuant 
to 10 CFR 51.31, preparation of an EIS is not required for the proposed 
action, and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, a FONSI is appropriate.
    Furthermore, the NRC staff determined that this license renewal 
request does not have the potential to cause effects on historic 
properties, assuming those were present; therefore, in accordance with 
36 CFR 800.3(a)(1), no consultation is required under Section 106 of 
the National Historic Preservation Act. The NRC staff, however, reached 
out to and informed the Virginia State Historic Preservation Officer 
and the Pamunkey Tribe of Virginia of its determination via letters 
dated October 18, 2016, and October 26, 2016, respectively (ADAMS 
Accession Nos: ML16279A432 and ML16279A419, respectively). The Virginia 
Department of Historic Resources responded via letter dated December 
30, 2016, that based on information provided they concurred that the 
undertaking will not impact historic properties (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML16365A205). The Pamunkey Tribe responded via email dated November 11, 
2016, that they were not aware of any historic or cultural resources 
that would be affected and requested NRC to contact them if potential 
cultural sites are identified (ADAMS Accession No. ML16313A325).
    Finally, the NRC staff also consulted with the FWS in accordance 
with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff used FWS 
Virginia Field Office's Ecological Services online project review 
process. The NRC completed the certification process by submitting the 
online review package to the FWS Virginia Field Office via letter

[[Page 4934]]

dated October 18, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16279A448).

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA, the NRC has concluded that the proposed 
license renewal for the Dominion's SNM License Number SNM-2507 for the 
operation of NAPS specifically licensed ISFSI located in Louisa County, 
Virginia, will not significantly affect the quality of the human 
environment. Therefore, the NRC has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 
51.31, that preparation of an EIS is not required for the proposed 
action and a FONSI is appropriate.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of January 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental 
Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018-02111 Filed 2-1-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P