[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 122 (Friday, June 24, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37160-37161]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15828]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2008-0391]


Notice of Availability of Final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Lost Creek In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Project in 
Sweetwater County, 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) is issuing a final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (SEIS) to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-
Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities (GEIS), (NUREG-1910, Supplement 
3) for the Lost Creek In-Situ Recovery Project in Sweetwater County, 
Wyoming. By letter dated October 30, 2007, Lost Creek ISR, LLC (LCI), a 
wholly-owned subsidiary of UR-Energy USA, Inc. submitted an application 
to the NRC for a new source and byproduct material license for the Lost 
Creek ISR Project, which LCI proposed to be located in the Great Divide 
Basin in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. LCI is proposing to recover 
uranium from the Lost Creek ISR Project 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 
Lost Creek ISR Project.
    In addition to the proposed action, the NRC staff assessed two 
alternatives in the final SEIS: An alternative that would result in dry 
yellowcake production at the proposed Lost Creek ISR Project and the 
No-Action Alternative. In addition, the NRC staff evaluated alternative 
wastewater disposal options to the proposed action of disposing of 
liquid effluent via Class I disposal wells. Under the No-Action 
alternative, NRC would deny LCI's request to construct, operate, 
conduct aquifer restoration, and decommission an ISR facility at Lost 
Creek. Alternatives that were considered, but were eliminated from 
detailed analysis, included conventional mining and milling or heap 
leach processing. However, given the substantial environmental impact 
from implementing these alternatives, they were not further considered. 
The NRC staff also evaluated alternate lixiviants. For reasons 
discussed in the SEIS, this alternative was also eliminated from 
detailed analysis.
    As discussed in Section 2.4 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 and byproduct material license be issued as requested. This 
recommendation is based upon: (1) The license application, including 
the environmental and technical report submitted by LCI 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 Lost Creek ISR Project may be accessed on 
the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1910/s3/. Additionally, the NRC maintains an Agencywide 
Documents and Management System (ADAMS), which

[[Page 37161]]

provides text and image files of the NRC's public documents. The SEIS 
may also be accessed online at NRC's Library at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The final ``Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Lost Creek ISR Project in Sweetwater County, Wyoming--Supplement to 
the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium 
Milling Facilities'' is available electronically under ADAMS Accession 
Number ML11125A006. 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, Room O1-F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first 
floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852-2783. 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:

Sweetwater County Library, 300 North 1st Street East, Green River, 
Wyoming 82935, 307-875-8615.
Rock Springs Branch Library, 400 C Street, Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901, 
307-352-6667.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Mr. Alan Bjornsen, 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 1195; 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 17th day of June 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrew Persinko,
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. 2011-15828 Filed 6-23-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P