[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 162 (Thursday, August 21, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44495-44496]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22179]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-280 and 50-281]


Virginia Electric and Power Company, Surry Power Station; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is

[[Page 44496]]

considering issuance of an exemption from certain requirements of its 
regulations for Facility Operating License No. DPR-32 and Facility 
Operating License No. DPR-37, issued to Virginia Electric and Power 
Company (the licensee), for operation of the Surry Power Station 
located in Surry County, Virginia.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would exempt Virginia Electric and Power 
Company from the requirements of 10 CFR 70.24(a), which requires a 
monitoring system that will energize clear audible alarms if accidental 
criticality occurs in each area in which special nuclear material is 
handled, used, or stored. The proposed action would also exempt the 
licensee from the requirements to maintain emergency procedures for 
each area in which this licensed special nuclear material is handled, 
used, or stored to ensure that all personnel withdraw to an area of 
safety upon the sounding of the alarm, to familiarize personnel with 
the evacuation plan, and to designate responsible individuals for 
determining the cause of the alarm, and to place radiation survey 
instruments in accessible locations for use in such an emergency.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application for exemption dated January 28, 1997, as supplemented March 
24, 1997.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The purpose of 10 CFR 70.24 is to ensure that if a criticality were 
to occur during the handling of special nuclear material, personnel 
would be alerted to that fact and would take appropriate action. At a 
commercial nuclear power plant the inadvertent criticality with which 
10 CFR 70.24 is concerned could occur during fuel handling operations. 
The special nuclear material that could be assembled into a critical 
mass at a commercial nuclear power plant is in the form of nuclear 
fuel; the quantity of other forms of special nuclear material that is 
stored on site is small enough to preclude achieving a critical mass. 
Because the fuel is not enriched beyond 4.1 weight percent Uranium-235 
and because commercial nuclear plant licensees have procedures and 
features designed to prevent inadvertent criticality, the staff has 
determined that inadvertent criticality is not likely to occur due to 
the handling of special nuclear material at a commercial power reactor. 
The requirements of 10 CFR 70.24(a), therefore, are not necessary to 
ensure the safety of personnel during the handling of special nuclear 
materials at commercial power reactors.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The Commission has completed its evaluation of the proposed action 
and concludes that there is no significant environmental impact if the 
exemption is granted. Inadvertent or accidental criticality will be 
precluded through compliance with the Surry Power Station Technical 
Specifications (TS), the design of the fuel storage racks providing 
geometric spacing of fuel assemblies in their storage locations, and 
administrative controls imposed on fuel handling procedures. TS 
requirements specify reactivity limits for the fuel storage racks and 
minimum spacing between the fuel assemblies in the storage racks.
    Appendix A of 10 CFR Part 50, ``General Design Criteria for Nuclear 
Power Plants,'' Criterion 62, requires that criticality in the fuel 
storage and handling system shall be prevented by physical systems or 
processes, preferably by use of geometrically safe configurations. This 
is met at Surry Units 1 and 2, as identified in the TS.
    Surry TS Section 5.4, Fuel Storage, states that the new fuel 
assemblies are stored vertically in an array with a distance of 21 
inches between assemblies to assure that the effective neutron 
multiplication factor, K<INF>eff</INF>, will remain <ls-thn-eq> 0.95 if 
fully flooded with unborated water, and to assure K<INF>eff</INF> 
<ls-thn-eq> 0.98 under conditions of low-density optimum moderation. 
The spent fuel assemblies are stored vertically in an array with a 
distance of 14 inches between assemblies to assure K<INF>eff</INF> 
<ls-thn-eq> 0.95 if fully flooded with unborated water.
    The proposed exemption would not result in any significant 
radiological impacts. The proposed exemption would not affect 
radiological plant effluents nor cause any significant occupational 
exposures since the TS, design controls, including geometric spacing of 
fuel assembly storage spaces, and administrative controls preclude 
inadvertent criticality. The amount of radioactive waste would not be 
changed by the proposed exemption.
    The proposed exemption does not result in any significant 
nonradiological environmental impacts. The proposed exemption involves 
features located entirely within the restricted area as defined in 10 
CFR Part 20. It does not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has 
no other environmental impact. Accordingly, the Commission concludes 
that there are no significant nonradiological environmental impacts 
associated with the proposed action.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Since the Commission has concluded that there is no measurable 
environmental impact associated with the proposed action, any 
alternatives with equal or greater environmental impact need not be 
evaluated. As an alternative to the proposed exemption, the staff 
considered denial of the requested exemption. Denial of the request 
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 resources not 
previously considered in the ``Final Environmental Statement for the 
Surry Power Station.''

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy the NRC staff consulted with 
Mr. Foldesi of the Virginia Department of Health on August 15, l997, 
regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State 
official had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based upon the environmental assessment, the Commission concludes 
that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment, Accordingly, the Commission 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 January 28, 1997, as supplemented March 24, 
1997, which is available for public inspection at the Commission's 
Public Document Room, which is located at The Gelman Building, 2120 L 
Street, NW., Washington, DC, and at the local public document room 
located at the Swem Library, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, 
Virginia.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of August 1997.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Herbert N. Berkow,
Director, Project Directorate II-2, Division of Reactor Projects I/II, 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 97-22179 Filed 8-20-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-U