[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 166 (Friday, August 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52780-52781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21126]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0364]


Notice of Availability of Final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Moore Ranch In-situ Recovery Project in Campbell 
County, Wyoming, Supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact 
Statement for In-situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) has published a final Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement (SEIS) to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement 
for In-situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities (GEIS), (NUREG-1910, 
Supplement 1) regarding the Moore Ranch In-Situ Recovery Project in 
Campbell County, Wyoming. By letter dated October 2, 2007, Energy 
Metals Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uranium One Americas 
(Uranium One), submitted an application to the NRC for a new source 
material license for the proposed Moore Ranch Project, located in 
southwest Campbell County, Wyoming. Uranium One is proposing to recover 
uranium from the Moore Ranch site using the in-situ leach (also known 
as the in-situ recovery [ISR]) process. In this final SEIS, the NRC 
staff assessed the environmental impacts from the construction, 
operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of the proposed 
Moore Ranch ISR Project.
    In addition to the proposed action, the NRC staff assessed the no-
action alternative in the final SEIS. Under this alternative, NRC would 
deny Uranium One's request to construct, operate, conduct aquifer 
restoration, and decommission an ISR facility at the Moore Ranch 
Project. Possible alternatives that were considered, but were 
eliminated from detailed analysis include: conventional mining (whether 
by open pit or underground techniques) and conventional milling or heap 
leach processing. However, given the substantial environmental impacts 
of these alternatives, they were not further considered. The NRC staff 
also evaluated alternative lixiviants, alternative wastewater disposal 
options, and an alternative site location within the proposed license 
area. For reasons discussed in the SEIS, these alternatives were also 
eliminated from further consideration.
    As discussed in Section 2.3 of the final SEIS, unless safety issues 
mandate otherwise, the NRC staff's recommendation to the Commission 
related to the environmental aspects of the proposed action is that the 
source material license be issued as requested. This recommendation is 
based upon (1) the license application, including the environmental 
report submitted by Uranium One and the applicant's supplemental 
letters and responses to the NRC staff's requests for additional 
information; (2) consultation with Federal, State, Tribal, and local 
agencies; (3) the NRC staff's independent review; (4) the NRC staff's 
consideration of comments received on the draft SEIS; and (5) the 
assessments summarized in this SEIS.
    The final SEIS for the Moore Ranch ISR Project may be accessed on 
the internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1910/s1/. Additionally, the NRC maintains an Agencywide 
Documents and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image 
files of the NRC's public documents. The SEIS may also be accessed 
through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the internet at: 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The ``Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Moore Ranch ISR Project in Campbell County, Wyoming--
Supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-situ 
Leach Uranium Milling Facilities'' is available electronically under 
ADAMS Accession Number ML102290470. If you do not have access to ADAMS 
or if there is a problem accessing documents located in ADAMS, contact 
the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1 (800) 397-4209, 
1 (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected]. Hard copies of 
the final SEIS are available upon request. Both information and

[[Page 52781]]

documents associated with the final SEIS are also available for 
inspection at the Commission's PDR, NRC's Headquarters Building, 11555 
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. For those without 
access to the Internet, paper copies of any electronic documents may be 
obtained for a fee by contacting the NRC's PDR at 1 (800) 397-4209. The 
final SEIS and related documents may also be found at the following 
public library: Campbell County Public Library, 2101 South 4J Road, 
Gillette, Wyoming 82718, 307-687-0009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Behram Shroff, Project Manager, 
Environmental Review Branch-B, Division of Waste Management and 
Environmental Protection (DWMEP), Office of Federal and State Materials 
and Environmental Management Programs, Mail Stop T-8F5, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: 1 (800) 
368-5642, extension 0666; E-mail: [email protected]. For general or 
technical information associated with the safety and licensing of 
uranium milling facilities, please contact Stephen Cohen, Team Lead, 
Uranium Recovery Licensing Branch, DWMEP, Mail Stop T-8F5, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: 1 (800) 
368-5642, extension 7182; E-mail: [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of August 2010.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David Skeen,
Acting Deputy 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. 2010-21126 Filed 8-26-10; 8:45 am]
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