[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59748-59749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24268]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-8027; NRC-2010-0306]


Notice of License Amendment for the Sequoyah Fuels Corporation's 
Facility at Gore, OK

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Action.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken Kalman, Project Manager, 
Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing Directorate, Division of 
Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and 
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; Telephone: (301) 415-
6664; fax number (301) 415-5369; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of a license amendment to Sequoyah Fuels Corporation (SFC or 
licensee) for License No. SUB-1010. This action would authorize SFC to 
implement the groundwater corrective action plan (CAP) proposed for its 
site in Gore, Oklahoma. SFC's proposal for the CAP was first submitted 
to the NRC by letter dated June 16, 2003, and was supplemented by 
additional information submitted to the NRC by letters dated, December 
16, 2005, July 2, 2009, and July 31, 2009. By letter dated August 18, 
2010, SFC submitted a June 14, 2010, revision of the CAP that 
encompasses all supplements in a single document. NRC previously issued 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in support of this action in 
accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. See NUREG-1888, 
``Environmental Impact Statement for the Reclamation of the Sequoyah 
Fuels Corporation Site in Gore, Oklahoma,'' issued May 2008.

II. Proposed Action

    The purpose of this proposed CAP is to remediate existing 
groundwater contamination and to facilitate the eventual termination of 
License No. SUB-1010. This CAP is part of an overall site reclamation 
program described in SFC's Reclamation Plan (RP) dated January 2003. 
SFC's RP was reviewed and approved by NRC on April 20, 2009 (License 
Amendment 33). Whereas the RP primarily addresses the site 
decommissioning, disposal cell construction, and surface reclamation, 
the CAP addresses residual contamination in groundwater.

III. NRC Review

    The NRC staff reviewed the CAP and supporting documents using 
Section 4.0 of NUREG-1620, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of a 
Reclamation Plan for Mill Tailings Sites Under Title II of the Uranium 
Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978,'' Rev. 1, issued June 
2003. The staff's review process included evaluating the site 
hydrogeology particularly with respect to the locations and types of 
groundwater restoration structures. Effectiveness of the proposed 
action was then evaluated by reviewing flow and transport models, as 
well as actual volume and concentration data from the current 
structures. Finally, the staff reviewed groundwater flow and 
contaminant transport models to evaluate the long-term groundwater 
contaminant concentrations and pollutant loads during and after 
corrective actions are completed.
    SFC's CAP specifies the use of interceptor trenches and recovery 
wells placed in hydrologically strategic positions to intercept 
groundwater contamination remaining onsite. The CAP does not draw back 
any contamination that has passed the extraction points. Consequently, 
the CAP allows small pollutant loads (defined as pollutant 
concentration x volumetric flow) to enter the surface water system. 
However, NRC staff determined that the pollutant loads to surface water 
pose little threat to human health and safety and the environment. A 
Safety Evaluation Report (SER) dated September 20, 2010 (ML101170749) 
documents the NRC staff's technical review of the CAP to determine its 
compliance with 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A.
    SFC's request for the proposed amendment was previously noticed in 
the Federal Register (68 FR 51033; Aug. 25, 2003) with a notice of an 
opportunity to request a hearing. The State of Oklahoma and the 
Cherokee Nation submitted requests for hearing on September 29, 2003 
and October 2, 2003, respectively. Both requests were subsequently 
denied on November 19, 2003. No other comments or requests for a 
hearing were received.
    The Final EIS for the Reclamation of the Sequoyah Fuels Corporation 
Site in Gore, Oklahoma (NUREG-1888) was issued on May 20, 2008. The EIS 
documented the NRC staff's determination that all steps in the proposed 
reclamation could be accomplished in compliance with the NRC public and 
occupational dose limits, effluent release limits, and residual 
radioactive material limits. In addition, the EIS concluded that 
approval of the proposed action, in accordance with the commitments in 
NRC License SUB-1010 and the final RP, would not result in a 
significant adverse impact on the environment.
    The findings, required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 
amended, necessary to support the proposed site reclamation activities 
will be documented in an SER that will be issued in connection with 
this license amendment.

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 Agency-wide 
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession

[[Page 59749]]

numbers for the documents related to this notice are:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    NRC
           Document              PDR*     Web         ADAMS        Staff
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SFC's letter to NRC dated June  X.....  X.....  ML031710029.....  X
 16, 2003.
SFC's letter to NRC dated       X.....  X.....  ML053560158.....  X
 December 16, 2005.
SFC's letter to NRC dated July  X.....  X.....  ML092040088.....  X
 2, 2009.
SFC's letter to NRC dated July  X.....  X.....  ML092240691.....  X
 31, 2009.
SFC's letter to NRC dated       X.....  X.....  ML102380151.....  X
 August 18, 2010.
NUREG-1888, ``Environmental     X.....  X.....  ML081300103.....  X
 Impact Statement for the
 Reclamation of the Sequoyah
 Fuels Corporation Site in
 Gore, Oklahoma,'' issued May
 2008.
Notice of Receipt of License    X.....  X.....  ML032310041.....  X
 Amendment Request from the
 Sequoyah Fuels Corp. to
 Approve a Groundwater
 Monitoring Plan for Its Gore,
 Oklahoma Facility, and
 Opportunity to Request a
 Hearing August 25, 2003 (68
 FR 51033).
Federal Register Notice for     X.....  X.....  ML101170703.....  X
 this license amendment.
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* PDR--Public Document Room

    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 Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-
mail to [email protected].
    Any questions should be referred to Kenneth Kalman, Division of 
Waste Management and Environmental Protection, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Mailstop T-7E18, telephone (301) 415-
6664, fax (301) 415-5369.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of September, 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Paul Michalak,
Acting Deputy Director, 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. 2010-24268 Filed 9-27-10; 8:45 am]
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