ML050620234

From kanterella
Jump to navigation Jump to search

1/25/05 Preliminary Results of Environmental Review Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2 and 3, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
ML050620234
Person / Time
Site: Browns Ferry  Tennessee Valley Authority icon.png
Issue date: 01/25/2005
From: Masnik M
Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs
To:
Tennessee Valley Authority
Masnik MT, NRR/DRIP/RLEP, 415-1191
Shared Package
ML050620210 List:
References
TAC MC1768, TAC MC1769, TAC MC1770
Download: ML050620234 (32)


Text

Preliminary Results of Environmental Review Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 Nuclear Regulatory Commission January 25, 2005

Purpose of Todays Meeting 3/4 Discuss NRCs license renewal process 3/4 Describe the environmental review process 3/4 Discuss the results of our review 3/4 Provide the review schedule 3/4 Accept any comments you may have today 3/4 Describe how to submit comments 2

Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 License Renewal 3/4 Current operating licenses expire 3/4 Unit 1 - 20 Dec 2013 3/4 Unit 2 - 28 Jun 2014 3/4 Unit 3 - 2 Jul 2016 3/4 Application requests authorization to operate units for an additional 20 years 3

NRCs License Renewal Review 3/4 Safety review 3/4 Environmental review 3/4 Plant inspections 3/4 Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) 4

License Renewal Process Onsite Inspection Inspection Activities Report ACRS ACRS Review Report Safety Review Safety Safety Evaluation Review Report License Renewal Agency Application Hearings* Decision on Application Draft Final Environmental Scoping Comments Supplement Supplement Review Activities On Draft To GEIS To GEIS Formal Public *If a request for hearing is granted Participation 5

National Environmental Policy Act 3/4 NEPA requires Federal agencies to use a systematic approach to consider environmental impacts 3/4 Commission has determined that an environmental impact statement (EIS) will be prepared for a license renewal action 6

Decision Standard for Environmental Review To determine whether or not the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3, are so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable.

7

Environmental Review Process for License Renewal Application Submitted Notice of Intent December 31, 2003 March 10, 2004 Environmental Review Requests for Additional Scoping Site Audit Information (RAI)

Process March 2004 July 7, 2004 Draft SEIS Final Formal SEIS by November 2004 Public July 2005 Participation 8

Team Expertise Atmospheric Science Radiation Protection Regulatory Socioeconomics/ Compliance Environmental Justice Terrestrial Ecology Nuclear Safety Aquatic Land Use Ecology Archaeology/Cultural Resources Water Quality Hydrology 9

Analysis Approach Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS)

Category 1 Issues Category 2 Issues GEIS: Impacts Same GEIS: Analyze Potential At All Sites Impacts At All Sites New Issue New and YES YES Significant Perform Site-Site- Validated Info? Specific Analysis New Issue?

NO NO No Further Analysis Adopt the GEIS Conclusion 10

How Impacts are Quantified 3/4NRC-defined impact levels:

3/4SMALL: Effect is not detectable or too small to destabilize or noticeably alter any important attribute of the resource 3/4MODERATE: Effect is sufficient to alter noticeably, but not destabilize important attributes of the resource 3/4LARGE: Effect is clearly noticeable and sufficient to destabilize important attributes of the resource 3/4Consistent with the Council on Environmental Quality guidance for NEPA analyses 11

Information Gathering License Renewal Application Staffs Public Site Audit Comments Draft SEIS Government Social Agencies Services Permitting Authorities 12

Environmental Impacts of Continued Operation 3/4 Cooling System 3/4 Transmission Lines 3/4 Radiological 3/4 Socioeconomic 3/4 Groundwater Use and Quality 3/4 Threatened or Endangered Species 3/4 Accidents 13

Cooling System Impacts 3/4 Category 2 Issues 3/4 Entrainment of Fish and Shellfish in Early Life Stages 3/4 Impingement of Fish and Shellfish 3/4 Heat Shock 3/4 Water Use Conflicts 3/4 Microbiological Organisms 3/4 Preliminary findings 3/4 Impacts are SMALL 3/4 No additional mitigation required 14

Transmission Lines 3/4 Category 2 issues 3/4 Electromagnetic fields, acute effects (electric shock) 3/4 Issue not categorized 3/4 Electromagnetic fields, chronic effects 3/4 Preliminary findings 3/4 Impacts are SMALL 3/4 No additional mitigation required 15

Radiological Impacts 3/4 Category 1 issues 3/4 Radiation exposures to the public 3/4 Occupational radiation exposures 3/4 Preliminary findings 3/4 No new and significant information identified 3/4 GEIS concluded impacts are SMALL 16

Socioeconomic Impacts 3/4 Category 2 Issues 3/4 Housing 3/4 Public Services: public utilities 3/4 Offsite land use 3/4 Public services, transportation 3/4 Historic and archaeological resources 3/4 Issue not categorized 3/4 Environmental Justice 3/4 Preliminary findings 3/4 No new and significant information identified 3/4 GEIS concluded impacts are SMALL 17

Groundwater 3/4 Category 2 Issues 3/4 Groundwater use conflicts (cooling towers) 3/4 Preliminary findings 3/4 No new and significant information identified 3/4 GEIS concluded impacts are SMALL 18

Threatened and Endangered Species Bald eagle Gray bat Leafy prairie clover Rough pigtoe Slackwater darter 19

Cumulative Impacts of Operation 3/4 Considered impacts of renewal term operations combined with other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions 3/4 evaluated to end of 20-year renewal term 3/4 geographic boundaries dependent on resource 3/4 No significant cumulative impacts were identified 20

Other Environmental Impacts Evaluated 3/4 Uranium Fuel Cycle and Solid Waste Management 3/4 Decommissioning 21

Alternatives 3/4 No-action 3/4 Alternative energy sources 3/4 New generation facilities (Coal, Coal Gasification, Natural Gas, Nuclear) 3/4 Purchased electrical power 3/4 Other alternatives (Oil, Wind, Solar) 3/4 Combination of alternatives 3/4 Environmental effects of alternatives in at least some impact categories reach MODERATE or LARGE significance 22

Analysis Approach Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS)

Category 1 Issues Category 2 Issues GEIS: Impacts Same GEIS: Analyze Potential At All Sites Impacts At All Sites New Issue New and YES YES Significant Perform Site-Site- Validated Info? Specific Analysis New Issue?

NO NO No Further Analysis Adopt the GEIS Conclusion 23

Preliminary Conclusions 3/4 GEIS Conclusions on Category 1 issues adopted.

3/4 Impacts resulting from Category 2 issues are of SMALL significance.

3/4 No new impacts identified.

3/4 Environmental effects of alternatives may reach MODERATE or LARGE significance.

24

Postulated Accidents Design-basis accidents 3/4 Severe accidents 3/4Severe accident mitigation alternatives (SAMAs) 25

SAMA Evaluation Process 3/4 Characterize overall plant risk 3/4 Identify potential improvements 3/4 Quantify risk reduction potential and implementation costs 3/4 Determine whether implementation of any of the improvements is required to support license renewal 26

Preliminary Results of SAMA Evaluation 3/4 Approximately 135 candidate improvements considered 3/4 Set of SAMAs reduced to 43 based on multi-step screening process 3/4 Detailed cost/benefit analysis shows that none candidates are cost beneficial 27

Preliminary Conclusions 3/4 Impacts of license renewal are SMALL for all impact areas 3/4 Impacts of alternatives to license renewal range from SMALL to LARGE 3/4 The staffs preliminary recommendation is that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for Browns Ferry are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable 28

Environmental Review Milestones 3/4 Draft SEIS issued - December 3, 2004 3/4 Draft SEIS comment period ends - March 2, 2005 3/4 Issue final SEIS - July 2005 29

Point of Contact and Reference Documents 3/4 Agency point of contact:

Michael Masnik (800) 368-5642, Ext. 1191 3/4 Documents are located at Athens-Limestone Public Library, Athens, Alabama 3/4 Draft SEIS can also be viewed at the NRCs Web site (www.nrc.gov) at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supplement21/sr1437s21.pdf 30

NRC Addresses Provide written comments:

3/4 By mail at: Chief, Rules and Directives Branch Division of Administrative Services Mailstop T-6D59 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 3/4 In person at: 11545 Rockville Pike Rockville, Maryland 3/4 E-mail at: BrownsferryEIS@nrc.gov 31