ML20196G029

Forwards EA & Fonsi Re Util Request for Exemption from Financial Protection Requirement Limits of 10CFR50.54(w) & 10CFR140.11 for Plant,Submitted in Ltr of 980120

ML20196G029
Person / Time
Site:	Maine Yankee
Issue date:	12/02/1998
From:	Michael Webb NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:	Meisner M Maine Yankee
References
TAC-MA0659, TAC-MA0660, TAC-MA659, TAC-MA660, NUDOCS 9812070202
Download: ML20196G029 (5)

Text

. . _ . ._ ~ -, .. _. .- ,. -_ _ - ~ _ - - - . _ _ . = - . - - . _ - .

>3 City l --

p  % UNITED STATES l

l j

j 2

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20666-0001 l ..... December 2, 1998 i

Mr. Michael J. Meisner, President i

Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company P.O. Box 408 l Wiscasset, Maine 04578 Bolton, Massachusetts 01740-1398

SUBJECT:

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT FOR EXEMPTION FROM FINANCIAL PROTECTION LIMITS OF 10 CFR 50.54(W) AND 10 CFR 140.11 AT THE MAINE YANKEE ATOMIC POWER STATION (TAC NOS. MA0659 AND MA0660)

Enclosed please find the Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant impact related to the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company request for exemption from the financial protection requirement limits of 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR 140.11 for the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station, submitted in your letter of January 20,1998.

This Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant impact is being forwarded to the Office of the Federal Register for publication.

Sincerely,

/LL] Tidb Michael K. Webb, Project Manager Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning l Project Directorate Division of Reactor Program Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-309 l l

Enclosure:

Environmental Assessment II cc w/ enclosure: pk l~

See next page g 9812070202' 981202 PDR ADOCK 05000309 fhi

.. . i l

l Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station Docket No. 50-309 l i

Cc:

Mr. Charles B. Brinkman Friends of the Coast l

Manager - Washington Nuclear P.O. Box 98 Operations Edgecomb, ME 04556 ABB Combustion Engineering 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 330 Mr. William O' Dell Rockville, MD 20852 Operations Director Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company  !

Thomas G. Dignan, Jr., Esquire 321 Ferry Road Ropes & Gray Wiscasset, ME 04578 One International Place l Boston, MA 02110-2024 Mr. George Zinke, Director Nuclear Safety and Regulatory Affairs I Mr. Uldis Vanags Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company State Nuclear Safety Advisor 321 Ferry Road j l State Planning Office Wiscasset, ME 04578 i l

State' House Station #38 l Augusta, ME 04333 Mr. Jonathan M. Block l Attorney at Law j

! Mr. P. L. Anderson, Project Manager P.O. Box 566 1 l Yankee Atomic Electric Company Putney, VT 05346-0566 I l 580 Main Street

! Bolton, MA 01740-1398 Mr. Michael J. Meisner, President Main Yankee Atomic Power Company  ;

Regional Administrator, Region 1 321 Ferry Road i U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wiscasset, ME 04578 475 Allendale Road )

King of Prussia, PA 19406 Mr. Robert Fraser, Director Engineering First Selectman of Wiscasset Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company Municipal Building 321 Ferry Road U.S. Route 1 Wiscasset, ME 04578 l Wiscasset, ME 04578 l

Mr. Patrick J. Dostie Mr. Mark Roberts State of Maine Nuclear Safety U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector 475 Ailendale Road Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company King of Prussia, PA 19406 321 Ferry Road Wiscasset, ME 04578 Mary Ann Lynch, Esquire l Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company Mr. Mark Ferri, Vice President 321 Ferry Road Decommissioning Director Wiscasset, ME 04578 Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company 321 Ferry Road Mr. Neil Sheehan Wiscasset, ME 04578 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Environmental Review Coordinator 475 Allendale Road EPA Region 1 l King of Prussia, PA 19406 J. F. Kennedy Federal Bldg.

l Boston, MA 02203 l

l

1 i . - l l

4 l l

l Accordingly, the Commission will not prepare an environmentalimpact statement for the j proposed exemption.

I ,

I For further details with respect to this action, see the licensee's letters, dated  !

I January 20 and May 15,1998, which are available for public inspection at the Commission

]

l

l. Public Document Room, Gelman Building,2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, and at the.  :

i i Local Public Document Room at the Wiscasset Public Library, High Street, Post Office Box l

367, Wiscasset, Maine,04578.

t Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December 1998. l l

l FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION li l Original signed by i l \

Seymour H. Weiss, Director I l Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning i Project Directorate j Division of Reactor Program Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation I

l .

, i l

t i

i

• SEE PREVIOUS CONCURRENCE. *l ' / .

l PDND:PM MWebb s .

TECH ED* PDND;LA NRR TEssig

• PDND:(A)SC MMasnik , bl OG hSWeiss

.D//

RSanders EHit[on 3/ f /98 10/1/98 fc /f/98 P /6/98 iC/ h/98 lC/.:d98 /[//;/98

! OFFICIAL RECORD COPY DOCUMENT NAME: G:\SECY\WEBB\MYMA0660.EA

,, , e, , - n - --

. . ~ . - - . - . . . .. - - - - - - . . _ . . _ . - - _ - . . . .- ..

4 Accordingly, the Commission will not prepare an environmental impact statement for the  !

i proposed exemption.  !

For further details with respect to this action, see the licensee's letters, dated 7 January 20 and May 15,1998, which are available for public inspection at the Commission Public Document Room, Gelman Building,2120 L Street, NW., WashingtoniDC, and at the l Local Public Document Room at the Wiscasset Public Library, High Street, Post Office Box  ;

367, Wiscasset, Maine,04578.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December 1998. l FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ,

l Original signed by l

l Seymour H. Weiss, Director i Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning ,

Project Directorate Division of Reactor Program Management Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation  !

l l

I '

! I l

l i

l-l

'SEE PREVIOUS CONCURRENCE. M/I. d b' /

i~

PDND:PM TECH ED* PDND I NRR" " PDND:(A)SC OG P I

MWebb mv RSanders E 7 on TEssig MMasnik hP SWeiss 18/ 8 /9 8 10/1/98 fo/ /98 10 /t$/98 19 h/98 [C/Zd98 /[////98 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY DOCUMENT NAME: G:\SECY\WEBB\MYMA0660.EA l

i i I

i DISTRIBUTION:

EDocket" Files'(50-309

, PUBLIC PDtB Reading a JRoe SWeiss MWebb EHylton TEssig OGC Region I i JHickey, NMSS i

_ - -. _- . .. ~. - - _. ..

7590-01 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION MAINE YANKEE ATOMIC POWER COMPANY MAINE YANKEE ATOMIC POWER STATION DOCKET NO. 50-309 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is considering issuance of an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w) and 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) regarding financial protection requirements to Facility Operating License No. DPR-36, a license held by the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company (MYAPCo or the licensee). The exemption would apply to the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station, a permanently shutdown plant located at the MYAPC site in Lincoln County, Maine.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Identification of Prooosed Action:

The proposed action would grant an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 50.54(w) regarding t;.e amount of onsite property insurance required for the licensee and from the requirements of 140.11(a)(4) regarding the amount of offsite property insurance required for the licensee. The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's application dated January 20,1998. The requested action would allow MYAPCo to reduce onsite insurance coverage to $50 million and offsite coverage to $100 million. In addition, MYAPCo would be allowed to withdraw from the secondary liability coverage of requirements of 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4).

j Need for the Prooosed Ac11gD:

Maine Yankee was shut down in December 1996. By letter dated August 7,1997, the

! licensee informed the Commission that it had decided to permanently cease operations at u ta Ol 0 - ff

s

)

. ~

2 i

Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station and that all fuel had been permanently removed from 1

the reactor. In accordance wbh 10 CFR 50.82(a)(2), upon docketing of the certifications in the letter of August 7,1997, the facility operating license no longer authorizes MYAPCo to operate the reactor and to load ft el in the reactor vessel. In this permanently shutdown condition, the facility poses a reduced risk to public health and safety.

The proposed exemption is needed because the licensee's required insurance coverage significantly exceeds the potential cost consequences of radiologicalincidents possible at a permanently shutdown and defueled nuclear power plant that has cooled more than 21 months. Since Maine Yankee no longer contributes as great a risk as does an operating plant, this reduction in risk should be reflected in the indemnification requirements to which the licensee is subject. Approval of this request would allow a more equitable allocation of financial risk. I 1

i Environmental imoact of the Prooosed Action: l The NRC's evaluation of the proposed exemption from 10 CFR 50.54(w) and i 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) indicates that issuance of the proposed exemption is an administrative action that will not have any environmental impact. The licensee maintains  !

and operates the plant in a configuration necessary to support the safe storage of spent fuel and to comply with the f acility operating license and NRC's rules and regulations.

No changes are being made in the types or amounts of any radiological effluents that may be released off site. There is no significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. Accordingly, the Commission concludes that there are no significant radiological environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

With regard to potential nonradiologicalimpacts, the proposed exemption does not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no other nonradiological environmental impact.

_ _ _ . _~ _ . - _ __. . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - ._ _ _ _ - - ._. ._- _

1 -

3  ;

Therefore, the Commission concludes that there are no significant environmental  ;

impacts associated with the proposed exemption.

l Alternatives to the Prooosed Action:

Since the Commission has concluded that there is no significant environmentalimpact  !

l cssociated with the proposed exemption, any alternatives with equal or greater environmental impact need not be evaluated. The principal alternative to the action would I

i be to deny the request, thereby requiring the licensee to maintain insurance coverage 1

required of an operating plant (no-action alternative); such an action would not enhance the protection of the environment. Denial of the applicatiun would result in no change in current environmentalimpacts. The impacts of the proposed action and the alternative are similar.

Alternative Use of Resources:

This action does not involve the use of resources not previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement related to operation of Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station, (July 1 1

1972),

i Acencies and Persons Consulted:

in accordance with its stated policy, on October 1,1998, the NRC staff consulted with Mr. Patrick Dostie of the State of Maine, Department of Human Services, regardirig the .

l environmentalimpact of the proposed act;on. He did not object to issuance of the exemption.

FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT On the basis of the environmental assessment, the staff concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment.

l .., .

! l

.

• r i

4 l Accordingly, the Commission will not prepare an environmental impact statement for the l

proposed exemption, For further details with respect to this action, see the licensee's letters, dated l January 20 and May 15,1998, which are available for public inspection at the Commission Public Document Room, Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC, and at the Local Public Document Room at the Wiscasset Pubhc Library, High Street, Post Office Box 367, Wiscasset, Maine,04578.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December 1998.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/ 1/ ,.

,\_ G jv m m ",

~( LL.J Seymour H. Weiss, Director Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning Project Directorate Division of Reactor Program Management I Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation I

l i

l