[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 67 (Thursday, April 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16237-16238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-8062]
[[Page 16237]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2009-0157]
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Proposed General Electric--Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment Uranium
Enrichment Facility
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI).
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SUMMARY: General Electric--Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment, LLC (GLE)
submitted an Environmental Report (ER) on January 30, 2009, that
proposes the construction, operation, and decommissioning of a laser-
based uranium enrichment facility. GLE proposes to locate the facility
on the existing General Electric Company (GE)/Global Nuclear Fuel--
Americas (GNF-A) site near Wilmington, North Carolina. The U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC), in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its regulations at 10 CFR Part 51,
announces its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
evaluating this proposed action. The EIS will examine the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed GLE facility.
DATES: NRC invites public comments on the appropriate scope of issues
to be considered in the EIS. The public scoping process begins with
publication of this NOI. Written comments submitted by mail should be
postmarked by no later than June 8, 2009, to ensure consideration.
Comments mailed after that date will be considered to the extent
practical.
The NRC will conduct two public scoping meetings in Wilmington,
North Carolina, to assist in defining the appropriate scope of the EIS,
and to help identify the significant environmental issues that need to
be addressed in detail. The meeting date, times, and location are
listed below:
--Date: May 19, 2009.
--Times: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
--Location: Warwick Center, Ballroom 1, University of North Carolina at
Wilmington, North Carolina 28403.
ADDRESSES: Members of the public are invited and encouraged to submit
written comments regarding the appropriate scope and content of the
EIS. Comments may be sent to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch,
Mail Stop TWB 5B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001. Please note Docket No. 70-7016 when submitting comments.
Commenters also may send comments electronically to [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general or technical information
associated with the licensing review of the GLE application, please
contact Tim Johnson at (301) 492-3121 or [email protected]. For
general information on the NRC NEPA process, or the environmental
review process related to the GLE application, please contact
Christianne Ridge at (301) 415-5673 or [email protected].
Information and documents associated with the GLE project,
including the GLE ER (submitted on January 30, 2009), are available for
public review through NRC's electronic reading room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Members of the public may access the
applicant's ER in NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS) at accession number ML090910573.
A copy of the applicant's ER is available for public inspection at
the New Hanover County Library, located at 201 Chestnut Street,
Wilmington, North Carolina 28401. Documents also may be obtained from
NRC's Public Document Room at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Headquarters, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1.0 Background
On January 30, 2009, GLE submitted an ER to NRC as part of its
application for authorization to construct and operate a laser-based
uranium enrichment facility. To complete its license application, GLE
must submit additional information related to facility safety in
accordance with the Atomic Energy Act. The EIS will evaluate the
potential environmental impacts associated with the proposed GLE
enrichment facility. The results of the NRC's safety review will be
documented separately in a Safety Evaluation Report. The environmental
evaluation will be documented in draft and final EISs in accordance
with NEPA and NRC's implementing regulations at 10 CFR Part 51.
If NRC later finds GLE's complete license application to be
acceptable for review, a Notice of Hearing and Opportunity to Petition
for Leave to Intervene will be published in a future Federal Register
notice. The purpose of the present notice is to inform the public that
the NRC staff will prepare an EIS as part of the review of the
application, and to encourage the public to participate in the
environmental scoping process as defined in 10 CFR 51.29.
2.0 Proposed GLE Enrichment Facility
The GLE facility, if licensed, would enrich uranium for use in
manufacturing commercial nuclear fuel for use in power reactors. Feed
material would be natural (not enriched) uranium in the form of uranium
hexafluoride (UF6) which contains the uranium-235 isotope.
GLE proposes to use a laser-based technology to enrich this isotope in
the UF6 to up to 8 percent by weight. The capacity of the
plant would be up to 6 million separative work units (SWU) [SWU relates
to a measure of the work used to enrich uranium]. The enriched
UF6 would be used on-site by GNF-A in its fuel fabrication
facility and transported off-site to additional fuel fabrication
facilities. The depleted UF6 would be stored on site until
it is either sold, disposed of commercially, or taken by the Department
of Energy.
3.0 Alternatives to be Evaluated
No-Action--The no-action alternative would be to not build the
proposed uranium enrichment facility. Under this alternative, the NRC
would not approve the license application. This serves as a baseline
for comparison.
Proposed Action--The proposed action involves the construction,
operation, and decommissioning of a laser-based uranium enrichment
facility to be located near Wilmington, North Carolina. The applicant
would be issued an NRC license under the provisions of 10 CFR Parts 30,
40, and 70.
Other alternatives not listed here may be identified through the
scoping process.
4.0 Environmental Impact Areas to be Analyzed
The following areas have been tentatively identified for detailed
analysis in the EIS:
--Land Use: Plans, policies and controls;
--Transportation: Transportation modes, routes, quantities, and risk
estimates;
--Geology and Soils: Physical geography, topography, geology and soil
characteristics;
--Water Resources: Surface and groundwater hydrology, water use and
quality, and the potential for degradation;
--Ecology: Wetlands, aquatic, terrestrial, economically and
recreationally important species, and threatened and endangered
species;
--Air Quality: Meteorological conditions, ambient background,
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pollutant sources, and the potential for degradation;
--Noise: Ambient, sources, and sensitive receptors;
--Historical and Cultural Resources: Historical, archaeological, and
traditional cultural resources;
--Visual and Scenic Resources: Landscape characteristics, manmade
features, and viewshed;
--Socioeconomics: Demography, economic base, labor pool, housing,
transportation, utilities, public services and facilities, education,
recreation, and cultural resources;
--Environmental Justice: Potential disproportionately high and adverse
impacts to minority and low-income populations;
--Public and Occupational Health: Potential public and occupational
consequences from construction, routine operation, transportation, and
credible accident scenarios (including natural events);
--Waste Management: Types of wastes expected to be generated, handled,
and stored; and
--Cumulative Effects: Impacts from past, present and reasonably
foreseeable actions at and near the site.
This list is not intended to be all inclusive, nor is it a
predetermination of potential environmental impacts. The list is
presented to facilitate comments on the scope of the EIS. Changes to
this list may occur as a result of the public scoping process.
5.0 Scoping Meetings
One purpose of this notice is to solicit public comments on the
proposed scope and content of the EIS. Scoping is an early and open
process designed to determine the range of actions, alternatives, and
potential impacts to be considered in the EIS, and to identify
significant issues related to the proposed action. It is intended to
solicit input from the public and other agencies so that the analysis
can be more clearly focused on issues of genuine concern. The principal
goals of the scoping process are to:
--Ensure that concerns are identified early and are properly studied;
--Identify alternatives to be examined;
--Identify significant issues to be analyzed;
--Eliminate unimportant issues from detailed consideration; and
--Identify public concerns.
On May 19, 2009, the NRC will hold two public scoping meetings in
Wilmington, North Carolina, to solicit both oral and written comments
from interested parties. Both meetings will be transcribed to record
public comments. The first meeting will convene at 1 p.m. and will
continue until approximately 4 p.m. The second meeting will convene at
7 p.m. and will continue until approximately 10 p.m. Both meetings will
begin with NRC staff providing a description of the NRC's role and
mission. A brief overview of the licensing process will be followed by
a brief description of the environmental review process. Most of the
meeting time will be allotted for attendees to make oral comments.
In addition, the NRC staff will host informal discussions for one
hour prior to the start of each public meeting. No formal comments on
the proposed scope of the EIS will be accepted during the informal
discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at one
of the transcribed public meetings or in writing, as discussed below.
Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the
scoping meetings by contacting Christianne Ridge at (301) 415-5673, or
by sending e-mail to [email protected] no later than April 30, 2009.
Members of the public may also register to speak at the meeting prior
to the start of the session. Individual oral comments may be limited by
the time available, depending on the number of persons who register.
Members of the public who have not registered may also have an
opportunity to speak, if time permits. If special equipment or
accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the
public meeting, please contact Christianne Ridge no later than April
23, 2009, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can
be accommodated.
6.0 Scoping Comments
Members of the public may provide comments orally at one of the
transcribed public scoping meetings or in writing. Written comments may
be sent by e-mail to [email protected] or mailed to the address listed
above in the ADDRESSES Section.
At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC staff will
prepare a summary of public comments regarding the scope of the
environmental review and significant issues identified. NRC staff will
send this summary to each participant in the scoping process for whom
the staff has an address. This summary and project-related material
will be available for public review through our electronic reading
room: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The scoping meeting
summaries and project-related materials will also be available on NRC's
GLE Web page: http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/laser.html
(case sensitive).
7.0 The NEPA Process
The EIS for the GLE facility will be prepared pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and NRC's NEPA Regulations at
10 CFR Part 51. After the scoping process is complete, NRC and its
contractor will prepare and publish a draft EIS. A 45-day public
comment period on the draft EIS is planned, and public meetings to
receive comments will be held approximately three weeks after
publication of the draft EIS. Availability of the draft EIS, the dates
of the public comment period, and information about the public meetings
will be announced in the Federal Register, on NRC's GLE Web page, and
in the local news media. The final EIS will include responses to any
comments received on the draft EIS.
Signed in Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of April 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patrice M. Bubar,
Director, Environmental Protection and Performance Assessment
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection,
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management
Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-8062 Filed 4-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P