[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67416-67417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-33549]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-08968]


Hydro Resources, Inc.; Issuance of the Safety Evaluation Report 
for the Crownpoint Uranium Solution Mining Project, Crownpoint, NM

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has issued 
its Safety Evaluation Report (SER), dated December 1997, for Hydro 
Resources, Inc.'s (HRI's) proposed Crownpoint Uranium Solution Mining 
Project at Crownpoint, NM. The SER documents the NRC staff's safety 
review of the project. The SER and the Crownpoint

[[Page 67417]]

Uranium Mining Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), 
dated February 1997 (NUREG-1508), provide the basis for NRC's decision 
to issue a 10 CFR Part 40 source material license to HRI. The staff 
will issue a license to HRI 30 days from issuance of the SER. The 
license will authorize HRI to construct and operate in situ leach (ISL) 
mining facilities at the Crownpoint Project for a period of five years. 
In preparing the SER, the NRC staff reviewed HRI's license application 
submittals and its Consolidated Operations Plan, Revision 2.0 (dated 
August 15, 1997), against the applicable regulations in 10 CFR parts 
19, 20, 40, and 71. The SER supports the NRC staff's finding that 
issuing the license to HRI will be in accordance with the 
aforementioned regulations, and with all applicable safety requirements 
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (AEA), as amended.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Robert D. Carlson of the Uranium Recovery Branch, Mail Stop TWFN 7-
J9, Division of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555. 
Telephone (301) 415-8165; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 25, 1998, HRI submitted an 
application to NRC proposing to construct and operate an ISL uranium 
mining facility in McKinley County, near Church Rock, New Mexico. HRI 
later amended its application to include additional ISL operations in 
McKinley County, near an area of land referred to as Unit 1, and 
Crownpoint, NM. Together, the three sites comprise HRI's Crownpoint 
Uranium Solution Mining Project.
    The NRC staff's environmental review of the Crownpoint Project is 
documented in the FEIS, pursuant to CFR Part 51. The NRC staff 
concluded that HRI's proposed Crownpoint Project was environmentally 
acceptable, and that potential impacts of the proposed project could be 
mitigated. These mitigative measures will be enumerated as conditions 
in HRI's source materials license. Additionally, the NRC staff 
completed its safety evaluation of the Crownpoint Project and 
documented its review in the SER. Based on its review, the NRC staff 
concluded that issuance of a source material license, with certain 
conditions specified in the license, would not be inimical to the 
common defense and security or to the public's health and safety, and 
otherwise meets the requirements of 10 CFR parts 19, 20, 40, and 71, 
and the AEA. The NRC staff's conclusions in the FEIS and SER provide 
the bases for NRC's decision to tissue a source material license to HRI 
30 days from issuance of the SER.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of December 1997.

    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. 97-33549 Filed 12-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 2590-01-M