[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 209 (Monday, October 28, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55671-55672]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27560]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-4492]


Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of issuance of Confirmatory Order to the Wyoming 
Department of Environmental Quality to complete reclamation of American 
Nuclear Corporation's Gas Hills, Wyoming, site.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards has issued a Confirmatory Order to the 
State of Wyoming, Department of Environmental Quality, requiring 
completion of the reclamation of the American Nuclear Corporation's Gas 
Hills, Wyoming, uranium mill and tailings site.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Kenneth Hooks, Uranium Recovery 
Branch, Mail Stop T-7J9, Division of Waste Management, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone (301) 415-7777.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Wyoming Department of Environmental 
Quality (WDEQ) has undertaken to complete the reclamation of the 
American Nuclear Corporation's (ANC's) Gas Hills, Wyoming, site which 
is presently licensed under NRC Source Materials License No. SUA-667, 
originally issued to Federal American Partners in 1971 pursuant to 10 
CFR Part 40. The site is located in the Gas Hills mining district in 
central Wyoming about 85 miles west of Casper. The licensed site 
encompasses approximately 550 acres of land, of which approximately 140 
acres consist of the decommissioned mill site and two tailings ponds 
that are undergoing reclamation. The remainder of the site is semi-arid 
land that has minimal value for livestock grazing. Reclamation of the 
mill site was commenced in 1988.
    The current licensee and site owner is ANC, which announced on May 
9, 1994,

[[Page 55672]]

that it was discontinuing operations and going out of business. WDEQ 
informed the NRC on July 21, 1994, that it was prepared to complete 
reclamation of the site and had initiated bond forfeiture. The Wyoming 
Environmental Quality Council forfeited ANC's reclamation bond to WDEQ 
by Order dated October 5, 1994. It is understood that the State of 
Wyoming, through WDEQ, is reclaiming the site with proceeds from the 
reclamation bond forfeiture on October 5, 1994, and that the state has 
been spending its funds thereafter on reclamation at the site. WDEQ has 
hired a consultant to design final reclamation plans for ANC's Gas 
Hills site.
    Any person adversely affected by the Confirmatory Order, other than 
WDEQ, may request a hearing within 20 days of its issuance. Where good 
cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the time to 
request a hearing. A request for extension of time must be made to the 
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and include a 
statement of good cause for the extension. Any request for a hearing 
shall be submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, ATTN: Chief, Docketing and Service Section, Washington, DC 
20555-0001. Copies also shall be sent to the Director, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; to the Assistant General Counsel 
for Hearings and Enforcement at the same address; to the Regional 
Administrator, NRC Region IV, 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, 
Arlington, Texas 76011-8064; and to the Land Quality Division 
Administrator, WDEQ, Herschler Building, 122 West 25th Street, 
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002. If such a person requests a hearing, that 
person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his 
interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the 
criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.714(d).
    If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely 
affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and 
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered 
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order should be 
sustained. In the absence of any request for hearing, the requirements 
specified shall be final 20 days from the date of this Order without 
further order or proceedings.
    The Confirmatory Order is available for public inspection and 
copying at the NRC Public Document Room, in the Gelman Building, 2120 L 
Street NW., Washington, DC 20555.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of October 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph J. Holonich,
Chief, Uranium Recovery Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 96-27560 Filed 10-25-96; 8:45 am]
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