[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 90 (Friday, May 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25070-25071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-11527]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-6622]


Finding of No Significant Impact and Availability of the 
Environmental Assessment Regarding the Proposed Changes to the 
Reclamation Plan for the Pathfinder Mines Corporation's Shirley Basin 
Site, Shirley Basin Region of Wyoming

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an 
amendment of NRC Source Material License SUA-442 to authorize the 
licensee, Pathfinder Mines Corporation (PMC), to change the Reclamation 
Plan for the Shirley Basin uranium mill tailings site located in the 
Shirley Basin region of Wyoming. PMC requested that NRC approve the 
proposed changes to the Reclamation Plan by letter dated October 16, 
2001, as amended August 9, 2002.
    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. Based on the evaluation, the 
staff concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is 
appropriate for this licensing action.

II. EA Summary

    The EA was prepared to evaluate the environmental impacts of PMC's 
request to amend NRC license SUA-442, by revising the Reclamation Plan 
for the Shirley Basis site to allow PMC to do two things. First, in 
response to recent tailings analysis which showed a significant 
decrease in source term from what was estimated in the original 
Reclamation Plan, it would allow PMC to reduce the radon clay barrier 
thickness from 2.5 feet to .5 feet. The licensee has calculated that 
with this reduction on thickness, the average radon flux will still be 
within the required levels and they will confirm this fact by actual 
measurement. Second, it would allow PMC to create relatively flat 
vegetated surfaces or benches, with rock protected apron slopes to make 
the transition between benches. This would provide a reclamation 
surface covered primarily by vegetated topsoil instead of large 
expanses of rock. The technical aspects of the 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 evaluation are documented in an EA 
placed in the Publicly Available Records (PAR) component of NRC's 
document system (ADAMS).

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on the EA, as summarized above, the staff has concluded that 
the proposed licensing action would not have any significant effect on 
the quality of the human environment, and therefore, an environmental 
impact statement is unnecessary.

IV. Further Information

    The EA for this proposed action as well as the licensee's request 
are available for inspection at the NRC's Public Document Reading Room 
at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (ADAMS Accession Number for 
licensee request is: ML012980334 (October 16, 2001), ML022310348 
(August 8, 2002) and ADAMS Accession Number for the EA is: 
ML031190198). Documents can also

[[Page 25071]]

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 
Michael Raddatz, 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) 415-6334.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of April, 2003.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Susan M. Frant,
Chief, Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 03-11527 Filed 5-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P