[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 17 (Tuesday, January 27, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3956-3957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-117]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-7003]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Application for Usec Inc., Bethesda, 
MD

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding 
of No Significant Impact for license application.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yawar Faraz, Project Manager, Special 
Projects and Inspection Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001. Telephone: 
(301) 415-8113; fax number: (301) 415-5390; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is prepared to issue 
Material License No. 70-7003 to United States Enrichment Corporation 
Inc. (USEC) (the applicant), to authorize possession and use of source 
and special nuclear material at the American Centrifuge Lead Cascade 
Facility (Lead Cascade) in Piketon, Ohio. NRC has prepared an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of these actions in accordance 
with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has 
concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is 
appropriate. The license will be issued following the publication of 
this notice.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of the proposed action is to authorize possession and 
use of source and special nuclear material at the applicant's Lead 
Cascade facility in Piketon, Ohio. The Lead Cascade facility would have 
up to 240 operable centrifuges for testing in order to provide 
reliability information on the machines and auxiliary systems for a 
commercial uranium enrichment facility. The Lead Cascade facility would 
recycle tails and product with no product withdrawals except for 
sampling. The applicant proposes to install the Lead Cascade facility 
in leased portions of the existing Department of Energy (DOE) Gas 
Centrifuge Enrichment Plant (GCEP) located at the Portsmouth Gaseous 
Diffusion Plant site in Piketon, Ohio. In the mid-1980's, DOE had 
produced enriched uranium using hundreds of centrifuges in it's GCEP 
facility.
    On February 12, 2003, USEC Inc. requested that NRC approve the 
proposed application. USEC Inc.'s request for the proposed action was 
previously noticed in the Federal Register on April 9, 2003 (68 FR 
17414), along with a notice of an opportunity to request a hearing. No 
requests for a hearing were submitted to the NRC.
    The NRC has prepared an EA in support of the proposed license 
application. The NRC concludes that the proposed action complies with 
the applicable parts of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 
for adequate protection of the public health and safety, and protection 
of the environment. For example, NRC staff finds that public exposure 
to radiation from the proposed action will be less than 0.0001% of the 
limits in 10 CFR part 20. On the basis of the assessment, the NRC staff 
concludes that environmental impacts associated with the proposed 
action would not be significant and do not warrant the preparation of 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Accordingly, it has been 
determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA, NRC has concluded that there are no 
significant environmental impacts from the

[[Page 3957]]

proposed action and has determined not to prepare an EIS for the 
proposed action.

IV. Further Information

    The EA and the documents related to this proposed action, including 
the application for the license amendment and supporting documentation, 
are available for inspection at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML040210751). These documents may also be examined, and/or copied for a 
fee, at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852.

    Dated in Rockville, Maryland this 21st day of January, 2004.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph G. Giitter,
Chief, Special Projects and Inspection Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle 
Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards.
 [FR Doc. E4-117 Filed 01-26-04;8:45 am]
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