ML14043A110

01/29/2014 Summary of Public Meetings to Discuss Draft Supplement 50 to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants Regarding Grand Gulf, Unit 1, (TAC Nos ME7385 and ME7386)

ML14043A110
Person / Time
Site:	Grand Gulf
Issue date:	02/28/2014
From:	David Drucker License Renewal Projects Branch 2
To:	Brian Wittick License Renewal Projects Branch 2
Drucker D, 415-6223
References
TAC ME7385, TAC ME7386
Download: ML14043A110 (10)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 February 28, 2014 MEMORANDUM TO: Brian D. Wittick, Chief Projects Branch 2 Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM David Drucker, Senior Project Manager Projects Branch 2 Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUMMARY

OF PUBLIC MEETINGS TO DISCUSS DRAFT SUPPLEMENT 50 TO THE GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR LICENSE RENEWAL OF NUCLEAR PLANTS REGARDING GRAND GULF NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 1 (TAG NOS. ME7385 AND ME7386)

On January 29, 2014, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the staff) held two identical public meetings in Port Gibson, MS to discuss the preliminary findings of, and receive public comments on, the draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) on the proposed renewal of the operating license for Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (GGNS). The preliminary finding of this report is that the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for GGNS are not great enough to deny the option of license renewal for energy-planning decision makers. Approximately five people attended each meeting. The public comment period closed on February 11, 2014. The staff plans to issues the final SEtS by September 2014.

A combined listing of attendees for both public meetings is provided in Enclosure 1. is a copy of the meeting agenda and Enclosure 3 is the meeting handouts provided during the public meeting open house. The official transcripts for both meetings are 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 transcripts for the afternoon and evening meetings are listed under Accession Nos. ML14042A154 and ML14042A174, respectively. There were no written comments submitted during the meetings. A copy of the slides used during the NRC's presentation is also available in ADAMS under Accession No.

ML14042A221.

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 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at pdr@nrc.gov.

Docket No. 50-416

Enclosures:

As stated cc w/encls: See next page

1. Package: ML14043A140

2. Meeting Summary (w/encls. 1, 2 & 3): ML14043A110

3. Afternoon Transcript: ML14042A154

4. Evening Transcript: ML14042A174

5. Slides: ML14042A221

• concurred via email OFFICE PM:DLR:RPB2 LA:DLR BC:DLR:RPB2 PM:DLR:RPB2 NAME p. Drucker Y. Edmonds fl. Wittick p. Drucker DATE 2/11/14 02/26/14 02/27/14 02/28/14

LIST OF ATTENDEES GRAND GULF NUCLEAR STATION DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT PUBLIC MEETINGS JANUARY 29, 2014 PARTICIPANTS AFFILIATION David Drucker U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Brian Wittick NRC Bob Hagar NRC Victor Dricks NRC Richard Smith NRC Blake Rice NRC Jeff Seiter Entergy Operations, Inc.

Rick Buckley Entergy Operations, Inc.

Jami Cameron Entergy Operations, Inc.

Kevin Mulligan Entergy Operations, Inc.

Jay Miller Entergy Operations, Inc.

Andrew Taylor Entergy Operations, Inc.

Emma Crisler Port Gibson Reveille ENCLOSURE 1

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT PUBLIC MEETINGS GRAND GULF NUCLEAR STATION AGENDA JANUARY 29, 2014 Port Gibson City Hall Port Gibson, Mississippi Two Identical Meetings*

(2:00- 3:30p.m. and 7:00-8:30 p.m.)

I. Welcome and Purpose of Meeting 10 minutes (Bob Hagar)

II. Discussion of draft SEIS 15 minutes (David Drucker)

Ill Public Comments As Required (Bob Hagar)

IV. Closing/Availability of Transcripts, etc. 5 minutes (Bob Hagar)

• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will host informal discussions one hour prior to each meeting session. No formal comments on the proposed scope of the environmental impact statement will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in writing, as described in the enclosed Federal Register notice.

• • Times in this agenda are approximate.

ENCLOSURE 2

• /U.S.NRC I;N!Tf:D ST,\Tf:S -.;n:u \II. HHa L \TORY CO~l\IIS~I()....

Protecting People and the Environ7nent Information Sheet on the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station Unit 1 License Renewal Environmental Review OVERVIEW ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW MILESTONES Entergy Operations, Inc. (Entergy)

Application submitted to NRC Nov 2011 submitted an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Public Seeping Meetings Jan 2012 November 1, 2011 for the license renewal of Publication of draft EIS Nov 2013 the Unit 1 reactor at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station (GGNS) site in Claiborne County. Public Meetings on draft EIS Jan 2014 As part of the NRC's review of GGNS's Publication of Final EIS Sep 2014*

~ Target date application, the staff performed an environmental review. The results of that review are documented in the Comments on the GGNS Unit 1 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). draft EIS accepted through February 11,2014.

Copies of GGNS's Environmental Report and Public input on the EIS is a very important the NRC's EIS can be found at the Henrietta aspect of our environmental review. Here Person Memorial Library in Port Gibson and are a few ways you can share your on the NRC's website. comments with us.

Online: www.Regulations.gov, More information regarding the NRC's review Docket ID: NRC-2011-0262 of the GGNS application, including the EIS, is available online at:

Mail: Chief, Rulemaking and Directives Branch http: llwww. nrc.govlreactorsloperatingllicensin Division of Administrative Services glrenewallapplicationslgg1.html Office of Administration Mailstop 3WFN-06-A44MP US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Environmental Project Manager David Drucker (NRC) Public Meeting:

david.drucker@nrc.gov Submit verbally on the transcript or 301.415.6223 Submit in writing Submit electronic comment ENCLOSURE 3

THE NRC'S LICENSE RENEWAL PROCESS The NRC is responsible for the review of license renewal of commercial nuclear power facilities. The renewed licenses, if issued by the NRC, would give GGNS the authorization to continue operation of the existing unit.

The NRC's evaluation of GGNS's application involves two reviews:

• Safety Review

• Environmental Review Safety Review

________ *{ ASLB Hearing } __ ___

Environmental Review Figure 1. Simple Overview of the NRC's Review of an Application The purpose of the safety review is to ensure the license-renewed reactors can be and will be safely operated according to NRC regulations and requirements. The review includes an evaluation of aging management of the plant structures and components and associated aging management programs. The NRC's analysis is documented in the Safety Evaluation Report (SER).

The environmental review serves to document the environmental impacts of continued operation of the reactors for the renewal term. The environmental review includes input from the public, consultation and coordination with local, state, and federal agencies, tribal nations, site visits, audits, review of the applicant's Environmental Report, and other documentation.

Subject areas reviewed include for example: water quality and use, ecology, land use, air quality, socioeconomics, and environmental justice. The NRC's analysis of the environmental impacts is documented in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) - an independent group of technical experts - reviews the application and the NRC's corresponding safety evaluation, and reports its results to the NRC's five-member Commission. If a petition to intervene is accepted, a contested proceeding may be conducted by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) panel, who will make a determination on the contention. The Commission makes the final licensing decision as appropriate.

EIS for Grand Gulf Nuclear Station Unit 1 The next two pages provide a brief summary of each chapter in the Environmental Impact Statement.

Chapter 1 - Introduction This introductory chapter outlines important pieces of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)- such as defining the proposed action and the purpose and need of the proposed action. For this review, the proposed actions are the issuance of an NRC renewed license. In addition, the chapter provides a brief outline of the NRC environmental review processes.

Chapter 2- Affected Environment This chapter describes the location of the GGNS site and the existing conditions at the site and surrounding area and provides the "baseline" for the analysis. This baseline is used by the team to determine the level of impact the continued operation of the GGNS reactor would have on the environment. This fairly long chapter provides descriptions of the existing land use, ecological resources, current water use and quality, socioeconomic conditions (taxes, public services), air quality, and historic resources, to name a few.

Chapter 3- Environmental Impacts of Refurbishment Facility owners or operators may need to undertake or, for economic or safety reasons, may choose to perform refurbishment activities in anticipation of license renewal or during the license renewal term. This chapter addresses the impacts associated with refurbishment if the license renewal applicant chooses to perform such activities.

Chapter 4- Environmental Impacts of Operation In this chapter, the review team evaluates the potential impacts associated with operating the existing Unit 1 on land use, meteorology and air quality, water use and quality, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, socioeconomics, environmental justice, historic and cultural resources, nonradiological and radiological health effects, nonradioactive waste, and applicable measures and controls that would limit the adverse impacts of operating these units. A significance level-SMALL, MODERATE or LARGE-of potential adverse impacts is assigned by the review team for each resource area.

Chapter 5- Environmental Impacts of Postulated Accidents This chapter examines the environmental impacts from postulated accidents that might occur during the license renewal term. The term "accident" refers to any unintentional event outside normal plant operation which results in a release, or the potential for a release, of radioactive materials in the environment. Two classes of postulated accident are evaluated in the EIS: design*basis accidents and severe accidents.

Chapter 6- Uranium Fuel Cycle, Waste Management, and Green House Gas Emissions This chapter addresses the environmental impacts from (1) the uranium fuel cycle and waste management, (2) the transportation of radioactive material, and (3) green house gas emissions associated with the license renewal of the Unit 1.

Chapter 7- Environmental Impacts of Decommissioning This chapter addresses the environmental impacts from decommissioning activities associated with the license renewal of the Unit 1.

Chapter 8- Environmental Impacts of Alternatives The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the consideration of a range of reasonable alternatives to the proposed action in an environmental impact statement (EIS). Since the license renewal process is designed to assure safe operation of GGNS during the license renewal term, the NRC ultimately makes no decision about which alternative (or the proposed action) to carry out because that decision falls to the appropriate energy-planning decisionmakers (e.g., State or utilities). This chapter considers the various reasonable alternatives to license renewal, including the no action alternative (the denial of the option of GGNS license renewal from the future energy-planning decisionmakers). In its analysis, the staff eliminates alternatives that cannot meet future system needs by providing the amounts of baseload power equivalent to the GGNS current generating capacity (4.408 megawatts thermal) and whose cost and benefits do not justify inclusion in the range of reasonable alternatives from its detailed studies.

Chapter 9- Conclusions and Recommendations The final chapter of the EIS provides the staff's preliminary recommendation whether or not the renewed licenses should be issued The NRC staff's preliminary recommendation to the Commission - related to the environmental aspects of the proposed action (GGNS license renewal) is that the adverse impacts of license renewal for GGNS are not great enough to deny the option of license renewal for energy-planning decisionmakers. The staff based this recommendation on the following: (a) analysis and findings from the GElS, (b) the environmental report submitted by Entergy, (c) consultation with Federal, State, and local agencies, (d) the staff's independent environmental review, and (e) consideration of public comments received during the seeping process.