ML24117A226
| ML24117A226 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Three Mile Island  |
| Issue date: | 05/29/2024 |
| From: | Robert Sun NRC/NMSS/DREFS/ERMB |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NRC-2024-0099 | |
| Download: ML24117A226 (9) | |
Text
[7590-01-P]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-0320; NRC-2024-0099]
TMI-2SOLUTIONS, LLC.;
Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2;
Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comment; issuance of programmatic
agreement.
SUMMARY
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for public
comment a draft environmental assessment ( EA) and draft finding of no significant
impact (FONSI) for a proposed amendment of NRC Possession Only License (POL) No.
DPR-73 for the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2 (TMI-2), located in
Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The proposed amendment
would ensure that TMI-2 Energy Solutions (TMI-2 Solutions) can continue
decommissioning the facility in accordance with NRC regulations. TMI-2 Solutions will be
engaging in certain major decommissioning activities, including the physical demolition
of buildings previously deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP). The draft EA, Environmental Assessment for Specific Decommissioning
Activities at Three Mile Island, Unit 2 in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, documents the
NRC staffs environmental review of the license amendment application. The NRC is
also issuing a final Programmatic Agreement (PA) under Section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).
DATES: Submit comments on the draft EA by July 5, 2024. Comments received after
this date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to
ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; however,
the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal rulemaking
website:
- Federal rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC-2024-0099. Address questions about Docket IDs to Stacy
Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; email: Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information Contact section of
this document.
- Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Program
Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
- Email comments to: TMI2Environmental@nrc.gov.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see
Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Trefethen, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-0867; email: Jean.Trefethen@nrc.gov.
2 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0099 when contacting the NRC about the
availability of information regarding this action. You may obtain publicly available
information related to this action by the following methods:
- Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and
search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0099.
- NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public
Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select Begin Web-based ADAMS Search. For problems with ADAMS, please
contact the NRCs Public Document Room (P DR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at
301-415-4737, or by email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number
for each document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it
is mentioned in this document.
- NRCs PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies of publicly
available documents, is open by appointment. To make an appointment to visit the PDR,
please send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-
4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
- NRCs Public Project Website: Information related to the TMI-2 project can
be accessed on NRCs TMI-2 public website at https://www.nrc.gov/info-
finder/decommissioning/power-reactor/three-mile-island-unit-2.html, under the section
titled 2.0 Site Status Summary, scroll down to Environmental Review of Cultural and 3
Historic Resource Impacts from Decommissi oning Activities and click on Environmental
Assessment (EA), Draft Report for Comment.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal
rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please include Docket ID NRC-
2024-0099 in the subject line of your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identif ying or contact information that you
do not want to be publicly disclosed in y our comment submission. The NRC will post all
comment submissions at https://www.regulat ions.gov as well as enter the comment
submissions into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for
submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying
or contact information that they do not w ant to be publicly disclosed in their comment
submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment
submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions
available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.
II. Background
The Three Mile Island Nuclear Station (TMINS) is approximately 16 kilometers
(10 miles) southeast of Harrisburg, Pennsyl vania. The TMINS site includes Three Mile
Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (TMl-1) and TMl-2. It encompasses approximately 178
hectares (440 acres), including the adjacent islands on the north end, a strip of land on
the mainland along the eastern shore of the river, and an area on the eastern shore of
Shelley Island. The TMINS site has significance in U.S. history because it is the site of
the nations most serious commercial nuclear power plant accident, occurring at TMI-2.
4 On March 28, 1979, TMI-2 experienced an accident initiated by interruption of secondary
feedwater flow which led to a core heat up that caused fuel damage. The partial
meltdown of the reactor core led to a very small offsite release of radioactivity. In
response to this accident many changes occurred at nuclear power plants including
emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering,
radiation protection, and heightened NRC regulatory oversight.
III. Introduction
By letter dated February 22, 2023 (ADAMS Accession No. ML23058A064),
TMI-2Solutions requested an amendment to POL No. DPR-73. TMI-2 Solutions will be
engaging in certain major decommissioning activities, including the physical demolition
of buildings previously deemed eligible for the NRHP. Because the impacts on the
historic properties from these decommissioning activities have not been previously
evaluated and are not bounded by the impacts discussion in NUREG-0586, Final
Generic Environmental Impact Statement on Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities,
TMI-2Solutions requested an amendment that would require evaluation of the impacts of
the decommissioning activities on the NRHP-e ligible properties, in compliance with
paragraph 50.82(a)(6)(ii) of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8, the NRC is using its National Environmental Policy
Act process for developing the environmental assessment (EA) to facilitate consultation
pursuant to Section 106 of the NHPA.
Adverse effects to historic properties would result from decommissioning
activities at TMI-2. Therefore, the NRC and consulting parties proceeded with
development of a PA to resolve adverse effects. On March 6, 2024 (89 FR 16037) the
draft PA was issued for public review and comment. One comment was received and
considered before finalizing the PA. The final PA (ADAMS Accession No.
5 ML24117A258) addresses the potential direct and indirect adverse effects from the
decommissioning activities and ensures that appropriate mitigation measures are
implemented. The NRC is issuing the final PA, which therefore, concludes NHPA
Section 106 consultation.
In accordance with NRCs regulations in 10 CFR part 51, Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions, that
implement the National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), the NRC staff has
prepared a draft EA documenting its environmental review of the license amendment
application. Based on the environmental review, the NRC has made a preliminary
determination that the proposed action will not significantly affect the quality of the
human environment and that a FONSI is theref ore appropriate. By this notice, the NRC
is requesting public comment on the draft FONSI and supporting draft EA.
IV. Summary of Draft Environmental Assessment
The draft EA is publicly available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML24117A224.
A summary description of the proposed ac tion and expected environmental impacts is
provided as follows.
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action is to amend POL No. DPR-73 so that TMI-2 Solutions can
continue with certain major decommissioning activities planned under Phase 2 of its
decommissioning schedule. Phase 2 decommissioning activities include the removal of
any radioactive components in preparation for demolition of structures, decommissioning
and dismantlement of the TMl-2 site to a level that permits the release of the site, except
for an area potentially to be set aside for storage of fuel-bearing material (small
quantities of spent nuclear fuel, damaged core material, and high-level waste) on the
independent spent fuel storage installation, backfilling of the site, license termination 6
plan submittal and implementation, and site restoration activities. In order to comply with
10 CFR 50.82(a)(6)(ii), TMI-2Solutions requested that NRC evaluate the impacts of
certain major decommissioning activities on historic and cultural resources and NRHP-
eligible properties. The definition of major decommissioning activity is in 10 CFR 50.2,
which states Major decommissioning activity me ans, for a nuclear power reactor facility,
any activity that results in permanent removal of major radioactive components,
permanently modifies the structure of the containment, or results in dismantling
components for shipment containing greater than class C waste in accordance with §
61.55 of this chapter. Due to radioactive contamination, the TMI-2 structures must be
demolished and removed during decommissioning.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
In the draft EA, the staff assessed the potential environmental impacts from the
proposed license amendment to the following resource areas: land use; visual and
scenic resources; the geologic environment; surface and groundwater resources;
ecological resources; air quality; noise; historic and cultural resources; socioeconomic
conditions; environmental justice; public and occupational health; transportation; and
waste generation and management. The NRC staff also considered the cumulative
impacts from past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions when combined with the
proposed action. The TMI-2 Historic District would be adversely affected by the TMI-2
decommissioning, and adverse effects cannot be avoided. The mitigation of adverse
effects to the TMI-2 Historic District will be completed in accordance with the TMI-2
Demolition and Decommissioning Programmatic Agreement (NRC 2024a).
As part of the NRCs consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species
Act, the NRC staff determined that the proposed action may affect, but is not likely to
adversely affect, the Indiana bat ( Myotis sodalis), northern long-eared bat 7
(Myotis septentrionalis ), tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), monarch butterfly
(Danaus plexippus), northeastern bulrush (Scirpus ancistrochaetus ), or green floater
(Lasmigona subviridis ). The NRC staff transmitted an email to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service for its review and concurrence on May 24, 2024 (ADAMS Accession No.
All other potential impacts from the proposed action were determined to not be
significant, as described in the draft EA. The NRC staff found that there would be no
significant negative cumulative impact to any resource area from the proposed action
when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternative to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered denial of the
proposed action (i.e., the no-action alternative). Under the no-action alternative, the
NRC would deny the licensees request for an amendment to allow for the continuation
of major decommissioning activities under Phase 2. In this case, the NRC staff would not
review the historic and cultural resource impacts of the major decommissioning activities
as defined in 10 CFR 50.2 and would therefore disallow the removal of NRHP-eligible
structures and any impacts to historic and cultural resources. However, due to the
presence of radioactive contamination, TMI-2 structures, including the NRHP-eligible
structures, must be removed during the decommissioning process. Therefore, the NRC
staff concludes that denying the amendment request is not a reasonable alternative.
V. Draft Finding of No Significant Impact
In accordance with the NEPA and 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has conducted
an environmental review of a request for an amendment to POL No. DPR-73. The
proposed amendment would revise POL No. DPR-73 to allow the licensee to conduct
decommissioning at TMI-2 covering activities that were not previously addressed in the 8
staffs environmental assessments (site-specific historical and cultural resources). Based
on its environmental review of the proposed action, as documented in the draft EA, the
NRC staff has preliminarily determined that granting the requested license amendment
would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the NRC
staff has preliminarily determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that preparation of an
environmental impact statement is not requi red for the proposed action and a FONSI is
appropriate. Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.33(a), the NRC staff is making the draft FONSI and
draft EA available for public review and comment.
Dated: May 29, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
Robert Sun, Chief, Environmental Project Management Branch 2, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
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