[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 245 (Friday, December 20, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78029-78030]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32079]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-2259]


Final Finding of No Significant Impact for the Proposed Use of 
Alternate Concentration Limits for Ground Water at Pathfinder Mines 
Corporation's Lucky MC Site, Gas Hills Region of Wyoming

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an 
amendment of NRC Source Material License SUA-672 to authorize the 
licensee, Pathfinder Mines Corporation (PMC) to apply Alternate 
Concentration Limits (ACLs) to licensed constituents of ground water at 
the Lucky Mc uranium mill tailings site in the Gas Hills region (south 
central) of Wyoming. PMC submitted, by letter dated December 21, 2000, 
a license amendment application requesting ALCs for six ground water 
constituents at their Lucky Mc site. Hills region of The NRC staff 
submitted a request for additional information by letter dated October 
26, 2001, and PMC responded January 11, and November 4, 2002, with 
application page changes.
    An Environmental Assessment (EA) was performed by the NRC staff in 
support of its review of PMC's license amendment request, in accordance 
with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. The conclusion of the 
Environmental Assessment is a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) 
for the proposed licensing action.

II. Supplementary Information

Background

    The PMC Lucky Mc former uranium mill site (now a mill tailings 
site) is licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (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 Freemont County, Wyoming, approximately 72 
kilometers (45 miles) east 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 
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. The ground water at the PMC site and surrounding areas is 
impacted by open-pit uranium mines

[[Page 78030]]

having the same constituents as those resulting from the tailings 
seepage.
    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 when the PMC license is 
terminated. 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.

Summary of the Environmental Assessment

    The NRC staff performed an appraisal of the environmental impacts 
associated with the application of ACLs, in accordance with 10 CFR Part 
51, Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 
Related Regulatory Functions. The license amendment would authorize PMC 
to apply ACLs to the specified constituents as measured at the POC. The 
technical aspects of the ACL application are to be discussed separately 
in a Technical Evaluation Report (TER) that will accompany the agency's 
final licensing action.
    The results of the staff's appraisal of potential environmental 
impacts are documented in an EA placed in the Publicly Available 
Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). Based on its 
review, the NRC staff has concluded that there are no significant 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is to amend NRC Source Material License SUA-
672, to allow application of ACLs to licensed constituents in ground 
water at the PMC Lucky Mc site. The principal alternatives available to 
the NRC are to:
    1. Approve the license amendment request as submitted; or
    2. Amend the license with such additional conditions as are 
considered necessary or appropriate to protect public health and safety 
and the environment; or
    3. Deny the amendment request.
    Based on its review, the NRC staff has concluded that the 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action do not 
warrant either the limiting of PMC's plans necessary for license 
termination (site is in final stages of decommissioning) or the denial 
of the license amendment. Therefore, from an environmental impact 
standpoint, the staff would consider Alternative 1 to be the 
appropriate alternative for selection. Additionally, the staff has 
performed a safety review of the licensee's proposal with respect to 
the ground water criteria specified in 10 CFR 40, Appendix A, and is 
preparing a TER for this review.

Conclusions

    The NRC staff has examined actual and potential impacts associated 
with implementation of the proposed ACLs, and has determined that the 
requested amendment of Source Material License SUA-672, authorizing the 
ACLs, will: (1) Be consistent with requirements of 10 CFR Part 40, 
Appendix A; (2) not be inimical to the public health and safety; and 
(3) not have long-term detrimental impacts on the environment. The 
following statements summarize the conclusions resulting from the 
staff's environmental assessment, and support the FONSI:
    1. An acceptable long-term ground water monitoring program will 
monitor contaminants to detect if applicable regulatory limits are 
exceeded. Each of the licensed constituents should remain within the 
range of background values for 1000 years at the POE.
    2. Present and potential health risks to the public and risks of 
environmental damage from the proposed application of ACLs were 
assessed. Given the remote location, the expected future land use, the 
perpetual control by the Federal government of land within the long-
term boundary, and the high value of some of the constituents in 
background ground water due to past uranium mining in the area, the 
staff determined that the risk factors for health and environmental 
hazards due to the proposed licensing action are insignificant.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has prepared an EA for the proposed amendment of NRC 
Source Material License SUA-672. On the basis of this assessment, the 
NRC staff has concluded that the environmental impacts that may result 
from the proposed action would not be significant, and therefore, 
preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not warranted. 
Accordingly, a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.

IV. Other Information

    The Environmental Assessment to this proposed action is available 
for inspection at NRC's Public Document Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (ADAMS Accession Number: 
ML023470321). 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.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of December, 2002.
Daniel M. Gillen,
Chief, Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-32079 Filed 12-19-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P