Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact of Morris Operation Decommissioning Funding Plans

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Environmental assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact; issuance.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is publishing this notice regarding the issuance of a final Environmental Assessment (EA) and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for its review and approval of the initial and updated decommissioning funding plans submitted by GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC, for the Morris Operation Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation.

DATES:

The final EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on December 29, 2021.

ADDRESSES:

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0159 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may obtain publicly available information related to this document using any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0159. 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.

• 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 (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this document.

• NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kristina L. Banovac, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7116, email: Kristina.Banovac@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

The NRC is considering the approval of the initial and updated decommissioning funding plans (DFPs) submitted by GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, LLC, (GEH) for the Morris Operation Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). The NRC staff has prepared a final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) determination for the initial and updated DFPs in accordance with the NRC regulations in part 51 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), “Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,” which implements the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq. ).

The NRC requires its licensees to plan for the eventual decommissioning of their licensed facilities prior to license termination. On June 17, 2011, the NRC published a final rule in the Federal Register amending its decommissioning planning regulations (76 FR 35512). The final rule amended the NRC regulation, 10 CFR 72.30, which concerns financial assurance and decommissioning for ISFSIs. This regulation requires each holder of, or applicant for, a license under 10 CFR part 72 to submit a DFP for the NRC's review and approval. The DFP is to demonstrate the licensee's financial assurance, i.e., that funds will be available to decommission the ISFSI. The NRC staff will later publish its financial analyses of the DFP submittals which will be available for public inspection in ADAMS.

II. Discussion

The table in this notice includes the ADAMS accession numbers for the final EA and FONSI determination for the Morris Operation ISFSI. The table also includes the ADAMS accession numbers for other relevant documents, including the initial and updated DFP submittals. For further details with respect to this action, see the NRC staff's final EA and FONSI determinations which are available for public inspection in ADAMS and at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2021-0159. For additional direction on accessing information related to this document, see the ADDRESSES section of this document.