ML23326A100

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Scoping Summary Report
ML23326A100
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Site: North Anna  Dominion icon.png
Issue date: 12/21/2023
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Environmental Impact Statement Scoping Process Summary Report North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2 Louisa County, VA December 2023 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Rockville, Maryland

Introduction On August 24, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received an application from Dominion Energy (Dominion) requesting subsequent license renewal (SLR) of the operating licenses for North Anna Power Station, Units 1 and 2 (North Anna) in Louisa County, Virginia, pursuant to Section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 54, Requirements for renewal of operating licenses for nuclear power plants. In its application (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) ML20246G696), Dominion requests SLR for a period of 20 years beyond the expiration of the current renewed operating licenses. If granted, the renewed licenses would expire April 1, 2058, for North Anna Unit 1 and August 21, 2060, for North Anna Unit 2.1 As discussed below, the NRC staff conducted environmental scoping for the SLR application and issued a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement evaluating the environmental impacts of North Anna SLR. On September 28, 2022, Dominion submitted Supplement 1 to the application, in which it provided a site-specific evaluation supplementing Appendix E, Environmental Report, (ML22272A041). The NRC staff then issued a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) and to conduct a supplemental EIS scoping process (87 Federal Register [FR] 68522) on November 15, 2022.

The purpose of this report2 is to: (a) summarize the determination of the scope of the NRC staffs environmental review of this application, as supplemented, incorporating stakeholder input, and (b) describe the issues identified by the EIS limited scoping process.

This report is structured in three sections:

A. The North Anna Subsequent License Renewal Public Scoping B. List of Commenters C. Summary of Public Comments Provided A. The North Anna Subsequent License Renewal Public Scoping A.1 Background The North Anna subsequent license renewal application (SLRA), which includes the Environmental Report, is available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). The ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room can be accessed at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. For help with ADAMS, contact the NRCs Public Document Room reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737 or by email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov.

For additional information, visit the NRCs North Anna SLRA website:

https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/north-anna-1 subsequent.html. This website includes application information, the licensing schedule, opportunities for public involvement, project manager contact, and other relevant information. In 1 North Anna Unit 1s current renewed operating license (NPF-4) expires at midnight on April 1, 2038; North Anna Unit 2s current renewed operating license (NPF-7) expires at midnight on August 21, 2040.

2 The NRCs requirements for conducting the scoping process and for preparing a scoping summary report are found at Section 51.29 to 10 CFR, Scoping-Environmental Impact Statement and Supplement to Environmental Impact Statement.

addition, important documents, including public comments, are available at the Federal rulemaking website at https://www.regulations.gov/, under Docket ID NRC-2020-0201.

On August 24, 2020, as part of its North Anna SLRA, Dominion submitted an environmental report (ER) to the NRC (ML20246G698). Dominion prepared its ER in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 51, Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions, which contains the NRCs requirements for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA).3 On October 15, 2020, the NRC staff provided notice in the Federal Register (FR) that it had accepted the SLR application for docketing and provided an opportunity for members of the public to file a request for hearing or petition to intervene on the application (85 FR 65438). On October 23, 2020, the NRC staff published a notice of its Intent to conduct an environmental scoping process and to prepare an environmental impact statement and requested comments on the scope of the EIS (85 FR 67572).4 The NRC staff held a public scoping meeting on November 4, 2020, in the form of an online webinar. In June 2021, the NRC staff issued its Environmental Impact Statement Scoping Process Summary Report, North Anna Power Station, Units 1 & 2, Louisa County, VA, (ML21181A127), which included the comments received during the scoping process and the NRC staffs responses to those comments.

In August 2021, the NRC staff issued a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement evaluating the environmental impacts of North Anna SLR, as a supplement to the Commission's Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants, NUREG-1437, dated June 2013. In evaluating the environmental impacts of SLR for North Anna, the staff (a) relied upon NUREG-1437, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Revision 1, Final Report, dated June 2013 (the LR GEIS) and 10 CFR part 51, Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions, subpart A, appendix B, table B-1, to evaluate the environmental impacts of generic (Category 1) issues, and (b) evaluated the environmental impacts of site-specific (Category 2) issues. The DSEIS documented the staffs environmental evaluation, including the determination that the adverse environmental impacts of SLR for North Anna are not so great that preserving the option of SLR for energy-planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable.

On February 24, 2022, the Commission issued a Memorandum and Order, CLI-22-2, in which it held that the NRC staff may not rely on the LR GEIS and 10 CFR part 51, subpart A, appendix B, table B-1, to evaluate the environmental impacts of generic Category 1 issues when considering the environmental impacts of SLR. As a result, the Commission determined, among other things, that the NRC staffs environmental review of the SLR application for North Anna Units 1 and 2 was incomplete. In addition, the Commission issued a further Memorandum and Order, CLI-22-3, in which it ruled on a number of procedural matters in the North Anna and four other SLR proceedings. Among other matters, the Commission (a) directed the NRC staff to review and update the 2013 GEIS so that it covers operation during the subsequent license renewal period; (b) directed the staff to evaluate Category 1 impacts on a site-specific basis in its EISs, pending the issuance of a revised GEIS; and (c) afforded applicants an opportunity to submit a revised environmental report providing site-specific information on the environmental impacts of SLR, or to await the agencys issuance of a revised LR GEIS that addresses such impacts on a generic basis.

3 The NRCs requirements for an ER supporting a SLRA can be found in 10 CFR 51.53(c)(3).

4 The staff published a correction to passcode listed in the Location column of the public scoping meeting notice, in an FR notice published on November 3, 2020 (85 FR 69665).

Consistent with the Commissions direction, on September 28, 2022, Dominion submitted Supplement 1 of the application, in which it provided a site-specific evaluation supplementing Appendix E, Environmental Report, (ML22272A041). On November 15, 2022, the NRC staff issued a notice of intent to prepare an EIS and to conduct limited EIS scoping (87 FR 68522) regarding the additional evaluation required by the Commission in CLI-22-3. In accordance with the Notice published at 87 FR 68522, the NRC staff will prepare a site-specific EIS to supplement its 2021 draft supplemental environmental impact statement (DSEIS) for North Anna SLR, i.e., NUREG-1437, Supplement 7, Second Renewal, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supplement 7, Second Renewal, Regarding Subsequent License Renewal for North Anna Power Station Unit Nos. 1 and 2, Draft Report (August 2021) (ML21228A084). During the NRC staff evaluation, staff decided to prepare a complete draft EIS that would supersede the August 2021 DSEIS.

A.2 Scoping Objectives and Process The first step in developing a site-specific EIS is to conduct a public scoping process to help staff determine the scope of the site-specific EIS. As discussed above, the NRC staff published a notice of its intent in 2020 to conduct a scoping process, following its receipt of the ER. The staff then conducted its environmental scoping process, issued a scoping summary report, and subsequently issued its DSEIS. Following Dominions submittal of its supplement to its Environmental Report, on November 15, 2022, the NRC staff published a FR notice announcing the staffs intent to prepare a site-specific EIS for the North Anna SLRA and to conduct a limited environmental scoping process. The FR notice (87 FR 68522) described the scoping process and invited the public and stakeholders to participate by submitting written comments by December 15, 2022. The limited scoping process described in that notice provided an opportunity for members of the public to highlight issues to be addressed in the site-specific EIS.

This scoping summary report: (a) summarizes the comments that the NRC staff received and (b) provides the determinations and conclusions that the NRC staff reached, during the limited scoping process. The objectives for the limited scoping process were as follows:

  • Define the proposed action, which is to be the subject of the site-specific EIS.
  • Gather data on the scope of the site-specific EIS and identify the significant issues to be analyzed in depth.
  • Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are peripheral or are not significant or were covered by a prior environmental review.
  • Identify any environmental assessments and other EISs that are being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of, the scope of the supplement to the 2021 DSEIS for North Anna SLR.
  • Identify other environmental review and consultation requirements related to the proposed action.
  • Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation of the environmental analyses and the Commissions tentative planning and decisionmaking schedule.
  • Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the supplement to the 2021 DSEIS for North Anna SLR, to the NRC and any cooperating agencies.
  • Describe how the site-specific EIS will be prepared, including any contractor assistance to be used.

The NRC staffs determinations and conclusions regarding the above objectives are as follows:

Define the Proposed Action The NRCs proposed action is to determine whether to renew the North Anna operating licenses for an additional 20 years.

Scope of Review, Issues to be analyzed in site-specific EIS, and Issues that are Peripheral or not Significant The scope of the site-specific EIS includes an evaluation of the environmental impacts of and reasonable alternatives to subsequent license renewal for North Anna, including the no-action alternative.

The significant issues identified in Section C of this report will be considered in the development of the draft EIS. Specifically, Section 3.13.3 of the draft EIS presents the NRC staffs evaluation of the proposed actions contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, observed changes in climate, including hurricanes, and potential future climate change during the SLR term based on climate model simulations under future global greenhouse gas emission scenarios. In Section 3.14 of the draft EIS, the NRC staff considered on a site-specific basis the potential cumulative, or overlapping, impacts from climate change on environmental resources where there are incremental impacts from the proposed action. Appendix F of the draft EIS discusses risks (including risks from earthquakes) from postulated accidents at the North Anna site.

Issues that are not significant for detailed study, or otherwise out of scope (e.g., peripheral issues), are not considered further in the EIS, consistent with 10 CFR 51.29(a)(3). General comments that do not raise significant issues or comments that challenge the NRC regulations and are the subject of petition for rule making will not be considered further in the draft EIS (see below Section C.2 Nontechnical (Peripheral or Not Significant) Comments and Comments Outside the Scope of the Environmental Review). In addition, comments that do not concern the environmental impacts of North Anna SLR on a site-specific basis are beyond the scope of the draft EIS.

Identification of Related Environmental Assessments and other EISs The NRC staff did not identify any upcoming or in-progress environmental assessments, which relate to, but are not within the scope of the North Anna site-specific EIS. As the NRC staff prepares the North Anna site-specific EIS, the staff will consider prior completed EISs, to the extent appropriate and consistent with the Commissions decisions in CLI-22-2 and CLI-22-3, such as:

  • the supplemental EIS for the combined license for proposed North Anna Unit 3 (ML100680117)

Other Environmental Review and Consultation Requirements In parallel with its NEPA review, the NRC staff is consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to evaluate the potential impacts of the operation of North Anna for an additional 20 years on endangered and threatened species and their critical habitats. Consistent with 36 CFR 800.8(c), Use of the NEPA Process for Section 106 Purposes, the NRC staff is also consulting with affected Indian Tribes and the State Historic Preservation Officer of Virginia to fulfill its Section 106 obligations under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

Timing of Agency Action Upon completion of the limited scoping process and site audits, completion of its review of Dominions ER and related documents, and completion of its own independent evaluations, the NRC staff will compile its findings in a draft site-specific EIS. The NRC staff will make the draft site-specific EIS available for public comment. Based on the information gathered during this public comment period, the NRC staff will amend the draft site-specific EIS findings, as necessary, and will then publish the final site-specific EIS. The NRC will also prepare and provide a record of decision in accordance with 10 CFR 51.102, Requirement to provide a record of decision; preparation, and 10 CFR 51.103, Record of decisiongeneral. Separately from the environmental review, the NRC staff conducted a safety review and documented its results in a safety evaluation report (SER). The NRC will consider the findings in both the site-specific EIS and the SER in its decision on whether to issue or deny the North Anna subsequent renewed licenses.

The NRC staffs current schedule is to reach a decision on the North Anna SLR by August 2024.

Identification of Cooperating Agencies No other Federal agency is participating in the environmental review as a cooperating agency.

How the Site-specific EIS will be Prepared, Including Contractor Assistance The site-specific EIS will be prepared by the NRC staff with contractor support for document editing and public comment support.

Future Opportunities for Public Participation The NRC staff plans to issue a draft site-specific EIS, for public comment in December 2023.

The draft site-specific EIS public comment period will provide an opportunity for members of the public; the applicant; interested Federal, State, and local government agencies; Tribal governments; and local organizations to provide further input into the NRCs environmental review. The NRC staff will consider the comments received on the draft site-specific EIS in the preparation of the final site-specific EIS. The NRC staff plans to issue a final site-specific EIS in July 2024. The site-specific EIS, along with the NRC staffs SER, will document the information considered and evaluations performed by the NRC staff in evaluating the North Anna SLRA.

The site-specific EIS and the SER will also provide the basis for the NRCs decision on whether to issue or deny the North Anna subsequent renewed licenses.

Scoping Process Conclusion The comments provided during the limited environmental scoping process identified issues for consideration in the NRC staffs environmental review. In the draft EIS, the NRC will not consider issues that do not pertain to the staffs environmental evaluation or are beyond the scope of the SLR review (see above Scope of Review, Issues to be analyzed in site-specific EIS, and Issues that are Peripheral or Not Significant).

B. List of Commenters Table B-1 provides a list of commenters during the limited scoping process who provided comment submissions (i.e., non-form letter submissions) identified by name, affiliation (if stated), the correspondence identification (ID) number, the comment source, and the ADAMS accession number for the source. Each comment was marked with a correspondence ID number which is a unique identifier consisting of the comment source and a comment number.

For example, Comment 2-1 refers to the first comment from the second comment source. This unique identifier allows each comment to be traced back to the source where the comment was identified. Comments were consolidated and categorized according to a resource area or topic.

Table B-1 Individuals Providing Comments during the Limited Scoping Comment Period ADAMS Comment Accession Commenter Affiliation Correspondence ID Source Number Carlson, Phil - 1 email ML22339A241 Curran, Diane Harmon, Curran, Spielberg 2 regulations.gov ML22350A062

& Eisenberg, LLP ADAMS = Agencywide Documents Access and Management System.

C. Summary of Comments Provided During the limited scoping comment period (87 FR 68522), the NRC staff received public comments for consideration in the development of the site-specific EIS. This section of the report summarizes the scoping comments. Comments were grouped based on being in scope or out of scope, and comments with similar themes were further sub-grouped to capture the resources concerned. Each comment submittal that was received (e.g., via www.regulations.gov) was uniquely identified with a commenter identification number. Out of scope comments will not be considered further in the draft EIS. Section B of this report contains a table that identifies the commenters, their affiliation if provided, and the ADAMS accession number for the comment submittals. Table C-1 identifies the statistics of comments received by resource area or topic.

Table C-1. Distribution of Comments by Resource Area Resource Area/Topic Number of Comments Received Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change 1 Postulated Accidents 2 General Support or Opposition to Licensing Action 1 Resource Area/Topic Number of Comments Received Outside Scope-Aging Management/Safety 2 C.1 Comments on the Resource Areas C.1.1 Comments Concerning Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change Comment summary: One commenter expressed a request of updated and current climate change information in the license renewal for North Anna, Units 1 and 2.

Comment: (2-1)

C.1.2 Comments Concerning Postulated Accidents Comment summary: One commenter requested that seismic activity from the 2011 Mineral Earthquake be considered in the license renewal for North Anna, Units 1 and 2.

Comment: (2-2)

Comment summary: One commenter requested that the EIS address mitigation measures for seismic activities for North Anna, Units 1 and 2.

Comment: (2-4)

C.2 Nontechnical (Peripheral or Not Significant) Comments and Comments Outside the Scope of the Environmental Review C.2.1 General Comments in Support of or Opposition to the Licensing Action Comment Summary: One commenter expressed general support for license renewal of the North Anna, Units1 and 2. The comment does not raise significant issues for detailed study. The commenter referenced North Anna's environmental record and the environmental advantages of its continued operation.

Comment: (1-1)

C.2.2 Comments Concerning Outside of Scope Issues Safety and Aging Management Comment summary: One commenter provided a comment about technical knowledge gaps related to aging management at North Anna, Units1 and 2.

Comment: (2-5)

Comment summary: One commenter highlighted the request for safety upgrades/analysis related to aging equipment.

Comment: (2-3)

D. Significant Issues Identified After the NRC staff delineated and grouped comments according to resource area/topic, the staff determined which of the issues identified during the scoping period that bear on the proposed action or its impacts, are significant, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.29(b). A summary of these significant issues, including each commenter unique identifier, is provided below.

Climate Change

  • A commenter requested that the site-specific EIS include updated and current climate change information (Comment 2-1).

Postulated Accidents

  • A commenter requested that seismic activity from the 2011 Mineral Earthquake be considered in the license renewal for North Anna, Units 1 and 2 (Comment 2-2).
  • A commenter requested that EIS address mitigation measures for seismic activities for North Anna, Units 1 and 2 (Comment 2-4).
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