3F0309-05, Submittal of Sea Turtle Mortality Report

Submittal of Sea Turtle Mortality Report

ML090710257
Person / Time
Site:	Crystal River
Issue date:	03/09/2009
From:	Westcott D Florida Power Corp, Progress Energy Florida
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
3F0309-05
Download: ML090710257 (2)

Text

ý0PmgmssEnergyv Crystal River Nuclear Plant Docket No. 50-302 Operating License No. DPR-72 March 9, 2009 3F0309-05 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Attn: Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555-0001

Subject:

Crystal River Unit 3 - Sea Turtle Mortality Report

Dear Sir:

Florida Power Corporation (FPC), doing business as Progress Energy Florida, Inc., hereby provides a copy to the NRC of a sea turtle mortality report that was submitted to the U. S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The report to the NMFS is required by NMFS's Crystal River - Unit 3 (CR-3) Biological Opinion, dated August 8, 2002, Terms and Conditions, Item 2. Reporting to the NRC is required by the CR-3 Operating License, Appendix B - Part II, Environmental Protection Plan (Non-Radiological) Technical Specifications, Section 4.0, Environmental Conditions, Item 4.1, Significant Environmental Events.

This letter establishes no new regulatory commitments.

If you have any questions regarding this submittal, please contact Ms. Sheilagh Garrity, Supervisor, Environmental and Chemistry at (352) 563-2943, ext. 3466.

Sincerely, Dan Westcott Supervisor, Licensing & Regulatory Programs Crystal River Nuclear Plant DRW/ff Attachment xc: Regional Administrator, Region II Senior Resident Inspector NRR Project Manager Progress Energy Florida, Inc. 3 Crystal River Nuclear Plant 15760 W. Powerline Street Crystal River, FL 34428

kýPrgrssEnergy March 9, 2009 LRP09-0008 U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service South East Regional Office Attn: Assistant Regional Administrator Protected Resources Division 263 13th Avenue, South Saint Petersburg, Florida 33701

Subject:

Crystal River Unit 3 - Sea Turtle Mortality Report

Dear Sir:

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Crystal River Energy Complex (CREC) completed an Endangered Species Act Section 7 formal consultation process. In the Biological Opinion, issued August 8, 2002 by the NMFS, terms and conditions were included which required that if any listed species are apparently injured or killed in the CREC intake canal or the Crystal River Unit 3 (CR-3) bar racks, a report summarizing the incident must be provided to the NMFS within 30 days of the incident.

On February 9, 2009, a Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtle was recovered by divers from the CR-3 intake bar racks. The juvenile Kemp's ridley (weighing 8.94 kg), though moderated decomposed, exhibited no obvious external signs of trauma. A necropsy was performed to assist in determining the cause of death.

Due to the advanced state of decomposition, an assessment from the necropsy was significantly limited by postmortem artifacts. A definitive cause of death could not be determined and evaluation for evidence of drowning was inconclusive due to the poor postmortem state. The only finding of note was the extensive deposition of spirorchiid (Neospirorchissp.) eggs within the thyroid gland; a condition noted in a number of stranded loggerhead and green turtles in Florida. However, the effects of thyroid injury due to parasitism is unknown at this time. The fact that the Kemp's ridley sea turtle was recovered from an area of the bar racks approximately 10 feet below the surface of the water, along with the inconclusive necropsy findings and lack of obvious trauma or other cause of death, leads to the determination that the death should be classified as causally related to CR-3 operations.

Currently, this is the only causally-related mortality for CR-3 in 2009.

Progress Energy continues to implement the reasonable and prudent measures described in the current incidental take statement to minimize impacts on sea turtles from facility operations.

If you have any questions regarding this submittal, please contact Ms. Sheilagh Garrity, Supervisor, Environmental and Chemistry at (352) 563-2943, ext. 3466.

Sincerely, Dan Westcott Supervisor, Licensing & Regulatory Programs Crystal River Nuclear Plant DRW/ff Progress Energy Florida, Inc.

Crystal River Nuclear Plant 15760 W. Powerline Street Crystal River, FL 34428