Draft Environmental Impact Statements—Production and Utilization Facilities

§ 51.75 Draft environmental impact statement—construction permit, early site permit, or combined license

(a) Construction permit stage. A draft environmental impact statement relating to issuance of a construction permit for a production or utilization facility will be prepared in accordance with the procedures and measures described in §§ 51.70, 51.71, 51.72, and 51.73. The contribution of the environmental effects of the uranium fuel cycle activities specified in § 51.51 shall be evaluated on the basis of impact values set forth in Table S–3, Table of Uranium Fuel Cycle Environmental Data, which shall be set out in the draft environmental impact statement. With the exception of radon-222 and technetium-99 releases, no further discussion of fuel cycle release values and other numerical data that appear explicitly in the table shall be required.⁵ The impact statement shall take account of dose commitments and health effects from fuel cycle effluents set forth in Table S–3 and shall in addition take account of economic, socioeconomic, and possible cumulative impacts and other fuel cycle impacts as may reasonably appear significant. As stated in § 51.23, the generic impact determinations regarding the continued storage of spent fuel in NUREG–2157 shall be deemed incorporated into the environmental impact statement.

(b) Early site permit stage. A draft environmental impact statement relating to issuance of an early site permit for a production or utilization facility will be prepared in accordance with the procedures and measures described in §§ 51.70, 51.71, 51.72, 51.73, and this section. The contribution of the environmental effects of the uranium fuel cycle activities specified in § 51.51 shall be evaluated on the basis of impact values set forth in Table S–3, Table of Uranium Fuel Cycle Environmental Data, which shall be set out in the draft environmental impact statement. With the exception of radon-222 and technetium-99 releases, no further discussion of fuel cycle release values and other numerical data that appear explicitly in the table shall be required.⁵ The impact statement shall take account of dose commitments and health effects from fuel cycle effluents set forth in Table S–3 and shall in addition take account of economic, socioeconomic, and possible cumulative impacts and other fuel cycle impacts as may reasonably appear significant. As stated in § 51.23, the generic impact determinations regarding the continued storage of spent fuel in NUREG–2157 shall be deemed incorporated into the environmental impact statement. The draft environmental impact statement must include an evaluation of alternative sites to determine whether there is any obviously superior alternative to the site proposed. The draft environmental impact statement must also include an evaluation of the environmental effects of construction and operation of a reactor, or reactors, which have design characteristics that fall within the site characteristics and design parameters for the early site permit application, but only to the extent addressed in the early site permit environmental report or otherwise necessary to determine whether there is any obviously superior alternative to the site proposed. The draft environmental impact statement must not include an assessment of the economic, technical, or other benefits (for example, need for power) and costs of the proposed action or an evaluation of alternative energy sources, unless these matters are addressed in the early site permit environmental report.

(c) Combined license stage. A draft environmental impact statement relating to issuance of a combined license that does not reference an early site permit will be prepared in accordance with the procedures and measures described in §§ 51.70, 51.71, 51.72, and 51.73. The contribution of the environmental effects of the uranium fuel cycle activities specified in § 51.51 shall be evaluated on the basis of impact values set forth in Table S–3, Table of Uranium Fuel Cycle Environmental Data, which shall be set out in the draft environmental impact statement. With the exception of radon-222 and technetium-99 releases, no further discussion of fuel cycle release values and other numerical data that appear explicitly in the table shall be required.⁵ The impact statement shall take account of dose commitments and health effects from fuel cycle effluents set forth in Table S–3 and shall in addition take account of economic, socioeconomic, and possible cumulative impacts and other fuel cycle impacts as may reasonably appear significant. As stated in § 51.23, the generic impact determinations regarding the continued storage of spent fuel in NUREG–2157 shall be deemed incorporated into the environmental impact statement.

(1) Combined license application referencing an early site permit. If the combined license application references an early site permit, then the NRC staff shall prepare a draft supplement to the early site permit environmental impact statement. The supplement must be prepared in accordance with § 51.92(e).

(2) Combined license application referencing a standard design certification. If the combined license application references a standard design certification and the site characteristics of the combined license's site fall within the site parameters specified in the design certification environmental assessment, then the draft combined license environmental impact statement shall incorporate by reference the design certification environmental assessment, and summarize the findings and conclusions of the environmental assessment with respect to severe accident mitigation design alternatives.

(3) Combined license application referencing a manufactured reactor. If the combined license application proposes to use a manufactured reactor and the site characteristics of the combined license's site fall within the site parameters specified in the manufacturing license environmental assessment, then the draft combined license environmental impact statement shall incorporate by reference the manufacturing license environmental assessment, and summarize the findings and conclusions of the environmental assessment with respect to severe accident mitigation design alternatives. The combined license environmental impact statement report will not address the environmental impacts associated with manufacturing the reactor under the manufacturing license.

[49 FR 9381, Mar. 12, 1984, as amended at 61 FR 28489, June 5, 1996; 72 FR 49514, Aug. 28, 2007; 79 FR 56261, Sept. 19, 2014]

⁵Values for releases of Rn-222 and Tc-99 are not given in the table. The amount and significance of Rn-222 releases from the fuel cycle and Tc-99 releases from waste management or reprocessing activities shall be considered in the draft environmental impact statement and may be the subject of litigation in individual licensing proceedings.