ML23115A464

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Summary, March 29, 2023, Monticello Units 1 Subsequent License Renewal Application Public Environmental Scoping Meeting
ML23115A464
Person / Time
Site: Monticello Xcel Energy icon.png
Issue date: 05/01/2023
From: Jessica Umana
NRC/NMSS/DREFS/ELRB
To:
Shared Package
ML23115A452 List:
References
Download: ML23115A464 (1)


Text

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION PUBLIC MEETING

SUMMARY

Title:

Environmental Scoping Meeting Related to the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit 1, Subsequent License Renewal Application Date of Meeting: Wednesday, March 29, 2023 Location: Webinar Conference ID: 168211971 Type of Meeting: Comment-Gathering Meeting Purpose of the Meeting:

To gather information necessary to prepare an environmental impact statement to evaluate the environmental impacts for the subsequent license renewal of the operating licenses for Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit 1 (Monticello). The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public input on this action.

General Details:

The NRC staff held a public scoping webinar as part of the Monticello Subsequent License Renewal environmental review. The meeting started at 1:00 pm CST.

Approximately 14 members of the public, plant and industry representatives, tribal and local officials, and members of the media attended the scoping webinar. The meeting began with a review of meeting ground rules followed by Region III staff making a statement assuring the safety of the public, their drinking water, and the environment. Staff followed with a presentation on the license renewal safety and environmental review process. The presentation emphasized that scoping comments were welcome to help focus the environmental review. There was an opportunity for attendees to ask questions about the NRC staffs presentation followed by an opportunity for members of the public to provide oral comments on the scope of the environmental review to be conducted.

Summary of Presentation:

Monticello was first licensed in September 1970 and granted an initial renewed license in 2006.

The current renewed license expires in September 2030.

The Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1954 authorizes the NRC to grant licenses for commercial power reactors to operate for up to 40 years and allows these licenses to be renewed for up to 20 years. The regulations do not limit the number of renewal periods and, therefore, a renewed license may be subsequently renewed. The NRC has established a license renewal process that has two separate, but parallel review tracks, a safety review, and an environmental review.

Enclosure 1

2 The focus of the safety review stems from the NRCs obligation under the AEA of 1954, and is performed under the regulations of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), part 54, Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plant.

The purpose of this review is to verify that each applicant has fully analyzed the management of aging effects in sufficient detail to conclude that the plant can be operated safely during the period of extended operation. The NRCs safety review is documented in the safety evaluation report.

Under the NRCs regulations in 10 CFR part 51, Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functionswhich implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)issuance of a nuclear power plant operating license requires the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The NRC performs plant-specific reviews of environmental impacts of operating life extension in accordance with NEPA and the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. As part of the environmental review, the staff consults with local, State, Federal, and tribal officials.

The environmental review begins with a scoping process, which is an assessment of specific environmental impacts associated with subsequent license renewal for Monticellos operating license. Some environmental impacts are similar, if not identical, at all nuclear power plants, so, to improve efficiency, the NRC staff developed a generic environmental impact statement, NUREG-1437, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, that addresses a number of impacts common to all nuclear power plants. The NRC staff supplements the generic EIS with a plant-specific Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, in which all issues that are specific to Monticello will be addressed. The staff also re-examines the conclusions reached in the generic EIS to determine if there is any new and significant information that would change those conclusions. The NRC staff will make a recommendation on whether or not the environmental impacts are so great that they preclude maintaining the option of license renewal for energy-planning decision makers.

The closing date for submitting scoping comments is April 10, 2023. In addition to providing comments at the meeting, comments can be: (1) mailed to Office of Administration Mailstop:

TWFN7A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, (2) submitted online using the Federal Rulemaking website at regulations.gov (Docket ID: NRC-2023-0031), or (3) via e-mail at MonticelloEnvironmental@nrc.gov. Note, the comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information. Commenters are encouraged to not include any information in comments that the commenter does not want publicly disclosed.

Public Participation Themes:

Themes were limited to support for Monticellos license renewal but with a suggestion for transparency for disclosing effluent levels particularly tritium concentrations in both millisievert and becquerel.

A complete accounting of the comments provided can be found in the meeting transcript which is available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System public electronic reading room under the accession numbers listed below, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html .

3 Action Items/Next Steps:

The NRC staff will address the comments provided during this meeting as part of the license renewal review process for Monticello, as well as a Scoping Summary Report.

Attachments:

List of Attendees Meeting notice and agenda - ML23087A102 NRC staff presentation - ML23086C072 Meeting transcript - ML23108A318

List of Attendees March 29, 2023, U.S. NRC Environmental Scoping Meeting Related to the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit 1, Subsequent License Renewal Application NAME AFFILIATION Allan Barker NRC Andrew Siwy NRC Beth Alferink NRC Brett Klukan (facilitator) NRC Brian Harris NRC Briana Arlene NRC Christopher Tyree NRC Carolyn Wolf NRC David Garmon NRC Ed Miller NRC Harral Logaras NRC Jeffrey Rikhoff NRC Jerry Dozier NRC Jessica Hammock NRC Jessica Umana NRC John Moses NRC Kim Conway NRC Lauren Gibson NRC Leah Parker NRC Lifeng Guo NRC Lloyd Desotell NRC Marcia Carpentier NRC Nancy Martinez NRC Neil Sheehan NRC Scott Burnell NRC Steven Garry NRC Tammy Bloomer NRC Ted Smith NRC Valerie Myers NRC Vaugh Thomas NRC Viktoria Mitlyng NRC Zachary Turner NRC Paul Young Xcel Energy Steve Sollom Xcel Energy W.M. Smith Xcel Energy Enclosure 1

2 Joseph Bashore Tennessee Valley Authority Charlie Lippert Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians Deann Raleigh Curtiss Wright Kirsti Marhon MPR News Justin Barrick Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Karl Pauls Member of the Public Ryan Pickering Member of the Public Dennis Solomon Balami Member of the Public Heather Member of the Public DJ Member of the Public