Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Supplement 38 Regarding Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3 – Final Report (NUREG-1437, Supplement 38, Volume 5)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: January 2018
Date Published: April 2018

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington DC 20555-0001

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Abstract

This second supplement to the final supplemental environmental impact statement (FSEIS) for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3 (IP2 and IP3) incorporates new information that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has obtained since the publication of the first supplement to the FSEIS in June 2013.

This supplement includes the NRC staff's evaluation of revised engineering project cost information for severe accident mitigation alternatives (SAMAs), a summary of the results of additional sensitivity analyses to address uncertainties in the SAMA cost-benefit conclusions as directed by the Commission, newly available aquatic impact information, and the additional environmental issues associated with license renewal resulting from the June 2013 revision to Table B–1 in Appendix B to Subpart A of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 51 and NUREG–1437, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants. This supplement also incorporates the impact determinations of NUREG–2157, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, in accordance with the requirements in 10 CFR 51.23(b). Additionally, this supplement describes the reinitiation of consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), regarding the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), the initiation of a conference under Section 7 of the ESA for proposed critical habitat of the Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus), the staff's November 2017 request for the National Marine Fisheries Service to amend the 2013 biological opinion's Incidental Take Statement, and to provide its concurrence with the NRC staff's effect determination with respect to the final designated Atlantic sturgeon critical habitat, and it provides an update on the status of the operating licenses for IP 2 and IP 3.

This supplement also reflects the closure agreement signed in January 2017 by the parties to legal proceedings related to the renewal of the operating licenses for IP2 and IP3. Based on the agreement, a motion was filed with the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB or the Board) on February 8, 2017, seeking to dismiss the remaining contentions in the proceedings. The Board subsequently issued an Order on March 13, 2017, dismissing the remaining contentions and terminating the proceeding. That decision became final on July 11, 2017.

The closure agreement, among other things, resolves all litigation concerning license renewal and calls for an early shut down of IP2 and IP3. Although the closure agreement calls for early shut down of the units, the shortened periods of extended operation do not affect any of the conclusions presented in this supplement with the exception of the impact rating for the issue titled "Radionuclides Released to Groundwater," due to recent releases of radionuclides into the groundwater in 2016. A shorter license renewal period leaves less time for the processes of natural attenuation to remove onsite radionuclide contamination from the groundwater while the plant is operating. Therefore, this issue will likely have an impact rating of MODERATE throughout the period of plant operations. Any remaining groundwater restoration will be addressed after plant operations have ceased.