[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 29 (Monday, February 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9885-9887]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-3501]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-344]


Portland General Electric Company; Trojan Nuclear 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. NPF-1 issued 
to Portland General Electric Company (PGE), the licensee, for the 
Trojan Nuclear Plant (TNP), a permanently shutdown nuclear reactor 
facility located in Columbia County, Oregon.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would approve the TNP license termination plan 
(LTP) and an LTP change process to allow certain changes once the LTP 
is approved by license amendment. The approval of the LTP is essential 
only for the approval of the licensee's proposed final radiation survey 
plan design. In accordance with the regulations, the licensee has, and 
will continue to have, the authority to remediate the site without an 
approved LTP. Site remediation is performed under the provisions of 
Title 10, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.82(a)(6) and 
50.59. The proposed license amendment does not authorize additional 
plant activities beyond those that are already authorized and, 
therefore, is administrative.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application for amendment dated August 5, 1999, as supplemented by 
letters dated November 23, 1999, December 27, 1999, May 4, 2000, 
October 19, 2000, and November 22, 2000.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would allow the licensee to meet the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(9), in which a licensee is required to 
submit an LTP to the NRC for approval. Further, in accordance with the 
requirements of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(10) and (11), the staff will: (1) 
Approve an LTP by license amendment if the remaining decommissioning 
activities will be performed in accordance with the regulations, will 
not be inimical to the common defense and security or the health and 
safety of the public, and will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the environment; and (2) terminate the license if the 
remaining dismantlement has been performed in accordance with the 
approved LTP, and that the final radiation survey and associated 
documents demonstrate the facility and site are suitable for release.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

Background
    The Trojan site, 2.57 square kilometers (634 acres) owned by the 
licensee, is located in Columbia County,

[[Page 9886]]

in northwest Oregon, on the west bank of the Columbia River, at 116.7 
kilometers (km) [72.5 miles (m)] from the mouth. The river at this 
location is the boundary between the States of Oregon and Washington. 
This region is moderately populated. There is considerable variation in 
the population density because of the mountainous nature of the terrain 
surrounding the Trojan site. The town of St. Helen's, Oregon, the 
county seat of Columbia County, is located approximately 19.3 km (12 m) 
south-southwest of the site. There are several towns and small 
unincorporated communities within an 8.1-km (5 m) radius of the site--
Rainier, Oregon, located approximately 7.2 km (4.5 m) northwest; 
Prescott, Oregon, located approximately 0.8 km (0.5 m) north; Goble, 
Oregon, located 2.4 km (1.5 m) south-southeast; Kalama, Washington, 5 
km (3 m) southeast; and Carrolls, Washington, located approximately 4 
km (2.5 m) north-northeast of the site across the Columbia River. The 
city of Portland, Oregon, and its suburbs of Gresham and Beaverton are 
located 50 km (31 m) from the site.
    The major land use within an 80 km (50 m) radius of the site is in 
timber, owned and controlled by Federal and State governments and 
private corporations. Most of the terrain is suitable only for tree 
farming and related forestry operations. There is also some farming of 
meat, milk, poultry, hay, grain, grass seed, vegetables, fruit, and 
berries.
    NRC granted the operating license for Trojan on November 21, 1975, 
and the plant formally began commercial operation on March 20, 1976. On 
November 9, 1992, Trojan was shut down because of a leak in the ``B'' 
steam generator. On January 27, 1993, PGE notified NRC of its decision 
to permanently cease power operation of its TNP. The licensee 
transferred the reactor fuel from the reactor vessel to the spent fuel 
pool. On May 5, 1993, NRC amended the TNP Facility Operating License 
(NPF-1) to remove the licensee's authority to operate Trojan.
    By letter dated January 26, 1995, the licensee submitted the Trojan 
Decommissioning Plan and a decommissioning environmental report (DER), 
``Supplement to Applicant's Environmental Report--Post Operating 
License Stage,'' in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 
51.53(d). The DER supplemented the environmental report, submitted on 
May 29, 1970, as supplemented on November 8, 1971. The staff, by letter 
dated December 18, 1995, approved the licensee's decommissioning plan. 
Included in this letter as Enclosure 2 was the staff's environmental 
assessment, ``Environmental Assessment by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission Related to the Request to Authorize Facility 
Decommissioning'' (DEA). In its DEA, the staff determined that both the 
radiological and nonradiological environmental impacts associated with 
decommissioning the Trojan facility were bounded by the conditions 
evaluated in the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement on 
Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-0586), dated August 
1988, and the ``Final Environmental Impact Statement related to the 
Operation of the Trojan Nuclear Plant'' (EIS), dated August 1973. 
Further, the staff concluded that there were no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action and that the 
proposed action would not have a significant effect on the quality of 
the human environment.
    PGE submitted its LTP, in accordance with the requirements of 10 
CFR 50.82(a)(9) and 51.53(d). The LTP contains the following 
information: (1) A site characterization; (2) identification of 
remaining dismantlement activities; (3) plans for site remediation; (4) 
detailed plans for the final radiation survey; (5) an updated site-
specific estimate of remaining decommissioning costs; and (6) a 
supplement to the environmental report, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.53, 
describing any new information or significant environmental change 
associated with the licensee's proposed termination activities. In 
addition, the licensee requested the authority to make certain changes 
to the LTP once the NRC had approved this document.
    The licensee began site remediation shortly after the NRC approved 
the licensee's decommissioning plan. The licensee has removed and 
successfully shipped the Trojan steam generators, pressurizer, and 
reactor pressure vessel for off-site disposal at the US Ecology low-
level radioactive waste disposal facility near Richland, Washington. 
With the removal of these components, the licensee has removed 
approximately 2 million curies of activity from the 10 CFR part 50 
license. Thus, the licensee has removed about 99 percent of the 
activity covered under its Part 50 license. The remaining activity is 
contamination located in the remaining equipment and concrete. The 
licensee is continuing its site remediation efforts.
Environmental Impacts of Site Remediation
    In its LTP, the licensee provided supplemental data on both the 
radiological and non-radiological environmental impacts based on 
remediation work completed thus far. In the DEA, the staff noted that 
the licensee, in its DER, estimated the occupational exposure to be 
about 5.9 person-Sievert (Sv) [591 person-roentgen equivalent man 
(rem)] which was less than the estimated exposure of 12 person-Sv (1215 
person-rem) given in NUREG-0586 for decommissioning of a reference 
pressurized water reactor using the DECON alternative. The licensee, 
based on the work completed (not including the removal and shipment of 
the reactor pressure vessel), has revised its estimate of radiation 
exposure that will occur to complete the decommissioning of Trojan from 
5.9 person-Sv (591 person-rem) to 5.5 person-Sv (551 person-rem). 
Further, as noted above, the licensee has removed and shipped the 
reactor pressure vessel for off-site disposal. The licensee, with the 
removal and shipment of the steam generators, pressurizer, and reactor 
pressure vessel, has already removed about 99 percent of the 
radioactivity from the site that was covered under its Part 50 license.
    The licensee, in its DER, estimated that the decommissioning of its 
Trojan facility would generate about 8,850 m\3\ (313,000 ft\3\) of low-
level radioactive waste that would have to be shipped off-site for 
disposal. The staff, in its DEA, found that this estimate was within 
the bounds of the waste volume estimated for the referenced pressurized 
water reactor in NUREG-0586 of 18,340 cubic meters (648,000 ft\3\). The 
licensee, in its LTP, has revised its estimate of the volume of waste 
that will be generated by the decommissioning of its Trojan facility 
from 8,850 m\3\ (313,000 ft\3\) to about 8652 m\3\ (305,719 ft\3\). 
Further, the licensee has already shipped approximately 5377 m\3\ 
(190,000 ft\3\) of this low-level waste material off-site for disposal.
    The staff concludes, based on the above, that the findings in its 
DEA are still valid, and that the remaining activities necessary to 
terminate the Trojan license are bounded by that DEA.
Environmental Impacts of LTP Change Process
    In addition, the licensee has proposed that it be authorized to 
make certain changes to the NRC-approved LTP without NRC approval if 
these changes do not: (1) require Commission approval pursuant to 10 
CFR 50.59; (2) violate the requirements of 10 CFR 50.82(a)(6); (3) 
reduce the coverage requirements for scan measurements; (4) increase 
the radioactivity level, relative to the applicable derived 
concentration

[[Page 9887]]

guideline level, at which an investigation occurs; or (5) change the 
statistical test applied to the final survey data to one other than the 
Sign test or the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.
    The NRC staff has determined that the amendment approving the LTP 
and LTP change process involves no significant change in the types, or 
significant increase in the amounts, of any effluents that may be 
released off site, and that there is no significant increase in 
individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
    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 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 involve any historic sites. It does not affect non-
radiological plant effluents and has no other environmental impact. 
Therefore, there are no significant non-radiological environmental 
impacts associated with the proposed action.
    Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the 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

    This action does not involve the use of any resources not 
previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for the 
Trojan Nuclear Plant or the Generic Environmental Impact Statement on 
Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    The NRC staff has prepared this environmental assessment with input 
from the State of Oregon's Historical Preservation Officer, letter 
dated February 28, 2000; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, letter 
dated March 9, 2000; and the State of Oregon's Office of Energy, letter 
dated April 10, 2000. No other sources were used beyond those 
referenced in this environmental assessment.
    The State of Oregon's Historical Preservation Officer noted that 
there is a historically significant area, Archaeological Site 35C01, on 
the Trojan property, and a burial site, Coffin Rock, near the Trojan 
property. The licensee, in its letter to NRC, dated May 18, 2000, noted 
that it had established agreements to preserve Archaeological Site 
35C01. Therefore, the activities necessary to decommission the Trojan 
facility will not impact this historically significant area. Further, 
based on the distance between any activities necessary to decommission 
Trojan property and Coffin Rock, it is very unlikely that these 
activities will have any impact on the burial site.
    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided a revised list of 
threatened and endangered species in the vicinity of the Trojan site. 
Additional species from the Fish and Wildlife Service's August 18, 
1995, list now included as either threatened or endangered are the 
northern spotted owl, chum salmon, steelhead, and Nelson's checkered-
mallow. The licensee, in its letter dated May 18, 2000, noted that 
license termination activities will continue to be largely confined to 
previously developed portions of the Trojan site. Consequently, these 
activities should not substantially affect undisturbed areas of the 
site, which are where protected bird, mammal, and plant species might 
be found. With regard to aquatic life, the licensee noted that the 
design of the intake and discharge systems minimized the impacts on 
Columbia River aquatic life during power operation of the Trojan plant. 
These impacts have been significantly reduced during this post-power 
operational phase of the facility. Therefore, the finding made in the 
staff's DEA, that the impact of decommissioning activities at the 
Trojan facility would not affect Federally protected, threatened, or 
endangered species in the vicinity of the Trojan facility, is still 
valid.
    In accordance with its stated policy, on January 3, 2001, the staff 
consulted with the Oregon State Official, Mr. Adam Bless of the Oregon 
Office of Energy, 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 August 5, 1999, as supplemented by letters 
dated November 23, 1999, December 27, 1999, May 4, 2000, October 19, 
2000, and November 22, 2000. Documents may be examined, and/or copied 
for a fee, 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 6th day of February 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David J. Wrona,
Project Manager, Decommissioning Section, Project Directorate IV & 
Decommissioning Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-3501 Filed 2-9-01; 8:45 am]
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