ML11304A035

Section 106 Consultation and Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplement to the Final Environmental Statement for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 for Public Comment

ML11304A035
Person / Time
Site:	Watts Bar
Issue date:	11/02/2011
From:	Shawn Campbell Watts Bar Special Projects Branch
To:	Mcintyre E State of TN, Tennessee Historical Commission
Lamb J
Shared Package
ML11304A040	List: ML11304A035
References
Download: ML11304A035 (4)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON , D.C . 20555-0001 November 2, 2011 Mr. E. Patrick Mcintyre , Jr.

State Historic Preservation Officer Tennessee Historical Commission 2941 Lebanon Road Nashville , TN 37243-0442

SUBJECT:

SECTION 106 CONSULTATION AND NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT SUPPLEMENT TO THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT FOR WADS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT, UNIT 2 FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

Dear Mr. Mcintyre :

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is reviewing an application submitted by the Tennessee Valley Authority for an operating license for Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN) , Unit 2, located in Rhea County , Tennessee at the northern end of the Chickamauga Reservoir, Tennessee River Mile 528 . The NRC published the Final Environmental Statement (FES) published in 1978. The NRC has completed draft Supplement 2 to the FES (DSFES) .

In accordance with Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations (36 CFR) , Section 800.8(c), the NRC staff is using the process required by National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the preparation of the DFES to comply with the obligations required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA) , in lieu of the procedures set forth in 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6.

In the context of NEPA, the NRC 's preliminary determination is that any impact from this operating license action on historical and archaeological resources located in the area of potential effect would be small. Under the provisions of the NHPA, the NRC also determined that no historic properties would be affected by this undertaking (the issuance of a 40-year facility operating license). The justification for this conclusion is explained in Section 4.5, which begins on page 4-46 in the enclosed draft supplement and references the March 5, 2010, letter from the Tennessee Historical Commission to the NRC .

As discussed in Section 9.6 of the draft supplement , the NRC staff's preliminary recommendation to the Commission related to the environmental aspects of the proposed action is that the environmental impacts are not significant enough to forego issuing the operating license for WBN Unit 2.

Public meetings will be held on December 8, 2011, at 2:00 p.m . and 6:30 p.m . at the Magnuson Hotel in Sweetwater, Tennessee . A meeting notice will be published shortly providing more details . Please note that the public comment period for the draft supplement ends on December 27 , 20 11.

E. P Mcintyre, Jr. -2 Pursuant to 36 CFR 800 .8(c), the NRC is requesting your comments on the DSFES, and ,

specifically, on our preliminary conclusions regarding historic properties. The NRC staff will address your comments in the final FES and upon resolving comments; the NRC would complete consultation under Section 106 of the NHPA with the Tennessee Historical Commission regarding the WBN Unit 2 operating license application .

A separate Notice of Availability of the draft supplement will be placed in the Federal Register through the U.S . Environmental Protection Agency. If you have any questions regarding this matter or wish to comment on the draft supplement, please contact Mr. Pat Milano at 301-415-1457 or by email at Patrick.Milano@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

~ :s .

Stephen J. Campbell, Chief Watts Bar Special Projects Branch Division of Operating Reactor Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-391

Enclosure:

Draft NUREG-0498, Supplement 2, Report for Comment cc wlo encl: Listserv

Letter to E. P. Mcintyre Jr. from Stephen J. Campbell dated November 2, 2011

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT SUPPLEMENT TO THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT FOR WATTS BAR NUCLEAR PLANT UNIT 2 FOR PUBLIC COMMENT DISTRIBUTION:

HARD COPY:

DLR RJF LPWB Reading File E-MAIL:

PUBLIC RidsNrrLABClayton Resource RidsNrrDlr Resource RidsNrrDlrRerb Resource RidsNrrDorlLp_WB Resource RidsNrrPMWattsBar2 Resource RidsRgn2MailCenter Resource RidsAcrsAcnw MailCTR Resource RidsOpaMail Resource RidsOgcRp Resource PMilano, NRR CFelis, NRR

1. Package: ML11304A040

2. Letter: ML11304A035 3 Dra ft NUREG - 04 98 , Supplement2R , eportfor Comment: ML11298A094 and ML11298A095 OFFICE DORLI LPWBI PM DORULPWBI LA DLR/RERB/BC DORLlLPWB/BC NAME JPoole BClayton Almboden SCampbell DATE 11/01/11 11/01/11 11/01/11 11/02/11