ML21246A091

Letter - St. Lucie Plant, Units 1 and 2 - Determination of Acceptability, Proposed Review Schedule, and Opportunity for a Hearing Regarding the FPL SLRA

ML21246A091
Person / Time
Site:	Saint Lucie
Issue date:	09/24/2021
From:	Bob Caldwell NRC/NRR/DNRL
To:	Coffey R Florida Power & Light Co
Rodriguez H
Shared Package
ML21246A090	List: ML21246A091 ML21246A092
References
7590-01-P
Download: ML21246A091 (6)

Text

September 24, 2021 Mr. Robert Coffey Vice President, Nuclear &

Chief Nuclear Officer Florida Power & Light Company 700 Universe Boulevard Mail Stop: EX/JB Juno Beach, FL 33408

SUBJECT:

ST. LUCIE PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 - DETERMINATION OF ACCEPTABILITY AND SUFFICIENCY FOR DOCKETING, PROPOSED REVIEW SCHEDULE, AND OPPORTUNITY FOR A HEARING REGARDING THE FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHTS APPLICATION FOR SUBSEQUENT LICENSE RENEWAL

Dear Mr. Coffey:

By letter dated August 3, 2021 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Package Accession No. ML21215A314), Florida Power and Light (FPL) submitted an application for the subsequent license renewal of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-67 and NPF-16 for the St. Lucie Plant (SLP), Units 1 and 2 to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

By letter dated August 10, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21217A195), and Federal Register Notice (FRN) (86 FR 45768) dated August 16, 2021, the NRC noted the receipt and availability of this application.

The acceptance review is intended to identify whether the application is reasonably complete and conforms to the timing and information requirements in applicable regulations. The NRC staff reviewed your application following the guidance in NUREG-2192, Revision 0, Standard Review Plan for Review of Subsequent License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants, and NUREG-1555, Supplement 1, Revision 1, Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants, to determine if the application is sufficient and acceptable for docketing in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Sections 2.101, Filing of application, 51.45, Environmental report, 51.53(c),

Postconstruction environmental reports, 54.19, Contents of application--general information, 54.21, Contents of application--technical information, 54.22, Contents of application--technical specifications, and 54.23, Contents of application--environmental information.

The NRC staff conducted three pre-submittal meetings, one for the environmental review and two for the safety review, as documented in letters dated May 20, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21173A292), April 4, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21127A218), and June 3, 2021, (ADAMS Accession No. ML21176A055).

R. Coffey For the environmental review, the NRC staff noted that the application did not provide an analysis of impacts of the proposed action on the West Indian manatee (Trichechas manatus) nor sufficient analysis of the effects of the proposed action on essential fish habitat (EFH). After the NRC staff identified certain application deficiencies in a conference call with the applicant, by letter dated September 13, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21256A199), FPL supplemented its application to provide this information. The staff is currently reviewing this information and will issue RAIs if further information is needed.

As stated in the email sent to William Maher on September 17, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21266A041), the NRC staff has concluded that the application is acceptable for the staffs detailed review. Given the lesser scope and depth of the acceptance review as compared to a detailed technical review, the staffs determination does not preclude requests for additional information or topic specific audits. During the staffs detailed technical review, there may be instances identified in which issues that impact the NRC staffs ability to complete the detailed technical review are identified. You will be advised of any further information needed to support the NRC staffs detailed technical review by separate correspondence.

This letter also forwards the staffs projected review schedule for the SLP subsequent license renewal application (Enclosure 1). The NRC staff will follow established review procedures and the enclosed schedule to complete the reviews required by 10 CFR Parts 51, Environmental Protection Regulations for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Functions, and Part 54, Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants. Based on the information provided in your submittal and discussions during the pre-application meetings, the NRC staff has estimated that review of this subsequent license renewal application will take approximately 23,000 hours0 days <br />0 hours <br />0 weeks <br />0 months <br /> to complete. If there are emergent complexities or challenges in our review that would cause changes to the initial forecasted completion date or significant changes in the forecasted hours, the reasons for the changes, along with the new estimates will be communicated via separate correspondence. Milestones for hearing activities that may be needed are not included in the enclosed schedule or the estimated hours because these dates, if needed, would be established by the Commission or the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board and new resource considerations would need to be developed.

The plan also relies on your responses to the staff's requests for additional information, if needed, being of high quality and provided in a timely manner. A timely response is defined as 30 days from the date of the request, or within such other time as may be specified in the request in accordance with 10 CFR 2.108, Denial of application for failure to supply information. You should also be prepared to provide high quality support in a timely and organized manner during technical audits determined necessary by the staff. Delays in staffs receipt of necessary information could result in changes to the plan in evaluating and processing your application, up to and including the denial of your application in accordance with the regulations or a significant delay in the schedule based on the overall workload for the staff involved in the review. We request that you inform the NRC staff in writing as early as possible should potential delays arise in your support of the schedule. The staffs goal is to complete the review in 21 months provided that FPL addresses the staffs information needs in a timely manner. The 21-month schedule, which was mutually agreed upon during a discussion with your staff on September 16, 2021, is longer than the schedule for previous subsequent license renewal applications. In Fiscal Year 2021, the NRC has received a higher number of applications than anticipated and budgeted for this year and next, resulting in resource constraints at the NRC. Although the schedule is slightly longer, the staff remains committed to completing the review within the typical resource allocations for prior renewals. The NRC will

R. Coffey continue to evaluate opportunities to streamline this schedule wherever possible and appropriate.

Finally, we have also enclosed a copy of the notice related to your application that is being sent to the Office of the Federal Register for publication (Enclosure 2). This notice announces the opportunity to request a hearing and to file a petition for leave to intervene.

If you have any questions on this matter, please contact Lois James, Project Manager, for the safety review of the SLP subsequent license renewal application at Lois.James@nrc.gov, or Lance Rakovan, Project Manager, for the environmenal review at Lance.Rakovan@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Robert K. Caldwell, Acting Director Division of New and Renewed Licenses Docket Nos: 50-335 and 50-389

Enclosures:

1. Review Schedule

2. Copy of Federal Register Notice cc w/encls: Listserv

ML21246A090 (Package)

ML21246A091 (Letter)

ML21246A092 (FRN) *eConcurrence via E-mail NRR-106 OFFICE PM/NLRP/DNRL LA/NRLB/DNRL PM/NLRP/DNRL PM/ERLRB/REFS NAME HRodriguez SGreen LJames LRakovan DATE 09/02/21 09/03/21 09/07/21 09/07/21 OFFICE OGC (NLO) BC/ERLRB/REFS BC/NLRP/DNRL D/DNRL (acting)

NAME MYoung RElliott LGibson BCaldwell DATE 09/14/21 09/20/21 09/21/21 09/24/21 SAINT LUCIE PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 SUBSEQUENT LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION REVIEW SCHEDULE Milestone Scheduled Actual Receive Subsequent License Renewal Application (SLRA) 08/2021 08/03/2021 Publish Federal Register Notice (FRN) - SLRA Availability 08/2021 08/10/2021 Publish FRN - Docketing Acceptance/Rejection and Opportunity 09/2021 for Hearing Publish FRN - Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping 10/2021 Public Meeting - Overview of Subsequent License Renewal 10/2021 Process and Environmental Scoping Environmental Scoping Period Ends 11/2021 Deadline for Filing Hearing Requests and Petitions for Intervention 11/2021 Issue Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) 10/2022 Public Meeting - Draft SEIS Meeting, If Needed 11/2022 End of DSEIS Comment Period 11/2022 Issue Safety Evaluation Report (SER) 12/2022 ACRS Full Committee Meeting 02/2023 Issue Final SEIS 05/2023 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency FRN 06/2023 Published - Availability of Final SEIS Decision - Director, NRR 07/2023 Enclosure 1

Copy of the Draft Federal Register Notice of Saint Lucie Plant, Units 1 and 2 - Determination of Acceptability and Sufficiency for Docketing, Proposed Review Schedule, and Opportunity for a Hearing Regarding the Florida Power and Light Companys Application for Subsequent License Renewal ADAMS Accession No. ML21246A092 Enclosure 2