[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 127 (Monday, July 6, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31994-31996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15790]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-36; NRC-2009-0278]


Notice of License Amendment Request of Westinghouse Electric 
Company LLC for Hematite Decommissioning Project, Festus, MO and 
Opportunity To Request a Hearing

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of license amendment request and opportunity to request 
a hearing.

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DATES: A request for a hearing must be filed by September 4, 2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John J. Hayes, Project Manager, 
Materials Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management and 
Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and 
Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Two White Flint North, Mail Stop T8F5, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852-2738 Telephone: (301) 415-5928; fax number: (301) 415-
5928; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    By letter dated May 21, 2009, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) received a license amendment application from 
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (WEC or the licensee), pertaining to 
its planned disposal of NRC-licensed source, byproduct and special 
nuclear material. Regarding this material, WEC seeks approval, pursuant 
to 10 CFR 20.2002, of proposed disposal procedures which are not 
otherwise authorized by NRC regulations. WEC holds NRC License No. SNM-
00033, which authorizes the licensee to conduct decommissioning 
activities at its former fuel cycle facility located in Festus, 
Missouri. The amendment request seeks authorization allowing WEC to 
transfer decommissioning waste to U.S. Ecology Idaho, Inc., a Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C disposal facility 
located near Grand View, Idaho. This facility is regulated by the Idaho 
Department of Environmental Quality, and is not an NRC-licensed 
facility. Pursuant to 10 CFR 30.11 and 70.17, WEC's application also 
requested exemptions from the licensing requirements of 10 CFR 30.3 and 
70.3 for the byproduct and special nuclear material it seeks to 
transfer. These exemptions are necessary because the disposal of 
byproduct and special nuclear material must occur at a facility 
licensed to possess such material, and the U.S. Ecology Idaho facility 
has no NRC license.
    An NRC administrative review, documented in a letter to 
Westinghouse dated June 19, 2009, found the alternate disposal 
application acceptable to begin a technical review. If the NRC approves 
the Westinghouse request, the approval will be documented in an 
amendment to NRC License No. SNM-00033. However, before approving the 
proposed amendment, the NRC will need to make the findings required by 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the National 
Environmental Policy Act. These findings will be documented, 
respectively, in a Safety Evaluation Report (SER), and in a separate 
environmental assessment performed by the NRC.

III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing

    The NRC hereby provides notice that this is a proceeding on an 
application for a license amendment as described above. In accordance 
with the general requirements in Subpart C of 10 CFR Part 2, as amended 
on January 14, 2004 (69 FR 2182), any person whose interest may be 
affected by this proceeding and who desires to participate as a party 
must file a written request for a hearing and a specification of the 
contentions which the person seeks to have litigated in the hearing.

[[Page 31995]]

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(a), a request for a hearing must be 
filed with the Commission either by:
    1. First class mail addressed to: Office of the Secretary, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: 
Rulemakings and Adjudications;
    2. Courier, express mail, and expedited delivery services: Office 
of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff, between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Federal workdays;
    3. E-mail addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, [email protected]; or
    4. By facsimile transmission addressed to the Office of the 
Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 
Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, at (301) 415-1101; 
verification number is (301) 415-1966.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(b), all documents offered for 
filing must be accompanied by proof of service on all parties to the 
proceeding or their attorneys of record as required by law or by rule 
or order of the Commission, including:
    1. The applicant, Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC, 4350 Northern 
Pike, Monroeville, Pennsylvania 15146-2886, Attention: Michele M. 
Gutman, and
    2. The NRC staff, by delivery to the Office of the General Counsel, 
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, or by 
mail addressed to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hearing requests 
should also be transmitted to the Office of the General Counsel, either 
by means of facsimile transmission to (301) 415-3725, or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    The formal requirements for documents contained in 10 CFR 2.304(b), 
(c), (d), and (e), must be met. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.304(f), a 
document filed by electronic mail or facsimile transmission need not 
comply with the formal requirements of 10 CFR 2.304(b), (c), and (d), 
as long as an original and two (2) copies otherwise complying with all 
of the requirements of 10 CFR 2.304(b), (c), and (d) are mailed within 
two (2) days thereafter to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (b), a request for a hearing must 
be filed by September 4, 2009.
    In addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR 
2.309, the general requirements involving a request for a hearing filed 
by a person other than an applicant must state:
    1. The name, address, and telephone number of the requester;
    2. The nature of the requester's right under the Act to be made a 
party to the proceeding;
    3. The nature and extent of the requester's property, financial or 
other interest in the proceeding;
    4. The possible effect of any decision or order that may be issued 
in the proceeding on the requester's interest; and
    5. The circumstances establishing that the request for a hearing is 
timely in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(b).
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(1), a request for hearing or 
petitions for leave to intervene must set forth with particularity the 
contentions sought to be raised. For each contention, the request or 
petition must:
    1. Provide a specific statement of the issue of law or fact to be 
raised or controverted;
    2. Provide a brief explanation of the basis for the contention;
    3. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is within 
the scope of the proceeding;
    4. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is material 
to the findings that the NRC must make to support the action that is 
involved in the proceeding;
    5. Provide a concise statement of the alleged facts or expert 
opinions which support the requester's/petitioner's position on the 
issue and on which the requester/petitioner intends to rely to support 
its position on the issue; and
    6. Provide sufficient information to show that a genuine dispute 
exists with the applicant on a material issue of law or fact. This 
information must include references to specific portions of the 
application that the requester/petitioner disputes and the supporting 
reasons for each dispute, or, if the requester/petitioner believes the 
application fails to contain information on a relevant matter as 
required by law, the identification of each failure and the supporting 
reasons for the requester's/petitioner's belief.
    In addition, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(2), contentions 
must be based on documents or other information available at the time 
the petition is to be filed, such as the application, or other 
supporting document filed by the licensee, or otherwise available to 
the petitioner. The requester/petitioner may amend its contentions or 
file new contentions if there are data or conclusions in the NRC's SER 
or environmental analysis that differ significantly from the data or 
conclusions in the licensee's documents. Otherwise, contentions may be 
amended or new contentions filed after the initial filing only with 
leave of the presiding officer.
    Requesters/petitioners should, when possible, consult with each 
other in preparing contentions and combine similar subject matter 
concerns into a joint contention, for which one of the co-sponsoring 
requesters/petitioners is designated the lead representative. Further, 
in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(3), any requester/petitioner that 
wishes to adopt a contention proposed by another requester/petitioner 
must do so in writing within 10 days of the date the contention is 
filed, and designate a representative who shall have the authority to 
act for the requester/petitioner.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(g), a request for hearing and/or 
petition for leave to intervene may also address the selection of the 
hearing procedures, taking into account the provisions of 10 CFR 2.310.

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: Request for Alternate 
Disposal Approval and Exemption for Specific Hematite Project Waste (ML 
090180071); and Review Acceptance Letter to Westinghouse on 20.2002 
Alternate Disposal Request for Hematite (ML091690253). If you do not 
have access to ADAMS or 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 to 
[email protected].
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), O 1 F21, One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The 
PDR reproduction

[[Page 31996]]

contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of June 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Rebecca Tadesse,
Chief, Materials Decommissioning Branch, Decommissioning and Uranium 
Recovery, Licensing Directorate, Division of Waste Management, and 
Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials, and 
Environmental Management Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-15790 Filed 7-2-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P