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Pennsylvania Power Company, Ohio Edison Company, Firstenergy Nuclear Operating Company, Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 2; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

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 [Federal Register: April 23, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 78)]
[Notices]
[Page 20489-20490]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23ap01-111]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-412]


Pennsylvania Power Company, Ohio Edison Company, Firstenergy
Nuclear Operating Company, Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 2;
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an exemption from certain requirements of its regulations
for Facility Operating License No. NPF-73, issued to FirstEnergy
Nuclear Operating Company, et al. (the licensee), for operation of
Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit No. 2 (BVPS-2), located in
Shippingport, Pennsylvania.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would exempt the licensee from the requirements
of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section
50.71(e)(4) regarding submission of revisions to the Final Safety
Analysis Report (FSAR) for BVPS-2. The proposed action would extend the
regulatory requirement for submission of the next required update to
the BVPS-2 FSAR from April 25, 2001, to August 23, 2001. The revision
submitted would be required to reflect all changes made from the date
the last revision was filed on April 30, 1999, to October 25, 2000 (6
months prior to the originally-required filing date of April 25, 2000).
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's
application for exemption dated March 13, 2001 (Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML010790328).

The Need for the Proposed Action

    Section 50.71(e)(4) requires licensees to submit updates to their
FSAR within 6 months after each refueling outage providing that the
interval between successive updates does not exceed 24 months. BVPS-2's
most recent refueling outage was completed on October 25, 2000, and the
most recent revision to the BVPS-2 FSAR was filed on April 30, 1999. In
order to comply with 10 CFR 50.71(e)(4), the licensee would need to

[[Page 20490]]

file its latest update to the BVPS-2 FSAR by April 25, 2001.
    The need for the proposed action is based on taking advantage of
the efficiencies of the NRC's recently commenced electronic information
exchange (EIE) process which allows licensee's to voluntarily submit
documents to the NRC over the internet or on a CD-ROM. The NRC issued
Regulatory Issue Summary 2001-05, ``Guidance on Submitting Documents to
the NRC by Electronic Information Exchange or on CD-ROM,'' on January
25, 2001 (ADAMS Accession No. ML003768343). The proposed action is
requested due to the extensive nature of the planned FSAR revision
(expected to exceed 1000 pages). Use of licensee and NRC resources to
update the numerous hardcopies of the FSAR can be substantially reduced
by providing an electronic version of the revised FSAR in its entirety.
An additional 120 days from the currently required filing date reflects
the licensee's estimated time required for production of an electronic
version in lieu of the hardcopies.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and
concludes that the proposed action is administrative in nature and is
unrelated to plant operations.
    The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability
or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types of
any effluents that may be released off site, and there is no
significant increase in occupational or public radiation exposure.
Therefore, there are no significant radiological environmental impacts
associated with the proposed action.
    With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed
action does not involve any historic sites. It does not affect
nonradiological plant effluents and has no other environmental impact.
Therefore, there are no significant nonradiological environmental
impacts associated with the proposed action.
    Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative).
Denial of the application would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action
and the alternative action are similar.

Alternative Use of Resources

    This action does not involve the use of any resources not
previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for BVPS-2,
dated September 30, 1985 (Nuclear Documents System (NUDOCS) Accession
No. 8509300559).

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with its stated policy, on March 23, 2001, the NRC
staff consulted with the Pennsylvania State official, Mr. L. Ryan, of
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Bureau,
Division of Nuclear Safety, regarding the environmental impact of the
proposed action. The State official had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes
that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the
quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined
not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed
action.
    For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the
licensee's letter dated March 13, 2001. Documents may be examined, and/
or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room, located at One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,
Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically
from the ADAMS Public Library component on the NRC Web site, http://
www.nrc.gov (the Electronic Reading Room).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of April 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Lawrence J. Burkhart,
Project Manager, Section 1, Project Directorate I, Division of
Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-9955 Filed 4-20-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
 

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