ML101760221

Request for List of Protected Species and Essential Fish Habitat within the Area Under Evaluation for the Seabrook Station License Renewal Application Review

ML101760221
Person / Time
Site:	Seabrook
Issue date:	07/16/2010
From:	Bo Pham License Renewal Projects Branch 1
To:	Kurkul P US Dept of Commerce, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
SUSCO, J NRR/DLR 415-2927
References
Download: ML101760221 (9)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 July 16,2010 Ms. Patricia Kurkul, Regional Administrator Northeast Regional Office NOAA Fisheries Service 55 Great Republic Drive Gloucester, MA 01930-2276

SUBJECT:

REQUEST FOR LIST OF PROTECTED SPECIES AND ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT WITHIN THE AREA UNDER EVALUATION FOR THE SEABROOK STATION LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION REVIEW

Dear Ms. Kurkul:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the staff) is reviewing an application submitted by NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC, for the renewal of the operating license for Seabrook Station, Unit 1 (Seabrook Station). Seabrook Station is located 13 miles south of Portsmouth, NH. The application for renewal was submitted by NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC, in a letter dated May 25,2010, pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 54 (10 CFR Part 54). The NRC has established that, as part of the staff's review of any nuclear power plant license renewal application, a site-specific Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to its Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, NUREG-1437, will be prepared under 10 CFR Part 51, the NRC's regulation that implements the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. The SEIS includes an analysis of pertinent environmental issues, including endangered or threatened species and impacts to marine resources and habitat. This letter is being submitted under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1934, as amended, and the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996.

NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC, stated that it has no plans to alter current operations over the license renewal period and that Seabrook Station, operating under a renewed license, would use existing plant facilities and transmission lines and would not require additional construction or disturbance of new areas. According to NextEra Energy Seabrook, LLC, any maintenance activities would be limited to previously disturbed areas. The site consists of 889 acres divided into two lots. Lot 1 is approximately 109 acres, is mostly developed, and holds most of the operating facility. Lot 2 is approximately 780 acres and consists mainly of natural areas available for wildlife resources. The natural areas are characterized by broad open areas of level tidal marsh veined with man-made linear drainage ditches and tidal creeks. Wooded islands and peninsulas rise from the marsh to elevations of 20 to 30 feet above sea level. The site is on a peninsula of land, which is bordered on the north by the Browns River and on the south by Hunts Island Creek. Estuarine marshlands bound the site to the east. It is estimated that approximately 300 acres of the site are uplarld and 600 acres are marshlwetland areas.

Please see the maps in Enclosures 1, 2, and 3 for further detail.

Seabrook Station is a single unit, pressurized-water reactor plant. Seabrook Station employs a once-through heat dissipation system designed to remove waste heat from the plant. Its circulating water system provides cooling water to the main condensers to remove the heat that

P. Kurkul -2 is rejected by the turbine cycle and auxiliary system and to the plant's service water system.

Water for these systems is carried to and from the Atlantic Ocean to the plant through long tunnels drilled through the underlying bedrock. The tunnels are hydraulically connected to the ocean by way of concrete shafts that extend approximately 6000 feet offshore, with the intake and discharge points approximately 60 feet below sea level. Please see Enclosure 4 for a drawing of the system. During normal operations, the circulating water system provides a continuous flow of approximately 390,000 gallons per minute (gpm) to the main condenser and 21,000 gpm to the service water system. Fresh water is purchased from the Town of Seabrook, and sanitary waste water is discharged back to the town system.

As part of the SEIS preparation, the applicable transmission line corridors will be reviewed. The Seabrook Station 345 kilovolt (kV) switchyard is adjacent to the plant on the north side of the property. From here, three 345 kV transmission lines connect Seabrook Station to the New England electric grid. These lines deliver power to three substations: at Scobie Pond, near Derry, New Hampshire; at Tewksbury, Massachusetts; and at Newington, New Hampshire. The transmission lines include approximately 86 miles of corridor with approximately 1,061 acres of right-of-way in New Hampshire and 662 acres of right-of-way in Massachusetts for the specific purpose of connecting Seabrook Station to the transmission system. Please see the map in for further detail.

To support the SEIS preparation process and to ensure compliance with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, the NRC requests information on Federally listed, proposed, and candidate species and critical habitat that may be in the vicinity of Seabrook Station and its associated transmission line rights-of-way. In addition, please provide any information you consider appropriate under the provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act. Also in support of the SEIS preparation and to ensure compliance with Section 305 of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the NRC requests a list of essential fish habitat that has been designated in the vicinity of Seabrook Station.

The staff plans to hold two public environmental scoping meetings on August 19, 2010, at the Galley Hatch Conference Center, 815 Lafayette Road, Hampton, NH 03842. The first meeting will convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue until 3:30 p.m., as necessary. The second meeting will convene at 7:00 p.m., with a repeat of the overview portions of the first meeting, and will continue until 9:00 p.m., as necessary. In addition, during the week of October 4, 2010, the staff plans to conduct a site audit at Seabrook Station. You and your staff are invited to attend both the site audit and the public meetings. Your office will receive a copy of the draft SEIS along with a request for comments. The anticipated publication date for the draft SEIS is May 2011.

The Seabrook Station license renewal application is available at:

http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/seabrook.html.

P. Kurkul -3 If you have any questions concerning the staff's review of this license renewal application, please contact Mr. Jeremy Susco, Project Manager, at (301) 415-2927 or bye-mail at Jeremy.Susco@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, Bo Pham, Chief Projects Branch 1 Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-443

Enclosures:

1. Area Map, 50-mile radius

2. Area Map, 6-mile radius

3. Site Area Map

4. Intake/Discharge Tunnels and Shafts Diagram

5. Transmission Line Map cc w/encls: Distribution via Listserv

P. Kurkul -3 If you have any questions concerning the staff's review of this license renewal application, please contact Mr. Jeremy Susco, Project Manager, at (301) 415-2927 or bye-mail at Jeremy.Susco@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, IRA!

Bo Pham, Chief Projects Branch 1 Division of License Renewal Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-443

Enclosures:

1. Area Map, 50-mile radius

2. Area Map, 6-mile radius

3. Site Area Map

4. Intake/Discharge Tunnels and Shafts Diagram

5. Transmission Line Map cc w/encls: Distribution via Listserv DISTRIBUTION:

HARD COPY:

DLR RF E-MAIL:

PUBLIC RidsNrrDlr Resource RidsNrrDlrRpb1 Resource RidsNrrDlrRpb2 Resource RidsNrrDlrRarb Resource RidsNrrDlrRapb Resource RidsNrrDlrRasb Resource RidsNrrDlrRerb Resource RidsNrrDlrRpob Resource JSusco DTiffl. RI RPlasse NMcNamara. RI BPham NSheehan, RI DWrona DScrenci, RI EMilier JJohnson. RI ICourel. OPA ABurritl, RI EDacus,OCA MSpencer. OGC WRaymond. RI ADAMS Accession No' ML101760221 OFFICE PM:RPB1 :DLR LA:DLR OGC BC:RPB1 :DLR NAME JSusco IKing MSpencer BPham DATE 07/01/10 06/30/10 07/07/10 07/16/10 OFFICIAL RECORD COpy

Area Map, 50-Mile Radius Seabrook Station Atlantic Ocean

.: +

N LJ

."".'- i '

• Legend 10 Seabrook Station Water

• selected Cities

• Urban Area

= Primary Roads Federal Lands c:J 50-Mile Radius Department of Defense eStato Boundary

':'.1 County Boundary ENCLOSURE 1

Area Map, 6-Mile Radius

• Legend Seabrook Station o Selected CIties 1:J6-Mlle Radius

= Interstate

- Primary Road

_ Secondary and Connecting Road I:IState Boundary l::!S&abrook Station Property Boundary Water

_ Urban Area ENCLOSURE 2

Site Area Map N

5<<) 1,000

+2,000 F..'

I Legend c::J Site Boundary ENCLOSURE 3

IntakelDischarge Tunnels and Shafts Diagram Atlantic Ocean DISCHARGE TUNNEL AND SHAFTS Th.... 30'* 6" Dia.

Infak. $h.'**

Intake Shaft Discharge Shaft Drawings not to scale ENCLOSURE 4

Transmission Line Map Rockingham Legend

.... SubMation

=-= 345 kV Tran.n,tulon Line

_Interstllte

-PrimaryRMd

~_

s ea. b roO k Station State Boundary Count)' Boundary Water I

-

0

.UrbonA,...

Cmne Pond WMA Fi:&hand Wldli1e Betvies ENCLOSURE 5