[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 13, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42071-42072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20585]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-8027]


Notice of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant 
Impact Related to Amendment of Materials License No. SUB-1010 For the 
Sequoyah Fuels Corporation, Gore, Oklahoma

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a license 
amendment request, submitted by the Sequoyah Fuels Corporation (SFC). 
The proposed action is to abandon certain groundwater monitoring wells 
at SFC's Gore, Oklahoma, facility, and to replace these groundwater 
monitoring points, specified in the license, with existing wells of 
better construction that produce more reliable data.

Summary of the Environmental Assessment

    By license amendment application dated October 3, 1994, SFC 
requested changes to the license for its Sequoyah facility at Gore, 
Oklahoma. This amendment to the license is needed to implement the well 
plugging and abandonment described in Section 8 of the Groundwater 
Monitoring Interim Measures (GMIM) Workplan approved by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 15, 1993, under the 
Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) signed August 3, 1993. This 
license amendment request was revised by the licensee by letter dated 
February 9, 1996, in response to staff comments dated December 8, 1995.
    The proposed action is necessary so that SFC can permanently 
abandon, and remove from the license, 35 groundwater monitoring wells 
that may not provide reliable information and may serve as a conduit 
for the movement of contaminants between groundwater zones. These wells 
will be replaced in the license with 24 more recently installed, better 
constructed wells. This action is intended to reduce the potential for 
contamination between groundwater zones at the SFC site and provide for 
the monitoring of groundwater wells that yield more reliable data.
    None of the wells proposed to be plugged are in areas of current 
uranium contamination in the groundwater. Therefore, it is not expected 
that the plugging operation will result in the generation of 
contaminated material or effluents. However, the GMIM Workplan states 
that all material removed from each hole will be managed in compliance 
with all State and Federal regulations and facility procedures. SFC is 
expected to follow its environmental and radiation protection programs 
for the removal and plugging of the wells described in the amendment 
request.
    The environmental impact associated with the preferred alternative 
is minimal. The well abandonment procedure is similar to installing a 
new well. There is the generation of soil, well cuttings, and old well 
casing. If none of this material is impacted by radioactive or 
hazardous substances, the material removed from the wells can be 
handled as solid waste. As stated previously, the GMIM Workplan states 
that all material removed from the abandoned wells will be managed in 
compliance with all State and Federal regulations and facility 
procedures. Therefore, if the licensee determines that the material 
removed from any of the boreholes is contaminated with radioactivity, 
above the action levels in the license, the material must be handled 
and disposed of in accordance with NRC regulations and SFC's license. 
In addition, the GMIM Workplan is being implemented under an AOC that 
the licensee has with EPA. Therefore, material removed from the 
abandoned wells that is contaminated with hazardous constituents will 
be handled in accordance with EPA regulations.
    The removal of these old wells from service and plugging of the 
boreholes may have a positive impact on the environment if, because of 
poor construction, the old wells could serve as potential pathways for 
migration of contaminants between groundwater zones. The NRC staff 
believes that the proposed replacement wells will provide an acceptable 
level of groundwater monitoring capability based on well location and 
depth in relation to known and potential sources of groundwater 
contamination.
    The NRC staff identified alternatives other than the preferred 
alternative of abandonment and replacement of the identified 
groundwater monitoring wells. The alternatives are as follows: (1) No 
action; (2) abandonment with no replacement; and (3) no abandonment but 
with replacement. None of the alternatives meet the dual purpose of the 
preferred alternative of replacing unreliable monitoring points with 
more reliable ones and reducing the possibility for migration of 
contaminants between groundwater zones through the old well boreholes. 
Therefore, the staff believes that the proposed alternative provides 
the optimum level of protection of the environment, among the various 
alternatives.
    Based on evaluation of SFC's well abandonment and replacement plan, 
NRC staff determined that SFC's proposal complies with NRC's 
regulations, and that authorizing the license amendment would not be a 
major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human 
environment. The NRC staff concludes that a finding of no significant 
impact is justified and appropriate and that an environmental impact 
statement is not required. Notice of consideration of this amendment 
request and opportunity for hearing was published in the Federal 
Register (59 FR 55716, November 8, 1994). No hearing was requested.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on the findings in the environmental assessment, the NRC 
staff has determined that, under the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, as amended, and NRC's regulations in 10 CFR Part 51, 
authorizing this license amendment would not be a major Federal action 
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, and 
therefore an environmental impact statement is not required. The NRC 
staff concludes that a finding of no significant impact is justified 
and appropriate.

Further Information

    For additional information with respect to the proposed action, see 
the licensee's request for license amendment dated October 3, 1994, and 
supplementary information, the safety evaluation report, and the 
environmental assessment which are available for inspection at the 
NRC's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW, Washington, DC.
    For further information, contact James Shepherd, Division of Waste 
Management, USNRC, Mailstop T-7F27, Washington, DC 20555-0001, 
Telephone: (301) 415-6712.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of August 1996.


[[Page 42072]]


For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael F. Weber,
Chief, Low-Level Waste and Decommissioning Projects Branch, Division of 
Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 96-20585 Filed 8-12-96; 8:45 am]
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