ML11265A097

Response to Nepa 06/15/2011 Letter Re Draft Supplemental EIS for License Renewal of Prairie Island Units 1 & 2

ML11265A097
Person / Time
Site:	Prairie Island
Issue date:	11/28/2011
From:	Wrona D J License Renewal Projects Branch 2
To:	Westlake K A Environmental Protection Agency
Keegan E M, 415-8517
References
Download: ML11265A097 (4)

Text

UNITED NUCLEAR REGULATORY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 November 28, 2011 Kenneth A. Westlake, Chief NEPA Implementation Section Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 77 West Jackson Boulevard Chicago, IL 60604-3590

Dear Mr. Westlake:

Your letter dated June 15, 2011, requested that U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provide additional information on some of the comments your office provided on the draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the license renewal of the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant (PINGP), Units 1 and 2. The NRC believes the requested information is presented in the final SEIS (FSEIS). Additionally, you recommended that license conditions be added to the PINGP operating license that commit Northern States Power Co. (NSP) to mitigate traffic impacts to the Prairie Island Indian Community (PIIC), establish excavation procedures to preserve archaeological sites, and conduct noise monitoring and mitigation.

NSP has expressed a willingness to work with the PIIC to help ease traffic and noise issues that may arise as a result of steam generator replacement work. Additionally, NSP now has excavation procedures in place which have been reviewed by all interested parties to ensure future excavations are done in a manner that is respectful of any archaeological resources that may be present. However, while mitigation actions are identified in the SEIS, NRC cannot require a licensee to implement mitigation actions that are not related to nuclear safety at the plant. A number of the other comments are related to identifying specific radionuclides and their associated risk factors. Compliance with NRC radiation protection standards is based on dose. The staff believes that reporting risk on the individual radio nuclides discharged without a regulatory standard with which to compare the risk, would not provide an appropriate assessment of the impacts from the discharge.

The NRC staff also believes that reporting risk from individual radionuclides would result in confusion about the significance of the quantities released.

The PINGP SEIS is a site-specific evaluation of the environrnental impacts associated with the continued operation of PINGP. The SEIS is tiered from NUREG-1437, "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants" (GElS). The GElS was developed to avoid duplication of effort with report to issues that are generic to all nuclear plants and to allow the staff to focus specifically on those issues that are unique to a particular plant (i.e., issues that are not generic).

This is an appropriate and effective use of the concept of tiering that was set forth by the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) (40 CFR Section 1502.20)

K. Westlake -2 in its 1978 regulations that implemented the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. After receiving your letter, the staff reviewed your comments and determined that the letter did not contain new and significant information that would have caused any findings in the SEIS to be changed. Based upon the evaluations documented in the SEIS and in the Safety Evaluation Report, NRC issued Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-42 (Unit 1) and DPR-60 (Unit 2) for the PINGP on June 27, 2011. If you have questions, please contact Elaine Keegan, of my staff, at 301-415-8517.

Sincerely, David J. Wrona, Chief Projects Branch 2 Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-282 and 50-306 cc: Listserv K. Westlake -2 in its 1978 regulations that implemented the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. After receiving your letter, the staff reviewed your comments and determined that the letter did not contain new and significant information that would have caused any findings in the SEIS to be changed. Based upon the evaluations documented in the SEIS and in the Safety Evaluation Report, NRC issued Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-42 (Unit 1) and DPR-60 (Unit 2) for the PINGP on June 27, 2011. If you have questions, please contact Elaine Keegan, of my staff, at 301-415-8517.

Sincerely, IRA! David J. Wrona, Chief Projects Branch 2 Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-282 and 50-306 cc: Listserv ADAMS Accession Number" " ML11265A097 BC:DLR/RERB Almboden OFFICE LADLR

• PM: DLR/RPB2 OGC (NLO) BMizuno NAME IKing EKeegan 11/412011 11/21/2011 10/26/2011 DATE 10/26/2011 OFFICE DWrona 11/2812011

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