[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89056-89058]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26107]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-26; NRC-2024-0185]


Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Diablo Canyon Independent Spent 
Fuel Storage Installation; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
the renewal of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) License No. SNM-2511 for 
the Diablo Canyon (DC) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation 
(ISFSI) located in San Luis Obispo County, California. If approved, 
under the renewed license SNM-2511, Pacific Gas and Electric Company 
(PG&E) will be able to continue to operate the DC ISFSI for an 
additional 40 years. The NRC staff has prepared an environmental 
assessment (EA) for this proposed license renewal in accordance with 
its regulations. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a finding 
of no significant impact (FONSI) is appropriate. Therefore, in 
accordance with NRC regulations, preparation of an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) is not warranted for the proposed action. The NRC staff 
also is conducting a safety evaluation of the proposed license renewal.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
November 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0185 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:
    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0185. Address 
questions about Docket IDs to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; 
email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c89bbca9abb1e69baba0bda5a9a6a688a6baabe6afa7be"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c89bbca9abb1e69baba0bda5a9a6a688a6baabe6afa7be">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical questions, contact the 
individual listed in the For Further Information Contact section of 
this document.
    <bullet> NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#df8f9b8df18dbaacb0aaadbcba9fb1adbcf1b8b0a9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a0f0e4f28ef2c5d3cfd5d2c3c5e0ced2c38ec7cfd6">[email protected]</span></a>. The ADAMS accession number for 
each document referenced in this document (if it is available in ADAMS) 
is provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
    <bullet> NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an 
appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b6e6f2e498e4d3c5d9c3c4d5d3f6d8c4d598d1d9c0"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e5b5a1b7cbb780968a90978680a58b9786cb828a93">[email protected]</span></a> or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Isaac Johnston, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5649, email: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f4bd87959597dabe9b9c9a87809b9ab49a8697da939b82"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fcb58f9d9d9fd2b69394928f889392bc928e9fd29b938a">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering a request from PG&E to renew license SNM-
2511 for the DC specifically-licensed ISFSI located in San Luis Obispo 
County, California. PG&E is requesting to renew license SNM-2511 for 
the DC ISFSI for an additional 40-year period. The current license 
expiration date was March 22, 2024, and PG&E submitted the license 
renewal application in accordance with paragraphs 72.42(b) and (c) of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Accordingly, the 
license is in timely renewal. If approved, PG&E would be able to 
continue to possess and store spent nuclear fuel at the DC 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'' for an additional 40 years.
    The NRC staff has prepared an EA as part of its review of this 
license renewal request in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 
part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing 
and Related Regulatory Functions.'' Based on the EA, the NRC staff has 
determined that an EIS is not required for this proposed action and a 
FONSI is appropriate. The NRC staff is also conducting a safety 
evaluation of the proposed license renewal request pursuant to 10 CFR 
part 72 and the results will be documented in a separate Safety 
Evaluation Report (SER).

II. Summary of Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is the review and approval, if appropriate, of 
PG&E's request to renew the SNM-2511 license for the DC specifically-
licensed ISFSI for a 40-year period. The ISFSI consists of storage 
pads, a cask transfer facility, an onsite cask transporter, and the 
Holtec International HI-STORM<SUP>TM</SUP> 100 dry cask storage system. 
License SNM-2511 allows PG&E to use four different multipurpose 
canisters (MPC), which are part of HI-STORM<SUP>TM</SUP> 100 System, to 
store the spent nuclear fuel from the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP). 
Currently, only the MPC-32 is in use at the DC ISFSI.

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

    The purpose and need for the proposed action is to provide an 
option for continued temporary dry storage of spent nuclear fuel 
generated by operations of two nuclear power generating units (Units 1 
and 2) at the DCPP. This dry storage option would be needed until an 
interim or a permanent facility (or facilities) is available for 
offsite disposition of the spent nuclear fuel.
    The DC ISFSI was constructed to store spent nuclear fuel associated 
with DCPP Units 1 and 2 through the current operating licenses, which 
expire in November 2024 and August 2025, respectively. License SNM-2511 
currently allows PG&E to store up to 4,400 spent nuclear fuel 
assemblies in up to 140 HI-STORM<SUP>TM</SUP> 100SA overpacks at the DC 
ISFSI. This is sufficient space for all spent nuclear fuel that would 
be generated by Units 1 and 2 through their current license terms. 
However, this approved amount of storage does not include any fuel that 
would be generated by Units 1 and 2 beyond their current license terms. 
The DCPP is currently in timely renewal and would operate past the 
current license term dates while the NRC considers PG&E's DCPP license 
renewal request. Regardless of the NRC's ultimate decision on the DCPP 
license renewal request, the storage capacity of the DC ISFSI would not 
change unless PG&E

[[Page 89057]]

applied for a license amendment to increase the capacity of the DC 
ISFSI, and the NRC approved the request.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action and Agencies and Persons 
Consulted

    The NRC staff has assessed the potential environmental impacts of 
the proposed action. The results of the NRC's environmental review can 
be found in the EA. 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; communications and consultation with the 
California State Historic Preservation Office (CA SHPO); the Santa Ynez 
Chumash Indians; Tule River Tribe; Yak Tit\y\u Tit\y\u Yak 
Ti[lstrok]hini Northern Chumash Indians; the Northern Chumash Tribal 
Council; the Coastal Band of Chumash Indians; the San Luis Obispo 
County Chumash Indians; the Salian Tribe of Montgomery, San Luis 
Obispo; and the Sacramento Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service (FWS).
    Approval of PG&E's proposed license renewal request would allow 
PG&E to continue to utilize the HI-STORM<SUP>TM</SUP> 100SA overpack to 
store spent fuel from the PG&E DCPP in the DC ISFSI for an additional 
40 years.
    In its license renewal request, PG&E is proposing no changes in how 
it handles or stores spent fuel at the DC ISFSI. Approval of the 
proposed action would not result in any new construction or expansion 
of the existing DC ISFSI footprint beyond that previously approved. The 
DC ISFSI is a largely passive facility that produces no liquid or 
gaseous effluents. No significant radiological or non-radiological 
impacts are expected from continued normal operations. Occupational 
dose estimates associated with the proposed action and continued 
operation and maintenance of the DC ISFSI are expected to be at as low 
as is reasonably achievable (ALARA) levels and within the limits of 10 
CFR 20.1201 and 10 CFR 72.104(a).
    Specifically, PG&E's estimated annual dose to the nearest potential 
member of the public from DC ISFSI activities is 179 micro-Sieverts per 
year ([micro]Sv/yr) (17.9 millirems per year [mrem/yr]), which is below 
the 0.25 mSv/yr (25 mrem/yr) limit specified in 10 CFR 72.104(a) and 
the 1 mSv/yr (100 mrem/yr) limit in 10 CFR 20.1301(a)(1). Furthermore, 
PG&E maintains a radiation protection program for the DC ISFSI in 
accordance with 10 CFR part 20, ``Standards for Protection against 
Radiation,'' to ensure that radiation doses are ALARA. 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 
DC site. Additionally, there would be no disproportionately high and 
adverse impacts on minority and low-income populations.
    Furthermore, the NRC staff determined that this license renewal 
request would have no effect on historic properties present consistent 
with 36 CFR 800.4(d)(1). As discussed in Section 3.8.1 of the EA, there 
are no known historic or cultural properties within the DC ISFSI direct 
area of potential effects (APE). There are several historic properties 
within the indirect APE. PG&E has no plans for construction activities 
within the DC ISFSI that would result in land disturbances that have 
not been evaluated. The DC ISFSI does not generate any liquid or 
gaseous effluents and the cask is a passive system designed to limit 
exposure to radiation. Transportation of the casks from the DCPP to the 
DC ISFSI would not affect any historic and cultural resources.
    The NRC staff reached out to and informed the CA SHPO via letter 
dated November 15, 2023, the Santa Ynez Chumash Indians, Tule River 
Tribe, Yak Tit\y\u Tit\y\u Yak Ti[lstrok]hini Northern Chumash Indians, 
the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, the Coastal Band of Chumash 
Indians, the San Luis Obispo County Chumash Indians, and the Salian 
Tribe of Montgomery, San Luis Obispo Native American Tribes via letters 
dated November 27 and 28, 2023, of the license renewal request (the 
undertaking) and sought input from them. Subsequently, on June 14, 
2024, the NRC staff informed the CA SHPO of the results of 
identification and evaluation for consultation pursuant to section 106 
of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), consistent with 36 
CFR 800.4(d)(1)(i). Additionally, the NRC staff provided copies of this 
determination letter to all consulting parties. To date, the NRC has 
received no response from the CA SHPO or any consulting parties. 
Further, on September 13, 2024, the NRC staff published the evaluation 
and results of effects to historic properties in the NRC website for 
public review and comment. The public comment period closed on October 
15, 2024. The NRC staff received no comments from the public.
    The NRC staff determined the proposed action ``may affect but is 
not likely to adversely affect'' the California red-legged frog and 
California condor. The NRC staff evaluated the potential for the 
license renewal to result in the injury or mortality of California red-
legged frogs from vehicle collision and determined that PG&E's 
adherence to conservation measures, including limiting vehicle speeds 
and stopping work when a frog is observed, would reduce the likelihood 
of injury or mortality of California red-legged frogs during the 
proposed license renewal term such that, based on the NRC staff's best 
judgement, injury or mortality is extremely unlikely to occur. 
Accordingly, this represents a discountable effect. The NRC staff 
evaluated the potential for the California condor to be affected by 
consuming unfit material left out during DC ISFSI operations, vehicle 
collisions, and noise. The NRC staff determined these impacts to also 
be extremely unlikely to occur and discountable. The proposed action 
would have ``no effect'' on all other Federally listed species. No 
critical habitat occurs in the action area. The NRC staff is consulting 
with the FWS in accordance with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act 
to address the DC ISFSI and DCPP license renewal applications 
concurrently. That consultation is ongoing and may result in additional 
requirements to ensure the protection of the California red legged 
frog, California condor, or other species the FWS determines may be 
affected by the continued operation of the DC ISFSI.
    Additionally, on September 5, 2024, the NRC staff provided a copy 
of the draft EA to the California Department of Public Health for its 
review and comment. In a letter dated October 8, 2024, the State 
responded that they had no comments on the draft EA.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff also assessed the potential environmental impacts of 
alternatives to the proposed action, including renewal of the license 
for a 20-year term, shipment of spent fuel to an offsite facility, and 
the no-action alternative.
    The environmental impacts of a 20-year license renewal term would 
not be significantly different than environmental impacts for the 
proposed action because site operations and maintenance activities 
would be the same.
    Shipment of the spent nuclear fuel to a commercial reprocessing 
facility, Federal repository, or interim storage facility is not a 
reasonable alternative, because these facilities currently do not exist 
in the United States.
    The no-action alternative would consist of the NRC's denial of 
PG&E's

[[Page 89058]]

request to renew DC ISFSI license SNM-2511. The license, however, would 
continue to be in effect with respect to possession of licensed 
material per 10 CFR 72.54(c) until the NRC notifies the licensee in 
writing that the license is terminated. PG&E would continue to maintain 
the stored spent nuclear fuel at the ISFSI in a safe and secure 
condition. Although the license would continue in effect, PG&E would 
not be able to place additional casks on the ISFSI storage pad. If PG&E 
does not pursue other alternatives, reactor operations could cease once 
the spent nuclear fuel pool reaches its licensed capacity.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    In accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR part 51, the NRC 
staff has concluded that the proposed action will not significantly 
affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the NRC staff 
has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that preparation of an EIS is 
not required for the proposed action and, and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, 
a FONSI is appropriate. Consistent with 10 CFR 51.32(a)(4), this FONSI 
incorporates the EA set forth in this notice by reference.

IV. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through ADAMS, as indicated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Document description                  ADAMS accession No.
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PG&E's License Renewal Application (LRA) for    ML22068A189.
 the Diablo Canyon (DC) Independent Spent Fuel
 Storage Installation (ISFSI), dated March 9,
 2022.
NRC's Request for Additional Information        ML23159A236 (Package).
 (RAI), Round 1, dated July 31, 2023.
PG&E's Response to NRC's RAI, Round 1, dated    ML23264A859.
 September 21, 2023.
NRC Letter to CA SHPO Notification and Request  ML23296A098.
 for Section 106 Consultation, dated November
 15, 2023.
NRC Tribal Letters for DC ISFSI LRA...........  ML24163A296 (Package).
NRC's RAI, Round 2, dated March 20, 2024......  ML24065A123 (Package).
PG&E's Response to RAI, Round 2, dated April    ML24121A179.
 30, 2024.
NRC Letter to CA SHPO with results of           ML24129A176.
 identification and evaluation for NHPA
 Section 106, dated June 14, 2024.
NRC email to California Department of Public    ML24291A132.
 Health (CDPH) ``Diablo Canyon Independent
 Spent Fuel Storage Installation License
 Renewal Environmental Assessment,'' dated
 September 5, 2024.
California CDPH Response Email, ``Email--       ML24285A190.
 Diablo Canyon Independent Spent Fuel Storage
 Installation License Renewal Environmental
 Assessment,'' dated October 8, 2024.
Diablo Canyon ISFSI License Renewal             ML24296A038.
 Environmental Assessment.
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    Dated: November 5, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert Sun,
Chief, Environmental Project Management Branch 2, Division of 
Rulemaking, Environment, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-26107 Filed 11-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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