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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 7, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1201-1202]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31786]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-277 and 50-278; NRC-2024-0214; CEQ ID SEIS-429-00-000-
1734688863]

Constellation Energy Generation, LLC; Peach Bottom Atomic Power 
Station, Units 2 and 3; Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplement to the 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) 
staff will prepare a supplement to NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental 
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' Supplement 
10, Second Renewal, ``Regarding Subsequent License Renewal for Peach 
Bottom Atomic Power Station Units 2 and 3,'' dated January 2020 (the 
final supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS)) in order to 
complete its evaluation of the environmental impacts of the subsequent 
license renewal (SLR) of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-44 
and DPR-56 for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station (Peach Bottom), Units 
2 and 3, respectively. The supplement will address new information 
since the issuance of the final SEIS. A draft of the supplement will be 
issued for public comment.

DATES: January 7, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0214 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may 
obtain publicly available information related to this action by any of 
the following methods:

     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0214. Go to 
https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0214. 
Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy 
Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. 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 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 [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for 
each document referenced in this document (if it is available in ADAMS) 
is provided the first time that it is referenced.
     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 
[email protected] 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: Kevin Folk, telephone: 301-415-6944; 
email: [email protected] or Karen Loomis, telephone: 301-415-5142; 
email: [email protected]. Both are staff in the Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    By letter dated July 10, 2018 (ADAMS Package Accession No. 
ML18193A689), Exelon Generation Company, LLC (now operating as 
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (CEG)) submitted to the NRC an 
application, filed pursuant to section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended, and part 54 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses 
for Nuclear Power Plants,'' for subsequent renewed facility operating 
licenses with expiration dates of August 8, 2053, for Peach Bottom, 
Unit 2 and July 2, 2054, for Peach Bottom, Unit 3, which are 20 years 
beyond when the current renewed facility operating licenses expire. The 
SLR application included an environmental report (ADAMS Package 
Accession No. ML18271A185). Peach Bottom is located primarily in Peach 
Bottom Township, York County, Pennsylvania, near Delta, Pennsylvania.
    A notice of receipt of the Peach Bottom SLR application was 
published in the Federal Register on August 1, 2018 (83 FR 37529). A 
notice of acceptance for docketing of the application and opportunity 
to request a hearing was published in the Federal Register on September 
6, 2018 (83 FR 45285). A notice of intent to conduct a scoping process 
and prepare a SEIS was published in the Federal Register on September 
10, 2018 (83 FR 45692). A notice of issuance of the draft SEIS and 
request for comment was published in the Federal Register on August 7, 
2019 (84 FR 38676). A notice of issuance of the final SEIS was 
published in the Federal Register on January 31, 2020 (85 FR 5725). A 
notice of issuance of the subsequent renewed facility operating 
licenses was published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2020 (85 FR 
14247). The issuance of the licenses was also supported by an NRC 
Record of Decision (ROD) (ADAMS Accession No. ML20024G429).
    The final SEIS (ADAMS Accession No. ML20023A937) and the ROD 
document the NRC staff's environmental review, including its 
recommendation that the adverse environmental impacts of SLR for Peach 
Bottom are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal 
for energy-planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable. As discussed 
in the final SEIS and the ROD, the NRC staff considered the reasonably 
foreseeable environmental impacts of SLR for Peach Bottom, as well as a 
range of reasonable alternatives to SLR. As part of its environmental 
review, the NRC staff relied upon NUREG-1437, Revision 1, ``Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' 
dated June 2013 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML13107A023) (the 2013 LR 
GEIS), to meet its obligations under the NRC's environmental protection 
regulations in 10 CFR part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations 
for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,'' and the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended. Specifically, 
for issues classified as Category 1 (generic to all or a distinct 
subset of nuclear power plants) in the 2013 LR GEIS, the NRC staff did 
not identify new and significant information and, therefore, relied 
upon the conclusions of the 2013

[[Page 1202]]

LR GEIS for all those issues applicable to Peach Bottom. For issues 
classified as Category 2 (specific to individual nuclear power plants) 
in the 2013 LR GEIS, the NRC staff evaluated those issues applicable to 
Peach Bottom in the final SEIS.
    On February 24, 2022, the Commission issued three memoranda and 
orders, Commission Legal Issuance (CLI)-22-02 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML22055A496), CLI-22-03 (ADAMS Accession No. ML22055A527), and CLI-22-
04 (ADAMS Accession No. ML22055A557), that addressed the NRC staff's 
environmental reviews in SLR proceedings for five nuclear power plants, 
including Peach Bottom. The Commission concluded that the 2013 LR GEIS, 
on which the NRC staff had relied, in part, for its environmental 
reviews of the SLR applications for the affected nuclear power plants, 
did not consider SLR. Therefore, the Commission determined that these 
environmental reviews were inadequate. Accordingly, the Commission 
directed the NRC staff to leave the Peach Bottom subsequent renewed 
facility operating licenses in place but to modify their expiration 
dates to reflect the end dates of the previous renewed facility 
operating licenses (i.e., August 8, 2033, for Peach Bottom, Unit 2 and 
July 2, 2034, for Peach Bottom, Unit 3), which the staff did on March 
25, 2022 (ADAMS Accession No. ML22073A207). The Commission affirmed 
this direction in CLI-22-07 (ADAMS Accession No. ML22154A217).
    In CLI-22-03, the Commission directed the NRC staff to update the 
2013 LR GEIS so that it covers nuclear power plant operation during the 
SLR period. The Commission stated that it believed the most efficient 
way to proceed would be for the NRC staff to update the 2013 LR GEIS 
and then take appropriate action with respect to pending SLR 
applications to ensure that the environmental impacts for the period of 
SLR are considered. Consistent with this Commission direction, on 
August 6, 2024, the NRC published the final rule ``Renewing Nuclear 
Power Plant Operating Licenses--Environmental Review'' (89 FR 64166). 
The final rule amended the NRC environmental protection regulations in 
10 CFR part 51 to update the potential environmental impacts associated 
with the renewal of an operating license for a nuclear power plant for 
up to an additional 20 years, for either an initial license renewal or 
an SLR term. As part of this update, the NRC also issued Revision 2 to 
NUREG-1437 (the 2024 LR GEIS) (ADAMS Package Accession No. 
ML24087A133), which provides the technical basis for the final rule. 
Specifically, the 2024 LR GEIS supports the updated list of 
environmental issues and associated environmental impact findings 
contained in Table B-1 in Appendix B to Subpart A of the revised 10 CFR 
part 51 for both initial license renewal and SLR. The final rule became 
effective on September 5, 2024.

II. Discussion

    Pursuant to the Commission's direction in CLI-22-04 to complete the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, analysis for 
Peach Bottom SLR, the NRC staff will prepare a supplement to the final 
SEIS in accordance with 10 CFR 51.92. For the purposes of this 
supplement, the staff will assess whether new information since the 
final SEIS, including the 2024 final rule and the 2024 LR GEIS, 
warrants any modification to the NRC staff's previous recommendation 
that the adverse environmental impacts of SLR for Peach Bottom are not 
so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy-
planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable. In support of the 
development of the supplement, CEG submitted additional environmental 
information to the NRC by letter dated November 14, 2024 (ADAMS Package 
Accession No. ML24319A074). Together, the supplement and the previously 
issued final SEIS will evaluate all of the environmental impacts of 
continued operation during the SLR term for Peach Bottom, Unit 2 from 
August 8, 2033, to August 8, 2053, and for Peach Bottom, Unit 3 from 
July 2, 2034, to July 2, 2054. The draft supplement will be issued for 
public comment.

    Dated: December 31, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen Koenick,
Chief, Environmental Project Management Branch 1, Division of 
Rulemaking, Environment, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-31786 Filed 1-6-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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