ML24274A040
| ML24274A040 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 99902056 |
| Issue date: | 10/01/2024 |
| From: | Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards |
| To: | |
| References | |
| Download: ML24274A040 (5) | |
Text
FOR NHPA SECTION 106 COMMENT 1
Historic and Cultural Resources Impacts The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Clinch River Nuclear (CRN) Site is located in an area of eastern North America that has experienced human habitation and use for over 10,000 years, including during the pre-contact Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian periods, and during the post-contact Spanish, European, and American periods (NRC 2019-TN6136: Section 2.7.1).
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staffs assessment of the historic and cultural resources impacts related to the construction of two or more small modular reactors (SMRs) at the CRN Site was provided in Section 4.6 of the Early Site Permit (ESP)
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) (NRC 2019-TN6136). Evaluation of impacts within the ESP EIS area of potential effect (APE) included the CRN Site as a whole, Barge Traffic Area, Melton Hill Dam, and areas throughout the CRN Site that had the potential for deeply buried cultural deposits present at depths exceeding 80 cm (TVA and TSHPO 2016-TN5298).
Based on the NRC staffs analysis in the ESP EIS, staff concluded that the construction impacts to historic and cultural resources would be MODERATE to LARGE, because the direct and indirect APE for the ESP EIS includes eligible and potentially eligible historic properties, and, since the ESP EIS evaluated the site irrespective of the exact location of building activities (i.e., ground disturbance), all eligible and potentially eligible properties could be theoretically impacted by future building activities. The staff concluded that there was the potential for an adverse effect under National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)
Section 106, and thus led to a MODERATE to LARGE National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) impact determination in the ESP EIS.
However, during the current review and audit of the exemption request, the staff confirmed that Melton Hill Dam has been removed from the proposed project. The APE for the current exemption request undertaking will therefore be the remainder of the previously evaluated direct and indirect effects APE from the NRC ESP EIS (NRC 2019-TN6136). For consistency, the same APE is being utilized for this undertaking (Figure 1), since the exemption request-related activities are a small discrete part of the overall project. Activities associated with the installation of the initial ground support system involve a small area within the ESP EIS APE in which potential impacts to historic and cultural resources could occur (TVA 2023-TN10326 and TVA 2024-TN10331). This area defined in Figure 1 as the Exemption Request-related Activities Area, is confined to the portion of the CRN Site that was previously disturbed through excavation activities associated with the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project (CRBRP) in the early 1980s (TVA 2023-TN10326). Historic, archaeological, and cultural resources surveys dating between the 1940s-2010s confirm that there are no NRHP eligible or potentially eligible historic properties, including traditional cultural properties, within this exemption request-related activities portion of the APE (NRC 2019-TN6136; TVA 2022-TN10323; TVA 2023-TN10326; TVA 2024-TN10331). Furthermore, this location within the CRN Site does not have the potentialdue to previous disturbance for deeply buried deposits based on archaeological evidence and consultation between the NRC, TVA, the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), and Native American Tribes (NRC 2019-TN6136; TVA 2022-TN10323; TVA 2023-TN10326; TVA 2024-TN10331).
FOR NHPA SECTION 106 COMMENT 2
Figure 1.
Direct and Indirect Effects Area of Potential Effect (APE) in Relation to the Exemption Request-Related Activities Area.
The staff determined that the historic and cultural resources impacts related to the exemption request-related activities within this reduced area of the larger ESP APE and suite of activities evaluated in the ESP EIS would not be significant due to: (1) the previously disturbed context of the location where installation of the initial ground support system would occur, (2) the lack of cultural resources (including historic properties) identified in this specific exemption request-related activities location, based on numerous previous surveys (see NRC 2019-TN6136; TVA 2022-TN10323), and (3) the lack of a potential for deeply buried cultural resources (including historic properties) in this location (NRC 2019-TN6136; TVA 2022-TN10323; TVA 2023-TN10326; TVA 2024-TN10331).
During the staffs audit of the exemption request, the staff requested updated information regarding exemption-related activities and discussed that information with TVA.
The staff did not identify any new and significant information related to cultural and historic
FOR NHPA SECTION 106 COMMENT 3
resources associated with the exemption request-related activities that would affect the above determination that the impacts from the exemption request-related activities would not be significant (TVA 2024-TN10331).
While there are no cultural resources that have the potential to be affected by exemption-related activities, TVA has executed a Programmatic Agreement (PA) with the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Office and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (as a concurring party), which stipulates the process by which TVA will comply with Section 106 of the NHPA of 1966, as amended for the CRN Site (TVA and TSHPO 2016-TN5298).
The NRC staff has made a preliminary determination of No Adverse Effects for this undertaking. Consultation with the SHPO and Native American Tribes is ongoing and will be summarized in the EA.
Agencies Consulted For the ESP EIS, the staff consulted with multiple Federal, State, Tribal and local organizations under NHPA. A complete list of organizations contacted is included in Appendix B of the ESP EIS. Comments from these agencies regarding the ESP are included in Appendix E of the ESP EIS (NRC 2019-TN6136).
The NRC staff initiated consultation for the exemption request on July 26, 2024, with the SHPO (NRC 2024-TN10336), Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) (NRC 2024-TN10336), and 20 federally recognized Tribes (NRC 2024-TN10342), including the (1)
Absentee Shawnee Tribe; (2) Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas; (3) Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; (4) Cherokee Nation; (5) Chickasaw Nation; (6) Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; (7) Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; (8) Delaware Nation; (9) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; (10) Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; (11) Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; (12)
Kialegee Tribal Town; (13) Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; (14) Muscogee Nation; (15)
Poarch Band of Creek Indians; (16) Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; (17) Seminole Tribe of Florida; (18) Shawnee Tribe; (19) Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; and (20) United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. Initiation also included notifying all parties that the NRC staff was utilizing the process described in 36 CFR 800.8(c) to use the NEPA process to comply with Section 106 of the NHPA in lieu of the procedures set forth in 36 CFR 800.3 through 36 CFR 800.6. Further consultation regarding identification, assessment of effects, and resolution of any adverse effects will occur during review of this EA.
REFERENCES NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). 2019. Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the Clinch River Nuclear Site. NUREG-2226, Washington, D.C.
ADAMS Package Accession No. ML19087A266. TN6136.
FOR NHPA SECTION 106 COMMENT 4
NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). 2024. Letter from J.M. Moses, Deputy Director Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, to Honorable John Raymond Johnson, Governor, Absentee Shawnee Tribe; Honorable Bill Anoatubby, Governor, Chickasaw Nation; Honorable Chuck Hostin, Jr., Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation; Honorable Rick Sylestine, Chairman, Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas; Honorable Wilson Yargee, Chief, Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Honorable Joe Bunch, Chief, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians; Honorable Ryan K. Morrow, Town King, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; Honorable Ben Barnes, Chief, Shawnee Tribe; Honorable Marcellus W. Osceola, Jr., Seminole Tribe of Florida; Honorable Lewis J. Johnson, Chief, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Honorable Stephanie A. Bryan, Chairwoman, Poarch Band of Creek Indians; Honorable David Hill, Principal Chief, Muscogee Nation; Honorable Cyrus Ben, Chief, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Honorable Stephanie Yahola, Mekko Kialegee Tribal Town; Libby Rogers, Principal Chief, Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Honorable Glenna J.
Wallace, Chief, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Honorable Mitchell Hicks, Principle Chief, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Honorable Deborah Dotson, President, Delaware Nation; Honorable Jonathan Cernek, Chairwoman, Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Honorable Gary Batton, Chief, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, dated July 26, 2024, regarding Request to Initiate Section 106 Consultation for the Clinch River Nuclear Site Project Exemption Request Review in Roane County, Tennessee (Docket Number 99902056). Washington, D.C. ADAMS Accession Package No. ML24172A248. TN10342.
NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission). 2024. Letter from M. Rome, Chief, Environmental Technical Review Branch 1, Division of Rulemaking, Environment, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, to E. P. McIntyre, JR., Executive Director and State Historic Preservation Officer, Tennessee Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Office, dated July 26, 2024, regarding Request to Initiate Section 106 Consultation for the Clinch River Nuclear Site Project Exemption Request Review in Roane County, Tennessee (Docket Number: 99902056). Washington, D.C. Agencywide Document Management System (ADAMS) Accession Package No. ML24172A196. TN10336.
TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). 2022. Clinch River Nuclear Site Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technology Park Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, Roane County, Tennessee. Chattanooga, Tennessee. TN10323.
TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). 2023. Letter from S.W. Hunnewell, Vice President, New Nuclear Program, to NRC Document Control Desk, dated November 30, 2023, regarding Request for Exemption from 10 CFR 50.10(c) to Allow Excavation at the Clinch River Nuclear Site Prior to Construction Permit Issuance. NNP-23-004, Chattanooga, Tennessee. ADAMS Accession No. ML23335A100. TN10326.
TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). 2024. Letter from S.W. Hunnewell, Vice President, New Nuclear Program, to NRC Document Control Desk, dated July 10, 2024, regarding Response to Excavation Exemption Request Audit and Information Needs. NNP-24-003, Chattanooga, Tennessee. ADAMS Accession No. ML24193A301. TN10331.
TVA and TSHPO (Tennessee Valley Authority and Tennessee State Historic Preservation Office). 2016. Programmatic Agreement Between the Tennessee Valley Authority and
FOR NHPA SECTION 106 COMMENT 5
Tennessee State Historic Preservation Office Regarding the Management of Historic Properties Affected by the Clinch River SMR Project. TVA, Knoxville Tennessee and TSHPO, Nashville, Tennessee. ADAMS Accession No. ML17296A399. TN5298.