[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43822-43823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12445]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-8907]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment for United Nuclear 
Corporation, Church Rock, NM

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Michalak, Project Manager, Fuel 
Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555. Telephone: (301) 415-
7612; fax number: (301) 415-5955; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposes to issue a 
license amendment for License Condition 35 (ground water protection 
standards), to Materials License SUA-1475, for the United Nuclear 
Corporation (UNC), Church Rock, New Mexico uranium mill site (the 
Site). The purpose of this amendment is to revise the current 
chloroform ground water protection standard of 0.001 milligrams per 
liter (mg/L) to 0.08 mg/L for total trihalomethanes (THMs), and revise 
the current combined radium-226 and -228 GWPS from 5 pCi/L to 5.2 pCi/L 
in the Southwest Alluvium and from 5 pci/L to 9.4 pCi/L in Zone 1.

II. EA Summary

    The staff has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) in support 
of the proposed license amendment. Since this action relates to ground 
water, the primary focus of the evaluation of potential environmental 
impacts relates to ground water. Ground water is not used as a potable 
source at, or in, the immediate vicinity of the Site. The closest down-
gradient public-use well is about 2,700 meters (8,860 feet) to the 
northeast. With the exception of the historical mill and mine activity, 
land use is primarily grazing for sheep, cattle and horses. The area 
around the Site is sparsely populated and includes Indian Tribal Land 
as well as UNC-owned property. The primary use of the Indian Tribal 
Land is grazing. The proposed total THMs ground water protection 
standard of 0.08 mg/L is one established by the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and it 
represents a thoroughly examined and evaluated maximum allowable 
drinking water concentration that is considered to be safe by the EPA. 
With respect to the proposed combined radium-226 and 228 standards, 
both the proposed standard of 5.2 pCi/L in the Southwest Alluvium and 
9.4 pCi/L in Zone 1 represent the 95th percentile background 
concentrations in their respective saturated units. They were both 
derived from a large data set collected over a 16 year period and are 
both below the New Mexico Ground Water Protection Standard of 30 pCi/L.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA, NRC has concluded that there are no 
significant environmental impacts from the proposed amendment and has 
determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at 
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide 
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for 
the documents related to this notice are as follows:

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                                                             ADAMS
                       Document                          accession No.                    Date
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License Amendment Request for Changing the Chloroform      ML052310151  May 26, 2005.
 Ground Water Protection Standard in Source Materials
 License SUA-1475.
Revised License Amendment Request for Changing the         ML052100367  July 14, 2005.
 Chloroform Ground Water Protection Standard in Source
 Materials License SUA-1475.
License Amendment Request for Changing the Method of       ML053010019  September 30, 2005.
 Determining Exceedances of the Combined Radium
 Groundwater Protection Standard in Source Materials
 License No. SUA-1475.
Summary of January 18, 2006 public meeting between NRC     ML060200298  January 23, 2006.
 and UNC.

[[Page 43823]]

 
Revised License Amendment Request for Changing the         ML060730043  February 22, 2006.
 Method of Determining Exceedances of the Combined
 Radium Groundwater Protection Standard in Source
 Materials License SUA-1475.
Revised License Amendment Request for Changing the         ML061220286  April 7, 2006.
 Method of Determining Exceedances of the Combined
 Radium Groundwater Protection Standard in Source
 Materials License SUA-1475.
Environmental Assessment of License Amendment Request      ML061870630  July 21, 2006.
 for Changing Ground Water Protection Standards in
 Source Materials License SUA-1475.
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If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by e-mail, to [email protected].

    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O1 F21, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 
contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 26th day of July, 2006.

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Paul Michalak,
Project Manager, Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle 
Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E6-12445 Filed 8-1-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P