STC-20-036, Letter for Notice of Intent to Conduct Scoping and Prepare an Advanced Nuclear Reactor Generic Environmental Impact Statement
| ML20114E140 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 04/30/2020 |
| From: | Cuadrado-Caraballo L NRC/NMSS/DMSST/ASPB |
| To: | State, Agreement States, State, Non-Agreement States |
| Barnhurst, Daniel/NMSS | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20114E139 | List: |
| References | |
| NRC-2020-0101, STC-20-036 | |
| Download: ML20114E140 (3) | |
Text
April 30, 2020 ALL AGREEMENT AND NON-AGREEMENT STATES STATE LIAISON OFFICERS ALL FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN TRIBES NOTIFICATION OF THE INTENT TO CONDUCT A SCOPING PROCESS AND PREPARE A GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTORS (STC-20-036)
Purpose:
To inform States and Indian Tribes that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is preparing an Advanced Nuclear Reactor (ANR) Generic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for small-scale advanced nuclear reactors. As part of the scoping process, the NRC is seeking public comments to gather information necessary to prepare this Generic EIS, including reaching out to Federally recognized Tribes in accordance with its Tribal Policy Statement.
Background:
The NRC is developing the Generic EIS in order to streamline the environmental review process for future small-scale ANR applications. The purpose of an ANR Generic EIS is to determine which environmental impacts could result in essentially the same (generic) impact for different advanced nuclear reactor designs that fit within the parameters set in the Generic EIS, and which environmental impacts could result in different levels of impacts requiring a plant-specific analysis. Environmental reviews for small-scale ANR license applications could incorporate the ANR Generic EIS by reference and provide site-specific information and analyses in a Supplemental EIS, thereby streamlining the environmental review process.
Discussion: For the purposes of the Generic EIS, the NRC considers a small-scale ANR as a reactor having the potential to generate up to approximately 30 megawatts thermal with a correspondingly small environmental footprint. The thermal power level limit of the ANR and the environmental footprint used in the Generic EIS are topics that will be determined during the scoping process. In comparison, the thermal output from a large light water reactor is thousands of megawatts and much larger environmental footprint (hundreds of acres).
The NRC will not authorize construction or operation of any advanced nuclear reactors through the ANR Generic EIS. Consultation required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act will be conducted and included in the Supplemental EIS for each application and will not be part of the ANR Generic EIS.
Enclosed is the Federal Register (FR) Notice To Conduct Scoping and Prepare an Advanced Nuclear Reactor Generic Environmental Impact Statement, 84 FR 24040 (April 30, 2020) requesting comments on the scope of the ANR Generic EIS. This information is also available at regulations.gov (NRC-2020-0101). If you wish to provide comments on the scope of the Generic EIS, please provide them to the NRC by June 30, 2020. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is only able to assure consideration for comments received on or before June 30, 2020. Information about methods for submitting your comments is available in the enclosed FR notice and at regulations.gov. (NRC-2020-0101).
The NRC is also planning to hold a public scoping webinar on May 28, 2020, from 1:00 -
4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Specific details about the meetings can be found in the FR notice or on the NRCs public meeting webpage at https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg. Teleconference phone lines will also be available for this meeting.
If you have any questions with respect to this correspondence, please contact me at (301) 415-0324, or the individual named below:
POINT OF CONTACT: Jack Cushing E-MAIL: Jack.Cushing@nrc.gov TELEPHONE:
(301) 415-1424 / (240) 423-0704 Leira Cuadrado, Acting Chief State Agreement and Liaison Programs Branch Division of Materials Safety, Security, State, and Tribal Programs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Enclosure:
NRC FR Notice of Intent to Prepare an ANR GEIS Leira Y. Cuadrado-Caraballo Digitally signed by Leira Y.
Cuadrado-Caraballo Date: 2020.05.05 15:04:48
-04'00'
SUBJECT:
NOTIFICATION OF THE INTENT TO CONDUCT A SCOPING PROCESS AND PREPARE A GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTORS (STC-20-036)
DATED: APRIL 30, 2020 DISTRIBUTION:
KErwin, NMSS LWillingham, NMSS DPalmrose, NMSS MSutton, NRR LRakovan, NMSS JOlmstead, NMSS JDavis, NMSS JTappert, NMSS KCoyne, NMSS Accession Nos.: ML20114E139 (Package)
AWalker-Smith* LCuadrado* MWright*
DAlley*
DATE 04/17/2020 04/17/2020 04/09/2020 4/30/2020 4/16/2020 04/21/2020 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY