[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 79 (Monday, April 25, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22926-22928]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-9828]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-0036; NRC-2009-0278]


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact for a License Amendment to Materials, 
License No. SNM-33, Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC, Hematite 
Decommissioning Project, Festus, Missouri (TAC NO. J00357)

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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DATES: The public comment period on the draft Environmental Assessment 
and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) closes on May 25, 2011. 
Written comments should be submitted as described in the ADDRESSES 
section of

[[Page 22927]]

this notice. Comments received after this date will be considered if it 
is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to assure 
consideration only for comments received on or before May 25, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Please include Docket ID NRC-2009-0278 in the subject line 
of your comments. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form 
will be posted on the NRC Web site and on the Federal rulemaking Web 
site, http://www.regulations.gov. Because your comments will not be 
edited to remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC 
cautions you against including any information in your submission that 
you do not want to be publicly disclosed.
    The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments 
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those 
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any 
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not 
include any information in their comments that they do not want 
publicly disclosed. You may submit comments by any one of the following 
methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-
2009-0278. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, 
telephone: 301-492-3668; e-mail: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
     Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this notice 
using the following methods:
     NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine 
and have copied, for a fee, publicly available documents at the NRC's 
PDR, O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC 
are available online in the NRC Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can gain entry into ADAMS, 
which provides text and image files of the NRC's public documents. If 
you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing 
the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's PDR reference staff 
at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected]. 
The draft Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact 
is available electronically under ADAMS Accession Number ML110870992.
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Public comments and 
supporting materials related to this notice can be found at http://www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID: NRC-2009-0278.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John J. Hayes, Senior 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, telephone: 301-415-5928; 
fax number: 301-415-5369; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is intending to issue 
a license amendment to special nuclear material (SNM) license number 
SNM-33. SNM-33 was issued to Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC (WEC) 
for the former Hematite Fuel Cycle Facility in Hematite, Missouri. 
Since the fuel cycle facility operations have ceased, the Hematite site 
is undergoing preparation for site decommissioning. The facility is now 
referred to as the Hematite Decommissioning Project (HDP). The purpose 
of the proposed amendment is to authorize disposal of approximately 
23,000 m\3\ (30,000 yd\3\) of soil and debris containing low 
concentrations of byproduct material and SNM at the US Ecology Idaho, 
Inc. (USEI) hazardous waste disposal facility near Grand View, Idaho. 
WEC requested authority for this action on May 21, 2009 (ADAMS No. 
ML091480071), pursuant to Section 20.2002 of Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR 20.2002), ``Method of Obtaining Approval of 
Proposed Disposal Procedures.'' This action would also exempt USEI from 
further NRC licensing requirements to possess and dispose of byproduct 
material and special nuclear material (SNM) identified in WEC's 
proposed license amendment. Waste generated from the proposed action 
would be classified as meeting regulatory requirements for unrestricted 
release or as radioactive material and be packaged, transported and 
disposed of based on applicable regulations.
    NRC has prepared a draft EA (ML110870992) in support of this 
amendment to allow WEC HDP, under their current license, to dispose of 
certain low-level waste (LLW) at the USEI hazardous waste disposal 
facility in Grand View, Idaho.

II. EA Summary

    Under 10 CFR 20.2002, WEC proposes to dispose of about 23,000 m\3\ 
(30,000 yd\3\) of LLW from the HDP that contains byproduct material and 
SNM at the USEI hazardous waste disposal facility. The LLW will be 
generated as part of decommissioning activities, which will include 
exhumation of existing burial pits, as described in the Hematite DP. 
There are 40 unlined pits, each of which is approximately 12 meters (40 
feet) long, 6 meters (20 feet) wide, and 3.6 meters (12 feet) deep. The 
pits were used to dispose of waste generated by the former owners of 
the facility from 1965 to 1971. In addition, it is estimated that there 
are 20-25 burials for which there are no records. These unrecorded 
burials are believed to be in the area between the documented Burial 
Pits and the site buildings, under roadways in the eastern portion of 
the central tract area of the HDP site. Additional impacted material 
may come from underneath the site buildings.
    The NRC staff has prepared the draft EA in support of the proposed 
license amendment. The NRC staff considered impacts to many aspects of 
the surrounding environment as listed in Table 1.

       Table 1--Environmental Aspects Considered for the Hematite
         Decommissioning Project Site and US Ecology Idaho, Inc.
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Land use                                  Noise
Transportation                            Historic and cultural
                                           resources
Geology and soils                         Visual/scenic
                                          resources
Water resources                           Socioeconomics
Ecological resources                      Public and occupational health
Air Quality                               Waste management
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    The NRC has concluded that the proposed action to grant a license 
amendment to WEC HDP, and an exemption to USEI from the requirements 
for a license under 10 CFR 30.3 and 10 CFR 70.3 is authorized by law 
and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and 
security and is otherwise in the public interest.

[[Page 22928]]

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of this EA, NRC has concluded that there are no 
significant environmental impacts and the issuance of a license 
amendment does not warrant the preparation of an Environmental Impact 
Statement. Accordingly, it has been determined that a Finding of No 
Significant Impact is appropriate.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the letter requesting 
the amendment and supporting documentation, are available 
electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The ADAMS accession numbers for the 
documents related to this notice are:
    1. May 21, 2009 Hematite Alternate Disposal Request (ML091480071)
    2. July 31, 2009 HDP Environmental Report (ML092870403 and 
ML092870405)
    3. Hematite Response to NRC RAIs, December 29 2009, (ML100320540)
    4. Response to Additional Information Requested for Alternate Waste 
Disposal Authorization, March 31, 2010, (ML100950386)
    5. Hematite Soil Contour Data, March 31, 2010, (ML100950393)
    6. Hematite Additional Information and Clarifications Concerning 10 
CFR 20.2002 Alternate Waste Disposal Authorization and Exemption for 
Specific Hematite Decommissioning Project Waste, May 24, 2010, 
(ML101450240)
    7. Waste Characterization for Alternate Disposal Request for 
Decommissioning Soils, December 21, 2010, (ML103570023)
    If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by email to [email protected].
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O-1 F21, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 
contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of April 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Keith I. McConnell,
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. 2011-9828 Filed 4-22-11; 8:45 am]
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