Site-Specific Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants: Regarding Subsequent License Renewal for North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2 – Draft Report for Comment (NUREG-1437, Supplement 7a, Second Renewal)

This publication has been issued for public comment. Comments will be accepted until February 22, 2024. To submit comments, please see Docket ID Number NRC-2020-0201.

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: December 2023
Date Published: December 2023

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

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Abstract

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has prepared this site-specific environmental impact statement (EIS) as part of its environmental review of Dominion Energy Virginia’s (Dominion) application for subsequent renewal of the operating licenses for North Anna Power Station, Units 1 and 2 (North Anna) for an additional 20 years. This EIS includes the site-specific evaluation of the environmental impacts of the proposed action (North Anna subsequent license renewal (SLR)), and alternatives to SLR. As alternatives, the NRC considered (1) new nuclear (small modular reactor) generation, (2) a combination of solar photovoltaic, offshore wind, small modular reactor, and demand-side management, and (3) no action.

This site-specific EIS considers information contained in Dominion’s September 28, 2022, submittal (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System No. ML22272A041, VEPCO 2022-TN8270), which supplements its August 24, 2020, SLR application (VEPCO 2020-TN8383). Previously, in August 2021, the NRC issued Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supplement 7, Second Renewal, Regarding Subsequent License Renewal for North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2, Draft Report for Comment (NUREG-1437, Supplement 7, Second Renewal) (DSEIS) (NRC 2021-TN7294). The 2021 DSEIS considered the impacts of license renewal according to the categories established in NUREG-1437, Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Revision 1, Final Report (NUREG-1437) (LR GEIS) (NRC 2013-TN2654) and Table B–1 in Appendix B to Subpart A of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 51 (TN250): Category 1 issues (generic to all or a distinct subset of nuclear power plants and Category 2 issues (specific to individual nuclear power plants). For the 51 Category 1 issues applicable to North Anna SLR, the 2021 DSEIS found no new and significant information concerning any of these issues that would change the conclusions of the 2013 LR GEIS. The LR GEIS’s conclusions of SMALL impact was adopted for those issues in the 2021 DSEIS. For 12 Category 2 issues applicable to North Anna SLR, the 2021 DSEIS evaluated each of those issues on a site-specific basis and made site-specific findings of SMALL, MODERATE, or LARGE impact.

In February 2022, the Commission issued three memoranda and orders, Commission Legal Issuance (CLI)-22-02, CLI-22-03, and CLI-22-04 (NRC 2022-TN8182, NRC 2022-TN8272, NRC 2022-TN9553), concerning SLR environmental reviews. In CLI-22-02, the Commission found that the LR GEIS did not address SLR and that 10 CFR 51.53(c)(3)(TN250) does not apply to SLR applications and, therefore, the NRC may not rely on the 2013 GEIS and Table B–1 for the evaluation of Category 1 issues for SLR. In its decisions, the Commission determined that the NRC staff must address these Category 1 issues on a site-specific basis in site-specific EISs, unless the SLR applicant elects to await the issuance of a revised GEIS and rule.

On November 15, 2022, following Dominion’s submittal of its site-specific environmental report supplement (VEPCO 2022-TN8270), the NRC staff issued a notice (87 FR 68522-TN8588) of the staff’s intent to conduct a site-specific evaluation and to publish a site-specific EIS for North Anna SLR.

Consistent with the notice in 87 FR 68522, the NRC staff has prepared this site-specific EIS, which considers the impacts of all SLR issues applicable to North Anna SLR on a site-specific basis. In sum, this EIS (1) addresses, on a site-specific basis, the issues that were previously treated as generic “Category 1” issues in the 2021 DSEIS, and (2) updates and revises the evaluation of site-specific “Category 2” issues in the 2021 DSEIS.

Based on the NRC staff’s site-specific evaluation of environmental impacts, the staff’s preliminary recommendation is that the adverse environmental impacts of North Anna SLR are not so great that preserving the option of SLR for energy-planning decision-makers would be unreasonable. The NRC staff based its preliminary recommendation on the following:

• Dominion’s environmental report, as supplemented
• the NRC staff’s consultations with Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies
• the NRC staff’s independent environmental review
• consideration of public comments received during two scoping periods and comments received on the DSEIS