ML070700003

VY Dseis Presentation for VT Legislature 02/27/2007

ML070700003
Person / Time
Site:	Vermont Yankee
Issue date:	02/27/2007
From:	NRC/NRR/ADRO/DLR
To:
jmm7
References
Download: ML070700003 (29)

Text

Preliminary Results of Environmental Review Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission February 27, 2007

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 Describe how to submit comments 3/4 Answer questions from Vermont Legislators 2

NRCs Regulatory Oversight 3/4 Atomic Energy Act 3/4Issue operating licenses for commercial nuclear power reactors 3/4Regulate civilian use of nuclear materials 3/4 NRCs Mission 3/4Public health and safety 3/4Promote common defense and security 3/4Protect the environment 3

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station License Renewal 3/4 Operating license expires March 21, 2012 3/4 Application requests authorization to operate Vermont Yankee for an additional 20 years 4

License Renewal Process Safety Review Independent Review License Renewal Application**

submitted to NRC Hearings* NRC Decision On Application**

Environmental Review Request for Hearing is Granted Available at www.nrc.gov

Safety Review Process (10 CFR Part 54) 3/4 Safety Review 3/4Review of application and supporting documentation 3/4On-site audits 3/4On-site inspections 3/4Issuance of Safety Evaluation Report (SER) 3/4 Independent review by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards 6

Ongoing Regulatory Oversight 3/4Emergency Planning 3/410 CFR 50.47 3/4Security 3/410 CFR Part 73 3/4Current Safety Performance 3/4 http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/index.html 7

Environmental Review Process NRC Decision cense Renewal on Hearings Application** Application bmitted to NRC Final Local Public Meeting/ Supplement Information/ Comments To GEIS Scoping On Draft Issued**

Meeting Site Draft nvironmental Supplement Environmental Review To GEIS Audit Issued**

• • Available at www.nrc.gov 8

Environmental Review (10 CFR Part 51) 3/4 National Environmental Policy Act requires Federal agencies to use a systematic approach to consider environmental impacts 3/4 NRC prepares an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for all proposed license renewals 3/4 Scope 3/4 Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) 3/4 Site-specific Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) 3/4 Focused on assessment of site-specific issues 3/4 The staff also looks for new and significant information on generic conclusions reached in the GEIS 9

Decision Standard for Environmental Review To determine whether or not the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station are so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable.

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Environmental Review Milestones Application Submitted January 27, 2006 Notice of Intent April 21, 2006 Scoping Public Meeting June 7, 2006 Scoping Comments Due June 23, 2006 Scoping Summary Report October 30, 2006 Draft SEIS Issued December 13, 2006 Draft SEIS Public Meeting January 31, 2007 Draft SEIS Comments Due March 7, 2007 Final SEIS Issued August 2007 11

Team Expertise Atmospheric Science Radiation Regulatory Protection Compliance Socioeconomics/ Terrestrial Environmental Justice Ecology Aquatic Land Use Ecology Archaeology/Historical Resources Hydrology 12

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 Perform Site- Validated Significant Specific Analysis New Issue?

Info?

NO NO Adopt the No Further GEIS Conclusion Analysis 13

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

3/4 SMALL: Effect is not detectable or too small to destabilize or noticeably alter any important attribute of the resource 3/4 MODERATE: Effect is sufficient to alter noticeably, but not destabilize important attributes of the resource 3/4 LARGE: Effect is clearly noticeable and sufficient to destabilize important attributes of the resource 3/4 Consistent with the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for NEPA analyses 14

Information Gathering Public Comments Staffs License Renewal Site Audit Application SEIS State & Local Social Agencies Services Permitting Authorities 15

Environmental Impacts of Continued Operation 3/4Cooling system 3/4Radiological 3/4Threatened or endangered species 3/4Cumulative impacts 3/4Accidents 16

Cooling System Impacts

• Category 2 issues

- Water use conflicts (plants with cooling ponds or cooling towers using make-up water from a small river with low flow)

- Entrainment of fish and shellfish in early life stages

- Impingement of fish and shellfish

- Heat shock

- Microbiological organisms (public health) (plants using lakes or canals, or cooling towers or cooling ponds that discharge to a small river)

• Preliminary findings

- Impacts would be SMALL 17

Radiological Impacts 3/4 Category 1 issues 3/4 Radiation exposures to the public 3/4 Preliminary findings regarding Vermont Yankee 3/4 No new and significant information identified 3/4 GEIS concluded impacts would be SMALL 18

Threatened or Endangered Species One threatened or endangered species occurs in the vicinity: the bald eagle No impacts expected to bald eagle Impacts would be SMALL 19

Cumulative Impacts of Operation 3/4 Impacts of renewal term operations combined with other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions 3/4Evaluated to end of 20-year renewal term 3/4Geographic boundaries dependent on resource 3/4 Cumulative impacts would be SMALL 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 (coal, natural gas, nuclear) 3/4 Purchased electrical power 3/4 Other alternatives (wind, solar, conservation) 3/4 Combination of alternatives 3/4 Environmental effects of alternatives in at least some impact categories reach MODERATE or LARGE significance 22

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 Environmental effects of alternatives may reach MODERATE or LARGE significance 23

Postulated Accidents 3/4 Design-basis accidents 3/4 Severe accidents 3/4Severe accident mitigation alternatives (SAMAs) 24

Preliminary Results of SAMA Evaluation 3/4 302 potential SAMAs considered 3/4 Number of SAMAs reduced to 66 based on screening process 3/4 Detailed cost-benefit analysis shows that 6 SAMAs could be cost beneficial 3/4 None of these are related to managing the effects of aging. Therefore, none are required to be implemented as part of license renewal 25

Environmental Review Milestones 3/4 Draft SEIS issued - December 13, 2006 3/4 Comment period ends - March 7, 2007 3/4 Issuance of Final SEIS - August 2007 26

Additional Information

• NRC contact: Mr. Richard Emch (800) 368-5642, Ext. 1590

• Documents located at the

• Vernon Free Library, 567 Governor Hunt Road, Vernon, VT

• Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT

• Hinsdale Public Library, 122 Brattleboro Road, Hinsdale, NH

• Dickinson Memorial Library, 115 Main Street, Northfield, MA

• Draft SEIS can also be viewed at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437/supplement30/index.html 27

Submitting Comments 3/4 By mail: Chief, Rules and Directives Branch Division of Administrative Services Mailstop T-6D59 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington DC 20555 3/4 By e-mail: VermontYankeeEIS@nrc.gov 3/4 In person: 11545 Rockville Pike Rockville, Maryland 28

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