ML15314A484
ML15314A484 | |
Person / Time | |
---|---|
Site: | Turkey Point |
Issue date: | 07/31/2014 |
From: | NRC/OGC |
To: | Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
SECY RAS | |
References | |
RAS 28490, ASLBP 15-935-02-LA-BD01, 50-250-LA, 50-251-LA | |
Download: ML15314A484 (7) | |
Text
44464 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices discharge from the wet weather facilities; and (3) all defendants are in
violation of the Clean Water Act and
their NPDES permits because they have
unlawful sanitary sewer overflows
(SSOs) during wet weather.
The proposed Consent Decree implements a regional asset
management program that puts the
defendants on a path to eliminate
prohibited wet weather facility
discharges by December 31, 2035, and to
control SSOs within ten years of Decree
entry. Among other things, the
defendants will rehabilitate and clean
sanitary sewer infrastructure, identify
and eliminate sources of inflow and
rapid infiltration to the sewer systems, and continue to require repair or
replacement of private sewer laterals
under local and regional ordinances.
In addition, each defendant will pay a civil penalty for its past violations, for
a total of $1,563,556 in civil penalties.
EBMUD will pay $201,600; the City of
Alameda will pay $111,150; the City of
Albany will pay $42,038; the City of
Berkeley will pay $267,000; the City of
Emeryville will pay $1,870; the City of Oakland will pay $850,000; the City of
Piedmont will pay $41,038; and the
Stege Sanitary District will pay $48,860.
The proposed Consent Decree replaces a January 2009 interim
settlement with EBMUD and a March
2011 interim settlement with the
Satellite Communities.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on the
proposed Consent Decree. Comments
should be addressed to the Assistant
Attorney General, Environment and
Natural Resources Division, and should
refer to United States of America et al.
- v. East Bay Municipal Utility District et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-1-1-09361. All comments must be submitted no later
than thirty (30) days after the
publication date of this notice.
Comments may be submitted either by
email or by mail:
To submit comments:
Send them to: By email.......
pubcomment-ees.enrd@
usdoj.gov. By mail.........Assistant Attorney General, U.S. DOJENRD, P.O.
Box 7611, Washington, DC
20044-7611.
During the public comment period, the proposed Consent Decree may be examined and downloaded at this
Department of Justice Web site:
http:// www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent
_Decrees.html.
We will provide a paper copy of the proposed Consent Decree
upon written request and payment of reproduction costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent Decree
Library, U.S. DOJENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
Please enclose a check or money order for $54.25 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the U.S.
Treasury.
Henry Friedman, Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2014-18047 Filed 7-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Notice of Lodging of Proposed Joint Stipulation under the Clean Water Act On July 25, 2014, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed settlement with the United States District Court for
the District of Alaska in the lawsuit
entitled United States and Alaska
- v. BP (Exploration) Alaska, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:14-cv-00146.
The United States and State of Alaska filed this lawsuit under the Clean Water
Act against BP (Exploration) Alaska, Inc.
The complaint seeks civil penalties and
injunctive relief for violations of the
Clean Water Act, as amended by the Oil
Pollution Act of 1990, 33 U.S.C. 2701 et
seq., and Alaska Statutes 46.03.710 and
46.03.740. The settlement provides a
covenant not to sue in return for
defendants payment of $450,000.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on the
settlement. Comments should be
addressed to the Assistant Attorney
General, Environment and Natural
Resources Division, and should refer to
United States and Alaska
- v. BP (Exploration) Alaska, Inc., D.J. Ref. No.
90-5-1-1-08808/1. All comments must
be submitted no later than thirty (30)
days after the publication date of this
notice. Comments may be submitted
either by email or by mail:
To submit com-ments: Send them to: By email.................
pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov. By mail...................Assistant Attorney Gen-eral, U.S. DOJ-ENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
During the public comment period, the settlement may be examined and downloaded at this Justice Department
Web site:
Consent_Decrees.html.
We will provide a paper copy of the settlement upon written request and payment of
reproduction costs. Please mail your
request and payment to: Consent Decree
Library, U.S. DOJENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
Please enclose a check or money order for $3 (25 cents per page reproduction
cost) payable to the United States
Treasury.
Susan Akers, Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2014-17980 Filed 7-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-250 and 50-251; NRC-2014-0181]
Florida Power & Light Company; Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit
Nos. 3 and 4 AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and final finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
SUMMARY
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of amendments to Renewed
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-31
and DPR-41 issued to Florida Power &
Light Company (FPL, the licensee) for
operation of Turkey Point Nuclear
Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4 (Turkey
Point) located in Homestead, Miami-
Dade County, Florida. The proposed
amendments would increase the
ultimate heat sink (UHS) water temperature limit specified in the Turkey Point Technical Specifications (TSs) from 100 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) to 104°F and add a surveillance requirement to monitor the UHS temperature more frequently if the UHS
temperature approaches the new limit.
The NRC did not identify any
significant environmental impacts
associated with the proposed license
amendments based on its evaluation of
the information provided in the
licensees application and other
available information. Accordingly, the
NRC has prepared this Environmental
Assessment (EA) and Final Finding of
No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the
proposed license amendments.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0181 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may access publicly available VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00082Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44465 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices information related to this document using any of the following methods:
- Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0181. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-3422;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
For technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FORFURTHER INFORMATIONCONTACT section of this document.
- NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly
available documents online in the NRC
Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
To begin the search, select ADAMS
Public Documents and then select
Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.
For problems with ADAMS, please contact
the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR)
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-
415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@
nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this
notice (if that document is available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that
a document is referenced. For the
convenience of the reader, the ADAMS
accession numbers are also provided in
a table in the Availability of
Documents section of this document.
- NRCs PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at
the NRCs PDR, Room O1-F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. FORFURTHERINFORMATIONCONTACT
- Audrey L. Klett, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-
0489; email:
Audrey.Klett@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARYINFORMATION
- I. Introduction The NRC is considering issuance of amendments to Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. DPR-31 and
DPR-41 issued to FPL for operation of
Turkey Point, located in Homestead, Miami-Dade County, Florida. As required by §51.21 of Title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 51.21), the NRC staff performed an
EA to document its findings related to
the proposed license amendments. FPL submitted its license amendment request by letter dated July 10, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14196A006) and subsequently supplemented its application by letters dated July 17, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML14202A392), July 22, 2014 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML14204A367 and ML14204A368), and July 24, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14206A853).
Based on information provided in FPLs
application and associated supplements, the NRC staffs independent review, and
the NRCs consultation with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
pursuant to section 7 of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA),
the NRC did not identify any significant
environmental impacts associated with
the proposed license amendments.
Based on the results of the EA documented herein, the NRC is issuing
this final FONSI, in accordance with 10
CFR 51.32, for the proposed license
amendments.
II. Environmental Assessment
Plant Site and Environs The Turkey Point site encompasses 11,000 acres (ac) (4,450 hectares (ha)) in
Miami-Dade County, Florida. The site
lies 25 miles (mi) (40 kilometers [km])
south of Miami, Florida, and the nearest
city limits are Florida City, which lies
8 mi (13 km) to the west, Homestead, which lies 4.5 mi (7 km) to the
northwest, and Key Largo, which lies 10
mi (16 km) south of the Turkey Point
site. The Turkey Point site is bordered
to the east by Biscayne National Park, to
the north by Homestead Bayfront Park
and a portion of Biscayne National Park, and on the west and south by FPLs
13,000-ac (5,260-ha) Everglades
Mitigation Bank. The Turkey Point site
includes five electric generating units.
Units 1, 2, and 5 are fossil-fueled
generating units and are not covered by
the proposed licensing action; Units 3
and 4 are nuclear generating units. Each
nuclear reactor is a Westinghouse
pressurized light-water reactor that
generates electricity via three steam
generators that produce steam that turns
turbines. The site features a 6,100-ac
(2,500-ha) closed cooling canal system (CCS) that cools heated water
discharged by Units 1 through 4. Unit 5
uses mechanical draft cooling towers for
cooling, draws makeup water from the
Upper Floridan Aquifer, and discharges
blowdown to the CCS. The five units
and supporting equipment (excluding
the CCS) occupy approximately 130 ac
(53 ha). The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the NRCs predecessor agency, and the NRC have previously conducted
environmental reviews of Turkey Point
in several documents, and the
descriptions therein continue to
accurately depict the Turkey Point site
and environs. Those documents include
the AECs July 1972 Final
Environmental Statement (FES); the
NRCs January 2002 Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants:
Regarding Turkey Point Units 3 and 4
Final Report (NUREG-1437, Supplement 5) (ADAMS Accession No.
ML020280236); and the NRCs March
2012 environmental assessment and
final FONSI for the Turkey Point
extended power uprate (EPU) (ADAMS
Accession No. ML12074A251).
Identification of the Proposed Action The proposed action would increase the UHS water temperature limit
specified in the Turkey Point TSs and
add a surveillance requirement to
monitor the UHS temperature more
frequently if the UHS temperature
approaches the new limit. The proposed
action is in accordance with the
licensees application dated July 10, 2014, as supplemented by letters dated
July 17, July 22 (two letters), and July
24, 2014.
More specifically, the proposed action would amend Appendix A of Turkey
Points Renewed Facility Operating
Licenses in order to revise the UHS
temperature limit set forth in TS
Limiting Operating Condition (LOC) 3/
4.7.4 from 100
°F to 104 °F. The CCS serves as the UHS for the Intake Cooling
Water (ICW) system and provides the
coolant for the Circulating Water (CW) system. The CW system provides
cooling water to the main plant
condensers, and the ICW system
removes heat loads from the Component
Cooling Water (CCW) system during
normal and accident conditions to
support both reactor and containment
heat removal requirements as well as
spent fuel cooling requirements.
Currently, TS LOC 3/4.7.4 includes a Surveillance Requirement (SR) that
necessitates the licensee to verify the
UHS (CCS) temperature once every 24-
hour period and confirm that the
average supply water temperature is
within the 100
°F limit. The proposed license amendments would modify the
SR to require the licensee to verify the
average supply water temperature to be
within the new TS limit at least once
per 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />, and once per hour when
the water temperature exceeds 100
°F. FPL monitors the UHS (CCS)
temperature at a point in the ICW
system piping going into the inlet of the
CCW Heat Exchangers.
The license amendment would require the licensee to place both units
in at least hot standby within 12 hours1.388889e-4 days <br />0.00333 hours <br />1.984127e-5 weeks <br />4.566e-6 months <br />
and cold shutdown within the next 30
hours if the UHS exceeds 104
°F. The proposed TS revisions would not result in or require any physical changes
to Turkey Point systems, structures, or
components, including those intended
for the prevention of accidents. If VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00083Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44466 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices approved, the LAR would be effective from the date of NRC approval through
the expiration dates of the renewed
facility operating licenses (i.e., through
2032 for Unit 3 and 2033 for Unit 4).
The Need for the Proposed Action The proposed action is needed to provide FPL with additional operational
flexibility during periods when high air
temperatures, low rainfall, and other
factors contribute to conditions
resulting in a UHS temperature in
excess of 100
°F that would otherwise necessitate FPL to place Turkey Point in
cold shutdown. In its application, FPL
states that loss of load and voltage
control resulting from shutdown during
periods of high summer demand could
result in impacts to grid reliability. UHS
temperatures have recently approached
and exceeded the 100
°F TS limit on several occasions. On July 20, 2014, the
NRC approved a notice of enforcement
discretion (NOED), which allows the
UHS temperature to exceed 100
°F up to 103 °F for a period of no more than 10 days, as well as several other NOED exit
criteria. The NRC documented the
NOED in a letter to FPL dated July 23, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action As part of the original licensing review for Turkey Point, the AEC
published an FES in July 1972 that
evaluates potential environmental impacts associated with the operation of
Turkey Point over its initial 40-year
operating period (1972-2012 for Unit 3
and 1973-2013 for Unit 4). In 2002, the
NRC evaluated the environmental
impacts of operating Turkey Point for an
additional 20 years beyond the original
operating license (i.e., through 2032 for
Unit 3 and 2033 for Unit 4) and
predicted that the environmental
impacts of license renewal were small
for all environmental resources.
NUREG-1437, Supplement 5 provides
that assessment. In 2012, the NRC
evaluated the impacts of a then-
proposed EPU at Turkey Point that
authorized the facility to increase the
maximum power level from 2300
megawatts thermal (MWt) to 2644 MWt
for each unit. The NRCs March 2012 EA
and final FONSI provide that
assessment.
As previously discussed, the proposed action would not result in or
require any physical changes to Turkey
Point systems, structures, or
components, including those intended
for the prevention of accidents. Further, the proposed license amendments
involve TS changes that would only result in changes in procedural and operational aspects undertaken by FPL
personnel for monitoring and
maintaining the UHS temperature limit
as measured at the ICW system piping
going into the inlet of the CCW Heat
Exchangers. Thus, FPLs workforce
would not change, and the regular
operations workforce would otherwise
be unaffected by the proposed action.
Based on the above and the available
information reviewed by the staff, the
NRC concludes that the proposed action
would result in no significant impact on
land use, visual resources, air quality, noise, the geologic environment, groundwater resources, terrestrial
resources, historic and cultural
resources, socioeconomic conditions
including minority and low income
populations (environmental justice), or
waste generation and management
activities. Therefore, this environmental
assessment does not prevent any further
evaluation of the operational impacts on
these environmental resources. The
NRC previously assessed the
environmental impacts of continued
operations of Turkey Point in NUREG-
1437, Supplement 5 and the EA and
final FONSI for the EPU, and
implementation of the proposed license
amendments would not result in any
impacts beyond those already
characterized in these documents.
Accordingly, this environmental
assessment focuses on the
environmental resources that could be
affected by the change in the CCS
thermal limit: Surface water resources, aquatic resources, and Federally-
protected species and habitats.
Radiological impacts are also addressed.
The details of the NRC staffs safety evaluation will be separately provided
in the license amendment package
issued to approve the license
amendment, if granted.
Nonradiological Impacts
Surface Water Resources The Turkey Point site lies on the shore of Biscayne Bay. South of the site, Mangrove Point divides the bay from
Card Sound. Biscayne Bay and Card
Sound are shallow, subtropical estuarine waters located between the Atlantic coast mainland and a grouping of barrier islands that form the northernmost Florida Keys. The Atlantic Ocean lies beyond the barrier islands.
The Intracoastal Waterway traverses
Biscayne Bay and Card Sound, and a
barge passage runs from the Intracoastal
Waterway to the non-nuclear units on
the Turkey Point site.
In addition to these offsite waters, the site includes several manmade surface waters, the most significant of which is the CCS. The CCS spans a 6,100-ac
(2,500-ha) area (4,370 ac (1,770 ha) of
surface water) spread over a 5-mi by 2-
mi (8-km by 3.2-km) area. The system
includes 168 mi (270 km) of earthen
canals with an average depth of 2.8 ft
(0.8 km) and contains approximately 4
billion gallons (12,300 acre-feet) of
water. The Turkey Point units (both
nuclear Units 3 and 4 and fossil-fueled
Units 1 and 2) use the CCS like a
radiator and, as previously mentioned, the CCS serves as the UHS for Units 3
and 4. Heated water discharges into the
CCS at one end, flows through the canal
system, and is withdrawn from the other
end for reuse as cooling water. The
heated discharge effluent is distributed
to 32 feeder canals. Water in the feeder
canals flows south and discharges into
a single collector canal that distributes
water to six return canals. Water in the
return canals flows north to the plant
intake. The entire circuit that water
travels from plant discharge back to
plant intake is 13.2 mi (21.2 km), and
transit time through the system is
approximately 44 hours5.092593e-4 days <br />0.0122 hours <br />7.275132e-5 weeks <br />1.6742e-5 months <br />. Water flows
attributable to Units 3 and 4 amount to
approximately 1.0 million gallons per
minute. Temperature rise across the
plant (from intake to discharge) averages
15 to 30 °F depending on the number of fossil and nuclear units in operation, unit load, and various other factors. The
average intake temperature is 2.5
°F above the average ambient air
temperature. Rainfall, stormwater
runoff, and groundwater exchange
replace evaporative losses.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has
issued FPL a No Discharge National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit (No. FL0001562) to
operate the CCS as an industrial
wastewater facility. Accordingly, the
CCS does not discharge directly to fresh
or marine surface waters. The proposed
action would not require FPL to request
modifications to the NPDES permit
because the plant discharge limits
would not change. Plant discharge
limits are not intake-temperature
limited; rather, they are a function of the
quantity of heat rejected to the CCS
during plant operation.
Under the proposed action, the CCS could experience temperatures between
100 °F and 104
°F at the TS monitoring location near the north end of the
system for short durations during
periods of peak summer air
temperatures and low rainfall. Such
conditions may not be experienced at all
depending on site and weather conditions. Temperature increases
would also increase CCS water VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00084Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44467 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices evaporation rates and result in higher salinity levels. This effect would also be
temporary and short in duration because
salinity would again decrease upon
natural freshwater recharge of the
system (i.e., through rainfall, stormwater
runoff, and groundwater exchange). No
other onsite or offsite waters would be
affected by the proposed UHS
temperature limit increase.
Because the proposed action would only affect the CCS, and the CCS is a
manmade closed cycle cooling system, the NRC concludes that the proposed
action would not result in significant
impacts to surface water resources.
Aquatic Resources As determined in the previous section, the CCS is the only surface
water that would be affected by the proposed action. Accordingly, this
section only addresses aquatic resources
in the CCS.
The CCS supports a variety of aquatic species typical of shallow, subtropical
waters, including phytoplankton, zooplankton, marine algae, rooted
plants, crabs, and estuarine fish.
Because of high water temperatures and
salinity content of the CCS, the resident
fish assemblage is dominated by species
adapted to living in harsh conditions, such as sheepshead minnow
(Cyprinodon variegatus) and several Fundulus species. The CCS is owner-controlled and closed to the public;
thus, fish and other aquatic biota in the
CCS do not carry any commercial or
recreational value.
Because aquatic organisms in the cooling canal system are unable to travel
to or from Biscayne Bay, Card Sound, or
any other natural water body, changes to
the conditions within the CCS would
not affect any aquatic populations in the
surrounding natural aquatic habitats of
Biscayne Bay, Card Sound, or the
Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the NRC staff
concludes that the proposed action
would result in no significant impact to
aquatic resources.
Federally Protected Species and Habitats The Turkey Point site is home to a resident population of Federally-
threatened American crocodiles
(Crocodylus acutus
). Crocodiles discovered and colonized the Turkey
Point CCS following plant construction
in the 1970s, and the site now hosts
approximately one-third to one-half of
the United States breeding population.
In 1977, the FWS designated an area of
Florida that includes the majority of the
Turkey Point site (including the CCS) as
critical habitat for the species under the
ESA. FPL maintains a crocodile management plan that prescribes how CCS maintenance procedures shall be
conducted to minimize nest, hatchling, or adult disturbance. FPL also maintains
a crocodile monitoring program to
document breeding success and survival
on the site.
As a Federal agency, the NRC must comply with the ESA as part of any
action it authorizes, funds, or carries
out, such as the proposed action
evaluated in this environmental
assessment. Under ESA section 7, the
NRC must consult with the FWS and the National Marine Fisheries Service, as appropriate, to ensure that the proposed
agency action is not likely to jeopardize
the continued existence of any
endangered or threatened species or
result in the destruction or adverse
modification of designated critical
habitat. The ESA and the regulations
that implement ESA section 7 (50 CFR
Part 402) describe the consultation
process that Federal agencies must
follow in support of agency actions.
Based on a review of the proposed action, the NRC staff has determined
that the American crocodile is the only
Federally-listed species that has the
potential to be affected by the proposed
action. Pursuant to ESA section 7, NRC
staff consulted with FWS staff at the
South Florida Ecological Services Office
in Vero Beach, Florida. The NRC staff
prepared a biological assessment (ADAMS Accession No. ML14206A806)
that considers the potential for the
proposed action to reduce hatchling survival, alter crocodile growth rates, and reduce habitat availability and
concludes that the proposed action is
not likely to adversely affect the
American crocodile and would have no
effect on the species designated critical
habitat. Based on the NRC staffs
biological assessment determinations, the NRC concludes that the proposed action would have no significant impact on Federally-protected species or habitats.
In a July 25, 2014, letter (ADAMS Accession No. ML14206A800) to FWS, the NRC requested ESA section 7
consultation.
Radiological Impacts The proposed action would not result in or require any physical changes to
Turkey Point systems, structures, or
components, including those intended
for the prevention of accidents because
the proposed license amendments
involve TS changes that would only
result in changes in procedural and
operational aspects undertaken by FPL
personnel for monitoring and
maintaining the increased allowable
UHS temperature limit. Thus, the proposed action would not have a significant adverse effect on the
probability of an accident occurring or
result in an increased radiological
hazard beyond those analyzed in the
licensees Updated Final Safety
Analysis Report. The proposed action
would result in no changes to radiation
levels or the types or quantities of
radioactive effluents (gaseous or liquid)
that affect radiation exposures to
members of the public or plant workers.
No changes or different types of
radiological impacts would be expected
from the proposed action. Therefore, the
radiological impacts of granting the
license amendments would result in no
significant impact on the radiological
environment.
Cumulative Impacts The Council on Environmental Quality defines cumulative impacts
under the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA)
as the impact on the environment which
results from the incremental impact of
the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable
future actions regardless of what agency (Federal or non-Federal) or person
undertakes such other actions (40 CFR
Part 1508.7). For the purposes of this
analysis, past actions are related to the
resource conditions when Turkey Point
was licensed and constructed; present
actions are related to the resource
conditions during current operations;
and future actions are those that are
reasonably foreseeable through the
expiration of Turkey Points renewed
facility operating licenses. In the
preceding sections of this EA, the NRC
has determined that the proposed action
has the potential to only affect surface
water resources and aquatic resources in
the CCS and Federally protected species
and habitats (i.e., the sites resident
population of American crocodiles and
its designated critical habitat). This EA
also addresses radiological impacts of
the proposed action. Accordingly, this
section only addresses the cumulative
impacts that could result from the
proposed action and other actions on
these resources. The proposed action
would have no effect on the remaining
resources (i.e., land use, visual
resources, air quality, noise, the geologic
environment, groundwater resources, terrestrial resources, historic and
cultural resources, socioeconomic
conditions including minority and low
income populations (environmental
justice), and waste generation and
management activities), and thus, cumulative impacts would not occur for
these environmental resources. VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00085Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44468 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices The NRC staff has identified several actions that may contribute to
cumulative effects; each of these actions
is described separately below.
CCS Chemical Treatments In 2011, FPL began to notice increased blue green algae
concentrations in the CCS. The
concentrations have steadily increased
since that time. FPL has performed
engineering and environmental analyses
and believes that the presence of higher
than normal CCS algae concentrations
may be diminishing the CCSs heat
transfer capabilities. FPL developed a
plan to gradually reduce algae
concentrations through controlled
chemical treatment of the CCS over the
course of several weeks. On June 18, 2014, FPL submitted a request to the
FDEP to approve the use of copper
sulfate, hydrogen peroxide, and a bio-
stimulant to treat the algae (letter
contained in Appendix A of ADAMS
Accession No. ML14206A806). On June
27, 2014, the FDEP approved FPLs
treatment plan for a 90-day trial period (letter contained in Appendix A of
ADAMS Accession No. ML14206A806).
The FDEP requested that during the 90-
day treatment period, FPL monitor the
CCS for total recoverable copper and
dissolved oxygen and submit its results
recommended that FPL coordinate with
the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FWC) due to
the presence of crocodiles in the cooling
system. The FWC provided its
comments on FPLs treatment plan in a
letter dated July 1, 2014 (letter
contained in Appendix A of ADAMS
Accession No. ML14206A806).
The CCS chemical treatments have the potential to contribute to cumulative
effects on CCS surface water resources, CCS aquatic resources, and the
American crocodile. Because the CCS is
a manmade closed cycle cooling system, treatment of the CCS is not likely to
have a significant cumulative effect on
surface water resources. Monitoring
required by the FDEP will ensure
adequate water quality throughout and
following treatment. Monitoring will
also ensure that any unanticipated effects on the aquatic organisms that
inhabit the CCS are appropriately
addressed. During the treatment period, FPL has agreed to report any potentially
related fish kills in the CCS to the FWC.
No fish kills have been reported to date.
Regarding crocodiles, the NRCs July 25, 2014, biological assessment notes that
FPL has not observed any behavioral or
distributional changes or any other
noticeable differences that would
indicate effects to crocodiles resulting from either the presence of higher algae concentrations or the recent chemical
treatments.
Aquifer Withdrawals The CCS is situated above two aquifers: the shallower saltwater
Biscayne Aquifer and the deeper
brackish Floridan Aquifer. A confining
layer separates the two aquifers from
one another. Turkey Point, Unit 5 uses
the Floridan Aquifer for cooling water.
The South Florida Water Management
District (SFWMD) recently granted FPL approval to withdraw a portion (approximately 5 million gallons per
day [MGD]) of the Unit 5 withdrawal
allowance for use in the CCS. FPL began
pumping Floridan Aquifer water into
the CCS in early July. FPL has also
received temporary approval to
withdraw 30 MGD from the Biscayne
Aquifer, though FPL has not yet used
this allowance.
FPL also anticipates the FDEP to issue an Administrative Order requiring FPL
to install up to six new wells that will
pump approximately 14 MGD of water
from the Floridan Aquifer into the CCS.
Modeling performed by FPL consultants
and the SFWMD indicates that in
approximately 2 years, the withdrawals
would reduce the salinity of the CCS to
the equivalent of Biscayne Bay (about 34
parts per thousand [ppt]). Such
withdrawals could also help moderate
water temperatures.
The current and anticipated future aquifer withdrawals have the potential
to contribute to cumulative effects on
CCS surface water resources, CCS
aquatic resources, and crocodiles.
Because the CCS is a manmade closed
cycle cooling system, aquifer
withdrawals are not likely to have a
significant cumulative effect on surface water resources. Aquifer withdrawals would result in beneficial impacts to CCS aquatic resources and the crocodiles inhabiting the Turkey Point
site. FPL anticipates that the
withdrawals will reduce the salinity of
the CCS to about 34 ppt and could also
help moderate CCS temperatures over
the long term. Both of these effects
would create favorable conditions for
CCS aquatic biota and crocodiles, which
are currently tolerating an unusually
hot, hypersaline environment.
Turkey Point, Units 6 and 7 Construction and Operation In June 2009, FPL submitted a combined license application (COLA)
(ADAMS Accession No. ML091830589)
to construct and operate two
Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 (AP1000) pressurized-water reactors
designated as Turkey Point, Units 6 and
- 7. Submission of the COLA does not commit FPL to build two new nuclear
units and does not constitute approval
of the proposal by the NRC; however, submission of the COLA infers that the
construction and operation of the new
units is a reasonably foreseeable future
action. The COLA will be evaluated on
its merits, and the NRC will decide
whether to grant the licenses after
considering and evaluating the
environmental and safety implications
of the proposal. Environmental impacts
of constructing and operating Turkey
Point, Units 6 and 7 will depend on
their actual design characteristics, construction practices, and power plant
operations. These impacts will be
assessed by the NRC in a separate NEPA
document. The cumulative impacts
presented in this EA may differ from
those impacts assessed for the COLA.
Potential impacts presented below have
been drawn from FPLs Turkey Point, Units 6 and 7 Environmental Report, Revision 5 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML13357A435), and NRCs 2012 EA and
final FONSI for the EPU.
Of the environmental resources affected by the proposed action, the
possible construction and operation of
Units 6 and 7 only have the potential to
contribute to cumulative radiological
impacts. Units 6 and 7 would not use
the CCS for cooling. Rather, Units 6 and
7 would have a closed-cycle cooling
system with mechanical draft cooling
towers. The cooling towers would draw
makeup from Miami-Dade Water and
Sewer Department reclaimed water and
would discharge blowdown into deep
injection wells. Saltwater extracted from
Biscayne Bay subsurface sediment
through radial collector wells proposed
to be built on the Turkey Point site
would serve as a secondary source of
makeup water when a sufficient
quantity and/or quality of reclaimed
water is not available. Because Units 6
and 7 would not use the CCS, the
proposed new units would not have a
cumulative effect on CCS surface water
resources or CCS aquatic resources.
Regarding crocodiles, potential impacts to this species and its critical
habitat will be addressed in a future
ESA section 7 consultation between the
NRC and FWS. When considering
cumulative impacts on Federally listed
species, the ESAs implementing
regulations direct Federal agencies to
consider the effects of future State or
private activities, not involving Federal activities, that are reasonably certain to occur within the action area of the
Federal action subject to consultation
(50 CFR part 402.02; emphasis added).
Accordingly, the NRC will not address
cumulative impacts of Units 6 and 7 on VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00086Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44469 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices the American crocodile in this EA because the NRCs issuance of a license
to construct and operate Units 6 and 7
is a separate Federal activity that will
require future consultation.
Regarding cumulative radiological impacts, the NRC and Environmental
Protection Agency have developed
radiological dose limits for protection of
the public and workers that address the
cumulative effects of acute and long-
term exposure to radiation and
radioactive material. These dose limits
are specified in 10 CFR part 20 and 40
CFR part 190.
The cumulative radiation dose to the public and workers is required to be
within the regulations cited above. The
public dose limit of 25 millirem (0.25
millisieverts) in 40 CFR part 190 applies
to all reactors that may be on a site and
also includes any other nearby nuclear
power reactor facilities. The NRC staff
reviewed several years of radiation dose
data contained in the licensees annual
radioactive effluent release reports for
Turkey Point, and the data demonstrate
that the dose to members of the public
from radioactive effluents is within the
limits of 10 CFR part 20 and 40 CFR part
190. As previously indicated in the
Radiological Impacts section of this
environmental assessment, the proposed
action would result in no changes to
radiation levels or the types or
quantities of radioactive effluents (gaseous or liquid) that affect radiation
exposures to plant workers and
members of the public.
FPLs COLA for Units 6 and 7 contains an assessment of the radiation
doses to members of the public from the proposed new reactors and concludes
that doses would be within regulatory
limits. The staff expects continued
compliance with regulatory dose limits
during operation of Turkey Point, Units
3 and 4 under the proposed action.
Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that
the cumulative radiological impacts to
members of the public that could result
from the combined operations of Turkey
Point, Units 3 and 4 and the proposed
new Units 6 and 7 would result in no
significant impact on the environment.
Regarding radiation dose to workers, cumulative dose would only be
applicable for those workers that would
be engaged at both facilities (i.e., the
currently operating Units 3 and 4 and
proposed new Units 6 and 7). For Units
3 and 4, the licensee has a radiation
protection program that maintains
worker doses within the dose limits in 10 CFR part 20 during all phases of operations. Operation of Units 6 and 7
would require a similar radiation
protection program, and the licensee
would be responsible for ensuring that
workers are not exposed to dose limits
above those specified in 10 CFR part 20.
Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that
the cumulative radiological impacts to
plant workers that could result from the
combined operations of Turkey Point, Units 3 and 4 and the proposed new
Units 6 and 7 would result in no significant impact on the radiological environment.
Cumulative Impacts Conclusion The NRC staff considered the cumulative impacts of CCS chemical
treatments, current and anticipated
future aquifer withdrawals, and the
possible future construction and
operation of two new nuclear units on
the Turkey Point site. Based on the
information presented in this section, the NRC staff concludes that the
proposed action, in combination with
other cumulative actions, would result
in no significant cumulative impacts on
the environment.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered denial
of the proposed license amendments (i.e., the no-action alternative). Denial
of the application would result in no
change in current environmental
conditions or impacts. However, denial
would result in reduced operational
flexibility and could require FPL to derate or shutdown Turkey Point if the UHS average supply water temperature
approaches or exceeds the 100
°F TS limit. In its application, FPL states that
loss of load and voltage control resulting
from such a shutdown during periods of
high summer demand could result in
impacts to grid reliability.
Alternative Use of Resources The action does not involve the use of any different resources than those
previously considered in NUREG-1437, Supplement 5 prepared for license
renewal of Turkey Point.
Agencies and Persons Consulted On July 28, 2014, the NRC staff notified the Florida State official, Ms.
Cindy Becker, Chief of Bureau of
Radiation Control, of the Florida
Department of Health, regarding the
environmental impacts of the proposed action. The State official had no comments.
The NRC staff also coordinated with the FWS pursuant to consultation under
ESA section 7 during the staffs review of the proposed action. The consultation is further discussed under the
Federally-Protected Species section of
this environmental assessment.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The NRC is considering issuing amendments for Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. DPR-31 and
DPR-41, issued to FPL for operation of
Turkey Point to increase the UHS water
temperature limit specified in the
Turkey Point TSs from 100
°F to 104°F and add an SR to monitor the UHS
temperature more frequently if the UHS
temperature approaches the new limit.
On the basis of the EA included in Section II above and incorporated by
reference in this finding, the NRC
concludes that the proposed action
would not have significant effects on the
quality of the human environment. The
proposed action would result in no
significant impacts on surface water
resources, aquatic resources, or the
radiological environment. In addition, the proposed action is not likely to
adversely affect any Federally-protected
species or affect any designated critical
habitat. The proposed action would also
not result in significant cumulative
impacts on any environmental
resources. The NRCs evaluation
considered information provided in the
licensees application and associated
supplements; the NRCs staff
independent review of other
environmental documents, and
coordination with the FWS pursuant to
consultation under ESA section 7.
Section IV below lists the
environmental documents related to the
proposed action and includes
information on the availability of these
documents. Based on its findings, the
NRC has decided not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the
proposed action.
IV. Availability of Documents The following table identifies the environmental and other documents
cited in this document and related to
the NRCs FONSI. These documents are
available for public inspection online through ADAMS at http://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/adams.html or in person at the NRCs PDR as described previously. VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00087Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44470 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices Document Adams Accession No.
Documents Related to License Amendment Request Florida Power & Light Company. License Amendment Request No. 231, Application to Revise Technical Specifications to Re-vise Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limit. Dated July 10, 2014.
ML14196A006 Florida Power & Light Company. License Amendment Request No. 231, Application to Revise Ultimate Heat Sink Tempera-ture LimitRequest for Emergency Approval. Dated July 17, 2014.
ML14202A392 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Turkey Point 3 and 4 Request for Additional InformationLAR231 (TAC MF4392 and MF4393). [1 of 2] Dated July 18, 2014.
ML14203A614 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Turkey Point 3 and 4 Request for Additional InformationLAR231 (TAC MF4392 and MF4393). [2 of 2] Dated July 18, 2014.
ML14203A618 Florida Power & Light Company. License Amendment Request No. 231, Application to Revise Ultimate Heat Sink Tempera-ture LimitSupplement 1, and Response to Request for Additional Information. Dated July 22, 2014.
ML14204A367 Florida Power & Light Company. Response to Request for Additional Information Regarding License Amendment Request No.
231, Application to Revise Technical Specifications to Revise Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limit. Dated July 22, 2014.
ML14204A368 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Turkey Point 3 and 4 Request for Additional InformationLAR231 (TAC MF4392 and MF4393). Dated July 22, 2014.
ML14204A814 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Notice of Enforcement Discretion for Florida Power & Light Company Regarding Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4 [NOED NO. 14-2-001]. Dated July 23, 2014.
ML14204A652 Florida Power & Light Company. Response to Containment and Ventilation Branch Request for Additional Information, Re-garding License Amendment Request No. 231, Application to Revise Ultimate Heat Temperature Limit. Dated July 24, 2014.
ML14206A853 Florida Power & Light Company. Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4Individual Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendments to Renewed Facility Operating Licenses, Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration Deter-
mination, and Opportunity for Hearing (Exigent Circumstances) (TAC Nos. MF4392 and MF4293). Dated July 24, 2014.
ML14204A129 (letter) ML14199A111 (enclosure)
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Request to Reinitiate Informal Consultation for a Proposed License Amendment to In-crease the Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limit at Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4. Dated July 25, 2014.ML14206A800 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Biological Assessment on the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) for Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4 Proposed License Amendment to Increase the Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature
Limit. Dated July 25, 2014.
ML14206A806 Other Referenced Documents U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Re-garding Turkey Point Units 3 and 4Final Report (NUREG-1437, Supplement 5). Dated January 28, 2002.
ML020280236 Florida Power & Light Company. Proposed Turkey Point Units 6 & 7, Project No. 763, Application for Combined License for Turkey Point Units 6 and 7. Dated June 30, 2009.
ML091830589 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Related to a Li-cense Amendment To Increase the Maximum Reactor Power Level, Florida Power & Light Company; Turkey Point, Units 3
and 4. Dated March 27, 2012.
ML12074A251 Florida Power & Light Company. Turkey Point Units 6 & 7 Combine License Application, Part 3: Environmental Report, Revi-sion 5. Dated December 23, 2013.
ML13357A435 Florida Power & Light Company. Turkey Point Units 3 and 4; Wastewater Permit FL0001563; Request for Approval for the Use of Copper Sulfate, Hydrogen Peroxide, and a Bio-Stimulant in the Treatment and Control of Blue Green Algae in the
Cooling Canal System. Dated June 18, 2014.ML14206A806*
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Re: Florida Power & Light, Turkey Point, NPDES Permit FL0001562, 90-Day Trial Approval. Dated June 27, 2014.ML14206A806*
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Re: Florida Power & Light, Turkey Point Plant Maintenance Activity, NPDES Permit FL0001562, Miami-Dade County. Dated July 1, 2014.ML14206A806* *(See Appendix A.)
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of July 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lisa M. Regner, Acting Chief, Plant Licensing Branch II-2, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2014-18159 Filed 7-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:51 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00088Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44464 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices discharge from the wet weather facilities; and (3) all defendants are in
violation of the Clean Water Act and
their NPDES permits because they have
unlawful sanitary sewer overflows
(SSOs) during wet weather.
The proposed Consent Decree implements a regional asset
management program that puts the
defendants on a path to eliminate
prohibited wet weather facility
discharges by December 31, 2035, and to
control SSOs within ten years of Decree
entry. Among other things, the
defendants will rehabilitate and clean
sanitary sewer infrastructure, identify
and eliminate sources of inflow and
rapid infiltration to the sewer systems, and continue to require repair or
replacement of private sewer laterals
under local and regional ordinances.
In addition, each defendant will pay a civil penalty for its past violations, for
a total of $1,563,556 in civil penalties.
EBMUD will pay $201,600; the City of
Alameda will pay $111,150; the City of
Albany will pay $42,038; the City of
Berkeley will pay $267,000; the City of
Emeryville will pay $1,870; the City of Oakland will pay $850,000; the City of
Piedmont will pay $41,038; and the
Stege Sanitary District will pay $48,860.
The proposed Consent Decree replaces a January 2009 interim
settlement with EBMUD and a March
2011 interim settlement with the
Satellite Communities.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on the
proposed Consent Decree. Comments
should be addressed to the Assistant
Attorney General, Environment and
Natural Resources Division, and should
refer to United States of America et al.
- v. East Bay Municipal Utility District et al., D.J. Ref. No. 90-5-1-1-09361. All comments must be submitted no later
than thirty (30) days after the
publication date of this notice.
Comments may be submitted either by
email or by mail:
To submit comments:
Send them to: By email.......
pubcomment-ees.enrd@
usdoj.gov. By mail.........Assistant Attorney General, U.S. DOJENRD, P.O.
Box 7611, Washington, DC
20044-7611.
During the public comment period, the proposed Consent Decree may be examined and downloaded at this
Department of Justice Web site:
http:// www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent
_Decrees.html.
We will provide a paper copy of the proposed Consent Decree
upon written request and payment of reproduction costs. Please mail your request and payment to: Consent Decree
Library, U.S. DOJENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
Please enclose a check or money order for $54.25 (25 cents per page
reproduction cost) payable to the U.S.
Treasury.
Henry Friedman, Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2014-18047 Filed 7-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Notice of Lodging of Proposed Joint Stipulation under the Clean Water Act On July 25, 2014, the Department of Justice lodged a proposed settlement with the United States District Court for
the District of Alaska in the lawsuit
entitled United States and Alaska
- v. BP (Exploration) Alaska, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:14-cv-00146.
The United States and State of Alaska filed this lawsuit under the Clean Water
Act against BP (Exploration) Alaska, Inc.
The complaint seeks civil penalties and
injunctive relief for violations of the
Clean Water Act, as amended by the Oil
Pollution Act of 1990, 33 U.S.C. 2701 et
seq., and Alaska Statutes 46.03.710 and
46.03.740. The settlement provides a
covenant not to sue in return for
defendants payment of $450,000.
The publication of this notice opens a period for public comment on the
settlement. Comments should be
addressed to the Assistant Attorney
General, Environment and Natural
Resources Division, and should refer to
United States and Alaska
- v. BP (Exploration) Alaska, Inc., D.J. Ref. No.
90-5-1-1-08808/1. All comments must
be submitted no later than thirty (30)
days after the publication date of this
notice. Comments may be submitted
either by email or by mail:
To submit com-ments: Send them to: By email.................
pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov. By mail...................Assistant Attorney Gen-eral, U.S. DOJ-ENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
During the public comment period, the settlement may be examined and downloaded at this Justice Department
Web site:
Consent_Decrees.html.
We will provide a paper copy of the settlement upon written request and payment of
reproduction costs. Please mail your
request and payment to: Consent Decree
Library, U.S. DOJENRD, P.O. Box
7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.
Please enclose a check or money order for $3 (25 cents per page reproduction
cost) payable to the United States
Treasury.
Susan Akers, Assistant Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
[FR Doc. 2014-17980 Filed 7-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-15-P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-250 and 50-251; NRC-2014-0181]
Florida Power & Light Company; Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit
Nos. 3 and 4 AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and final finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
SUMMARY
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of amendments to Renewed
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-31
and DPR-41 issued to Florida Power &
Light Company (FPL, the licensee) for
operation of Turkey Point Nuclear
Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4 (Turkey
Point) located in Homestead, Miami-
Dade County, Florida. The proposed
amendments would increase the
ultimate heat sink (UHS) water temperature limit specified in the Turkey Point Technical Specifications (TSs) from 100 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) to 104°F and add a surveillance requirement to monitor the UHS temperature more frequently if the UHS
temperature approaches the new limit.
The NRC did not identify any
significant environmental impacts
associated with the proposed license
amendments based on its evaluation of
the information provided in the
licensees application and other
available information. Accordingly, the
NRC has prepared this Environmental
Assessment (EA) and Final Finding of
No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the
proposed license amendments.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0181 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may access publicly available VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00082Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44465 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices information related to this document using any of the following methods:
- Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0181. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol
Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-3422;
email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.
For technical questions, contact the
individual listed in the FORFURTHER INFORMATIONCONTACT section of this document.
- NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly
available documents online in the NRC
Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
To begin the search, select ADAMS
Public Documents and then select
Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.
For problems with ADAMS, please contact
the NRCs Public Document Room (PDR)
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-
415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@
nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this
notice (if that document is available in
ADAMS) is provided the first time that
a document is referenced. For the
convenience of the reader, the ADAMS
accession numbers are also provided in
a table in the Availability of
Documents section of this document.
- NRCs PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at
the NRCs PDR, Room O1-F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. FORFURTHERINFORMATIONCONTACT
- Audrey L. Klett, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-
0489; email:
Audrey.Klett@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARYINFORMATION
- I. Introduction The NRC is considering issuance of amendments to Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. DPR-31 and
DPR-41 issued to FPL for operation of
Turkey Point, located in Homestead, Miami-Dade County, Florida. As required by §51.21 of Title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 51.21), the NRC staff performed an
EA to document its findings related to
the proposed license amendments. FPL submitted its license amendment request by letter dated July 10, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14196A006) and subsequently supplemented its application by letters dated July 17, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML14202A392), July 22, 2014 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML14204A367 and ML14204A368), and July 24, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14206A853).
Based on information provided in FPLs
application and associated supplements, the NRC staffs independent review, and
the NRCs consultation with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
pursuant to section 7 of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA),
the NRC did not identify any significant
environmental impacts associated with
the proposed license amendments.
Based on the results of the EA documented herein, the NRC is issuing
this final FONSI, in accordance with 10
CFR 51.32, for the proposed license
amendments.
II. Environmental Assessment
Plant Site and Environs The Turkey Point site encompasses 11,000 acres (ac) (4,450 hectares (ha)) in
Miami-Dade County, Florida. The site
lies 25 miles (mi) (40 kilometers [km])
south of Miami, Florida, and the nearest
city limits are Florida City, which lies
8 mi (13 km) to the west, Homestead, which lies 4.5 mi (7 km) to the
northwest, and Key Largo, which lies 10
mi (16 km) south of the Turkey Point
site. The Turkey Point site is bordered
to the east by Biscayne National Park, to
the north by Homestead Bayfront Park
and a portion of Biscayne National Park, and on the west and south by FPLs
13,000-ac (5,260-ha) Everglades
Mitigation Bank. The Turkey Point site
includes five electric generating units.
Units 1, 2, and 5 are fossil-fueled
generating units and are not covered by
the proposed licensing action; Units 3
and 4 are nuclear generating units. Each
nuclear reactor is a Westinghouse
pressurized light-water reactor that
generates electricity via three steam
generators that produce steam that turns
turbines. The site features a 6,100-ac
(2,500-ha) closed cooling canal system (CCS) that cools heated water
discharged by Units 1 through 4. Unit 5
uses mechanical draft cooling towers for
cooling, draws makeup water from the
Upper Floridan Aquifer, and discharges
blowdown to the CCS. The five units
and supporting equipment (excluding
the CCS) occupy approximately 130 ac
(53 ha). The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the NRCs predecessor agency, and the NRC have previously conducted
environmental reviews of Turkey Point
in several documents, and the
descriptions therein continue to
accurately depict the Turkey Point site
and environs. Those documents include
the AECs July 1972 Final
Environmental Statement (FES); the
NRCs January 2002 Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants:
Regarding Turkey Point Units 3 and 4
Final Report (NUREG-1437, Supplement 5) (ADAMS Accession No.
ML020280236); and the NRCs March
2012 environmental assessment and
final FONSI for the Turkey Point
extended power uprate (EPU) (ADAMS
Accession No. ML12074A251).
Identification of the Proposed Action The proposed action would increase the UHS water temperature limit
specified in the Turkey Point TSs and
add a surveillance requirement to
monitor the UHS temperature more
frequently if the UHS temperature
approaches the new limit. The proposed
action is in accordance with the
licensees application dated July 10, 2014, as supplemented by letters dated
July 17, July 22 (two letters), and July
24, 2014.
More specifically, the proposed action would amend Appendix A of Turkey
Points Renewed Facility Operating
Licenses in order to revise the UHS
temperature limit set forth in TS
Limiting Operating Condition (LOC) 3/
4.7.4 from 100
°F to 104 °F. The CCS serves as the UHS for the Intake Cooling
Water (ICW) system and provides the
coolant for the Circulating Water (CW) system. The CW system provides
cooling water to the main plant
condensers, and the ICW system
removes heat loads from the Component
Cooling Water (CCW) system during
normal and accident conditions to
support both reactor and containment
heat removal requirements as well as
spent fuel cooling requirements.
Currently, TS LOC 3/4.7.4 includes a Surveillance Requirement (SR) that
necessitates the licensee to verify the
UHS (CCS) temperature once every 24-
hour period and confirm that the
average supply water temperature is
within the 100
°F limit. The proposed license amendments would modify the
SR to require the licensee to verify the
average supply water temperature to be
within the new TS limit at least once
per 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />, and once per hour when
the water temperature exceeds 100
°F. FPL monitors the UHS (CCS)
temperature at a point in the ICW
system piping going into the inlet of the
CCW Heat Exchangers.
The license amendment would require the licensee to place both units
in at least hot standby within 12 hours1.388889e-4 days <br />0.00333 hours <br />1.984127e-5 weeks <br />4.566e-6 months <br />
and cold shutdown within the next 30
hours if the UHS exceeds 104
°F. The proposed TS revisions would not result in or require any physical changes
to Turkey Point systems, structures, or
components, including those intended
for the prevention of accidents. If VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00083Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44466 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices approved, the LAR would be effective from the date of NRC approval through
the expiration dates of the renewed
facility operating licenses (i.e., through
2032 for Unit 3 and 2033 for Unit 4).
The Need for the Proposed Action The proposed action is needed to provide FPL with additional operational
flexibility during periods when high air
temperatures, low rainfall, and other
factors contribute to conditions
resulting in a UHS temperature in
excess of 100
°F that would otherwise necessitate FPL to place Turkey Point in
cold shutdown. In its application, FPL
states that loss of load and voltage
control resulting from shutdown during
periods of high summer demand could
result in impacts to grid reliability. UHS
temperatures have recently approached
and exceeded the 100
°F TS limit on several occasions. On July 20, 2014, the
NRC approved a notice of enforcement
discretion (NOED), which allows the
UHS temperature to exceed 100
°F up to 103 °F for a period of no more than 10 days, as well as several other NOED exit
criteria. The NRC documented the
NOED in a letter to FPL dated July 23, 2014 (ADAMS Accession No.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action As part of the original licensing review for Turkey Point, the AEC
published an FES in July 1972 that
evaluates potential environmental impacts associated with the operation of
Turkey Point over its initial 40-year
operating period (1972-2012 for Unit 3
and 1973-2013 for Unit 4). In 2002, the
NRC evaluated the environmental
impacts of operating Turkey Point for an
additional 20 years beyond the original
operating license (i.e., through 2032 for
Unit 3 and 2033 for Unit 4) and
predicted that the environmental
impacts of license renewal were small
for all environmental resources.
NUREG-1437, Supplement 5 provides
that assessment. In 2012, the NRC
evaluated the impacts of a then-
proposed EPU at Turkey Point that
authorized the facility to increase the
maximum power level from 2300
megawatts thermal (MWt) to 2644 MWt
for each unit. The NRCs March 2012 EA
and final FONSI provide that
assessment.
As previously discussed, the proposed action would not result in or
require any physical changes to Turkey
Point systems, structures, or
components, including those intended
for the prevention of accidents. Further, the proposed license amendments
involve TS changes that would only result in changes in procedural and operational aspects undertaken by FPL
personnel for monitoring and
maintaining the UHS temperature limit
as measured at the ICW system piping
going into the inlet of the CCW Heat
Exchangers. Thus, FPLs workforce
would not change, and the regular
operations workforce would otherwise
be unaffected by the proposed action.
Based on the above and the available
information reviewed by the staff, the
NRC concludes that the proposed action
would result in no significant impact on
land use, visual resources, air quality, noise, the geologic environment, groundwater resources, terrestrial
resources, historic and cultural
resources, socioeconomic conditions
including minority and low income
populations (environmental justice), or
waste generation and management
activities. Therefore, this environmental
assessment does not prevent any further
evaluation of the operational impacts on
these environmental resources. The
NRC previously assessed the
environmental impacts of continued
operations of Turkey Point in NUREG-
1437, Supplement 5 and the EA and
final FONSI for the EPU, and
implementation of the proposed license
amendments would not result in any
impacts beyond those already
characterized in these documents.
Accordingly, this environmental
assessment focuses on the
environmental resources that could be
affected by the change in the CCS
thermal limit: Surface water resources, aquatic resources, and Federally-
protected species and habitats.
Radiological impacts are also addressed.
The details of the NRC staffs safety evaluation will be separately provided
in the license amendment package
issued to approve the license
amendment, if granted.
Nonradiological Impacts
Surface Water Resources The Turkey Point site lies on the shore of Biscayne Bay. South of the site, Mangrove Point divides the bay from
Card Sound. Biscayne Bay and Card
Sound are shallow, subtropical estuarine waters located between the Atlantic coast mainland and a grouping of barrier islands that form the northernmost Florida Keys. The Atlantic Ocean lies beyond the barrier islands.
The Intracoastal Waterway traverses
Biscayne Bay and Card Sound, and a
barge passage runs from the Intracoastal
Waterway to the non-nuclear units on
the Turkey Point site.
In addition to these offsite waters, the site includes several manmade surface waters, the most significant of which is the CCS. The CCS spans a 6,100-ac
(2,500-ha) area (4,370 ac (1,770 ha) of
surface water) spread over a 5-mi by 2-
mi (8-km by 3.2-km) area. The system
includes 168 mi (270 km) of earthen
canals with an average depth of 2.8 ft
(0.8 km) and contains approximately 4
billion gallons (12,300 acre-feet) of
water. The Turkey Point units (both
nuclear Units 3 and 4 and fossil-fueled
Units 1 and 2) use the CCS like a
radiator and, as previously mentioned, the CCS serves as the UHS for Units 3
and 4. Heated water discharges into the
CCS at one end, flows through the canal
system, and is withdrawn from the other
end for reuse as cooling water. The
heated discharge effluent is distributed
to 32 feeder canals. Water in the feeder
canals flows south and discharges into
a single collector canal that distributes
water to six return canals. Water in the
return canals flows north to the plant
intake. The entire circuit that water
travels from plant discharge back to
plant intake is 13.2 mi (21.2 km), and
transit time through the system is
approximately 44 hours5.092593e-4 days <br />0.0122 hours <br />7.275132e-5 weeks <br />1.6742e-5 months <br />. Water flows
attributable to Units 3 and 4 amount to
approximately 1.0 million gallons per
minute. Temperature rise across the
plant (from intake to discharge) averages
15 to 30 °F depending on the number of fossil and nuclear units in operation, unit load, and various other factors. The
average intake temperature is 2.5
°F above the average ambient air
temperature. Rainfall, stormwater
runoff, and groundwater exchange
replace evaporative losses.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has
issued FPL a No Discharge National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit (No. FL0001562) to
operate the CCS as an industrial
wastewater facility. Accordingly, the
CCS does not discharge directly to fresh
or marine surface waters. The proposed
action would not require FPL to request
modifications to the NPDES permit
because the plant discharge limits
would not change. Plant discharge
limits are not intake-temperature
limited; rather, they are a function of the
quantity of heat rejected to the CCS
during plant operation.
Under the proposed action, the CCS could experience temperatures between
100 °F and 104
°F at the TS monitoring location near the north end of the
system for short durations during
periods of peak summer air
temperatures and low rainfall. Such
conditions may not be experienced at all
depending on site and weather conditions. Temperature increases
would also increase CCS water VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00084Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44467 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices evaporation rates and result in higher salinity levels. This effect would also be
temporary and short in duration because
salinity would again decrease upon
natural freshwater recharge of the
system (i.e., through rainfall, stormwater
runoff, and groundwater exchange). No
other onsite or offsite waters would be
affected by the proposed UHS
temperature limit increase.
Because the proposed action would only affect the CCS, and the CCS is a
manmade closed cycle cooling system, the NRC concludes that the proposed
action would not result in significant
impacts to surface water resources.
Aquatic Resources As determined in the previous section, the CCS is the only surface
water that would be affected by the proposed action. Accordingly, this
section only addresses aquatic resources
in the CCS.
The CCS supports a variety of aquatic species typical of shallow, subtropical
waters, including phytoplankton, zooplankton, marine algae, rooted
plants, crabs, and estuarine fish.
Because of high water temperatures and
salinity content of the CCS, the resident
fish assemblage is dominated by species
adapted to living in harsh conditions, such as sheepshead minnow
(Cyprinodon variegatus) and several Fundulus species. The CCS is owner-controlled and closed to the public;
thus, fish and other aquatic biota in the
CCS do not carry any commercial or
recreational value.
Because aquatic organisms in the cooling canal system are unable to travel
to or from Biscayne Bay, Card Sound, or
any other natural water body, changes to
the conditions within the CCS would
not affect any aquatic populations in the
surrounding natural aquatic habitats of
Biscayne Bay, Card Sound, or the
Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the NRC staff
concludes that the proposed action
would result in no significant impact to
aquatic resources.
Federally Protected Species and Habitats The Turkey Point site is home to a resident population of Federally-
threatened American crocodiles
(Crocodylus acutus
). Crocodiles discovered and colonized the Turkey
Point CCS following plant construction
in the 1970s, and the site now hosts
approximately one-third to one-half of
the United States breeding population.
In 1977, the FWS designated an area of
Florida that includes the majority of the
Turkey Point site (including the CCS) as
critical habitat for the species under the
ESA. FPL maintains a crocodile management plan that prescribes how CCS maintenance procedures shall be
conducted to minimize nest, hatchling, or adult disturbance. FPL also maintains
a crocodile monitoring program to
document breeding success and survival
on the site.
As a Federal agency, the NRC must comply with the ESA as part of any
action it authorizes, funds, or carries
out, such as the proposed action
evaluated in this environmental
assessment. Under ESA section 7, the
NRC must consult with the FWS and the National Marine Fisheries Service, as appropriate, to ensure that the proposed
agency action is not likely to jeopardize
the continued existence of any
endangered or threatened species or
result in the destruction or adverse
modification of designated critical
habitat. The ESA and the regulations
that implement ESA section 7 (50 CFR
Part 402) describe the consultation
process that Federal agencies must
follow in support of agency actions.
Based on a review of the proposed action, the NRC staff has determined
that the American crocodile is the only
Federally-listed species that has the
potential to be affected by the proposed
action. Pursuant to ESA section 7, NRC
staff consulted with FWS staff at the
South Florida Ecological Services Office
in Vero Beach, Florida. The NRC staff
prepared a biological assessment (ADAMS Accession No. ML14206A806)
that considers the potential for the
proposed action to reduce hatchling survival, alter crocodile growth rates, and reduce habitat availability and
concludes that the proposed action is
not likely to adversely affect the
American crocodile and would have no
effect on the species designated critical
habitat. Based on the NRC staffs
biological assessment determinations, the NRC concludes that the proposed action would have no significant impact on Federally-protected species or habitats.
In a July 25, 2014, letter (ADAMS Accession No. ML14206A800) to FWS, the NRC requested ESA section 7
consultation.
Radiological Impacts The proposed action would not result in or require any physical changes to
Turkey Point systems, structures, or
components, including those intended
for the prevention of accidents because
the proposed license amendments
involve TS changes that would only
result in changes in procedural and
operational aspects undertaken by FPL
personnel for monitoring and
maintaining the increased allowable
UHS temperature limit. Thus, the proposed action would not have a significant adverse effect on the
probability of an accident occurring or
result in an increased radiological
hazard beyond those analyzed in the
licensees Updated Final Safety
Analysis Report. The proposed action
would result in no changes to radiation
levels or the types or quantities of
radioactive effluents (gaseous or liquid)
that affect radiation exposures to
members of the public or plant workers.
No changes or different types of
radiological impacts would be expected
from the proposed action. Therefore, the
radiological impacts of granting the
license amendments would result in no
significant impact on the radiological
environment.
Cumulative Impacts The Council on Environmental Quality defines cumulative impacts
under the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA)
as the impact on the environment which
results from the incremental impact of
the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable
future actions regardless of what agency (Federal or non-Federal) or person
undertakes such other actions (40 CFR
Part 1508.7). For the purposes of this
analysis, past actions are related to the
resource conditions when Turkey Point
was licensed and constructed; present
actions are related to the resource
conditions during current operations;
and future actions are those that are
reasonably foreseeable through the
expiration of Turkey Points renewed
facility operating licenses. In the
preceding sections of this EA, the NRC
has determined that the proposed action
has the potential to only affect surface
water resources and aquatic resources in
the CCS and Federally protected species
and habitats (i.e., the sites resident
population of American crocodiles and
its designated critical habitat). This EA
also addresses radiological impacts of
the proposed action. Accordingly, this
section only addresses the cumulative
impacts that could result from the
proposed action and other actions on
these resources. The proposed action
would have no effect on the remaining
resources (i.e., land use, visual
resources, air quality, noise, the geologic
environment, groundwater resources, terrestrial resources, historic and
cultural resources, socioeconomic
conditions including minority and low
income populations (environmental
justice), and waste generation and
management activities), and thus, cumulative impacts would not occur for
these environmental resources. VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00085Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44468 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices The NRC staff has identified several actions that may contribute to
cumulative effects; each of these actions
is described separately below.
CCS Chemical Treatments In 2011, FPL began to notice increased blue green algae
concentrations in the CCS. The
concentrations have steadily increased
since that time. FPL has performed
engineering and environmental analyses
and believes that the presence of higher
than normal CCS algae concentrations
may be diminishing the CCSs heat
transfer capabilities. FPL developed a
plan to gradually reduce algae
concentrations through controlled
chemical treatment of the CCS over the
course of several weeks. On June 18, 2014, FPL submitted a request to the
FDEP to approve the use of copper
sulfate, hydrogen peroxide, and a bio-
stimulant to treat the algae (letter
contained in Appendix A of ADAMS
Accession No. ML14206A806). On June
27, 2014, the FDEP approved FPLs
treatment plan for a 90-day trial period (letter contained in Appendix A of
ADAMS Accession No. ML14206A806).
The FDEP requested that during the 90-
day treatment period, FPL monitor the
CCS for total recoverable copper and
dissolved oxygen and submit its results
recommended that FPL coordinate with
the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FWC) due to
the presence of crocodiles in the cooling
system. The FWC provided its
comments on FPLs treatment plan in a
letter dated July 1, 2014 (letter
contained in Appendix A of ADAMS
Accession No. ML14206A806).
The CCS chemical treatments have the potential to contribute to cumulative
effects on CCS surface water resources, CCS aquatic resources, and the
American crocodile. Because the CCS is
a manmade closed cycle cooling system, treatment of the CCS is not likely to
have a significant cumulative effect on
surface water resources. Monitoring
required by the FDEP will ensure
adequate water quality throughout and
following treatment. Monitoring will
also ensure that any unanticipated effects on the aquatic organisms that
inhabit the CCS are appropriately
addressed. During the treatment period, FPL has agreed to report any potentially
related fish kills in the CCS to the FWC.
No fish kills have been reported to date.
Regarding crocodiles, the NRCs July 25, 2014, biological assessment notes that
FPL has not observed any behavioral or
distributional changes or any other
noticeable differences that would
indicate effects to crocodiles resulting from either the presence of higher algae concentrations or the recent chemical
treatments.
Aquifer Withdrawals The CCS is situated above two aquifers: the shallower saltwater
Biscayne Aquifer and the deeper
brackish Floridan Aquifer. A confining
layer separates the two aquifers from
one another. Turkey Point, Unit 5 uses
the Floridan Aquifer for cooling water.
The South Florida Water Management
District (SFWMD) recently granted FPL approval to withdraw a portion (approximately 5 million gallons per
day [MGD]) of the Unit 5 withdrawal
allowance for use in the CCS. FPL began
pumping Floridan Aquifer water into
the CCS in early July. FPL has also
received temporary approval to
withdraw 30 MGD from the Biscayne
Aquifer, though FPL has not yet used
this allowance.
FPL also anticipates the FDEP to issue an Administrative Order requiring FPL
to install up to six new wells that will
pump approximately 14 MGD of water
from the Floridan Aquifer into the CCS.
Modeling performed by FPL consultants
and the SFWMD indicates that in
approximately 2 years, the withdrawals
would reduce the salinity of the CCS to
the equivalent of Biscayne Bay (about 34
parts per thousand [ppt]). Such
withdrawals could also help moderate
water temperatures.
The current and anticipated future aquifer withdrawals have the potential
to contribute to cumulative effects on
CCS surface water resources, CCS
aquatic resources, and crocodiles.
Because the CCS is a manmade closed
cycle cooling system, aquifer
withdrawals are not likely to have a
significant cumulative effect on surface water resources. Aquifer withdrawals would result in beneficial impacts to CCS aquatic resources and the crocodiles inhabiting the Turkey Point
site. FPL anticipates that the
withdrawals will reduce the salinity of
the CCS to about 34 ppt and could also
help moderate CCS temperatures over
the long term. Both of these effects
would create favorable conditions for
CCS aquatic biota and crocodiles, which
are currently tolerating an unusually
hot, hypersaline environment.
Turkey Point, Units 6 and 7 Construction and Operation In June 2009, FPL submitted a combined license application (COLA)
(ADAMS Accession No. ML091830589)
to construct and operate two
Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 (AP1000) pressurized-water reactors
designated as Turkey Point, Units 6 and
- 7. Submission of the COLA does not commit FPL to build two new nuclear
units and does not constitute approval
of the proposal by the NRC; however, submission of the COLA infers that the
construction and operation of the new
units is a reasonably foreseeable future
action. The COLA will be evaluated on
its merits, and the NRC will decide
whether to grant the licenses after
considering and evaluating the
environmental and safety implications
of the proposal. Environmental impacts
of constructing and operating Turkey
Point, Units 6 and 7 will depend on
their actual design characteristics, construction practices, and power plant
operations. These impacts will be
assessed by the NRC in a separate NEPA
document. The cumulative impacts
presented in this EA may differ from
those impacts assessed for the COLA.
Potential impacts presented below have
been drawn from FPLs Turkey Point, Units 6 and 7 Environmental Report, Revision 5 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML13357A435), and NRCs 2012 EA and
final FONSI for the EPU.
Of the environmental resources affected by the proposed action, the
possible construction and operation of
Units 6 and 7 only have the potential to
contribute to cumulative radiological
impacts. Units 6 and 7 would not use
the CCS for cooling. Rather, Units 6 and
7 would have a closed-cycle cooling
system with mechanical draft cooling
towers. The cooling towers would draw
makeup from Miami-Dade Water and
Sewer Department reclaimed water and
would discharge blowdown into deep
injection wells. Saltwater extracted from
Biscayne Bay subsurface sediment
through radial collector wells proposed
to be built on the Turkey Point site
would serve as a secondary source of
makeup water when a sufficient
quantity and/or quality of reclaimed
water is not available. Because Units 6
and 7 would not use the CCS, the
proposed new units would not have a
cumulative effect on CCS surface water
resources or CCS aquatic resources.
Regarding crocodiles, potential impacts to this species and its critical
habitat will be addressed in a future
ESA section 7 consultation between the
NRC and FWS. When considering
cumulative impacts on Federally listed
species, the ESAs implementing
regulations direct Federal agencies to
consider the effects of future State or
private activities, not involving Federal activities, that are reasonably certain to occur within the action area of the
Federal action subject to consultation
(50 CFR part 402.02; emphasis added).
Accordingly, the NRC will not address
cumulative impacts of Units 6 and 7 on VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00086Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44469 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices the American crocodile in this EA because the NRCs issuance of a license
to construct and operate Units 6 and 7
is a separate Federal activity that will
require future consultation.
Regarding cumulative radiological impacts, the NRC and Environmental
Protection Agency have developed
radiological dose limits for protection of
the public and workers that address the
cumulative effects of acute and long-
term exposure to radiation and
radioactive material. These dose limits
are specified in 10 CFR part 20 and 40
CFR part 190.
The cumulative radiation dose to the public and workers is required to be
within the regulations cited above. The
public dose limit of 25 millirem (0.25
millisieverts) in 40 CFR part 190 applies
to all reactors that may be on a site and
also includes any other nearby nuclear
power reactor facilities. The NRC staff
reviewed several years of radiation dose
data contained in the licensees annual
radioactive effluent release reports for
Turkey Point, and the data demonstrate
that the dose to members of the public
from radioactive effluents is within the
limits of 10 CFR part 20 and 40 CFR part
190. As previously indicated in the
Radiological Impacts section of this
environmental assessment, the proposed
action would result in no changes to
radiation levels or the types or
quantities of radioactive effluents (gaseous or liquid) that affect radiation
exposures to plant workers and
members of the public.
FPLs COLA for Units 6 and 7 contains an assessment of the radiation
doses to members of the public from the proposed new reactors and concludes
that doses would be within regulatory
limits. The staff expects continued
compliance with regulatory dose limits
during operation of Turkey Point, Units
3 and 4 under the proposed action.
Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that
the cumulative radiological impacts to
members of the public that could result
from the combined operations of Turkey
Point, Units 3 and 4 and the proposed
new Units 6 and 7 would result in no
significant impact on the environment.
Regarding radiation dose to workers, cumulative dose would only be
applicable for those workers that would
be engaged at both facilities (i.e., the
currently operating Units 3 and 4 and
proposed new Units 6 and 7). For Units
3 and 4, the licensee has a radiation
protection program that maintains
worker doses within the dose limits in 10 CFR part 20 during all phases of operations. Operation of Units 6 and 7
would require a similar radiation
protection program, and the licensee
would be responsible for ensuring that
workers are not exposed to dose limits
above those specified in 10 CFR part 20.
Therefore, the NRC staff concludes that
the cumulative radiological impacts to
plant workers that could result from the
combined operations of Turkey Point, Units 3 and 4 and the proposed new
Units 6 and 7 would result in no significant impact on the radiological environment.
Cumulative Impacts Conclusion The NRC staff considered the cumulative impacts of CCS chemical
treatments, current and anticipated
future aquifer withdrawals, and the
possible future construction and
operation of two new nuclear units on
the Turkey Point site. Based on the
information presented in this section, the NRC staff concludes that the
proposed action, in combination with
other cumulative actions, would result
in no significant cumulative impacts on
the environment.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered denial
of the proposed license amendments (i.e., the no-action alternative). Denial
of the application would result in no
change in current environmental
conditions or impacts. However, denial
would result in reduced operational
flexibility and could require FPL to derate or shutdown Turkey Point if the UHS average supply water temperature
approaches or exceeds the 100
°F TS limit. In its application, FPL states that
loss of load and voltage control resulting
from such a shutdown during periods of
high summer demand could result in
impacts to grid reliability.
Alternative Use of Resources The action does not involve the use of any different resources than those
previously considered in NUREG-1437, Supplement 5 prepared for license
renewal of Turkey Point.
Agencies and Persons Consulted On July 28, 2014, the NRC staff notified the Florida State official, Ms.
Cindy Becker, Chief of Bureau of
Radiation Control, of the Florida
Department of Health, regarding the
environmental impacts of the proposed action. The State official had no comments.
The NRC staff also coordinated with the FWS pursuant to consultation under
ESA section 7 during the staffs review of the proposed action. The consultation is further discussed under the
Federally-Protected Species section of
this environmental assessment.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The NRC is considering issuing amendments for Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. DPR-31 and
DPR-41, issued to FPL for operation of
Turkey Point to increase the UHS water
temperature limit specified in the
Turkey Point TSs from 100
°F to 104°F and add an SR to monitor the UHS
temperature more frequently if the UHS
temperature approaches the new limit.
On the basis of the EA included in Section II above and incorporated by
reference in this finding, the NRC
concludes that the proposed action
would not have significant effects on the
quality of the human environment. The
proposed action would result in no
significant impacts on surface water
resources, aquatic resources, or the
radiological environment. In addition, the proposed action is not likely to
adversely affect any Federally-protected
species or affect any designated critical
habitat. The proposed action would also
not result in significant cumulative
impacts on any environmental
resources. The NRCs evaluation
considered information provided in the
licensees application and associated
supplements; the NRCs staff
independent review of other
environmental documents, and
coordination with the FWS pursuant to
consultation under ESA section 7.
Section IV below lists the
environmental documents related to the
proposed action and includes
information on the availability of these
documents. Based on its findings, the
NRC has decided not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the
proposed action.
IV. Availability of Documents The following table identifies the environmental and other documents
cited in this document and related to
the NRCs FONSI. These documents are
available for public inspection online through ADAMS at http://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/adams.html or in person at the NRCs PDR as described previously. VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:56 Jul 30, 2014Jkt 232001PO 00000Frm 00087Fmt 4703Sfmt 4703E:\FR\FM\31JYN1.SGM31JYN1 wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 44470 Federal Register/Vol. 79, No. 147/Thursday, July 31, 2014/Notices Document Adams Accession No.
Documents Related to License Amendment Request Florida Power & Light Company. License Amendment Request No. 231, Application to Revise Technical Specifications to Re-vise Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limit. Dated July 10, 2014.
ML14196A006 Florida Power & Light Company. License Amendment Request No. 231, Application to Revise Ultimate Heat Sink Tempera-ture LimitRequest for Emergency Approval. Dated July 17, 2014.
ML14202A392 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Turkey Point 3 and 4 Request for Additional InformationLAR231 (TAC MF4392 and MF4393). [1 of 2] Dated July 18, 2014.
ML14203A614 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Turkey Point 3 and 4 Request for Additional InformationLAR231 (TAC MF4392 and MF4393). [2 of 2] Dated July 18, 2014.
ML14203A618 Florida Power & Light Company. License Amendment Request No. 231, Application to Revise Ultimate Heat Sink Tempera-ture LimitSupplement 1, and Response to Request for Additional Information. Dated July 22, 2014.
ML14204A367 Florida Power & Light Company. Response to Request for Additional Information Regarding License Amendment Request No.
231, Application to Revise Technical Specifications to Revise Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limit. Dated July 22, 2014.
ML14204A368 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Turkey Point 3 and 4 Request for Additional InformationLAR231 (TAC MF4392 and MF4393). Dated July 22, 2014.
ML14204A814 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Notice of Enforcement Discretion for Florida Power & Light Company Regarding Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4 [NOED NO. 14-2-001]. Dated July 23, 2014.
ML14204A652 Florida Power & Light Company. Response to Containment and Ventilation Branch Request for Additional Information, Re-garding License Amendment Request No. 231, Application to Revise Ultimate Heat Temperature Limit. Dated July 24, 2014.
ML14206A853 Florida Power & Light Company. Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4Individual Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendments to Renewed Facility Operating Licenses, Proposed No Significant Hazards Consideration Deter-
mination, and Opportunity for Hearing (Exigent Circumstances) (TAC Nos. MF4392 and MF4293). Dated July 24, 2014.
ML14204A129 (letter) ML14199A111 (enclosure)
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Request to Reinitiate Informal Consultation for a Proposed License Amendment to In-crease the Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature Limit at Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4. Dated July 25, 2014.ML14206A800 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Biological Assessment on the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) for Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 3 and 4 Proposed License Amendment to Increase the Ultimate Heat Sink Temperature
Limit. Dated July 25, 2014.
ML14206A806 Other Referenced Documents U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Re-garding Turkey Point Units 3 and 4Final Report (NUREG-1437, Supplement 5). Dated January 28, 2002.
ML020280236 Florida Power & Light Company. Proposed Turkey Point Units 6 & 7, Project No. 763, Application for Combined License for Turkey Point Units 6 and 7. Dated June 30, 2009.
ML091830589 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Related to a Li-cense Amendment To Increase the Maximum Reactor Power Level, Florida Power & Light Company; Turkey Point, Units 3
and 4. Dated March 27, 2012.
ML12074A251 Florida Power & Light Company. Turkey Point Units 6 & 7 Combine License Application, Part 3: Environmental Report, Revi-sion 5. Dated December 23, 2013.
ML13357A435 Florida Power & Light Company. Turkey Point Units 3 and 4; Wastewater Permit FL0001563; Request for Approval for the Use of Copper Sulfate, Hydrogen Peroxide, and a Bio-Stimulant in the Treatment and Control of Blue Green Algae in the
Cooling Canal System. Dated June 18, 2014.ML14206A806*
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Re: Florida Power & Light, Turkey Point, NPDES Permit FL0001562, 90-Day Trial Approval. Dated June 27, 2014.ML14206A806*
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Re: Florida Power & Light, Turkey Point Plant Maintenance Activity, NPDES Permit FL0001562, Miami-Dade County. Dated July 1, 2014.ML14206A806* *(See Appendix A.)
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of July 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Lisa M. Regner, Acting Chief, Plant Licensing Branch II-2, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2014-18159 Filed 7-30-14; 8:45 am]
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