[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 32354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15137]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-320]
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
Regarding the Extension of Possession-only License No. DPR-73; GPU
Nuclear Corporation Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit No. 2
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is considering
issuance of an amendment to Possession-Only License No DPR-73 which
allows GPU Nuclear Corporation (the licensee) to possess but not
operate the permanently shut down Three Mile Island Nuclear Station,
Unit 2 (TMI-2). The amendment would extend the expiration date of the
license from November 9, 2009, to April 19, 2014.
Description of the Proposed Action
TMI-2 has been shut down since the March 28, 1979 accident. The
facility has been defueled to the extent practicable and has been
partially decontaminated. It is now in a safe storage mode called Post-
Defueling Monitored Storage (PDMS). The licensee intends to keep TMI-2
in PDMS until the TMI-1 license expires on April 19, 2014, at which
time the units would be decommissioned simultaneously.
Environmental Impacts
The staff evaluated the potential environmental and safety
consequences of PDMS in Final Supplement 3 to the Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement Related to Decontamination and Disposal
of Radioactive Wastes Resulting from the March 28, 1979 Accident at
Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 2 (PEIS Supplement 3 or NUREG-
0683 Supplement 3), dated August 1989. The staff evaluated radiological
and non-radiological impacts associated with the licensee's proposal
and seven staff identified alternatives. The licensee's proposal
included storage of TMI-2 until the end of the TMI-1 license in the
year 2014. The staff concluded that each of the alternatives (with the
exception of the no-action alternative) were within applicable
regulatory limits and could each be implemented without significant
environmental impact. The potential health impact on both workers and
the offsite public from any of the alternatives was very small. The
staff concluded that none of the alternatives was obviously superior to
the licensee's proposal from the perspective of environmental impacts.
Although the quantitative estimates of potential impacts varied among
the alternatives, the differences were not judged sufficiently large to
allow for identification of an obviously superior alternative. The
staff further concluded that the licensee's proposal was
environmentally acceptable and would not significantly affect the
quality of the human environment. The staff reviewed the conclusions of
the 1989 PEIS Supplement 3 and the current TMI-2 conditions now that
the facility is in long-term storage. The staff determined that the
conclusions reached with respect to environmental impact associated
with long-term storage of TMI-2 in the 1989 PEIS Supplement 3 are still
valid.
Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on the foregoing environmental assessment, the Commission has
concluded that the proposed action will not have a significant effect
on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the Commission
has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for
this proposed action.
For further details with respect to this action see the licensee's
environmental evaluation dated March 11, 1987, the licensee's request
for a license amendment dated October 9, 1991, and the staff's PEIS
Supplement 3 dated August 1989. These documents are available for
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman
Building, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC 20555 and at the Government
Publications Section, State Library of Pennsylvania, Walnut Street and
Commonwealth Avenue, Box 1601, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of June 1995.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Seymour H. Weiss,
Director, Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning Project Directorate,
Division of Project Support, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 95-15137 Filed 6-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
