ML110100171

Distribution of the Final Plant-Specific Supplement 43 to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants Regarding Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station

ML110100171
Person / Time
Site:	Palo Verde
Issue date:	02/07/2011
From:	Trent Wertz NRC/NRR/DLR/RPOB
To:	Davidson R Arizona Public Service Co
DRUCKER D, NRR/DLR, 415-6223
Shared Package
ML110110126	List: ML110100171
References
NRC-2009-0012
Download: ML110100171 (5)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 February 7, 2011 Ms. Rebecca Davidson Project Evaluation Supervisor Arizona Game and Fish Department WMHB-Project Evaluation Program 2221 West Greenway Road Phoenix, AZ 85023

SUBJECT:

DISTRIBUTION OF THE FINAL PLANT-SPECIFIC SUPPLEMENT 43 TO THE GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR LICENSE RENEWAL OF NUCLEAR PLANTS REGARDING PALO VERDE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION

Dear Ms. Davidson:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has completed the final plant-specific Supplement 43 to NUREG-1437, "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants (GElS)," regarding the renewal of Operating Licenses NPF-41, NPF-51, and NPF-74 for an additional 20 years of operation for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS). Enclosed is a copy of the final Supplement 43 and the associated Federal Register Notice of Availability. This notice advises the public that the final Supplement 43 is publicly available at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) or from the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html.

The Accession Number for the final Supplement 43 is ML103560149. In addition, the final Supplement 43 is available for public inspection at the Litchfield Park Branch Library, 101 West Wigwam Boulevard, Litchfield Park, AZ 85340.

As discussed in Section 9.4 of the final supplement, the NRC's recommendation is that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for PVNGS are not great enough to deny the option of license renewal for energy-planning decision makers. This recommendation is based on (1) the analysis and findings in the GElS; (2) the Environmental Report submitted by Arizona Public Service Company; (3) consultation with Federal, State, and local agencies; (4) the NRC staff's own independent review: and (5) the NRC staff's consideration of public comments received during the scoping process and on the draft supplement.

The NRC staff's assessment of State-protected species is documented in the enclosed final Supplement 43 and concludes that the continued operation of PVNGS for an additional 20 years is not expected to adversely impact any State-listed species and that impacts to threatened or endangered species (both Federally and State-listed) would be small.

R Davidson - 2 A separate Notice of Availability of the final supplemental environmental impact statement was placed in the Federal Register through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on January 21, 2011. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact the Environmental Project Manager, Mr. David Drucker at 301-415-6223 or bye-mail at david.drucker@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

~~~

~---.:::-::::.-.=

Trent L. Wertz, C .

Program Operation Branch Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-528, 50-529 and 50-530

Enclosures:

As stated cc w/encls: Distribution via Listserv

[7590-01-P]

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ARIZONA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY PALO VERDE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION DOCKET NOS. 50-528, 50-529, 50-530 NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL SUPPLEMENT 43 TO THE GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR LICENSE RENEWAL OF NUCLEAR PLANTS fNRC-2009-0012J Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has published a final plant-specific supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants (GElS), NUREG-1437, regarding the renewal of operating licenses NPF-41, NPF-51 and NPF-74 for an additional 20 years of operation for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (PVNGS). Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources.

As discussed in Section 9.4 of the final supplement, the staff determined that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for PVNGS are not so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy planning decision makers would be unreasonable. This recommendation is based on: (1) the analysis and findings in the GElS; (2) information provided in the environmental report (ER) submitted by Arizona Public Service Company; (3) consultation with Federal, State, and local agencies; (4) a review of pertinent documents and reports; and (5) consideration of public comments received during scoping and on the draft SEIS.

- 2 The final Supplement 43 to the GElS is publicly available at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS).

The ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reading rm/adams.html. The accession number for the final Supplement 43 to the GElS is ML103560149. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC's PDR reference staff by telephone at (800) 397-4209 or (301) 415-4737, or bye-mail at pdr@nrc.gov. In addition, the Litchfield Park Branch Library, 101 West Wigwam Boulevard, Litchfield Park, AZ 85340, has agreed to make the final supplement available for public inspection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Mr. David Drucker, Program Operations Branch, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory CommiSSion, Mail Stop 0-11 F1, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Mr. Drucker may be contacted by telephone at (800) 368-5642, extension 6223, or via e-mail at david.drucker@nrc.gov.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of January, 2011.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION IRA!

Trent Wertz, Chief Program Operations Branch Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

ML110110126(Package), ML110100171 (Letter), ML103510478 (FRN),

ML103560149 (Supplement 43) *concurrence via e-mail OFFICE PM:RPB1 :DLR LARPOB:DLR* GS:RERB:DLR OGC NLO BC:RPOB:DLR NAME DDrucker IKing BBalsam BMizuno TWertz DATE 01/14/11 01/13/11 01/18/11 01/25/11 02/7111