[Federal Register: September 23, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 184)]
[Notices]
[Page 59580-59581]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23se02-108]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-237, 50-249, 50-254, and 50-265]
Exelon Generation Company, LLC; Dresden Nuclear Power Station,
Units 2 and 3, Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2;
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an exemption from certain requirements of 10 CFR
50.71(e)(4) for Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-19 and DPR-25,
issued to Exelon Generation Company, LLC (the licensee), for operation
of the Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Units 2 and 3, located in Grundy
County, Illinois, and for Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-29 and
DPR-30, issued to the licensee, for operation of the Quad Cities
Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, located in Rock Island County,
Illinois. 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 the Proposed Action
The proposed action would grant a schedular extension for Dresden
Nuclear Power Station (Dresden), Units 2 and 3, and for Quad Cities
Nuclear Power Station (Quad Cities), Units 1 and 2, for submittal of
revised Updated Final Safety Analysis Reports (UFSARs) from the
regularly scheduled dates. 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) requires that subsequent
revisions to the UFSAR be submitted periodically to the NRC provided
that the interval between successive updates does not exceed 24 months.
The Dresden and Quad Cities UFSAR revisions are currently submitted on
a 24-month cycle. The next scheduled date for submittal of the revised
UFSAR for Dresden is June 30, 2003, and for Quad Cities is October 20,
2003. However, the licensee plans to submit revised UFSARs along with
Operating License Renewal Applications (LRAs) for Dresden and Quad
Cities in January 2003. The licensee plans to resume the established
schedule for submittal of the UFSAR revisions in 2005 for both
stations. The licensee requests a one-time exemption to postpone
submittal of the revised Dresden and Quad Cities UFSARs until 2005.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application dated August 9, 2002.
The Need for the Proposed Action
The licensee proposes to submit revised UFSARs with LRAs in January
2003, and to resume the established schedule for submittal of UFSAR
revisions for Dresden on June 30, 2005, and for Quad Cities on October
20, 2005. An exemption is required because 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4) requires
that subsequent revisions to the UFSAR be submitted periodically to the
NRC provided that the interval between successive updates does not
exceed 24 months.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that there are no significant adverse environmental impacts
associated with the proposed action.
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 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 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 the Final Environmental Statement for
the Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Units 2 and 3, dated November 1973,
and for the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2, dated
September 1972.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
On August 22, 2002, the staff consulted with the Illinois State
official, Mr. F. Niziolek of the Department of Nuclear Safety,
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
[[Page 59581]]
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 August 9, 2002. 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 Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room 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 by e-mail to
pdr@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of September, 2002.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Anthony J. Mendiola,
Chief, Section 2, Project Directorate III, Division of Licensing
Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 02-24151 Filed 9-20-02; 8:45 am]
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