3F0409-03, Sea Turtle Mortality Report

Sea Turtle Mortality Report

ML091140256
Person / Time
Site:	Crystal River
Issue date:	04/17/2009
From:	Westcott D Progress Energy Florida
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
3F0409-03
Download: ML091140256 (2)

Text

Progress Energy Crystal River Nuclear Plant Docket No. 50-302 Operating License No. DPR-72 April 17, 2009 3F0409-03 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.

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

Progress Energy April 17, 2009 LRP09-0017 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 March 25, 2009, an immature female Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtle, weighing 1.49 kg, was recovered from the CR-3 intake bar racks. The juvenile Kemp's ridley was noted to be in fair nutritional condition and exhibited no obvious external signs of trauma. A necropsy was performed to assist in determining the cause of death.

The necropsy assessment was limited by autolysis and artifacts produced by prior freezing and thawing, which may have obscured some findings. The degree of autolysis was less than suspected at necropsy as the histological quality of many of the examined tissues was surprisingly good. The fluid and foreign material observed in the lungs are consistent with aspiration. The absence of food in the gastrointestinal tract, consistency of the fecal material, and fat mobilization to the liver were somewhat unusual for a healthy wild sea turtle. There was no evidence of significant underlying disease on gross or histopathological examination in order to arrive at a definitive cause of death.

However, the fact that the immature Kemp's ridley sea turtle was recovered from the. bar racks, 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 second 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