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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 20 (Friday, January 31, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8721-8724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01997]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-255; NRC-2024-0076]

Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC and Holtec Palisades, 
LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft 
Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft environmental assessment (EA) and draft finding 
of no significant impact (FONSI) evaluating the environmental impacts 
from proposed Federal actions related to reauthorizing power operations 
at the Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades). Specifically, the NRC is 
considering an exemption request, a license transfer request, and 
license amendment requests (LARs) to support reauthorizing power 
operation under the NRC license. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), 
Loan Programs Office (LPO), is a cooperating agency on the draft EA. 
DOE LPO's proposed action is to provide Federal financial support (a 
loan guarantee) for refueling and resumption of power generation 
activities at Palisades.

DATES: Submit comments by March 3, 2025. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website:
     Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://regulations.gov 
and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0076. Address questions about Docket 
IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; 
email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact the 
individuals listed in the For Further Information Contact section of 
this document.
     Email: Comments may be submitted to the NRC electronically 
using the email address: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
    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: Mary Richmond, telephone: 301-415-
7218; email: [email protected] and Laura Willingham, telephone: 
301-415-0857; email: [email protected]. Both are staff of the 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0076 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://regulations.gov 
and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0076.
     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]. 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: 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.
     Public Library: A copy of the draft EA and draft FONSI is 
available for public review at the following public library locations: 
South Haven Memorial Library, 314 Broadway Street, South Haven, MI 
49090 and St. Joseph/Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library, 500 Market 
Street, St. Joseph, MI 49085.
     NRC Public Project Website: The draft EA and draft FONSI 
along with information regarding Palisades, including licensing, 
operation, decommissioning, and potential restart is available at 
https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactors/pali.html.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through any of the 
methods outlined in the ADDRESSES section of this document. Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2024-0076 in your comment submission.
    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. Introduction

    Palisades consists of a single pressurized-water reactor designed 
by Combustion Engineering (with a turbine-generator designed by 
Westinghouse) and is located in Covert Township, Michigan, along the 
shoreline of Lake Michigan. Originally licensed for operation on March 
24, 1971, the NRC issued a renewed facility operating license (RFOL) 
for Palisades on January 17, 2007, with the renewed operating license 
term expiring on March 24, 2031.
    After more than 40 years of commercial operation, Palisades 
permanently ceased operations on May 20, 2022. On June 13, 2022, 
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., the licensee who operated the 
facility prior to

[[Page 8722]]

transfer of the Palisades license to Holtec Decommissioning 
International, LLC (HDI) and Holtec Palisades, LLC, submitted the 
certifications for permanent cessation of operations and permanent 
removal of fuel from the reactor vessel in accordance with paragraph 
50.82(a)(1) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). 
When the NRC docketed the certifications, Palisades' RFOL No. DPR-20 no 
longer authorized operation of the reactor, or emplacement or retention 
of fuel into the reactor vessel, as provided by 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2).
    To return Palisades to power operations, HDI has submitted (1) a 
request for an exemption from the requirement in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2) 
that prohibits operation of the Palisades reactor, or emplacement or 
retention of fuel into the reactor vessel; (2) a request for a license 
transfer from HDI (currently responsible for decommissioning activities 
at Palisades) to Palisades Energy, LLC (which would be authorized to 
operate the reactor); and (3) four LARs. These requests, along with the 
NRC determinations that these requests were acceptable for review, are 
listed in Section III of this notice. If all the requests are granted, 
Palisades Energy, LLC, would be allowed to place fuel into the reactor 
vessel and resume power operations through March 24, 2031, which is the 
end of the renewed facility operating license term under Palisades RFOL 
No. DPR-20.
    Two notices of opportunity to request a hearing and petition for 
leave to intervene (89 FR 64486 and 89 FR 64493) were published in the 
Federal Register on August 7, 2024. The first opportunity covered four 
LARs from HDI, filed between December 2023 and May 2024, that would 
restore aspects of the Palisades license to those required for an 
operating reactor. The second opportunity covered a December 6, 2023, 
request to transfer operating authority under the Palisades license 
from HDI to Palisades Energy, LLC.
    The NRC staff has prepared a draft EA and draft FONSI documenting 
its environmental review of the potential licensing and regulatory 
approvals. Based on the environmental review, the NRC has made a 
preliminary determination that the proposed actions would not 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, 
the NRC staff has made a preliminary determination that it will not 
prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) and that a draft FONSI 
appears warranted.
    The staff will consider comments on the draft EA and draft FONSI 
over a 30-day public comment period from Federal, State, local, and 
Tribal officials, and members of the public. After consideration of 
these public comments, the NRC staff will make a final determination as 
to whether preparation of an EIS is necessary or whether a FONSI can be 
issued for the licensing and regulatory approvals for Palisades.
    The environmental review included fulfillment of the NRC 
obligations related to Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended, (54 U.S.C. 300101, et 
seq.). The regulations in 36 CFR 800.8, ``Coordination with the 
National Environmental Policy Act,'' allow agencies to use their 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.) 
process to fulfill the requirements of Section 106 of the NHPA. 
Therefore, pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(c), the NRC used its process for 
the preparation of the EA on the proposed actions to comply with 
Section 106 of the NHPA in lieu of the procedures set forth at 36 CFR 
800.3 through 800.6.

III. Summary of Draft Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action and Need

    The NRC's proposed actions are decisions on whether to grant or 
deny Holtec's interdependent, connected licensing and regulatory 
requests that, if approved, would collectively support reauthorizing 
power operations and refueling of the reactor under the existing 
Palisades' RFOL.

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                  Document description                                     ADAMS accession No.
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Request for Exemption from Certain Termination of        ML23271A140; ML23291A440.
 License Requirements of 10CFR 50.82, dated September
 28, 2023; Acceptance Review dated November 3, 2023.
Application for Order Consenting to Transfer of Control  ML23340A161; ML24012A242.
 of License and Approving Conforming License
 Amendments, dated December 6, 2023; Acceptance Review
 dated January 16, 2024.
Request to Revise Renewed Facility Operating License     ML23348A148; ML24022A117.
 and Permanently Defueled Technical Specifications to
 Support Resumption of Power Operations, dated December
 14, 2023; Acceptance Review dated January 23, 2024.
Request to Revise Selected Permanently Defueled          ML24040A089; ML24060A221.
 Technical Specifications Technical Specifications to
 Support Resumption of Power Operations, dated February
 9, 2024; Acceptance Review dated March 18, 2024.
Request to Revise the Palisades Emergency Plan to        ML24122C666; ML24141A119.
 Support Resumption of Power Operations, dated May 1,
 2024; Acceptance Review dated May 23, 2024.
Request to Approve the Biasi Critical Heat Flux          ML24145A145; ML24169A434.
 Correlation for Use with the Palisades Main Steam Line
 Break Analysis, dated May 24, 2024; Acceptance Review
 dated June 18, 2024.
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    The NRC's environmental review also encompasses any revisions or 
supplements to these requests or other regulatory or licensing requests 
submitted to the NRC that are necessary to reauthorize power operations 
of Palisades.
    The DOE LPO's Federal action is a decision on providing Federal 
financial assistance for refueling and resumption of power generation 
activities at Palisades, pursuant to Holtec's loan guarantee agreement 
with DOE LPO that was issued pursuant to the Energy Policy Act (EPA) of 
2005.
    The need for the potential approval of the proposed NRC Federal 
actions, collectively supporting the reauthorization of power 
operations, is to provide an option that allows for baseload clean 
energy power generation capability within the term of the Palisades' 
RFOL to meet current system generating needs. Holtec cites the State of 
Michigan's Public Acts of 2023, Act No. 235 (enrolled Senate Bill 271), 
which establishes a clean energy standard for electric providers to 
provide at least 80 percent clean energy by 2035 and 100 percent by 
2040. Michigan's Act No. 235 defines clean energy as including a system 
that ``Generates electricity or steam without emitting greenhouse gas, 
including nuclear generation.''
    The need for DOE's proposed action (Federal financial assistance in 
the form of a loan guarantee), is to implement DOE's authority under 
Title XVII of the EPA of 2005, which was reauthorized, amended, and 
revised by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to create the Energy 
Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) Program (Section 1706). The purpose 
of the EIR Program is to finance

[[Page 8723]]

projects and facilities in the United States that retool, repower, 
repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations 
or to enable operating energy infrastructure to avoid, reduce, utilize, 
or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse 
gases (42 U.S.C. 16517(a)(2)).

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    In the draft EA, the NRC staff assessed the potential direct and 
indirect environmental impacts from the proposed actions associated 
with the following relevant resource areas: land use and visual 
resources; meteorology and air quality; surface water resources; 
groundwater resources and the geologic environment; ecological 
resources (terrestrial and aquatic); historic and cultural resources; 
socioeconomics; environmental justice; radiological and nonradiological 
human health; waste management; uranium fuel cycle and transportation; 
and postulated accidents. The NRC staff also considered decommissioning 
impacts, the potential effects of climate change on its evaluation of 
the environmental impacts of the proposed continued operation of 
Palisades, and the cumulative effects from past, present, and 
reasonably foreseeable future actions when combined with the proposed 
action.
    The NRC staff determined that the environmental impacts of the 
proposed action would be NOT SIGNIFICANT for each potentially affected 
environmental resource. In addition, the NRC staff determined that the 
projected effects of climate change would not alter any of the impact 
determinations described in the EA. Furthermore, the NRC staff found 
that there would be no significant cumulative impact to any resource 
area from the proposed action when added to other past, present, and 
reasonably foreseeable actions.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff considered a range of alternatives to the proposed 
action and the environmental impacts of the alternatives as 
appropriate. The NRC staff determined that there are no alternatives 
that meet the need for the proposed action that would be 
environmentally preferrable to the proposed action.

IV. Draft Finding of No Significant Impact

    The proposed Federal actions before the NRC are whether to grant 
requests for an exemption, a license transfer, and license amendments 
to support reauthorizing Palisades for power operations through the 
remainder of its licensing term (to March 24, 2031). The NRC staff has 
conducted an environmental review of these actions and prepared a draft 
EA. This draft FONSI incorporates by reference the draft EA summarized 
in Section II of this notice and referenced in Section V of this 
notice. Based on preliminary determinations in the draft EA that the 
environmental impacts of the proposed actions would be NOT SIGNIFICANT 
for each potentially affected resource area, the NRC staff is issuing a 
draft determination that the proposed Federal actions would not 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, 
the NRC staff has made a draft determination that preparation of an EIS 
is not required for the proposed Federal actions and that a draft FONSI 
appears warranted.
    This draft finding and the related environmental documents 
referenced throughout the EA are available for public inspection as 
discussed in the draft EA and Section I of this notice. The NRC's 
staff's determination is tentative. Before making a final 
determination, the NRC staff will consider comments received on the 
draft EA and draft FONSI over a 30-day public comment period from 
Federal, State, Tribal, and local officials, and members of the public. 
Once the NRC staff makes a final determination, the NRC will publish 
the final EA and final FONSI or proceed to prepare an EIS. At the 
conclusion of the NRC environmental review, DOE LPO would publish a 
separate Record of Decision or FONSI, as appropriate.

V. Availability of Documents

    The documents listed in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

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                    Document description                         ADAMS accession No./ Federal Register notice
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Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No       ML24353A157.
 Significant Impact for the Palisades Nuclear Plant
 Reauthorization of Power Operations Project, dated January
 31, 2025.
Correspondence to NRC from Holtec, Responses to Requests     ML24278A027.
 for Additional Information Regarding the Proposed
 Reauthorization of Power Operations Under Renewed Facility
 Operating License Number DPR-020, dated October 4, 2024.
Correspondence to NRC from Holtec, Responses to Requests     ML24260A354.
 for Confirmatory Information, dated September 12, 2024.
Correspondence to NRC from Holtec, Responses to Requests     ML24319A053.
 for Confirmatory Information, dated November 12, 2024.
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, and Holtec        89 FR 64486.
 Palisades, LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Applications for
 Amendments to Renewed Facility Operating License Involving
 Proposed No Significant Hazards Considerations and Order
 Imposing Procedures for Access to Sensitive Unclassified
 Non-Safeguards Information and Safeguards Information--
 License amendment requests; opportunity to comment,
 request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene;
 order, published August 7, 2024.
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, Holtec            89 FR 64493.
 Palisades, LLC, and Palisades Energy, LLC; Palisades
 Nuclear Plant and the Palisades Independent Spent Fuel
 Storage Installation; Consideration of Approval of
 Transfer of Licenses and Conforming Amendment-Application
 for direct transfer of license; opportunity to comment,
 request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene,
 published August 7, 2024.
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, and Holtec        89 FR 53659.
 Palisades, LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Notice of Intent
 to Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare an Environmental
 Assessment, published June 27, 2024.
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[[Page 8724]]

    Dated: January 27, 2025.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Christopher M. Regan,
Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2025-01997 Filed 1-30-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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