[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 123 (Thursday, June 26, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38105-38106]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-16174]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No.: 72-25]


Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation's Proposed Idaho Spent 
Fuel Facility; Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) is issuing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) for the Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation (FWENC) license 
application dated November 19, 2001, and docketed on June 27, 2002, (67 
FR 43358) for the receipt, transfer, and storage of spent nuclear fuel 
(SNF) at it's proposed Idaho Spent Fuel Facility to be located at the 
U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Idaho National Engineering and 
Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) site in Butte County, Idaho.
    The DEIS discusses the purpose and need for the proposed facility 
and reasonable alternatives to the proposed action, including the no-
action alternative. The DEIS also discusses the environment potentially 
affected by the proposed facility, presents and compares the potential 
environmental impacts resulting from the proposed action and its 
alternatives, and identifies mitigation measures that could eliminate 
or lessen the potential environmental impacts.
    The DEIS is being issued as part of the NRC's decision-making 
process on whether to issue a license to FWENC. Based on the 
preliminary evaluation in the DEIS, the NRC environmental review staff 
have concluded that the proposed action will have small effects on the 
public and existing environment. The DEIS is a preliminary analysis of 
the environmental impacts of the proposed action and its alternatives. 
The Final EIS and any decision documentation regarding the proposed 
action will not be issued until public comments on the DEIS have been 
received and evaluated. Notice of the availability of the Final EIS 
will be published in the Federal Register.
    At this time, the NRC is soliciting public comments on the DEIS. 
Due to limited interest during the ``Scoping'' phase of the DEIS 
preparation, the NRC staff has elected not to hold a public meeting on 
the DEIS. However, the DEIS is still being offered for public review 
and comment in accordance with applicable NRC regulations, including 
requirements in 10 CFR parts 51.73, 51.74 and 51.117. Any interested 
person may submit written comments on the DEIS for consideration by the 
NRC staff. Please see the DATES and ADDRESSES sections of this notice 
for directions on when and how to submit comments.

DATES: The public comment period begins with publication of this notice 
of availability in the Federal Register and continues until August 18, 
2003. Written comments submitted by mail should be postmarked by that 
date to ensure consideration. Comments mailed after that date will be 
considered to the extent practical. Comments will also be accepted by 
electronic or facsimile submission.

ADDRESSES: Members of the public are invited and encouraged to submit 
comments to the Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, Mail Stop 
T6-D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. 
Please note Docket No. 72-25 when submitting comments. Due to the 
current mail situation in the Washington, DC area, it is encouraged 
that comments be sent electronically to [email protected] or by 
facsimile to (301) 415-5398, Attn: Matt Blevins.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For environmental review questions, 
please contact Matthew Blevins at (301) 415-7684. For questions related 
to the safety review or overall licensing of the Idaho Spent Fuel 
Facility, please contact James Randall Hall at (301) 415-1336.
    Information and documents associated with the Idaho Spent Fuel 
Facility project, including the Environmental Report and the License 
Application, submitted on November 19, 2001, may be obtained from the 
Internet on NRC's Idaho Spent Fuel Facility Web page: http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage.html (case sensitive). In 
addition, all documents, including the DEIS, are available for public 
review through our electronic

[[Page 38106]]

reading room: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. Any comments of 
Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian tribes or other interested 
persons will be made available for public inspection when received. 
Documents may also be obtained from NRC's Public Document Room located 
at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Headquarters, 11555 Rockville 
Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. For those without access to 
the Internet, paper copies of any electronic documents may be obtained 
for a fee by contacting the NRC's Public Document Room at 1-800-397-
4209.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Settlement Agreement dated October 17, 
1995, among the DOE, the U.S. Navy, and the State of Idaho requires, 
among other things, the transfer and dry storage of SNF until it can be 
removed from Idaho. As part of it's efforts to meet the Settlement 
Agreement, the DOE has contracted with FWENC to design, license, 
construct, and operate the proposed Idaho Spent Fuel Facility for 
portions of the SNF currently in storage at the INEEL. If approved, 
FWENC will be issued an NRC license, under the provisions of 10 CFR 
part 72, to receive, transfer, and store SNF. The proposed facility 
would store SNF and associated radioactive material from the Peach 
Bottom Unit 1 High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor, the Shippingport 
Atomic Power Station, and various Training, Research, and Isotope 
reactors built by General Atomics (TRIGA reactors). The majority of 
this SNF is currently in storage at the Idaho Nuclear Technology Center 
located on the INEEL immediately adjacent to the proposed facility. DOE 
plans to transfer the SNF to the proposed facility using existing INEEL 
and DOE procedures. The transfers to the proposed facility would take 
place completely within the boundaries of the INEEL. Upon arrival at 
the proposed facility, the SNF would be (1) remotely removed from the 
containers in which it is currently stored, (2) visually inspected, (3) 
inventoried, (4) placed into new storage canisters, and (5) placed into 
interim dry storage.
    The DEIS for the proposed Idaho Spent Fuel Facility was prepared by 
the staff of the NRC and its contractor, Center for Nuclear Waste 
Regulatory Analyses, in compliance with the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA), and the NRC's regulations for implementing NEPA (10 
CFR part 51). The proposed action involves a decision by NRC of whether 
to issue a license under the provisions of 10 CFR part 72 that would 
authorize FWENC to receive, transfer, and store SNF and associated 
radioactive materials at the proposed facility.
    NRC published a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS for the proposed 
Idaho Spent Fuel Facility and to conduct a scoping process in the 
Federal Register on July 26, 2002, (67 FR 48953). The NRC accepted 
scoping comments through September 16, 2002, and subsequently issued a 
Scoping Summary Report on December 2, 2002.
    The DEIS describes the proposed action and alternatives to the 
proposed action, including the no-action alternative. The DEIS assesses 
the impacts of the proposed action and its alternatives on human 
health, air quality, water resources, waste management, geology, noise, 
ecology, land use, cultural resources, socioeconomics, accident 
impacts, and environmental justice. Additionally, the DEIS analyzes and 
compares the costs and benefits of the proposed action.
    Based on the preliminary evaluation in the DEIS, the NRC 
environmental review staff have concluded that the proposed action will 
have small effects on the public and existing environment and should be 
approved. The DEIS is a preliminary analysis of the environmental 
impacts of the proposed action and its alternatives. The Final EIS and 
any decision documentation regarding the proposed action will not be 
issued until public comments on the DEIS have been received and 
evaluated. Notice of the availability of the Final EIS will be 
published in the Federal Register.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 19th day of June, 2003.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Lawrence E. Kokajko,
Acting Chief, Environmental and Performance Assessment Branch, Division 
of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 03-16174 Filed 6-25-03; 8:45 am]
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