2025-01997. Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC and Holtec Palisades, LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact

Document description	ADAMS accession No.
Request for Exemption from Certain Termination of License Requirements of 10CFR 50.82, dated September 28, 2023; Acceptance Review dated November 3, 2023	ML23271A140; ML23291A440.
Application for Order Consenting to Transfer of Control of License and Approving Conforming License Amendments, dated December 6, 2023; Acceptance Review dated January 16, 2024	ML23340A161; ML24012A242.
Request to Revise Renewed Facility Operating License and Permanently Defueled Technical Specifications to Support Resumption of Power Operations, dated December 14, 2023; Acceptance Review dated January 23, 2024	ML23348A148; ML24022A117.
Request to Revise Selected Permanently Defueled Technical Specifications Technical Specifications to Support Resumption of Power Operations, dated February 9, 2024; Acceptance Review dated March 18, 2024	ML24040A089; ML24060A221.
Request to Revise the Palisades Emergency Plan to Support Resumption of Power Operations, dated May 1, 2024; Acceptance Review dated May 23, 2024	ML24122C666; ML24141A119.
Request to Approve the Biasi Critical Heat Flux Correlation for Use with the Palisades Main Steam Line Break Analysis, dated May 24, 2024; Acceptance Review dated June 18, 2024	ML24145A145; ML24169A434.

The NRC's environmental review also encompasses any revisions or supplements to these requests or other regulatory or licensing requests submitted to the NRC that are necessary to reauthorize power operations of Palisades.

The DOE LPO's Federal action is a decision on providing Federal financial assistance for refueling and resumption of power generation activities at Palisades, pursuant to Holtec's loan guarantee agreement with DOE LPO that was issued pursuant to the Energy Policy Act (EPA) of 2005.

The need for the potential approval of the proposed NRC Federal actions, collectively supporting the reauthorization of power operations, is to provide an option that allows for baseload clean energy power generation capability within the term of the Palisades' RFOL to meet current system generating needs. Holtec cites the State of Michigan's Public Acts of 2023, Act No. 235 (enrolled Senate Bill 271), which establishes a clean energy standard for electric providers to provide at least 80 percent clean energy by 2035 and 100 percent by 2040. Michigan's Act No. 235 defines clean energy as including a system that “Generates electricity or steam without emitting greenhouse gas, including nuclear generation.”

The need for DOE's proposed action (Federal financial assistance in the form of a loan guarantee), is to implement DOE's authority under Title XVII of the EPA of 2005, which was reauthorized, amended, and revised by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to create the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) Program (Section 1706). The purpose of the EIR Program is to finance ( print page 8723) projects and facilities in the United States that retool, repower, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations or to enable operating energy infrastructure to avoid, reduce, utilize, or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (42 U.S.C. 16517(a)(2)).

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

In the draft EA, the NRC staff assessed the potential direct and indirect environmental impacts from the proposed actions associated with the following relevant resource areas: land use and visual resources; meteorology and air quality; surface water resources; groundwater resources and the geologic environment; ecological resources (terrestrial and aquatic); historic and cultural resources; socioeconomics; environmental justice; radiological and nonradiological human health; waste management; uranium fuel cycle and transportation; and postulated accidents. The NRC staff also considered decommissioning impacts, the potential effects of climate change on its evaluation of the environmental impacts of the proposed continued operation of Palisades, and the cumulative effects from past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions when combined with the proposed action.

The NRC staff determined that the environmental impacts of the proposed action would be NOT SIGNIFICANT for each potentially affected environmental resource. In addition, the NRC staff determined that the projected effects of climate change would not alter any of the impact determinations described in the EA. Furthermore, the NRC staff found that there would be no significant cumulative impact to any resource area from the proposed action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

The NRC staff considered a range of alternatives to the proposed action and the environmental impacts of the alternatives as appropriate. The NRC staff determined that there are no alternatives that meet the need for the proposed action that would be environmentally preferrable to the proposed action.

IV. Draft Finding of No Significant Impact

The proposed Federal actions before the NRC are whether to grant requests for an exemption, a license transfer, and license amendments to support reauthorizing Palisades for power operations through the remainder of its licensing term (to March 24, 2031). The NRC staff has conducted an environmental review of these actions and prepared a draft EA. This draft FONSI incorporates by reference the draft EA summarized in Section II of this notice and referenced in Section V of this notice. Based on preliminary determinations in the draft EA that the environmental impacts of the proposed actions would be NOT SIGNIFICANT for each potentially affected resource area, the NRC staff is issuing a draft determination that the proposed Federal actions would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the NRC staff has made a draft determination that preparation of an EIS is not required for the proposed Federal actions and that a draft FONSI appears warranted.

This draft finding and the related environmental documents referenced throughout the EA are available for public inspection as discussed in the draft EA and Section I of this notice. The NRC's staff's determination is tentative. Before making a final determination, the NRC staff will consider comments received on the draft EA and draft FONSI over a 30-day public comment period from Federal, State, Tribal, and local officials, and members of the public. Once the NRC staff makes a final determination, the NRC will publish the final EA and final FONSI or proceed to prepare an EIS. At the conclusion of the NRC environmental review, DOE LPO would publish a separate Record of Decision or FONSI, as appropriate.

V. Availability of Documents

The documents listed in the following table are available to interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as indicated.

Document description	ADAMS accession No./ Federal Register notice
Draft Environmental Assessment and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact for the Palisades Nuclear Plant Reauthorization of Power Operations Project, dated January 31, 2025	ML24353A157.
Correspondence to NRC from Holtec, Responses to Requests for Additional Information Regarding the Proposed Reauthorization of Power Operations Under Renewed Facility Operating License Number DPR-020, dated October 4, 2024	ML24278A027.
Correspondence to NRC from Holtec, Responses to Requests for Confirmatory Information, dated September 12, 2024	ML24260A354.
Correspondence to NRC from Holtec, Responses to Requests for Confirmatory Information, dated November 12, 2024	ML24319A053.
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, and Holtec Palisades, LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Applications for Amendments to Renewed Facility Operating License Involving Proposed No Significant Hazards Considerations and Order Imposing Procedures for Access to Sensitive Unclassified Non-Safeguards Information and Safeguards Information—License amendment requests; opportunity to comment, request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene; order, published August 7, 2024	89 FR 64486.
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, Holtec Palisades, LLC, and Palisades Energy, LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant and the Palisades Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Consideration of Approval of Transfer of Licenses and Conforming Amendment-Application for direct transfer of license; opportunity to comment, request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene, published August 7, 2024	89 FR 64493.
Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC, and Holtec Palisades, LLC; Palisades Nuclear Plant; Notice of Intent to Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare an Environmental Assessment, published June 27, 2024	89 FR 53659.