ML17083A015

Ltr State Liaison Officer, R Weisenmiller, Review of the Draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Humboldt Bay Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Decommissioning Funding Plan (72-27) (L24812)(ML16

ML17083A015
Person / Time
Site:	Humboldt Bay
Issue date:	04/25/2016
From:	Steve Ruffin Spent Fuel Licensing Branch
To:	Weisenmiller R State of CA, Energy Commission
Longmire P
References
CAC L24812
Download: ML17083A015 (3)

Text

PRE-DECISIONAL INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION IS LIMITED TO USE BY THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION. THIS INFORMATION SHALL NOT BE DISCLOSED WITHOUT PRIOR NRC PERMISSION.

PRE-DECISIONAL INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION IS LIMITED TO USE BY THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION THIS INFORMATION SHALL NOT BE DISCLOSED WITHOUT PRIOR NRC PERMISSION.

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 April 25, 2016

State Liaison Officer Robert Weisenmiller, Chairman California Energy Commission

1516 Ninth Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

SUBJECT:

REVIEW OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT FOR THE HUMBOLDT BAY INDEPENDENT SPENT FUEL STORAGE INSTALLATION DECOMMISSIONING FUNDING

PLAN

Dear Mr. Weisenmiller:

By letters dated December 17, 2012, and December 17, 2015, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PGEC) submitted decommissioning funding plans (DFP) for the Humboldt Bay Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), located in California, for the U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff review and approval.

The NRC regulations at Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 72, "Licensing Requirements for the Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater than Class C Waste," govern the storage of spent nuclear fuel (spent fuel) generated at commercial nuclear power reactors licensed by the NRC. Spent fuel that has been removed from the reactor's spent fuel pool is typically stored at a nuclear power plant's ISFSI.

The NRC requires its licensees to plan for t he eventual decommissioning of their licensed facilities prior to license termination.

On June 17, 2011, the NRC published a final rule amending its decommissioning planning regulations (76 Federal Register (FR) 35512). The final rule amended the NRC regulation, 10 CFR 72.30, which concerns financial assurance and decommissioning for ISFSIs. This regulation now requires each holder of, or applicant for, a license under 10 CFR Part 72 to submit, for NRC review and approval, a DFP. The purpose of the DFP is to demonstrate the licensee's financial assurance, i.e., that funds will be available to decommission the ISFSI. The NRC staff is reviewing the information submitted by PGEC, Specifically, the NRC must determine whether PGEC DFP contains the information required by 10 CFR 72.30(b) and 10 CFR 72.30 (c) Tri-Annual Update and whether PGEC has provided reasonable assurance that funds will be available to decommission the ISFSI.

The Humboldt Bay ISFSI DFP is publicly available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The ADAMS accession number for the application package is ML12353A316 for the 2012 submittal and ML15351A510 for the 2015 submittal.

PRE-DECISIONAL INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION IS LIMITED TO USE BY THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION. THIS INFORMATION SHALL NOT BE DISCLOSED WITHOUT PRIOR NRC PERMISSION.

PRE-DECISIONAL INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION IS LIMITED TO USE BY THE . THIS INFORMATION SHALL NOT BE DISCLOSED WITHOUT PRIOR NRC PERMISSION.

In accordance with 10 CFR Part 51, the NRC regulations that implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the agency has prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed action (enclosed). We are providing your office with the opportunity to review the draft EA and comment on environmental issues prior to the public issuance and publication of the EA. We request that distribution and use of the enclosed draft EA be limited only to those staff involved in the review and comment process.

Please submit any comments within 30 days of the receipt of this letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Document Control Desk, ATTN: Steve Ruffin, Mail Stop: TWFN 4E-04, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Richard Baum of my staff by telephone at 301-415-0018, or by e-mail at richard.baum

@nrc.gov. The NRC staff will consider your timely comments and will revise the EA, as appropriate, before its final issuance and publication. Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely, /RA/

Steve Ruffin, Acting Chief Spent Fuel Licensing Branch Division of Spent Fuel Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

Docket No.: 72-27 TAC No.: L24812

Enclosure:

Draft Environmental Assessment

PRE-DECISIONAL INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION IS LIMITED TO USE BY THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION. THIS INFORMATION SHALL NOT BE DISCLOSED WITHOUT PRIOR NRC PERMISSION.

PRE-DECISIONAL INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION IS LIMITED TO USE BY THE . THIS INFORMATION SHALL NOT BE DISCLOSED WITHOUT PRIOR NRC PERMISSION. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 51, the NRC regulations that implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the agency has prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed action (enclosed). We are providing your office with the opportunity to review the draft EA and comment on environmental issues prior to the public issuance and publication of the EA. We request that distribution and use of the enclosed draft EA be limited only to those staff involved in the review and comment process.

Please submit any comments within 30 days of the receipt of this letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Document Control Desk, ATTN: Steve Ruffin, Mail Stop: TWFN 4E-04, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Richard Baum of my staff by telephone at 301-415-0018, or by e-mail at richard.baum

@nrc.gov. The NRC staff will consider your timely comments and will revise the EA, as appropriate, before its final issuance and publication. Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

/RA/ Steve Ruffin, Acting Chief Spent Fuel Licensing Branch Division of Spent Fuel Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

Docket No.: 72-27 TAC No.: L24812

Enclosure:

Draft Environmental Assessment

G:SFST\72.30 Decommissioning Funding Plans\2015 Submission Part 70.30 (c)\Humboldt Bay DFP Consultation Letter to State.docx G:SFST\72.30 Decommissioning Funding Plans\2015 Submission Part 70.30 (c)\Humboldt Bay Draft EA for Consultation.docx ADAMS P8 Accession No.: ML16120A550 Letter: ML16120A553

Enclosure:

ML16120A554 OFC DSFM DSFM DSFM DSFM NAME RBaum WWheatley SRuffin DATE 4/13/16 4/18/16 4/25/16 C = COVER E = COVER & ENCLOSURE N = NO COPY OFFICIAL RECORD COPY