[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 74 (Friday, April 17, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21271-21274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08929]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-206, 50-361, 50-362, and 72-41; NRC-2015-0093]


Southern California Edison Company San Onofre Nuclear Generating 
Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, and Independent Spent Fuel Storage 
Installation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact; 
issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of exemptions in response to a request from Southern 
California Edison Company (SCE or the licensee) that would permit the 
licensee to reduce its emergency planning (EP) activities at the San 
Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), Units 1, 2, and 3, and the 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). The licensee is 
seeking exemptions that would eliminate the requirements to maintain 
offsite radiological emergency plans and reduce some of the onsite EP 
activities based on the reduced risks at the permanently shutdown and 
defueled reactors. Offsite emergency planning provisions would still 
exist using a comprehensive emergency management

[[Page 21272]]

plan (CEMP) process. The NRC staff is issuing a final Environmental 
Assessment (EA) and final Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) 
associated with the proposed exemptions.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
April 17, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0093 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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0093. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#490a283b2625670e282525282e212c3b09273b2a672e263f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="17547665787b3950767b7b76707f72655779657439707861">[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 http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#334357411d4156405c46415056735d41501d545c45"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a0d0c4d28ed2c5d3cfd5d2c3c5e0ced2c38ec7cfd6">[email protected]</span></a>. For 
the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided 
in a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this 
document.
    <bullet> 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: Thomas J. Wengert, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-4037; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a4f0cccbc9c5d78af3c1cac3c1d6d0e4cad6c78ac3cbd2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="25714d4a4844560b72404b42405751654b57460b424a53">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering issuance of an exemption concerning Facility 
Operating License Nos. DPR-13, NPF-10, and NFP-15, issued to SCE for 
the operation of SONGS, Units 1, 2, and 3, respectively, located in San 
Diego County, California. Therefore, as required by sections 51.20(b) 
and 51.22(c) of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
the NRC performed an EA. Based on the results of the EA that follows, 
the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement 
for the exemptions, and is issuing a finding of no significant impact.
    SONGS, Units 1, 2, and 3, are permanently shutdown and defueled 
power reactors in the process of decommissioning. SONGS is located in 
San Diego County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, 
approximately 51 miles north of San Diego, California. SCE is the 
holder of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-13, NPF-10, and NFP-15 
for SONGS, Units 1, 2, and 3, respectively. SONGS, Unit 1 was 
permanently shut down in 1993. On June 12, 2013, the licensee provided 
the certifications that SONGS, Units 2 and 3, had permanently ceased 
power operations. On June 28 and July 22, 2013, the licensee provided 
certifications that all fuel had been permanently removed from the 
SONGS, Units 3 and 2, reactors, respectively. As a permanently shutdown 
and defueled facility, and pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), SONGS is no 
longer authorized to operate the reactors or emplace fuel into the 
reactor vessels, but is still authorized to possess and store 
irradiated nuclear fuel. Irradiated fuel is currently stored onsite at 
SONGS in spent fuel pools (SFPs) and in the ISFSI dry casks. The 
licensee has requested exemptions from certain EP requirements in 10 
CFR part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities,'' for SONGS, Units 1, 2, and 3, and the ISFSI. The NRC's 
regulations concerning EP do not recognize the reduced risks after a 
reactor is permanently shut down and defueled. A permanently shutdown 
reactor must continue to maintain the same EP requirements as an 
operating reactor. To establish a level of EP commensurate with the 
reduced risks, SCE requires exemptions from certain EP regulatory 
requirements before it can change its emergency plans.
    The NRC is considering issuance of exemptions to SCE from portions 
of 10 CFR 50.47, ``Emergency plans,'' and 10 CFR part 50, appendix E, 
``Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Production and Utilization 
Facilities,'' which would permit SCE to modify its emergency plan to 
eliminate the requirements to maintain offsite radiological emergency 
plans and reduce some of the onsite EP activities based on the reduced 
risks at SONGS, due to its permanently shutdown and defueled status. 
Consistent with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC staff has reviewed the 
requirements in 10 CFR 51.20(b) and 10 CFR 51.22(c) and determined that 
an EA is the appropriate form of environmental review for the requested 
action. Based on the results of the EA, which is provided in Section II 
of this document, the NRC is issuing a final finding of no significant 
impact.

II. Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would exempt SCE from meeting certain 
requirements set forth in 10 CFR 50.47 and appendix E to 10 CFR part 
50. More specifically, SCE requested exemptions from (1) certain 
requirements in 10 CFR 50.47(b) regarding onsite and offsite emergency 
response plans for nuclear power reactors, (2) certain requirements in 
10 CFR 50.47(c)(2) to establish plume exposure and ingestion pathway EP 
zones for nuclear power reactors, and (3) certain requirements in 10 
CFR part 50, appendix E, section IV, which establishes the elements 
that make up the content of emergency plans. The proposed action, 
granting these exemptions, would result in the elimination of the 
requirements for the licensee to maintain offsite radiological 
emergency plans and reduce some of the onsite EP activities at SONGS, 
based on the reduced risks at the permanently shutdown and defueled 
reactors. However, requirements for certain onsite capabilities to 
communicate and coordinate with offsite response authorities will be 
retained. If necessary, offsite protective actions could still be 
implemented using a CEMP process. A CEMP in this context, also referred 
to as an emergency operations plan (EOP), is addressed in the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 
(CPG) 101, ``Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans.'' 
CPG 101 is the foundation for State, territorial, Tribal, and local EP 
in the United States. It promotes a common understanding of the 
fundamentals of risk-informed planning and decisionmaking, and helps 
planners at all levels of government in their efforts to develop and 
maintain viable, all-hazards, all-threats emergency plans. An EOP is 
flexible enough for use in all emergencies. It describes how people and 
property will be protected; provides details regarding who is 
responsible for carrying out specific actions; identifies the 
personnel, equipment, facilities, supplies and other resources 
available; and outlines how all actions will be coordinated. A CEMP is 
often referred to as a synonym for ``all-hazards planning.''
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated

[[Page 21273]]

March 31, 2014, as supplemented by letters dated September 9, October 
2, October 7, October 27, November 3, and December 15, 2014. An 
additional supplemental letter dated October 6, 2014, contains 
security-related information and is therefore, withheld from public 
disclosure.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is needed for SCE to revise the SONGS emergency 
plan to reflect the permanently shutdown and defueled status of the 
facility. The EP requirements currently applicable to SONGS are for 
operating power reactors. There are no explicit regulatory provisions 
distinguishing EP requirements for a power reactor that has been shut 
down from those for an operating power reactor. Therefore, since the 10 
CFR part 50 licenses for SONGS no longer authorize operation of the 
reactors or emplacement or retention of fuel into the reactor vessels, 
as specified in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), the occurrence of postulated 
accidents associated with reactor operation is no longer credible. In 
its exemption request, the licensee identified the remaining possible 
accidents at SONGS in its permanently shutdown and defueled condition. 
The NRC staff evaluated these possible radiological accidents in the 
Commission Paper (SECY)-14-0144, dated December 17, 2014. In SECY-14-
0144, the staff verified that SCE's analyses and calculations provide 
reasonable assurance that if the requested exemptions were granted, 
then (1) for a design-basis accident (DBA), an offsite radiological 
release will not exceed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 
Protective Action Guides (PAGs) at the exclusion area boundary, as 
detailed in the EPA ``PAG Manual, Protective Action Guides and Planning 
Guidance for Radiological Incidents,'' dated March 2013, which was 
issued as Draft for Interim Use and Public Comment; and (2) in the 
unlikely event of a beyond DBA resulting in a loss of all SFP cooling, 
there is sufficient time to initiate appropriate mitigating actions, 
and in the unlikely event that a release is projected to occur, there 
is sufficient time for offsite agencies to take protective actions 
using a CEMP to protect the health and safety of the public. The 
Commission approved the NRC staff's recommendation to grant the 
exemptions in the Staff Requirements Memorandum to SECY-14-0144, dated 
March 2, 2015.
    Based on these analyses, the licensee states that application of 
all of the standards and requirements of 10 CFR 50.47(b), 10 CFR 
50.47(c), and 10 CFR part 50 appendix E, section IV, are not necessary 
to achieve the underlying purpose of those rules. SCE also states that 
it would incur undue costs in the maintenance of an emergency response 
organization in excess of that actually needed to respond to the 
diminished scope of credible accidents associated with a shutdown 
plant.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff concluded that the exemptions, if granted, will not 
significantly increase the probability or consequences of accidents at 
SONGS in its permanently shutdown and defueled condition. There will be 
no significant change in the types of effluents that may be released 
offsite. There will be no significant increase in the amounts of any 
effluents that may be released offsite. There will be no significant 
increase in the individual or cumulative occupational or public 
radiation exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
    With regard to potential non-radiological impacts, the proposed 
action does not have any foreseeable impacts to land, air, or water 
resources, including impacts to biota. In addition, there are also no 
known socioeconomic or environmental justice impacts associated with 
the proposed action. Therefore, there are no significant non-
radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
    Accordingly, the NRC staff 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 NRC 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 proposed action does not involve the use of any different 
resources than those previously considered in the Final Environmental 
Statement for SONGS, Units 2 and 3, dated April 1981, and the ``Final 
Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Decommissioning of Nuclear 
Facilities,'' NUREG-0586, Supplement 1, dated November 2002.

Agencies or Persons Consulted

    The NRC staff did not enter into consultation with any other 
Federal agency or with the State of California regarding the 
environmental impact of the proposed action. On April 8, 2015, the 
California State representatives were notified of this EA and FONSI.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The licensee has proposed exemptions from (1) certain requirements 
in 10 CFR 50.47(b) regarding onsite and offsite emergency response 
plans for nuclear power reactors; (2) certain requirements in 10 CFR 
50.47(c)(2) to establish plume exposure and ingestion pathway EP zones 
for nuclear power reactors; and (3) certain requirements in 10 CFR part 
50, appendix E, section IV, which establishes the elements that make up 
the content of emergency plans. The proposed action of granting these 
exemptions would result in the elimination of the requirements for the 
licensee to maintain offsite radiological emergency plans and reduce 
some of the onsite EP activities at SONGS, based on the reduced risks 
at the permanently shutdown and defueled reactor. However, requirements 
for certain onsite capabilities to communicate and coordinate with 
offsite response authorities will be retained.
    The NRC staff decided not to prepare an environmental impact 
statement for the proposed action. On the basis of the EA included in 
Section II of this document, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed 
action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human 
environment. Accordingly, the NRC staff has determined that a finding 
of no significant impact is appropriate.

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.

[[Page 21274]]



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                                                   ADAMS Accession No./
                    Document                         Web link/ Federal
                                                     Register citation
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Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations   http://www.fema.gov.
 Plans, Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101,
 Version 2.0, November 2010.
Docket Nos. 50-206, 50-361, 50-362, and 72-041,   ADAMS Accession No.
 Emergency Planning Exemption Request, San         ML14092A332.
 Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2,
 3 and Independent Spent Fuel Storage
 Installation, dated March 31, 2014.
Docket Nos. 50-206, 50-361, 50-362, and 72-041,   ML14258A003.
 Response to Request for Additional Information
 Regarding Emergency Planning Exemption Request,
 San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1,
 2, 3 and ISFSI dated, September 9, 2014.
Docket Nos. 50-206, 50-361, 50-362, and 72-041,   ML14280A265.
 Response to Request for Additional Information
 Regarding Emergency Planning Exemption Request,
 San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1,
 2, 3 and ISFSI dated October 2, 2014.
Docket Nos. 50-206, 50-361, 50-362, and 72-041,   ML14287A228.
 Response to Request for Additional Information
 Regarding Emergency Planning Exemption Request,
 San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1,
 2, 3 and ISFSI dated October 7, 2014.
Docket Nos. 50-206, 50-361, 50-362, and 72-041,   ML14303A257.
 Response to Requests for Clarification of
 October 6, 2014 RAI Responses concerning
 Emergency Planning Exemption Request, San
 Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2,
 3, and ISFSI, dated October 27, 2014.
Docket Nos. 50-206, 50-361, 50-362, and 72-041,   ML14309A195.
 Response to Request for Additional Information
 Regarding Emergency Planning Exemption Request,
 San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1,
 2, 3 and ISFSI, dated November 3, 2014.
Docket Nos. 50-206, 50-361, 50-362, and 72-041,   ML14351A078.
 Redacted Version of Response to Request for
 Additional Information Proposed Exemptions from
 Certain Portions of 10 CFR 50.47 and Appendix
 E, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units
 1, 2, 3 and ISFSI, dated December 15, 2014.
Protective Action Guides and Planning Guidance    http://www.epa.gov.
 for Radiological Incidents, U.S. Environmental
 Protection Agency Draft for Interim Use and
 Public Comment, March 2013.
SECY 14-0144, ``Request by Southern California    ML14251A554.
 Edison for Exemptions from Certain Emergency
 Planning Requirements,'' dated December 17,
 2014.
Staff Requirements Memorandum to SECY-14-0144,    ML15061A521.
 dated March 2, 2015.
Final Environmental Statement Related to the      ADAMS Legacy Library
 Operation of San Onofre Nuclear Generating        Accession No.
 Station, Units 2 and 3, Docket Nos. 50-361 and    8105180391.
 50-362, dated April 30, 1981.
NUREG-0586, Supplement 1, ``Final Generic         ADAMS Accession No.
 Environmental Impact Statement on                 ML023470327.
 Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities, issued
 November 2002.
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    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of April 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Meena K. Khanna,
Chief, Plant Licensing IV-2 and Decommissioning Transition Branch, 
Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-08929 Filed 4-16-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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