[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 5216]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-1813]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2008-0339]
Notice of Availability of Final Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement for the Nichols Ranch In-situ Recovery Project in Campbell
and Johnson Counties, WY; 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
(GEIS), for In-situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities (NUREG-1910,
Supplement 2) for the Nichols Ranch In-situ Recovery Project in
Campbell and Johnson Counties, Wyoming. By letter dated November 30,
2007, Uranerz Energy Corporation (Uranerz), submitted an application to
the NRC for a new source material license for the proposed Nichols
Ranch In-situ Uranium Recovery Project, located in the Pumpkin Buttes
Uranium Mining District within the Powder River Basin. Uranerz is
proposing to recover uranium from the site using an in-situ leach (also
known as an 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
Nichols Ranch ISR Project. The proposed Nichols Ranch ISR Project is
comprised of two noncontiguous units, the Nichols Ranch Unit and the
Hank Unit.
In addition to the proposed action, the NRC staff assessed two
alternatives in the final SEIS: the No-Action alternative and an
alternative where only the Nichols Ranch Unit would be developed for
ISR operations. Under the No-Action alternative, NRC would deny
Uranerz's request to construct, operate, conduct aquifer restoration,
and decommission an ISR facility at Nichols Ranch. Alternatives that
were considered, but were eliminated from detailed analysis, include
conventional mining and conventional milling or heap leach processing.
However, given the substantial environmental impact from implementing
of these alternatives, they were not further considered. The NRC staff
also evaluated alternative lixiviants, alternative wastewater disposal
options, and an alternative where only the Hank Unit would be developed
ISR operations. For reasons discussed in the SEIS, these alternatives
were also eliminated from detailed analysis.
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
and technical report submitted by Uranerz 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 Nichols Ranch ISR Project may be accessed on
the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1910/s2/. 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 final ``Environmental
Impact Statement for the Nichols Ranch ISR Project in Campbell and
Johnson Counties, Wyoming--Supplement to the Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for In-situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities'' is
available electronically under ADAMS Accession Number ML104330120. 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, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail
[email protected]. Information and documents associated with the
final SEIS are also available for inspection at the NRC's PDR, NRC's
Headquarters Building, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,
Maryland 20852-2738. 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 libraries:
Campbell County Public Library, 2101 South 4J Road, Gillette, Wyoming
82718, 307-687-0009.
Johnson County Library, 171 North Adams Avenue, Buffalo, Wyoming 82834,
307-684-5546.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Patricia Swain, Project Manager,
Environmental Review Branch-B, Division of Waste Management and
Environmental Protection (DWMEP), Office of Federal and State Materials
and Environmental Management Programs (FSME), Mail Stop T-8F5, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: 1
(800) 368-5642, extension 5405; 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, FSME, 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 20th day of January, 2011.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Gregory Suber,
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. 2011-1813 Filed 1-27-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P