76672 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 236 / Thursday, December 7, 2000 / Notices

and the Commission’s regulations in 10

CFR 2.202, 10 CFR 30.3, 10 CFR 30.10,

and 10 CFR 150.20, It Is Hereby

Ordered, Effective Immediately, That:

1. Mr. William Kimbley and Mrs. Joan

Kimbley are prohibited for five years

from the date of this Order from

engaging in NRC-licensed activities and

from possessing licensable byproduct

materials. NRC-licensed activities are

those activities that are conducted

pursuant to a specific or general license

issued by the NRC, including, but not

limited to, those activities of Agreement

State licensees conducted pursuant to

the authority granted by 10 CFR 150.20.

2. If Mr. William Kimbley and Mrs.

Joan Kimbley are currently involved

with another licensee in NRC-licensed

activities, they must immediately cease

those activities, and inform the NRC of

the name, address and telephone

number of the employer, and provide a

copy of this Order to the employer.

3. For a period of five years after the

five-year period of prohibition has

expired, Mr. William Kimbley and Mrs.

Joan Kimbley shall, within 20 days of

their acceptance of their first

employment offer involving NRClicensed activities or their becoming

involved in NRC-licensed activities, as

defined in Paragraph IV.1 above,

provide notice to the Director, Office of

Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555, of

the name, address, and telephone

number of the employer or the entity

where they are, or will be, involved in

the NRC-licensed activities. In the

notification, Mr. William Kimbley and

Mrs. Joan Kimbley shall include a

statement of their commitment to

compliance with regulatory

requirements and the basis why the

Commission should have confidence

that they will now comply with

applicable NRC requirements.

The Director, Office of Enforcement,

may, in writing, relax or rescind any of

the above conditions upon

demonstration by Mr. William Kimbley

and Mrs. Joan Kimbley of good cause.

V

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Mr.

William Kimbley and Mrs. Joan Kimbley

must, and any other person adversely

affected by this Order may, submit an

answer to this Order, and may request

a hearing on this Order, within 20 days

of the date of this Order. Where good

cause is shown, consideration will be

given to extending the time to request a

hearing. A request for extension of time

must be made in writing to the Director,

Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555, and include a statement of

good cause for the extension. The

answer may consent to this Order.

Unless the answer consents to this

Order, the answer shall, in writing and

under oath or affirmation, specifically

admit or deny each allegation or charge

made in this Order and shall set forth

the matters of fact and law on which Mr.

William Kimbley and Mrs. Joan Kimbley

or other person adversely affected relies

and the reasons as to why the Order

should not have been issued. Any

answer or request for a hearing shall be

submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Attn:

Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff,

Washington, DC 20555. Copies also

shall be sent to the Director, Office of

Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to

the Assistant General Counsel for

Hearings and Enforcement at the same

address, to the Regional Administrator,

NRC Region III, 801 Warrenville Road,

Lisle, Illinois 60532, and to Mr. William

Kimbley and Mrs. Joan Kimbley if the

answer or hearing request is by a person

other than Mr. William Kimbley or Mrs.

Joan Kimbley. If a person other than Mr.

William Kimbley or Mrs. Joan Kimbley

requests a hearing, that person shall set

forth with particularity the manner in

which his or her interest is adversely

affected by this Order and shall address

the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.714(d).

If a hearing is requested by Mr.

William Kimbley or Mrs. Joan Kimbley

or a person whose interest is adversely

affected, the Commission will issue an

Order designating the time and place of

any hearing. If a hearing is held, the

issue to be considered at such hearing

shall be whether this Order should be

sustained.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202(c)(2)(i), Mr.

William Kimbley and Mrs. Joan

Kimbley, may, in addition to demanding

a hearing, at the time the answer is filed

or sooner, move the presiding officer to

set aside the immediate effectiveness of

the Order on the ground that the Order,

including the need for immediate

effectiveness, is not based on adequate

evidence but on mere suspicion,

unfounded allegations, or error.

In the absence of any request for

hearing, or written approval of an

extension of time in which to request a

hearing, the provisions specified in

Section IV above shall be final 20 days

from the date of this Order without

further order or proceedings. If an

extension of time for requesting a

hearing has been approved, the

provisions specified in Section IV shall

be final when the extension expires if a

hearing request has not been received.

An Answer or a Request for Hearing

Shall Not Stay The Immediate

Effectiveness of this Order.

Dated this 28th day of November, 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Carl J. Paperiello,

Deputy Executive Director for Materials,

Research and State Programs.

[FR Doc. 00–31156 Filed 12–6–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–305]

Nuclear Management Company, LLC;

Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant;

Environmental Assessment and

Finding of No Significant Impact

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is considering

issuance of an amendment to Facility

Operating License No. DPR–43 issued to

the Nuclear Management Company, LLC

(NMC or the licensee), for operation of

the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant

(KNPP or Kewaunee), located in

Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

The proposed action would increase

the number of fuel assemblies that can

be stored in the Kewaunee spent fuel

pools (SFPs) from 990 fuel assemblies to

1,205 fuel assemblies, an increase of 215

fuel assemblies, by installing 215 new

spent fuel storage racks in the new north

canal pool. In addition, the new spent

fuel storage racks will use Boral as the

neutron absorber material.

The proposed action is in accordance

with the licensee’s application for

amendment dated November 18, 1999,

as supplemented by letter dated August

7, 2000.

The Need for the Proposed Action

KNPP is a pressurized water reactor

(PWR) which commenced commercial

operation in 1974, and its current

operating license will expire in

December 2013. Initially, KNPP was

designed to accommodate 168 spent fuel

assemblies (SFAs). The last phase of reracking the SFP at KNPP was completed

in 1987, which provided for the current

storage capacity of 990 SFAs. Currently,

KNPP has two storage pools. The larger

south pool contains racks with a storage

capacity for 720 SFAs, and the smaller

north pool contains racks with a storage

capacity for 270 SFAs. There are

presently 718 SFAs stored in the south

pool and 106 SFAs stored in the north

pool. As a result of the present

unavailability of an off-site spent fuel

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 236 / Thursday, December 7, 2000 / Notices 76673

storage facility and the current rate of

fuel discharge (approximately 40

assemblies per cycle), KNPP will

currently lose full-core reserve

capability after the Fall 2001 outage.

The addition of the 215 storage

locations in the new north canal pool

will extend the full-core reserve

capability until after the 2009 outage,

and increase the total capacity to 1205

SFAs.

The proposed action is needed to

provide additional spent fuel storage

capacity to extend the full-core reserve

capability beyond the Fall 2001 outage.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed

Action

Radioactive Wastes

The Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant

uses waste treatment systems designed

to collect and process gaseous, liquid,

and solid waste that might contain

radioactive material. These radioactive

waste treatment systems were evaluated

in the Final Environmental Statement

(FES) dated December 1972. The

proposed SFP expansion will not

involve any change in the waste

treatment systems described in the FES.

Radioactive Material Released into the

Atmosphere

The expanded fuel storage capacity

obtained by installing new fuel racks

into the transfer canal is not expected to

affect the release of radioactive gases

from the SFP. Gaseous fission products

such as Krypton-85 and Iodine-131 are

produced by the fuel in the core during

reactor operation. A small percentage of

these fission gases are released to the

reactor coolant from the small number

of fuel assemblies which are expected to

develop leaks during reactor operation.

During refueling operations, some of

these fission products enter the SFP and

are subsequently released into the air of

the spent fuel building. Gaseous releases

from the fuel storage area are combined

with other plant exhausts. If radioiodine levels become too high, the air

can be diverted to charcoal filters for the

removal of radio-iodine before release to

the environment. Normally, the

radioactive gas contribution from the

fuel storage area is negligible compared

to the gaseous releases from other areas

of the plant. Since the frequency of

refueling (and therefore the number of

freshly off loaded spent fuel assemblies

stored in the SFP at any one time) will

not increase, there will be no increase

in the amounts of these types of fission

products released to the atmosphere as

a result of the increased SFP fuel storage

capacity.

Tritium gases contained in the SFP

are produced from two sources. The first

source is the tritium from the reactor

coolant system (RCS), which is a result

of neutron capture in the reactor core by

Boron-10. Tritium produced in this

manner can only enter the spent fuel

pool during refueling outages when the

SFP and the RCS are interconnected.

Since the proposed amendment does

not increase the frequency of refueling

outages, this source of tritium does not

change. The second source of tritium is

a result of neutron capture by Boron-10

in the SFP water. The decay neutron

flux from the old fuel in the SFP is

considerably smaller than the neutron

flux in the core of an operating reactor.

Due to the small neutron flux associated

with the fuel to be stored in the new

racks, the effect on tritium production

will be insignificant. Therefore, the

release of tritium from the storage of

additional spent fuel assemblies in the

transfer canal will be insignificant.

In addition, the plant radiological

effluent Technical Specifications, which

are not being changed by this action,

restrict the total releases of gaseous

activity from the plant (including the

SFP).

Solid Radioactive Wastes

Independent of the proposed

modification, the concentration of

radionuclides in the SFP is controlled

by the filters and demineralizer of the

SFP purification system as well as by

the decay of short-lived isotopes. Spent

resins are generated by the processing of

SFP water through the SFP purification

system. Both spent resins and filters are

disposed of as solid radioactive waste.

Since the frequency of refueling outages

is unchanged by the proposed action,

the activity in the SFP is not expected

to increase significantly above its

current value. Thus, the radioactivity

collected on the spent fuel resins and

filters is not expected to significantly

increase above its current value as a

result of the storage capacity increase.

The cumulative amount of radioactivity

collected on the spent fuel resins over

time will increase slightly with an

increase in the amount of spent fuel that

is added to the SFP; however, this

increase is expected to be insignificant.

The licensee will use a vacuum to

clean the floor of the fuel transfer canal

following the drying of the canal prior

to installing the new fuel racks.

Vacuuming of the canal floor will

remove any extraneous debris and crud.

Filter bags from the vacuum will be

disposed of as solid radioactive waste.

Depending on the waste

characterization of these filters, the

licensee will dispose of them utilizing

shielded canisters and high integrity

containers which will then be stored

onsite or shipped for burial accordingly.

However, this amount of solid

radioactive waste is expected to be

negligible in comparison with other

sources of solid radioactive wastes

generated at the plant (it is expected

that the total volume of low level

radioactive waste generated due to this

project will be less than 50 cubic feet).

Therefore, the staff does not expect

that the additional fuel storage capacity

made possible by the addition of fuel

racks in the north portion of the

Kewaunee fuel transfer canal will result

in a significant change in the generation

of solid radwaste at the Kewaunee

Nuclear Power Plant.

Liquid Radioactive Wastes

The SFP ion exchanger resins that are

part of the SFP water cleanup system

remove soluble radioactive materials

from the SFP water. When the resins are

changed out, the small amount of resin

sluice water which is released is

processed by the liquid radwaste system

before any water is discharged to Lake

Michigan. The resin in the spent fuel

pool demineralizer is typically replaced

every 12 to 15 months. It is possible that

fuel movement may stir up a small

amount of settled contamination during

loading of the fuel into the new racks.

However, it is expected that this will

have an insignificant effect on the

frequency of resin change out.

Therefore, the installation of the new

fuel racks is not expected to increase the

amount of liquid radioactive wastes

generated at the Kewaunee Nuclear

Power Plant.

In addition, the plant radiological

effluent Technical Specifications, which

are not being changed by this action,

restrict the total releases of activity in

liquids from the plant.

Radiological Impact Assessment

Radiation protection personnel will

provide constant coverage, including

dose monitoring, for the majority of the

work. Since this license amendment

does not involve the removal of any

spent fuel racks, the licensee does not

plan on using divers for this project.

However, if it becomes necessary to

utilize divers to remove any

interferences which may impede the

installation of the new fuel racks, the

licensee will equip each diver with

radiation detectors with remote, above

surface, readouts which will be

continuously monitored by Radiation

Protection personnel. The total

occupational dose to plant workers as a

result of the SFP expansion operation is

estimated to be between 0.7 and 1.3

76674 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 236 / Thursday, December 7, 2000 / Notices

person-rem. This dose estimate is lower

than doses for SFP modifications

performed at other plants. The

upcoming SFP rack installation will

follow detailed procedures prepared

with full consideration of as low as

reasonably achievable (ALARA)

principles.

On the basis of our review of the

licensee’s proposal, the staff concludes

that the KNPP SFP expansion can be

performed in a manner that will ensure

that doses to workers will be maintained

as low as is reasonably achievable and

within the limits of 10 CFR part 20. The

estimated dose of 0.7 to 1.3 person-rem

to perform the proposed SFP expansion

operation is a small fraction of the

annual collective dose accrued at the

Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant.

Furthermore, as stated previously, the

concentration of radionuclides in the

SFP is not expected to increase beyond

its present value as a result of the

proposed action. Therefore, doses to

workers are not expected to increase

above their current values. However,

since additional spent fuel will be

added to the SFP, cumulative doses over

time may increase slightly, although this

increase is expected to be insignificant

with annual doses remaining below

regulatory limits.

Accident Considerations

The licensee evaluated criticality

safety calculations for normal

conditions, criticality safety calculations

for accident conditions, long-term

reactivity changes, calculation of the

transient decay heat load in the SFPs,

calculation of the resulting maximum

SFPs bulk temperature, calculation of

the time-to-boil after a loss of forced

cooling or makeup water capability,

rack seismic/structural evaluations, rack

fatigue analysis, SFP structural

evaluation, bearing pad analysis, and

liner integrity analysis, shallow drop

event, deep drop event, and object drop

event. The proposed modification

increases the spent fuel storage capacity,

but it does not change the frequency or

probability or method for handling

spent fuel assemblies.

The proposed expansion of the SFP

will not affect any of the assumptions or

inputs used in evaluating the dose

consequences of a fuel handling

accident and therefore will not result in

an increase in the doses from a

postulated fuel handling accident.

Environmental Impact Conclusions

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 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 involve any historic

sites. It does not affect nonradiological

plant effluents and has no other

environmental impacts. 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 this action.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

Shipping Fuel to a Permanent Federal

Fuel Storage/Disposal Facility

Shipment of spent fuel to a high-level

radioactive storage facility is an

alternative to increasing the onsite spent

fuel storage capacity. However, the U.S.

Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) highlevel radioactive waste repository is not

expected to begin receiving spent fuel

until approximately 2010, at the earliest.

To date, no location has been identified

and an interim federal storage facility

has yet to be identified in advance of a

decision on a permanent repository.

Therefore, shipping the spent fuel to the

DOE repository is not considered an

alternative to increased onsite fuel

storage capacity at this time.

Shipping Fuel to a Reprocessing Facility

Reprocessing of spent fuel from

Kewaunee is not a viable alternative

since there are no operating commercial

reprocessing facilities in the United

States. Therefore, spent fuel would have

to be shipped to an overseas facility for

reprocessing. However, this approach

has never been used and it would

require approval by the Department of

State as well as other entities.

Additionally, the cost of spent fuel

reprocessing is not offset by the salvage

value of the residual uranium;

reprocessing represents an added cost.

Shipping the Fuel Offsite to Another

Utility, another NMC Site, or Private

Fuel Storage Facility

The shipment of fuel to another utility

or transferring fuel to another of the

licensee’s facilities would provide shortterm relief from the problems at

Kewaunee. The Nuclear Waste Policy

Act of 1982, Subtitle B, Section

131(a)(1), however, clearly places the

responsibility for the interim storage of

spent fuel with each owner or operator

of a nuclear plant. The SFPs at the other

reactor sites were designed with

capacity to accommodate spent fuel

from those particular sites. Therefore,

transferring spent fuel from Kewaunee

to other sites would create storage

capacity problems at those locations.

The shipment of spent fuel to another

site or transferring it to another NMC

site is not an acceptable alternative

because of increased fuel handling risks

and additional occupational radiation

exposure, as well as the fact that no

additional storage capacity would be

created.

The shipment of fuel to a private fuel

storage facility is an alternative to

increasing the onsite spent fuel storage

capacity. However, a private fuel storage

facility is not licensed at this time.

Therefore, shipping the spent fuel to a

private fuel storage facility is not

considered an alternative to increased

onsite fuel storage capacity at this time.

Alternatives Creating Additional Storage

Capacity

Alternative technologies that would

create additional storage capacity

include rod consolidation, dry cask

storage, modular vault dry storage, and

constructing a new pool. Rod

consolidation involves disassembling

the spent fuel assemblies and storing the

fuel rods from two or more assemblies

into a stainless steel canister that can be

stored in the spent fuel racks. Industry

experience with rod consolidation is

currently limited, primarily due to

concerns for potential gap activity

release due to rod breakage, the

potential for increased fuel cladding

corrosion due to some of the protective

oxide layer being scraped off, and

because the prolonged consolidation

activity could interfere with ongoing

plant operations. Dry cask storage is a

method of transferring spent fuel, after

storage in the pool for several years, to

high capacity casks with passive heat

dissipation features. After loading, the

casks are stored outdoors on a

seismically qualified concrete pad.

Concerns for dry cask storage include

the need for special security provisions

and high cost. Vault storage consists of

storing spent fuel in shielded stainless

steel cylinders in a horizontal

configuration in a reinforced concrete

vault. The concrete vault provides

missile and earthquake protection and

radiation shielding. Concerns for vault

dry storage include security, land

consumption, eventual

decommissioning of the new vault, the

potential for fuel or clad rupture due to

high temperatures, and high cost. The

alternative of constructing and licensing

new spent fuel pools is not practical for

Kewaunee because such an effort would

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 236 / Thursday, December 7, 2000 / Notices 76675

require about 10 years to complete and

would be an expensive alternative.

The alternative technologies that

could create additional storage capacity

involve additional fuel handling with an

attendant opportunity for a fuel

handling accident, involve higher

cumulative dose to workers affecting the

fuel transfers, require additional

security measures that are significantly

more expensive, and would not result in

a significant improvement in

environmental impacts compared to the

proposed reracking modifications.

Reduction of Spent Fuel Generation

Generally, improved usage of the fuel

and/or operation at a reduced power

level would be an alternative that would

decrease the amount of fuel being stored

in the SFPs and thus, increase the

amount of time before the maximum

storage capacities of the SFPs are

reached. With extended burnup of fuel

assemblies, the fuel cycle would be

extended and fewer off-loads would be

necessary. This is not an alternative for

resolving the loss of full core off-load

capability that will occur as a result of

the Kewaunee refueling outage

scheduled for the Fall 2001, because the

spent fuel to be transferred to the pool

for storage has almost completed its

operating history in the core. In

addition, operating the plant at a

reduced power level would not make

effective use of available resources and

would cause unnecessary economic

hardship on the licensee and its

customers. Therefore, reducing the

amount of spent fuel generated by

increasing burnup further or reducing

power is not considered a practical

alternative.

The No-Action Alternative

Also, the NRC staff considered denial

of the proposed action (i.e., the ‘‘noaction’’ alternative). Denial of the

application would result in no

significant change in current

environmental impacts. The

environmental impacts of the proposed

action and the alternative actions 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 Kewaunee.

Agencies and Persons Contacted

In accordance with its stated policy,

on October 12, 2000, the NRC staff

consulted with the Wisconsin State

official, S. Jenkins of the Wisconsin

Public Service Commission, 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.

For further details with respect to the

proposed action, see the licensee’s letter

dated November 18, 1999, as

supplemented by letter dated August 7,

2000, which are available for public

inspection at the NRC’s Public

Document Room, 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 Electronic

Reading Room).

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day

of November, 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Claudia M. Craig,

Section Chief, Section 1, Project Directorate

III, Division of Licensing Project Management,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 00–31157 Filed 12–6–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL

MANAGEMENT

Excepted Service

AGENCY: Office of Personnel

Management.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This gives notice of positions

placed or revoked under Schedules

placed under Schedule C in the

excepted service, as required by Civil

Service Rule VI, Exceptions from the

Competitive Service.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam

Shivery, Director, Washington Service

Center, Employment Service (202) 606–

1015.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office

of Personnel Management published its

last monthly notice updating appointing

authorities established or revoked under

the Excepted Service provisions of 5

CFR 213 October 25, 2000 (65 FR

63903). Individual authorities

established or revoked under Schedule

C between October 1, 2000, and October

31, 2000, appear in the listing below.

Future notices will be published on the

fourth Tuesday of each month, or as

soon as possible thereafter. A

consolidated listing of all authorities as

of June 30 is published each year.

Schedule C

The following Schedule C authorities

were established during October 2000:

Department of Agriculture

Confidential Assistant to the Director,

Office of Communications. Effective

October 23, 2000.

Special Assistant to the

Administrator, Foreign Agriculture

Service. Effective October 23, 2000.

Department of Commerce

Director of Advance to the Deputy

Chief of Staff for External Affairs.

Effective October 4, 2000.

Confidential Assistant to the Deputy

Chief of Staff for External Affairs.

Effective October 4, 2000.

Policy Advisor for International and

Economic Affairs to the Assistant to the

Secretary and Director, Office of Policy

and Strategic Planning. Effective

October 11, 2000.

Department of Defense

Defense Fellow to the Special

Assistant for White House Liaison.

Effective October 13, 2000.

Department of Education

Confidential Assistant to the Deputy

Assistant Secretary for

Intergovernmental Affairs, Constituent

Relations and Corporate Liaison.

Effective October 4, 2000.

Confidential Assistant to the Deputy

Assistant Secretary, Regional Services,

Office of Intergovernmental and

Interagency Affairs. Effective October 4,

2000.

Special Assistant to the Counselor to

the Secretary. Effective October 23,

2000.

Department of Energy

Special Assistant to the Chief

Financial Officer. Effective October 11,

2000.

Special Assistant to the Director,

Office of Scheduling and Advance.

Effective October 26, 2000.

Special Assistant to the Director,

Secretary of Energy Advisory Board.

Effective October 27, 2000.

Department of Health and Human

Services

Confidential Assistant to the

Executive Secretary to the Department

of Health and Human Services. Effective

October 27, 2000.