Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 171 / Tuesday, September 4, 2018 / Notices 44923 

fuel-storage/cis/waste-controlspecialist.html. 

B. Submitting Comments 

Please include Docket ID NRC–2016– 

0231 in your comment submission. 

Comments received during this scoping 

period will be considered by the NRC, 

along with all comments received 

during the previous period, in 

determining the scope of the EIS. 

Scoping comments submitted during the 

previous period need not be resubmitted 

during this scoping period. 

The NRC cautions you not to include 

identifying or contact information that 

you do not want to be publicly 

disclosed in your comment submission. 

The NRC will post all comment 

submissions at https://

www.regulations.gov/ as well as enter 

the comment submissions into ADAMS. 

The NRC does not routinely edit 

comment submissions to remove 

identifying or contact information. 

If you are requesting or aggregating 

comments from other persons for 

submission to the NRC, then you should 

inform those persons not to include 

identifying or contact information that 

they do not want to be publicly 

disclosed in their comment submission. 

Your request should state that the NRC 

does not routinely edit comment 

submissions to remove such information 

before making the comment 

submissions available to the public or 

entering the comment into ADAMS. 

II. Discussion 

On April 28, 2016, WCS submitted a 

license application to the NRC for a 

proposed consolidated interim storage 

facility for spent nuclear fuel (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML16132A533). The NRC 

accepted the WCS application for 

detailed review on January 26, 2017 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML17018A168). 

On November 14, 2016, the NRC opened 

the public scoping period for its EIS on 

WCS’ license application for a proposed 

consolidated interim storage facility for 

spent nuclear fuel (81 FR 79531). On 

April 18, 2017, WCS requested that the 

NRC temporarily suspend its review 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML17110A206). 

The EIS public scoping comment period 

closed on April 28, 2017 (82 FR 14039). 

On June 8, 2018, ISP (a joint venture 

between WCS and Orano CIS LLC) 

requested that NRC resume its detailed 

review and submitted a revised license 

application (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML18166A003). On July 19, 2018, ISP 

provided an update to its application 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML18206A482). 

The NRC has decided to reopen the EIS 

public scoping comment period on this 

application until 45 days from October 

19, 2018, to allow more time for 

members of the public to submit their 

comments. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day 

of August 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. 2018–19058 Filed 8–31–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–334 and 50–412; NRC– 

2018–0193] 

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating 

Company; FirstEnergy Nuclear 

Generation, LLC; Beaver Valley Power 

Station, Units 1 and 2 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Environmental assessment and 

finding of no significant impact; 

issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is making a finding 

of no significant impact (FONSI) for a 

proposed issuance of an exemption to 

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company 

(FENOC, the licensee), for Beaver Valley 

Power Station (BVPS), Units 1 and 2, 

located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. 

The proposed action would grant the 

licensee a partial exemption from the 

‘‘Physical barrier’’ requirements in the 

NRC’s regulations, to allow FENOC to 

continue using vertical, rather than 

angled, barbed wire fence toppings in 

certain limited protected area sections 

on-site. The NRC is considering an 

Exemption to Renewed Facility 

Operating License No. DPR–66, and 

Renewed Facility Operating License No. 

NPF–73, issued on November 5, 2009, 

and held by FENOC; and FirstEnergy 

Nuclear Generation, LLC for the 

operation of BVPS, Units 1 and 2. 

DATES: The environmental assessment 

referenced in this document is available 

on September 4, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2018–0193 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–2018–0193. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer 

Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127; 

email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. 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 publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, 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 pdr.resource@

nrc.gov. For the convenience of the 

reader, the ADAMS accession numbers 

are provided in a table in the 

‘‘Availability of Documents’’ section of 

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: 

Bhalchandra K. Vaidya, Office of 

Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–3308; email: 

Bhalchandra.Vaidya@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The NRC is considering issuance of a 

partial exemption, pursuant to section 

73.5 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Specific 

exemptions,’’ from the ‘‘Physical 

barrier’’ requirement of 10 CFR 73.2, 

specifically with respect to the design 

criteria specified in 10 CFR 73.2(1) 

‘‘fences,’’ as it applies to the angular 

specification for brackets used to 

support the required barbed wire (or 

similar material) topper, to FENOC and 

FirstEnergy Nuclear Generation, LLC 

(collectively, the licensee), for BVPS, 

Units 1 and 2, located in Beaver County, 

Pennsylvania. 

In accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, the 

NRC has prepared an environmental 

assessment (EA) that analyzes the 

environmental effects of the proposed 

action. Based on the results of the EA, 

and in accordance with 10 CFR 51.31(a), 

the NRC has prepared a finding of no 

significant impact (FONSI) for the 

proposed exemption. 

II. Environmental Assessment 

Description of the Proposed Action 

The proposed action would grant the 

licensee a partial exemption from the 


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44924 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 171 / Tuesday, September 4, 2018 / Notices 

‘‘physical barrier’’ requirements of 10 

CFR 73.2, specifically with respect to 

the design criteria specified in 10 CFR 

73.2 (1) ‘‘fences,’’ as it applies to the 

angular specification for brackets used 

to support the required barbed wire (or 

similar material) topper. As stated in 10 

CFR 73.2, fences must be constructed of 

No. 11 American wire gauge, or heavier 

wire fabric, topped by three strands or 

more of barbed wire or similar material 

on brackets angled inward or outward 

between 30 and 45 degrees from the 

vertical, with an overall height of not 

less than eight feet, including the barbed 

topping. If approved, the partial 

exemption would allow the licensee to 

continue to use, without modification, 

the current configuration of vertical 

barbed wire fence toppings in limited 

protected area sections on-site, as 

specified on the maps submitted by the 

licensee in its letter dated March 16, 

2018, to meet the regulatory 

requirements of 10 CFR part 73, 

‘‘Physical protection of plants and 

materials.’’ Specifically, barbed wire on 

top of physical barrier fencing on gates, 

near gates, near interfaces with 

buildings, and on corners is oriented 

vertically. 

The proposed action is in accordance 

with the licensee’s application dated 

July 19, 2017, as supplemented by 

letters dated March 16, 2018; and May 

2, 2018. 

Need for the Proposed Action 

Physical protection consists of a 

variety of measures to protect nuclear 

facilities and material against sabotage, 

theft, diversion, and other malicious 

acts. The NRC and its licensees use a 

graded approach for physical protection, 

consistent with the significance of the 

facilities or material to be protected. In 

so doing, the NRC establishes the 

regulatory requirements and assesses 

compliance, and licensees are 

responsible for providing the protection. 

The proposed action is needed to 

allow the licensee to continue to use, 

without modification, the current 

configuration of vertical barbed wire 

fence toppings in certain limited 

protected area sections on-site, as 

shown on the maps submitted by the 

licensee in its March 16, 2018, letter. 

Currently, some of the barbed wire 

bracketing on top of the protected area 

physical barrier fencing do not meet 

certain design criteria specified in 10 

CFR 73.2. Specifically, barbed wire on 

top of physical barrier fencing on gates, 

near gates, near interfaces with 

buildings, and on corners is oriented 

vertically. 

Separate from this EA, the NRC staff 

is evaluating the licensee’s proposed 

action, which will be documented in a 

safety evaluation report. The staff’s 

review will determine whether there is 

reasonable assurance that the site 

maintains adequate protection from the 

current physical barriers in accordance 

with the requirements in 10 CFR part 

73. 

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed 

Action 

The NRC has completed its 

environmental evaluation of the 

proposed action. The proposed action 

would grant the licensee a partial 

exemption from the ‘‘physical barrier’’ 

requirements of 10 CFR 73.2, 

specifically with respect to the design 

criteria specified in 10 CFR 73.2(1) 

‘‘fences,’’ as it applies to the angular 

specification for brackets used to 

support the required barbed wire (or 

similar material) topper. This will allow 

the licensee to continue using vertical, 

rather than angled, barbed wire fence 

toppings in certain limited protected 

area sections on site. 

The proposed action would have no 

direct impacts on land use or water 

resources, including terrestrial and 

aquatic biota as the proposed action 

involves no new construction or 

modification of plant operational 

systems. There would be no changes to 

the quality or quantity of nonradiological effluents. No changes to the 

plant’s National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System permit are needed. 

In addition, there would be no 

noticeable effect on air pollutant 

emissions, socio-economic conditions in 

the region, no environment justice 

impacts, and no impacts to historic and 

cultural resources. Therefore, there 

would be no significant non-radiological 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action. 

The NRC has concluded that the 

proposed action would not significantly 

affect plant safety and would not have 

a significant adverse effect on the 

probability of an accident occurring. 

There would be no change to 

radioactive effluents that affect radiation 

exposures to plant workers and 

members of the public. No changes 

would be made to plant buildings or the 

site property. Therefore, implementing 

the proposed action would not result in 

a change to the radiation exposures to 

the public or radiation exposure to plant 

workers. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action 

As an alternative to the proposed 

action, the NRC considered denial of the 

proposed action (i.e., the ‘‘no-action’’ 

alternative). Denial of the exemption 

request would result in the licensee 

having to replace the vertical barbed 

wire fence toppings with angled barbed 

wire that meets the definition of 

‘‘Physical barrier’’ in 10 CFR 73.2. This 

could result in temporary, minor 

changes in vehicular traffic and 

associated air pollutant emissions due 

to any construction-related impacts of 

performing the necessary modifications, 

but no significant changes in ambient 

air quality would be expected. 

Alternative Use of Resources 

There are no unresolved conflicts 

concerning alternative uses of available 

resources under the proposed action. 

Agencies and Persons Consulted 

The NRC staff did not enter into 

consultation with any other Federal 

agency or with the State of Pennsylvania 

regarding the environmental impact of 

the proposed action. 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

The licensee has requested an 

exemption from the ‘‘physical barrier’’ 

requirements of 10 CFR 73.2, 

specifically with respect to the design 

criteria specified in 10 CFR 73.21, 

‘‘fences,’’ to allow the licensee to 

continue using vertical, rather than 

angled, barbed wire fence toppings in 

limited protected area sections on site. 

The NRC is considering issuing the 

requested exemption. The proposed 

action would not significantly affect 

plant safety, would not have a 

significant adverse effect on the 

probability of an accident occurring, 

and would not have any significant 

radiological and non-radiological 

impacts. This FONSI incorporates by 

reference the EA in Section II of this 

notice. Therefore, 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. 

The related environmental document 

is NUREG–1437, ‘‘Generic 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: 

Regarding Beaver Valley Power Station, 

Units 1 and 2, Final Report,’’ which 

provides the latest environmental 

review of current operations and a 

description of environmental conditions 

at BVPS, Units 1 and 2. 

IV. Availability of Documents 

The documents identified in the 

following table are available to 

interested persons through one or more 

of the following methods, as indicated. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 171 / Tuesday, September 4, 2018 / Notices 44925 

Document ADAMS accession No. 

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company; Exemption Request for a Physical Barrier Requirement; Dated July 19, 

2017.

ML17200D139. 

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company; Response to Request For Additional Information Regarding Exemption Request for a Physical Barrier Requirement; Dated March 16, 2018.ML18078A033. 

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company; Response to Request For Additional Information Regarding Exemption Request for a Physical Barrier Requirement; Dated May 2, 2018.ML18122A133. 

NUREG–1437, Supplement 36; Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Regarding Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2, Final Report; Dated May 2009.ML091260011. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day 

of August 2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Bhalchandra K. Vaidya, 

Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch III, 

Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19120 Filed 8–31–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2018–0190] 

Protective Order Templates for 

Hearings on Conformance With the 

Acceptance Criteria in Combined 

Licenses 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Draft protective order templates; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is seeking public 

comment on draft protective order 

templates to be used in hearings 

associated with closure of inspections, 

tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria 

(ITAAC). The templates have the 

purpose of facilitating quick 

development of case-specific protective 

orders to support the accelerated ITAAC 

hearing schedule. Participants in ITAAC 

hearings may, but are not required to, 

use the templates as the basis for 

proposed protective orders. 

DATES: Submit comments by October 19, 

2018. Comments received after this date 

will be considered if it is practical to do 

so, but the Commission is able to ensure 

consideration only for comments 

received before this date. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0190. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer 

Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127; 

email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For 

other questions, contact the individual 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section of this document. 

For additional direction on obtaining 

information and submitting comments, 

see ‘‘Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments’’ in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael A. Spencer, Office of the 

General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission; telephone: 

301–287–9115, email: 

Michael.Spencer@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments 

A. Obtaining Information 

Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2018– 

0190 when contacting the NRC about 

the availability of information for this 

action. You may obtain publiclyavailable information related to this 

action by any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0190. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, 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 pdr.resource@

nrc.gov. For the convenience of the 

reader, instructions about obtaining 

materials referenced in this document 

are provided in the ‘‘Availability of 

Documents’’ section. 

• 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. 

B. Submitting Comments 

Please include Docket ID NRC–2018– 

0190 in your comment submission. If 

you cannot submit your comments on 

the Federal Rulemaking website, http:// 

www.regulations.gov, please contact the 

individual listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

The NRC cautions you not to include 

identifying or contact information that 

you do not want to be publicly 

disclosed in your comment submission. 

The NRC will post all comment 

submissions at http://

www.regulations.gov as well as enter the 

comment submissions into ADAMS. 

The NRC does not routinely edit 

comment submissions to remove 

identifying or contact information. 

If you are requesting or aggregating 

comments from other persons for 

submission to the NRC, then you should 

inform those persons not to include 

identifying or contact information that 

they do not want to be publicly 

disclosed in their comment submission. 

Your request should state that the NRC 

does not routinely edit comment 

submissions to remove such information 

before making the comment 

submissions available to the public or 

entering the comment into ADAMS. 

II. Background 

On July 1, 2016 (81 FR 43266), the 

NRC published final procedures for 

hearings on conformance with the 

acceptance criteria in combined licenses 

(COLs) issued under part 52 of title 10 

of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR) (ITAAC Hearing Procedures). The 

acceptance criteria are part of the 

ITAAC included in the COL. In 

accordance with 10 CFR 52.103(g), the 

NRC must find that the acceptance 

criteria are met before facility operation 

may begin. Section 189a.(1)(B) of the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended 

(AEA), provides members of the public 

an opportunity to request a hearing on 

the facility’s compliance with the 

acceptance criteria. The ITAAC Hearing 

Procedures describe the requirements 

for such hearing requests and the 

procedures to be used throughout the 

hearing process. The procedures for a 

particular ITAAC proceeding will be 

imposed by case-specific orders, and the 

ITAAC Hearing Procedures reference 

templates to be used for such orders. 

Some NRC proceedings involve 

sensitive information. For ITAAC 

proceedings in particular, the NRC 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES