ML20154P124

Environ Assessment & Finding of No Significant Impact Re Exemption from 10CFR50.54(w)(5)(i) Requirements Concerning Increase in Amount of Onsite Property Damage Insurance Required to Be Carried by Licensees

ML20154P124
Person / Time
Site:	Rancho Seco
Issue date:	09/26/1988
From:	Rood H Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
Shared Package
ML20154P128	List: ML20154P124 ML20155B008
References
NUDOCS 8809300121
Download: ML20154P124 (5)

Text

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7590 01 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY com!SSION o

SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL IITILITY DISTRICT RANCHO SEC0 NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION DOCKET N0. 50-312 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND FINDING 0F NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT i

CONCERNING EXDtPTION FROM 10 CFR 50.54(w)(5)(1)

I The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Coemission (the Comission) is considering issuar,ceofanexerptionfromtherequirementsof10CFF50.54(w)(5)(1)to SacramentoMunicipalUtilityDistrict(thelicens;e)fortheRanchoSeco 1

Nuclear Generating Station located at the licensee's site in Sacramento County, California.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSt'ENT l

Identification of Proposed Acticn:

i On August 5,1987, the NRC published in the FEDERAL REGISTER a final rule I

amending 10CFR50.54(w). The rule increased the amount of on-site property I

1 darage insurance required to be carried by NRC's power reactor licensees.

The

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rule also required these licensees to obtain by October 4,1988 insurance policies that prioritized insurance proceeds for stabilization and decontamination after an accident and provided for payment of proceeds to an independent trustee who would disburse funds for decontamination and cleanup before any other purpose, Subsequent to publication of the rule, the NRC has been informed by inspeers who f

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offer nuclear property insurance that, despite a good faith effort to obtain i

trustees required by the rule, the decontamination priority and trusteeship

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provisions will not be able to be incorporated into policies by the time i

required in the rule.

In response to these coments and related petitions for l

rulemaking, the Comission has proposed a revision of 10 CFR 50.54(w)(5)(1)

J extendingtheimplementationschedulefor18 months (53FR36338, September 19, j

1988). However, because it is unlikely that this rulemaking action will be ef fective by October 4,1988, the Comission is issuing a temporary exemption fromtherequirementsof10CFR50.54(w)(5)(1)untilcompletionofthepending i

rulemaking extending the implementation date specified in 10 CFR 50.54(w)(5)(i),

j but not later than April 1, 1989. tfpon completion of such rulemaking, the j

licensee shall comply with the provisions of such rule.

L The Need for The Proposed Action:

The exenption is needed because insurance corplying with requirements of i

10 CFR 50.54(w)(5)(1) is unavailable and because the temporary delay in s

impitmentation allowed by the exemption and associated rulemaking action will permit the Comission to recaasider on its merits the trusteeship provision of t

10 CFR 50.54(w)(4).

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Environrental Impacts of the Proposed Action:

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l With respect to radiological impacts on the environment, the proposed exemption does not in any way affect the operation of licensed facilitios.

Further, as noted by the Comission in the Supplementary Information accorpanying the proposed rule, there are several reasons for concluding that delaying for a reasonable time the implementation of the stabilization and j

decontamination priority and trusteeship provisions of Section 50.54(w) will not I

adversely affect protection of public health and safety. First, during the i

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period of delay, the licensee will still be required to carry $1.06 billion insurance. This is a substantial amount of coverage that provides a signifi-cant finar.cial cushion to licensees to decontaminate and clean up after an accident even without the prioritization and trusteeship provisions. Second, nearly 75% of the required coverage already is prioritized under the decontam-ination liability and excess property insurance language of the Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited-II policies. Finally, there is only an extremely small prob-chility of a serious accident occurring during the exemption period. Even if a serious accident giving rise to substantial insurance claims were to occur, NRC would be able to take appropriate enforcement action to assure adequate cleanup to protect public health and safety and the environment.

The proposed exemption does not affect radiological or nonradiological effluents from the site and has no other nonradiological impacts.

i Alternatives to the Proposed Action:

It has been concluded that there is no mea'.?rable impact asso-iated with the proposed exemption; any alternatives to the exemption will have either no environmental impact or greater environmental impact.

Alternative Use of Resources:

This action does not involve the use of any resources beyond the scope of resources used during nornal plant operation.

Agencies and Persons Consulted:

The staff did not consult other agencies or persons in connection with the proposed exemption.

FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT Based upon the foregoing environmental assessment, the Comission concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the Comission has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed exemption.

For information concerning this action, see the proposed rule (53 FR 36338),-

and the exemption which is being processed concurrent with this notice. A copy of the exemption will be available for pub 1'ic inspection at the Comission's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, D.C., and at the Martin Luther King Regional Library, 7340 24th Street Bypass, Sacramento, California.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 26th day of September,1988.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION F

Harry R

d. Acting Director Project Directorate V Division of Reactor Projects - III, IV, Y and Special Projects Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation l

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DISTRIBUTION FOR 9/26/88 LETTERS TRANSMITTING EA RE PROPERTY INSURANCE RULE

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