Notice of Intent To Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare Environmental Impact Statement; Duke Energy Carolina, LLC; Duke Energy; Oconee Nuclear Station, Units 1, 2, and 3

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Intent to conduct scoping process and prepare environmental impact statement; public scoping meeting and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will conduct a scoping process to gather information necessary to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the environmental impacts for the subsequent license renewal (SLR) of the operating licenses for Oconee Nuclear Station, Units 1, 2, and 3 (ONS). The NRC is seeking public comment on this action and has scheduled a public scoping meeting that will take place as an online webinar.

DATES:

The NRC will hold a public scoping meeting as an online webinar on August 25, 2021, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). Submit comments on the scope of the EIS by September 9, 2021. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC 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://regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0146. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov 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.
• Email: Comments may be submitted to the NRC electronically using the email address OconeeEnvironmental@nrc.gov.
• 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.

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:

Lance Rakovan, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2589, email: Lance.Rakovan@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0146 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly available information related to this action by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0146.
• NRC's 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 NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is referenced.
• Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request to the PDR via email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal Rulemaking website ( https://www.regulations.gov ). Please include Docket ID NRC-2021-0146 in the subject line of your comment submission in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment submission available to the public in this docket.

The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.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 want 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. Discussion

By letter dated June 7, 2021 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML21158A193), Duke Energy Carolina, LLC (Duke Energy) submitted to the NRC an application for subsequent license renewal of Renewed Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-38, DPR-47, and DPR-55 for ONS, Units 1, 2, and 3, respectively, for an additional 20 years of operation. This submission initiated the NRC's proposed action of determining whether to grant the SLR application. The ONS units are pressurized water reactors designed by Babcock & Wilcox and are located in Seneca, South Carolina, approximately 30 miles west of Greenville. The current renewed facility operating license for Unit 1 expires at midnight on February 6, 2033, the current renewed facility operating license for Unit 2 expires at midnight on October 6, 2033, and the current renewed facility operating license for Unit 3 expires at midnight on July 19, 2034. The SLR application was submitted pursuant to part 54 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), “Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants,” and seeks to extend the renewed facility operating license for Unit 1 to midnight on February 6, 2053, the renewed facility operating license for Unit 2 to midnight on October 6, 2053, and the renewed facility operating license for Unit 3 to midnight on July 19, 2054. A notice of receipt and availability of the application was published in the Federal Register on June 25, 2021 (86 FR 33784). A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application and of opportunity to request a hearing was published in the Federal Register on July 28, 2021 (86 FR 40662) and is available on the Federal Rulemaking website ( https://www.regulations.gov ) by searching for Docket ID NRC-2021-0127.

III. Request for Comment

This notice informs the public of the NRC's intention to conduct environmental scoping and prepare an EIS related to the SLR application for ONS, and to provide the public an opportunity to participate in the environmental scoping process, as defined in 10 CFR 51.29, “Scoping-environmental impact statement and supplement to environmental impact statement.”

The regulations in 36 CFR 800.8, “Coordination With the National Environmental Policy Act,” allow agencies to use their National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.) (NEPA) process to fulfill the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (54 U.S.C. 300101, et seq.) (NHPA). Therefore, pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(c), the NRC intends to use its process and documentation required for the preparation of the EIS on the proposed action to comply with Section 106 of the NHPA in lieu of the procedures set forth at 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6.

In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, Duke Energy submitted an environmental report (ER) as part of the SLR application. The ER was prepared pursuant to 10 CFR part 51, “Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,” and is publicly available in ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML21158A193. The ER will also be available for viewing at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/subsequent-license-renewal.html. In addition, the SLR application, including the ER, is available for public review at the Seneca Branch of the Oconee County Public Library, 300 E. South 2nd Street, Seneca, SC 29678.

The NRC intends to gather the information necessary to prepare a plant-specific supplement to NUREG-1437, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants” (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML13107A023) (GEIS), related to the SLR application for Oconee. The NRC is required by 10 CFR 51.95 to prepare a plant-specific supplement to the GEIS in connection with the renewal of an operating license. This notice is being published in accordance with NEPA and the NRC's regulations at 10 CFR part 51.

The supplement to the GEIS will evaluate the environmental impacts of subsequent license renewal for ONS, and reasonable alternatives thereto. Possible alternatives to the proposed action include the no action alternative and reasonable alternative energy sources.

As part of its environmental review, the NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the plant-specific supplement to the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft supplement to the GEIS for public comment. Participation in this scoping process by members of the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:

a. Define the proposed action that is to be the subject of the supplement to the GEIS;

b. Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify the significant issues to be analyzed in depth;

c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are peripheral or are not significant or that have been covered by prior environmental review;

d. Identify any environmental assessments and other ElSs that are being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of, the scope of the supplement to the GEIS under consideration;

e. Identify other environmental review and consultation requirements related to the proposed action;

f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation of the environmental analyses and the NRC's tentative planning and decision-making schedule;

g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the supplement to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies; and

h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared, including any contractor assistance to be used.

The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:

a. The applicant, Duke Energy;

b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved or that is authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;

c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;

d. Any affected Indian Tribe;

e. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to participate in the scoping process; and

f. Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave to intervene under 10 CFR 2.309.

IV. Public Scoping Meeting

In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26(b), the scoping process for an EIS may include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant issues related to the proposed action and to determine the scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS.

The NRC is announcing that it will hold a public scoping meeting as an online webinar for the ONS SLR supplement to the GEIS. The webinar will include a telephone line for members of the public to provide comments. A court reporter will transcribe all comments received during the webinar. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meeting or in writing, as discussed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. The public scoping webinar will be held on August 25, 2021, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Persons interested in attending this online webinar should monitor the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule website at https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg for additional information, agenda for the meeting, and access information for the webinar. Please contact Mr. Lance Rakovan no later than August 18, 2021, if accommodations or special equipment is needed to attend or to provide comments, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated.

The public scoping meeting will include: (1) An overview by the NRC staff of the environmental and safety review processes, the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule; and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to submit comments or suggestions on environmental issues or the proposed scope of the ONS SLR supplement to the GEIS.

Participation in the scoping process for the ONS SLR supplement to the GEIS does not entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to which the supplement to the GEIS relates. Matters related to participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be discussed at this public meeting.