ML23086A013
| ML23086A013 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Three Mile Island  |
| Issue date: | 04/06/2023 |
| From: | Robert Sun NRC/NMSS/DREFS/ERMB |
| To: | Diehl E State of PA, Historical & Museum Commission |
| References | |
| Download: ML23086A013 (4) | |
Text
E. Diehl UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 April 6, 2023 Emma Diehl Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission 400 North Street, 2nd Floor Harrisburg, PA 17120-0093
SUBJECT:
INITIATION OF CONSULTATION UNDER SECTION 106 OF THE NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT FOR THE PROPOSED LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST FOR THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR STATION, UNIT 2 (DOCKET NUMBER: 50-0320)
Dear Emma Diehl:
By letter dated February 22, 2023 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) ML23058A064), the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received an application from TMI-2 Energy Solutions (TMI-2 Solutions) requesting an amendment to their Possession Only License (POL) for License Number DPR-73 for the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 2 (TMI-2), located in the Londonderry Township of Dauphin County. TMI-2 Solutions will be engaging in certain major decommissioning activities, including the physical demolition of buildings previously deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places by the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Offices (PA SHPO). Because the impacts on the historic properties from these decommissioning activities have not been previously evaluated and are not bounded by the impacts discussion in NUREG-0586, Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) on Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities, TMI-2 Solutions requested an amendment that would require evaluation of the impacts of the decommissioning activities on the NRHP eligible properties, in compliance with 10 Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.82(a)(6)(ii).
The purpose of this letter is to initiate section 106 consultation with the PA SHPO under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA). We are aware that the PA SHPO and the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission have been in communications with TMI-2 Solutions regarding the transfer of some specific historic aspects of TMI-2. Based on these interactions it is the NRCs understanding that your office may have information that will support mitigation of anticipated effects to the historic property and thus may be considered during the section 106 review.
As established in title 10 Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 51, the NRC regulation that implements the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, the agency is preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed action. In accordance with 36 CFR §800.8 (Coordination with the National Environmental Policy Act), the NRC staff is coordinating compliance of the section 106 of the NHPA, with its NEPA review process.
E. Diehl 2 The EA will include an analysis of potential impacts to historic and cultural resources. In support of the environmental review, the NRC is requesting input from the PA SHPO to facilitate the identification of historic and potentially historic properties, assuming they are present, that may be affected by major decommissioning activities at TMI-2. In a letter addressed to TMI-2 Solutions dated November 17, 2022, the PA SHPO acknowledged that the project is limited to the TMI-2 facilities but noted that it is necessary to assess the property in its entirety due to the potential effects. Any input you provide will be used to enhance the scope and quality of our review in accordance with 10 CFR 51. After reviewing all the information collected, the NRC will prepare a draft EA.
To provide a brief history, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station (TMINS), located in the Londonderry Township of Dauphin County, is approximately 10 miles southeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The TMINS site includes Three Mile Island, Unit No. 1 (TMl-1) and TMl-2 and encompasses approximately 440 acres, including TMINS and adjacent islands on the north end, a strip of land on the mainland along the eastern shore of the river, and the area on the eastern shore of Shelley Island that is within the exclusion area (a 2,000-foot radius from a point equidistant between the centers of the TMI1 and TMI-2 Reactor Buildings).
On March 28, 1979, the TMI-2 unit experienced an accident initiated by interruption of secondary feedwater flow. This led to a core heat up that caused fuel damage. TMI-2 has been shut down since the accident in 1979, and since 1993 has been in a SAFSTOR condition known as Post-Defueling Monitored Storage. All spent fuel has been removed except for some debris in the reactor coolant system. The removed fuel is currently in storage at Idaho National Laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Energy has taken title and possession of the fuel.
Because TMI-2 Solutions is currently moving froward with radiological decommissioning activities at TMI-2, on February 22, 2023, TMI-2 Solutions requested an amendment seeking to ensure the unbounded impacts of decommissioning on historic properties are analyzed.
The TMI-2 Solutions License Amendment Request application is publicly available in the NRC Public Document Room located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the NRCs ADAMS. The ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
E. Diehl 3 If you have any questions or would like to provide information regarding the potential historic or cultural properties at the TMI-2 site, please contact Stacey Imboden of my staff via email at Stacey.Imboden@nrc.gov or via phone at (301) 415-2462, within 30 days of receipt of this letter.
Sincerely, Signed by Sun, Robert on 04/06/23 Robert Sun, Acting Chief Environmental Review Materials Branch Division of Rulemaking, Environmental and Financial Support Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket No. 50-0320 PA Share Project reference number: 2021PR03278.006
Enclosure:
Site map
General location and 6-mile radius around TMI-2 Detailed location of TMI-2 Enclosure