ML24157A169
| ML24157A169 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Hermes File:Kairos Power icon.png |
| Issue date: | 05/28/2024 |
| From: | Public Commenter Public Commenter |
| To: | NRC/NMSS/DREFS |
| NRC/NMSS/DREFS | |
| References | |
| 89FR32462 | |
| Download: ML24157A169 (7) | |
Text
From: O'NEILL, Martin <mjo@nei.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2024 6:09 PM To: Kairos-Hermes2Environmental Resource Cc: O'NEILL, Martin
Subject:
[External_Sender] NEI Comments on Draft EA/FONSI for the Kairos Hermes 2 Construction Permit Application [Docket Nos. 50-611 and 50-612; NRC-2023-0138]
Attachments: NEI Comments on NRC Draft EA and FONSI for Kairos Hermes 2 Test Reactor CPs (5-28-2024).pdf
Docket Nos. 50-611 and 50-612; NRC-2023-0138 Please find attached the Nuclear Energy Institutes Comments on the NRC Staffs Draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Construction Permits for the Kairos Hermes 2 Test Reactors.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments. If you have any questions concerning this letter, please feel free to contact me at mjo@nei.org or 202-739-8139.
Best regards, Martin ONeill
Martin J. ONeill l Associate General Counsel Nuclear Energy Institute 1201 F Street NW, Suite 1100 l Washington, DC 20004 T: 202.739.8139 l M: 240.305.0331 l mjo@nei.org l www.nei.org
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Federal Register Notice: 89FR32462 Comment Number: 1
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[External_Sender] NEI Comments on Draft EA/FONSI for the Kairos Hermes 2 Construction Permit Application [Docket Nos. 50-611 and 50-612; NRC-2023-0138]
Sent Date: 5/28/2024 6:09:25 PM Received Date: 5/28/2024 6:10:02 PM From: O'NEILL, Martin
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Martin J. ONeill 202.739.8139 Associate General Counsel mjo @nei.org
1201 F Street NW, Suite 1100 nei.org Washington, DC 20004
[Docket Nos. 50-611 and 50- 612; NRC-2023- 0138]
May 28, 2024
Office of Administration Mail Stop TWFN-7-A60M U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555- 0001 ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff
Submitted electronically via Kairos-Hermes2Environmental@nrc.gov
Subject:
Nuclear Energy Institute Comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Construction Permits for the Kairos Hermes 2 Test Reactors
The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) 1 provides these comments in response to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staffs issuance of the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for Kairos Power, LLCs Hermes 2 construction permit (CP) application. 2 Kairos Power is seeking CPs for the construction of two non-power test reactors (i.e., the Hermes 2 facility) adjacent to the Hermes test reactor for which NRC issued a CP in December 2023. The Hermes 2 facility will demonstrate additional key elements of Kairos Powers Fluoride Salt-Cooled, High Temperature Reactor (KP -FHR) technology for possible future commercial deployment.
We concur fully with the NRC staffs conclusion in the EA that the potential direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts from the Hermes 2 facility would not be significant, and that a draft FONSI is therefore warranted. We also support the staffs preliminary recommendation (pending completion of its safety review and review of public comments on the draft EA/FONSI) that the CPs be issued to Kairos Power. 3 That recommendation rests soundly on the NRC staffs
1 NEI is responsible for establishing unified policy on behalf of its members relating to matters affecting the nuclear energy industry, including the regulatory aspects of generic operational and technical issues. NEIs members include entities licensed to operate commercial nuclear power plants in the United States, nuclear plant designers, major architect and engineering firms, fuel cycle facilities, nuclear materials licensees, and other organizations involved in the nuclear energy industry.
2 See NRCs Notice of Availability and Request for Comment, 89 Fed. Reg. 32,462 (Apr. 26, 2024); ADAMS Accession No. ML24103A002.
3 As the draft EA notes, exemptions from certain regulations in 10 CFR Part 51 would be necessary to issue a final EA and final FONSI to support issuance of the Hermes 2 CPs. Draft EA at xv, 1 -1. Relevant to that issue, NEI notes that timely and efficient NRC environmental reviews for first -of-a kind advanced nuclear demonstration projects like the Hermes 2 project are vitally important and in the public interest.
Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff NEI Comments on Kairos Hermes 2 CP D raft EA/FONSI May 28, 2024
detailed review of the Hermes 2 application, during which the staff weighed the environmental, economic, technical, and other benefits of the proposed action against its environmental and other costs and considered reasonable alternatives.
The proposed action, if approved by the NRC, would support Kairos Powers reactor development program. Additionally, construction and operation of Hermes 2 would provide validation and qualification data to support potential future commercial reactors using the KP-FHR technology.
As the EA notes, the purpose of and need for the project is tied directly to the DOEs objectives under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), which seeks to enable private companies like Kairos Power to demonstrate safe and affordable advanced reactor technologies that can be licensed and deployed over the next 10 to 14 years. 4 Successful future deployment of the KP-FHR technology will enhance the nations ability to provide an affordable advanced generation source that complements renewable energy sources by reliably producing dispatchable, zero-emission electricity from a comparatively smaller geographic footprint - all in furtherance of critical climate, environmental, and energy security objectives. Additionally, the Hermes 2 facility will yield local and regional socioeconomic benefits that will be amplified by the eventual commercial deployment of the KP-FHR technology on a wider geographic scale.
NEI continues to support the NRCs efforts to efficiently meet its obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to consider the environmental impacts of proposed licensing actions and to inform the public about the agencys environmental decision making through appropriate means. In this regard, we are encouraged by the NRC staffs decision to prepare an EA/FONSI in this case in lieu of an environmental impact statement (EIS), consistent with the staffs representations to the Commission in SECY 0080. 5 We agree that an EA is appropriate in this case in view of (1) the similar design of Hermes 2 and Hermes, (2) the proposed siting of Hermes 2 within a few hundred feet of Hermes, (3) the industrial nature and heavy prior disturbance of the site, (4) the recent thorough NEPA review performed by the staff as published in its final EIS for Hermes, and (5) the staffs final EIS for Hermes covering the same site as Hermes 2 and documenting all impacts as SMALL. 6
Current NRC regulations (10 CFR 51.20(b)) direct the NRC staff to prepare an EIS for specific categories of actions, including permits/licenses to construct and operate a nuclear power reactor or a testing facility. That requirement, however, does not reflect consideration of the innovative design features, smaller source terms, and safety characteristics of advanced reactors, which are expected to result in smaller construction and operation-related impacts relative to current large LWRs. As NRC staff mana gement noted during a November 2, 2023, public meeting with the Commission, the Kairos Hermes 2 CP application review has provided the staff with a unique opportunity to implement a risk -informed approach for environmental review
4 Draft EA at 1 -4.
5 SECY-23-0080, Environmental Review Approach for the Kairos Power, LLC Hermes 2 Construction Permit Application (Sept. 27, 2023) (ML23214A164 ) (package).
6 Draft EA at xv, 1-1.
Nuclear Energy Institute 2 Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff NEI Comments on Kairos Hermes 2 CP D raft EA/FONSI May 28, 2024
that is commensurate with the risk posed by advanced reactor technology on a well-evaluated site. 7
Consistent with SECY 0080, we encourage the NRC staff to evaluate lessons-learned from the Hermes 2 CP environmental review and determine whether any modifications to the NRCs processes or regulations are appropriate to enhance the timeliness and efficiency of future advanced reactor environmental reviews. 8 In NEIs February 12, 2024 Input on Regulatory Priorities for New and Advanced Reactors, we identified environmental reviews as a high -priority regulatory topic, and recommended that the NRC enable broader use of EAs and categorical exclusions (including mitigated FONSIs and mitigated categorical exclusions) for new reactors via rulemaking, interim exemptions, and updated guidance, as necessary. 9 The staffs preparation of an EA/FONSI for the Hermes 2 CP application aligns with that recommendation.
The expanded use of EAs, as appropriate, also should facilitate the NRCs compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 amendments to NEPA, which, among other things, direct an agency to prepare an environmental assessment with respect to a proposed agency action that does not have a reasonably foreseeable significant effect on the quality of the human environment. 10 Additionally, it would be consistent wit h the Atomic Energy Advancement Act, proposed bipartisan legislation that seeks, in part, to facilitate efficient, timely, and predictable environmental reviews of nuclear reactor applications, including through expanded use of categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, and generic environmental impact statements. 11 Notably, the proposed law directs the NRC to consider amending 10 CFR 51.20(b) to allow the Commission to determine on a case-specific basis whether an environmental assessment (rather than an environmental impact statement or supplemental environmental impact statement) is appropriate for a particular nuclear reactor application. 12
Finally, we reiterate our support for the NRCs efforts to leverage previous evaluations to optimize the environmental review process. The NRCs use of incorporation by reference - a well-established NEPA practice permitted by Council on Environmental Quality and NRC regulations -
is clearly appropriate in this case. As the draft EA notes, [t]he NRCs independent analysis related to any document incorporated by reference or referenced is summarized to highlight the important aspects of the analysis presented in the source document to determine impacts,
7 NRC Public Meeting on the Strategic Programmatic Overview of the Operating Reactors and New Reactors Business Lines (Nov. 2, 2023), Tr. at 62 (ML23328A048 ).
8 SECY-23-0080 at 8.
9 See Letter from Marcus Nichol, NEI, to Robert M. Taylor, NRC, Subject : NEI Input on Regulatory Priorities for New and Advanced Reactors, Attachment at 2 ( Feb. 12, 2024) (ML24043A249).
10 Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, Public Law 118 -5, § 321 (Builder Act) (amending 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th -congress/house-bill/3746
11 Atomic Energy Advancement Act (H.R. 6544), https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th -congress/house -
bill/6544/text.
12 Id.
Nuclear Energy Institute 3 Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff NEI Comments on Kairos Hermes 2 CP D raft EA/FONSI May 28, 2024
which cuts down on bulk without impeding public review. 13 This and other improvements in the NEPA review process recently implemented by the NRC staff provide a foundation for achieving even greater efficiencies and timeliness for future advanced reactor environmental reviews.
We appreciate the opportunity to submits comments. If you have questions concerning this letter, please contact me at mjo@nei.org or 202-739-8139.
Sincerely,
Martin J. ONeill
Martin J. ONeill Associate General Counsel
13 As the draft EA indicates, all documents that were incorporated by reference or referenced in the EA are publicly available, and links to these documents can be found in Table 1 -1 and Section 7 of the EA.
Nuclear Energy Institute 4