[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 9, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11715-11716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-4549]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-25]


Foster Wheeler Environmental Corporation, Idaho Spent Fuel 
Facility; Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact Regarding a Proposed Exemption

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James R. Hall, Senior Project Manager, 
Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. 
Telephone: (301) 415-8500; fax number: (301) 425-8555; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC 
or the Commission) is considering issuance of an exemption, pursuant to 
10 CFR 72.7, from the provisions of 10 CFR 72.70(a)(1) to the Foster 
Wheeler Environmental Corporation (FWENC or licensee). This regulation 
requires that each specific licensee under 10 CFR part 72 submit an 
original Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) to the Commission within 
90 days after issuance of the license. The NRC granted a license for 
the Idaho Spent Fuel (ISF) Facility, an independent spent fuel storage 
installation (ISFSI) to be located at the Idaho National Engineering 
and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), to FWENC on November 30, 2004. 
The requested exemption would allow FWENC to submit an original FSAR 
for the ISF Facility no later than August 28, 2005, or no later than 30 
days prior to the commencement of construction, whichever comes first. 
FWENC submitted the exemption request on February 2, 2005.

Environmental Assessment (EA)

    Identification of Proposed Action: The licensee requested an 
exemption from the requirement in 10 CFR 72.70(a)(1), which states that 
each licensee shall submit an original FSAR to the Commission, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 72.4, within 90 days after issuance of the 
license. The requested exemption would allow the licensee to delay the 
submittal of the original FSAR for the ISF Facility by up to 6 months 
(no later than August 28, 2005, or 30 days prior to commencement of 
construction, whichever comes first).

[[Page 11716]]

    The proposed action before the Commission is whether to grant this 
exemption pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7.
    Need for the Proposed Action: The NRC granted a license to 
construct and operate the ISF Facility to FWENC on November 30, 2004. 
FWENC will build and operate the facility under a contract with the U. 
S. Department of Energy (DOE). The ISF Facility represents an 
additional milestone in the 1995 settlement agreement among DOE, the 
U.S. Navy, and the State of Idaho regarding the disposition of spent 
nuclear fuel at INEEL.
    The exemption would allow the licensee additional time to submit an 
original FSAR beyond February 28, 2005, which is 90 days from the date 
the facility license was issued. As part of its justification for the 
exemption request, FWENC indicated that it has held recent discussions 
with DOE to determine whether the FSAR and related documents contain 
sensitive information that should be withheld from public disclosure. 
These discussions were prompted in part by recent NRC actions to 
reassess its policy and practices on release of sensitive information; 
however, the NRC has not yet provided any new direction to licensees on 
this subject. FWENC has not yet made its determination, but it may need 
to expend more resources and/or time to prepare the FSAR and associated 
justifications if it elects to request that parts of the document be 
withheld. In order to allow it more time to identify what parts of the 
FSAR, if any, are to be withheld, to prepare the necessary 
justifications, and to revise the document accordingly, the licensee 
has requested the subject exemption.
    Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: The NRC staff 
previously evaluated the environmental impacts resulting from the 
construction, operation and decommissioning of the ISF Facility, and 
determined that such impacts would be acceptably small. The staff's 
conclusions are documented in the ``Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for the Proposed Idaho Spent Fuel Facility at the Idaho National 
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in Butte County, Idaho (Final 
Report), NUREG-1773,'' issued in January 2004. The proposed action 
under consideration would not change the staff's previous conclusions 
in the EIS regarding environmental impacts, because the proposed 
exemption is an administrative action that will not affect the physical 
design or operation of the ISF Facility. Therefore, there are no 
radiological or non-radiological impacts from a delay in submitting the 
FSAR, and the staff finds that the proposed exemption will not have any 
significant environmental impact.
    Alternative to the Proposed Action: As an alternative to the 
proposed action, the staff considered denial of the proposed action 
(i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). Approval or denial of the 
exemption request would result in no change in the environmental 
impacts described in the staff's final EIS. Therefore, the 
environmental impacts of the proposed action and the alternative action 
are similar.
    Agencies and Persons Consulted: On February 17, 2005, Mr. Doug 
Walker, Senior Health Physicist with the State of Idaho INEEL Oversight 
Program, was contacted regarding the environmental assessment for the 
proposed exemption and had no comments. The NRC staff previously 
evaluated the environmental impacts of the ISF Facility in the final 
EIS issued in January 2004, and has determined that additional 
consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act is not 
required for this specific exemption which involves administrative 
reporting requirements and will not affect listed species or critical 
habitat. The NRC staff has similarly determined that the proposed 
exemption is not a type of activity having the potential to cause 
effects on historic properties. Therefore, no further consultation is 
required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
    Conclusion: The staff has reviewed the exemption request submitted 
by FWENC and has determined that allowing the licensee to delay the 
submittal of the original Final Safety Analysis Report for the ISF 
Facility up to an additional 6 months beyond the date required by 10 
CFR 72.70(a)(1) is an administrative change, and would have no 
significant impact on the environment.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed 
in accordance with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR part 51. Based 
upon the foregoing EA, the Commission finds that the proposed action of 
granting the exemption from 10 CFR 72.70(a)(1), so that FWENC may delay 
the submittal of the original FSAR for the ISF Facility, will not 
significantly impact the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, 
the Commission has determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact 
is appropriate, and that an environmental impact statement for the 
proposed exemption is not necessary.
    For further details with respect to this action, see the FWENC 
request for exemption, dated February 2, 2005, which was docketed under 
10 CFR part 72, Docket No. 72-25. This document is available for public 
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, One White Flint 
North Building, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD, or from the 
publicly available records component of NRC's Agencywide Documents 
Access and Management System (ADAMS). This document may be accessed 
through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. If there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, (301) 415-4737 
or by e-mail at [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of March, 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James R. Hall,
Senior Project Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 05-4549 Filed 3-8-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P