[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 42 (Monday, March 4, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9791-9792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-5047]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-143]


Nuclear Fuel Services; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Assessment for 
Amendment of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-124 for Nuclear Fuel 
Services, Inc., Erwin, Tennessee.

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    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the amendment 
of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-124 to authorize new activities 
at the Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS), facility located in Erwin, 
TN, and will prepare an Environmental Assessment to determine whether 
to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or a Finding of No 
Significant Impact.

Identification of the Proposed Action

    NFS plans to request three amendments to their NRC license to 
authorize activities associated with the preparation of blended low-
enriched uranium (BLEU) from surplus highly-enriched uranium from the 
U.S. Department of Energy. These activities would be performed under a 
contract with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to provide low-enriched 
uranium fuel to be used in TVA's Brown's Ferry Nuclear Plant in 
Alabama. The Department of Energy prepared an Environmental Impact 
Statement to address the disposition of surplus highly enriched uranium 
(Disposition of Surplus Highly Enriched Uranium Final Environmental 
Impact Statement, DOE/EIS-0240, June 1996 ). NRC determined that this 
EIS did not specifically address the local environmental impacts of the 
construction of new storage and processing facilities in Erwin, 
Tennessee, and operation of these facilities, and that additional 
environmental review is necessary to support NRC's licensing actions.
    In an amendment application to be submitted in February 2002, NFS 
will request authorization to store low-enriched uranyl nitrate 
solution in a new tank storage facility on the NFS plant site. In an 
amendment application to be submitted in July 2002, NFS will request 
authorization to perform dissolution of highly-enriched uranium/
aluminum alloy and uranium metal and downblending of the resulting 
solution into low-enriched uranyl nitrate solution. In an amendment 
application

[[Page 9792]]

to be submitted in January 2003, NFS will request authorization to 
perform conversion of the low-enriched uranyl nitrate solution into 
uranium dioxide powder. NRC is preparing one Environmental Assessment 
that will address the environmental affects of all 3 future license 
amendments.
    NFS submitted a licensing plan of action to the NRC in an 
attachment to a letter dated October 4, 2001, from B. Marie Moore, NFS, 
to the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NRC 
ADAMS Accession Number ML012850006). NRC acknowledged the licensing 
plan of action, with comment, in a letter dated December 31, 2001 (NRC 
ADAMS Accession Number ML020020117). NFS also submitted a Supplemental 
Environmental Report for Licensing Actions to Support the BLEU Project, 
dated November 9, 2001, (NRC ADAMS Accession Number ML013330459), and 
Additional Information to Support an Environmental Review for BLEU 
Project, dated January 15, 2002 (NRC ADAMS Accession Number 
ML020290471).
    The Commission intends to prepare an Environmental Assessment 
related to the amendment of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-124. 
On the basis of the assessment, the Commission will either conclude 
that an Environmental Impact Statement is necessary or will conclude 
that environmental impacts associated with the proposed action would 
not be significant and do not warrant the preparation of an 
Environmental Impact Statement.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' 
a copies of the relevant documents are available electronically for 
public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly 
Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). 
ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).
    The NRC contact for this licensing action is Mary T. Adams. Ms. 
Adams may be contacted at (301) 415-7249 or by e-mail at [email protected] 
for more information about the licensing action.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25 day of February 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Melvyn N. Leach,
Chief, Fuel Cycle Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-5047 Filed 3-1-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P