NUREG-0498 Supplement 2, Vol. 1 Final Environmental Statement Related to the Operation of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 Supplement 2 Final Report Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation AVAILABILITY OF REFERENCE MATERIALS IN NRC PUBLICATIONS NRC Reference Material Non-NRC Reference Material As of November 1999, you may electronically access Documents available from public and special technical NUREG-series publications and other NRC records at libraries include all open literature items, such as books, NRC’s Public Electronic Reading Room at journal articles, transactions, Federal Register notices, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. Publicly released Federal and State legislation, and congressional reports. records include, to name a few, NUREG-series Such documents as theses, dissertations, foreign reports publications; Federal Register notices; applicant, and translations, and non-NRC conference proceedings licensee, and vendor documents and correspondence; may be purchased from their sponsoring organization. NRC correspondence and internal memoranda; bulletins and information notices; inspection and investigative Copies of industry codes and standards used in a reports; licensee event reports; and Commission papers substantive manner in the NRC regulatory process are and their attachments. maintained at— The NRC Technical Library NRC publications in the NUREG series, NRC Two White Flint North regulations, and Title 10, “Energy,” in the Code of 11545 Rockville Pike Federal Regulations may also be purchased from one Rockville, MD 20852–2738 of these two sources. 1. The Superintendent of Documents These standards are available in the library for reference U.S. Government Printing Office use by the public. Codes and standards are usually Mail Stop SSOP copyrighted and may be purchased from the originating Washington, DC 20402–0001 organization or, if they are American National Standards, Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov from— Telephone: 202-512-1800 American National Standards Institute nd Fax: 202-512-2250 11 West 42 Street 2. The National Technical Information Service New York, NY 10036–8002 Springfield, VA 22161–0002 www.ansi.org www.ntis.gov 212–642–4900 1–800–553–6847 or, locally, 703–605–6000 Legally binding regulatory requirements are stated only A single copy of each NRC draft report for comment is in laws; NRC regulations; licenses, including technical available free, to the extent of supply, upon written specifications; or orders, not in NUREG-series request as follows: publications. The views expressed in contractor- Address: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission prepared publications in this series are not necessarily Office of Administration those of the NRC. Publications Branch The NUREG series comprises (1) technical and Washington, DC 20555-0001 administrative reports and books prepared by the staff E-mail: [email protected] (NUREG–XXXX) or agency contractors (NUREG/CR– Facsimile: 301–415–2289 XXXX), (2) proceedings of conferences (NUREG/CP– XXXX), (3) reports resulting from international Some publications in the NUREG series that are agreements (NUREG/IA–XXXX), (4) brochures posted at NRC’s Web site address (NUREG/BR–XXXX), and (5) compilations of legal http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs decisions and orders of the Commission and Atomic and are updated periodically and may differ from the last Safety Licensing Boards and of Directors’ decisions printed version. Although references to material found on under Section 2.206 of NRC’s regulations (NUREG– a Web site bear the date the material was accessed, the 0750). material available on the date cited may subsequently be DISCLAIMER: This report was prepared as an account removed from the site. of work sponsored by an agency of the U.S. Government. Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any employee, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for any third party’s use, or the results of such use, of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this publication, or represents that its use by such third party would not infringe privately owned rights. NUREG-0498 Supplement 2, Vol. 1 Final Environmental Statement Related to the Operation of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 Supplement 2 Final Report Manuscript Completed: May 2013 Date Published: May 2013 Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Abstract The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) prepared this supplemental final environmental statement in response to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) application for a facility operating license. The proposed action requested is for the NRC to issue an operating license for a second light-water nuclear reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear (WBN) Plant in Rhea County, Tennessee. TVA received construction permits (CPs) for two units at the WBN site and began construction in 1973. In 1978, the NRC issued a final environmental statement related to the operating license for WBN Units 1 and 2. On March 4, 2009, the NRC received an update to the application from TVA for a facility operating license to possess, use, and operate WBN Unit 2. The NRC published the notice of the receipt of application and the opportunity for hearing in the Federal Register on May 1, 2009. NRC regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 51.92, “Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement,” require the NRC staff to prepare a supplement to the final environmental statement if there are substantial changes in the proposed action relevant to environmental concerns or if there are significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the proposed action or its impacts. The same regulation permits the NRC staff to prepare a supplement when, in its opinion, preparation of a supplement will further the interests of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. This supplement documents the NRC staff’s environmental review related to the operating license for WBN Unit 2. The NRC staff evaluated a full scope of environmental topics, including land and water use, air quality and meteorology, terrestrial and aquatic ecology, radiological and nonradiological impacts on humans and the environment, historic and cultural resources, socioeconomics, and environmental justice. The NRC staff’s evaluations are based on (1) the application submitted by TVA, including the environmental report and previous environmental impact statements and historical documents, (2) consultation with other Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies, (3) the NRC staff’s independent review, and (4) the NRC staff’s consideration of comments related to the environmental review received during the public scoping process. May 2013 iii NUREG-0498, Supp 2 Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ v Figures ....................................................................................................................................... xiii Tables ......................................................................................................................................... xv Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................xix Abbreviations/Acronyms ....................................................................................................... xxiii 1.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Background .............................................................................................................. 1-2 1.2 NRC Operating License Application Review ............................................................ 1-4 1.3 Compliance and Consultations ................................................................................. 1-5 1.4 Report Contents ....................................................................................................... 1-6 1.5 References ............................................................................................................... 1-7 2.0 Affected Environment .................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Land Use .................................................................................................................. 2-1 2.1.1 Site Location .............................................................................................. 2-1 2.1.2 The Site and Vicinity .................................................................................. 2-1 2.1.3 Transmission Corridors and Offsite Areas ................................................. 2-4 2.1.4 The Region ................................................................................................ 2-4 2.2 Water Use and Quality ............................................................................................. 2-5 2.2.1 Hydrology .................................................................................................. 2-5 2.2.1.1 Surface-Water Hydrology ......................................................... 2-5 2.2.1.2 Groundwater Hydrology ..........................................................