[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 18, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77529-77530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-31870]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-2259]


Notice of Amendment Request and Consideration of Proposed Use of 
Alternate Concentration Limits for Ground Water for Pathfinder Mines 
Corporation's Lucky MC Site, Gas Hills, WY, and Opportunity To Provide 
Comments and To Request a Hearing

I. Introduction

    Notice is hereby given that the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) has received, by letter dated December 21, 2000, a license 
amendment application from Pathfinder Mines Corporation (PMC), 
requesting alternate concentration limits (ALCs) for six ground water 
constituents at their Lucky Mc site located in the Gas Hills region of 
Wyoming. Staff submitted a request for additional information by letter 
dated October 26, 2001, and PMC responded January 11, and November 4, 
2002, with page changes.
    The PMC Lucky Mc former uranium mill site (now a mill tailings 
disposal site) is licensed by the NRC under Source Materials License 
SUA-672 to possess byproduct material in the form of uranium processing 
waste, such as mill tailings, generated by past uranium processing 
operations. The PMC Lucky Mc site is located in the Gas Hills region of 
western Natrona and eastern Freemont Counties, Wyoming, approximately 
80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of the town of Riverton, Wyoming. 
The mill operated from 1958 to 1988 and has been dismantled and 
disposed of. The site contains three disposal areas (tailings 
impoundments) and three tailings 2 solution ponds. The license 
establishes a ground water protection standard at one Point of 
Compliance (POC) well near the disposal area. This well is used to 
monitor water quality because hazardous constituents have leached from 
the milling waste into the upper aquifer.
    The ACL application requests that site-specific concentration 
limits for six hazardous constituents in ground water be granted for 
the PMC site in place of the current concentration values in the 
license. The licensee has indicated that the concentration limits 
required to be met under the licensed corrective action program are not 
attainable due to the high cost and the influence of mining-impacted 
water. Also, the ground water at the PMC site and surrounding areas is 
impacted by open-pit uranium mines having the same constituents as 
those resulting from the tailings seepage. The requested concentration 
limits would be protective of public health and the environment, and 
appear to meet the requirements of 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A.
    PMC also is proposing that the site's Point of Exposure (POE) be 
established at the long-term care boundary. This boundary encompasses 
all the land that will be transferred to the U.S. Department of Energy 
(DOE) for perpetual care of the disposal site. The POE is the location 
nearest the site where the public or environment might be exposed to 
milling impacted ground water, even though such exposure is highly 
unlikely.

II. Opportunity To Provide Comments

    The NRC is providing notice to individuals in the vicinity of the 
facility that the NRC is in receipt of this request, and will accept 
comments concerning this action within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice in the Federal Register. The comments may be provided to 
the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative 
Services, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-001, and should cite the publication date and page 
number of this Federal Register notice. Written comments may also be 
delivered to Room T-6 D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, MD 20852, from 7:30 a.m. until 4:15 p.m. on Federal 
Workdays.

III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing

    The NRC hereby provides notice that this is a proceeding on an 
application for an amendment of a license falling within the scope of 
Subpart L, ``Informal Hearing Procedures for Adjudications in Materials 
and Operator Licensing Proceedings'' of NRC's rules and practice for 
domestic licensing proceedings in 10 CFR part 2. Pursuant to Sec.  
2.1205(a), any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding 
may file a request for a hearing in accordance with Sec.  2.1205(d). A 
request for a hearing must be filed within 30 days of the publication 
of this Federal Register notice.
    The request for a hearing must be filed with the Office of the 
Secretary, either:
    (1) By delivery to the Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff of the 
Office of the Secretary of the Commission at One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852; or
    (2) By mail or telegram addressed to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Rulemaking and 
Adjudications Staff. Because of continuing disruptions in the delivery 
of mail to United States Government offices, it is requested that 
requests for hearing also be transmitted to the Secretary of the 
Commission either by means of facsimile transmission to 301-415-1101, 
or by email to [email protected].
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.1205(f), each request for a hearing 
must also be served, by delivering it personally or by mail, to:
    (1) The applicant, Pathfinder Mines Corporation, P.O. Box 730, 
Mills, WY 82644, Attention: Tom Hardgrove; and
    (2) The NRC staff, by delivery to the General Counsel, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, or by mail 
addressed to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Because of continuing disruptions in 
the delivery of mail to United States Government offices, it is 
requested that requests for hearing be also transmitted to the Office 
of the General Counsel, either by means of facsimile transmission to 
301-415-3725, or by email to [email protected].
    In addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR part 
2 of the NRC's regulations, a request for a hearing filed by a person 
other than an applicant must describe in detail:
    (1) The interest of the requestor;
    (2) How that interest may be affected by the results of the 
proceeding, including the reasons why the requestor should be permitted 
a hearing, with particular reference to the factors set out in Sec.  
2.1205(h);
    (3) The requestor's areas of concern about the licensing activity 
that is the subject matter of the proceeding; and
    (4) The circumstances establishing that the request for a hearing 
is timely in accordance with Sec.  2.1205(d).

[[Page 77530]]

IV. Further Information

    The application for the license amendment is available for 
inspection at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (ADAMS Assession Numbers: ML010250146 
and ML023160530). Documents may also be examined and/or copied for a 
fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room, located at One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Any questions with 
respect to this action should be referred to Elaine Brummett, Fuel 
Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T8-A33, Washington, DC 20555-0001. 
Telephone: (301) 415-6606; Fax: (301)415-5390.

    Dated at Rockville, MD, this 12th day of December, 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel M. Gillen,
Chief, Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-31870 Filed 12-17-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P