[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 191 (Monday, October 2, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58832-58833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-25236]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-8027]


Decommissioning of Sequoyah Fuels Corporation Uranium Conversion 
Facility in Gore, Oklahoma: Notice of Intent To Conduct a Public 
Outreach Meeting for Sequoyah Fuels Uranium Conversion Facility

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Intent To Conduct a Public Outreach Meeting.

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SUMMARY: The NRC will conduct a meeting to discuss the status of the 
environmental review of decommissioning activities at the SFC facility 
near Gore, Oklahoma, and to obtain public comments on the environmental 
impacts that need to be addressed. Ample time will be provided for 
public comment at the meeting, although comments and questions will 
generally be limited to the remediation of the SFC facility. This 
meeting is part of the continuing process to keep affected stakeholders 
and the public informed of plans, schedules and important issues 
related to the remediation of the SFC facility.

DATES: The NRC will meet with the public on Tuesday, October 17, 2000, 
from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Gore Junior High School cafeteria, 1200 Highway 10N, Gore, 
Oklahoma.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC is preparing an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the decommissioning of the Sequoyah Fuels 
Corporation's (SFC) uranium conversion facility located in Gore, 
Oklahoma. From 1970 until 1993, SFC operated a uranium conversion 
facility at a site located in Gore, Oklahoma, under the authority of an 
NRC license issued pursuant to 10 CFR part 40. The main process was the 
conversion of uranium oxide (yellowcake) to uranium hexafluoride. A 
second process, begun

[[Page 58833]]

in 1987, consisted of the conversion of depleted uranium hexafluoride 
to uranium tetrafluoride.
    SFC supplied formal notice of its intent to seek license 
termination in accordance with 10 CFR 40.42(e) in a letter dated 
February 16, 1993. Based on available information, at least some of the 
identified waste and contamination at the site is known to exceed NRC's 
existing radiological criteria for decommissioning. Therefore, SFC is 
required to remediate the SFC facility to meet the NRC's radiological 
criteria for license termination, as described 10 CFR Part 20.
    In 1998 Sequoyah Fuels submitted to NRC a site characterization 
report, which is a technical analysis and description of the site's 
radiological contamination. A study of remediation alternatives was 
submitted, also in 1998, followed by a decommissioning plan in 1999. 
The alternatives study is the principal basis for the environmental 
review. The remediation alternative proposed by Sequoyah Fuels is an 
on-site disposal cell.
    The NRC is conducting an environmental review of the 
decommissioning and will develop an EIS to determine whether the 
alternative proposed by SFC for remediation of the facility is 
acceptable. The EIS will evaluate the potential impacts of the 
licensee's proposal, including the effects on water resources, air 
quality, ecological resources, socioeconomic and community resources, 
human health, noise and environmental justice. The EIS will consider 
the licensee's proposed approach for onsite disposal, along with 
alternatives such as disposing of the contaminated material off-site in 
a licensed disposal facility. NRC will consider the EIS in reaching a 
decision on the acceptability of the licensee's proposed approach.
    For the preparation of an EIS for the decommissioning of the SFC 
facility, a public scoping meeting was held on October 15, 1995, in 
Gore, Oklahoma. In February 1997, NRC issued a summary report of the 
scoping process. Since so much time has elapsed since the 1995 scoping 
meeting, NRC will hold a meeting to discuss the environmental impacts 
which will be addressed in the EIS and to give the public another 
chance to identify any additional environmental impacts that need to be 
addressed before we complete the draft EIS.
    Other agencies and organizations cooperating in the environmental 
review are the Environmental Protection Agency; the Army Corps of 
Engineers; the U.S. Geological Survey; the Oklahoma Department of 
Environmental Quality; and the Cherokee Nation. All these agencies and 
organizations will be represented at the 7 p.m. meeting.
    In addition to the Tuesday evening meeting, two other meetings are 
planned for that day. In the morning, from 9 a.m. to noon, NRC staff 
and its consultants will tour the SFC site. In the afternoon, from 2 to 
4 p.m., NRC and SFC will hold a technical exchange related to 
environmental issues at the site. This meeting will be held at the SFC 
facility warehouse located at Interstate-40 and Highway 10.
    The technical exchange will afford the NRC and its consultants an 
opportunity to discuss environmental issues prior to anticipated NRC 
requests for additional information from SFC. The meeting is open for 
public observation, but participation is limited to NRC and SFC 
personnel. The opportunity for full public participation will occur in 
the evening during the 7 p.m. meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Phyllis Sobel, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, Washington, DC 20555, Telephone: 301-
415-6714; fax 301-415-5397; or e-mail [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of September 2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas Essig,
Chief, Environmental and Performance Assessment Branch, Division of 
Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 00-25236 Filed 9-29-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P