[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 145 (Thursday, July 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45300-45301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19097]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 04009067; NRC-2008-0339]


Notice of Issuance of Materials License SUA-1597 and Record of 
Decision for Uranerz Energy Corporation Nichols Ranch In Situ Recovery 
Project

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of issuance of materials license SUA-1597.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or 
the Commission) has issued a license to Uranerz Energy Corporation 
(Uranerz) for its Nichols Ranch uranium in situ recovery (ISR) Project 
in Johnson and Campbell Counties, Wyoming. Materials License SUA-1597 
authorizes Uranerz to operate its facilities as proposed in its license 
application, as amended, and to possess uranium source and byproduct 
material at the Nichols Ranch ISR Project. Furthermore, Uranerz will be 
required to operate under the conditions listed in Materials License 
SUA-1597.
    This notice also serves as the record of decision for the NRC 
decision to approve Uranerz's license application for the Nichols Ranch 
facility and issue Materials License SUA-1597. This record of decision 
satisfies the regulatory requirement in Section 51.102(a) of Title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), which requires a 
Commission decision on any action for which a final environmental 
impact statement has been prepared to be accompanied by or include a 
concise public record of decision.
    The NRC considers the entire publicly available record for a 
license application to constitute the agency's record of decision. 
Documents related to the application carry docket number 04009067. 
These documents for the Nichols Ranch ISR Project include the license 
application (including the applicant's environmental report) 
(ML080080600), the Commission's Safety Evaluation Report (SER) 
published in July 2011 (ML102240206) and the Commission's Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) (NUREG-1910, 
Supplement 2) published in January 2011 (ML103440120). The record of 
decision also includes the applicable portions of the Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling 
Facilities (NUREG-1910) as incorporated by reference in the FSEIS.
    As discussed in the Nichols Ranch FSEIS, the Commission considered 
a range of alternatives. The reasonable alternatives discussed in 
detail were the applicant's proposal as described in its license 
application to conduct in-situ uranium recovery on the site and the no-
action alternative. Other alternatives considered but eliminated from 
detailed analysis include conventional uranium mining and milling, 
conventional mining and heap leach processing, alternative site 
location, alternate lixiviants, and alternate wastewater treatment 
methods. The factors considered when evaluating the alternatives, 
discussion of preferences among the alternatives, and license 
conditions and monitoring programs related to mitigation measures are 
also discussed in the Nichols Ranch FSEIS. The FSEIS also contained the 
NRC staff recommendation to the Commission, related to the 
environmental aspects of the proposed action that the source material 
license should be issued as requested, unless safety issues mandate 
otherwise.
    The NRC has found that the application for the source materials 
license complied with the standards and requirements of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's 
regulations. As required by the Act and the Commission's regulations in 
10 CFR 40.32(b-c), the staff has found that Uranerz is qualified by 
reason of training and experience to use source material for the 
purpose it requested and Uranerz's proposed equipment and procedures 
for use at its Nichols Ranch Project are adequate to protect public 
health and minimize danger to life or property. The NRC staff's review 
supporting these findings is documented in the SER. The NRC staff also 
concluded, in accordance with 10 CFR 40.32(d), that issuance of 
Materials License SUA-1597 to Uranerz will not be inimical to the 
common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public. 
The staff also found in accordance with 10 CFR 40.32(e), after weighing 
the environmental, economic, technical and other benefits against 
environmental costs and considering available alternatives, that the 
action called for is the issuance of License Amendment No. 1 to 
Materials License SUA-1597.
    Uranerz's request for a materials license was previously noticed in 
the Federal Register on June 16, 2008 (73 FR 34052), with a notice of 
an opportunity to request a hearing. The NRC did not receive any 
requests for a hearing on the license application.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's 
``Rules of Practice,'' the details with respect to this action, 
including the SER and accompanying documentation and license, 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 Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which 
provides text and image files of the NRC's public documents. The ADAMS 
accession numbers for the documents related to this notice are:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.......................................  Applicant's application, November 30, 2007.........        ML080080594
2.......................................  Revisions to application, August 21, 2008..........        ML083230892
3.......................................  Response to Request for Additional Information,            ML090820568
                                           March 11, 2009.
4.......................................  Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In Situ         ML091530075
                                           Leach Uranium Milling Facilities, May 2009.
5.......................................  Response to Open Issues in Safety Evaluation               ML100740143
                                           Report, February 24, 2010.
6.......................................  Text Revisions to Open Issues to the Safety                ML102650554
                                           Evaluation Report, September 15, 2010.
7.......................................  Revised Table of Contents to Technical Report,             ML102730116
                                           September 22, 2010.
8.......................................  Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the        ML103440120
                                           Nichols Ranch In-Situ Recovery Project, January
                                           2011.
9.......................................  NRC Safety Evaluation Report, July 2011............        ML102240206

[[Page 45301]]

 
10......................................  Source Materials License for Nichols Ranch, July           ML111751649
                                           19, 2011.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
via e-mail 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron C. Linton, Project Manager, 
Uranium Recovery Licensing Branch, 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) 415-7777; fax number: (301) 415-5369; e-mail: 
[email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 19th day of July, 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. 2011-19097 Filed 7-27-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P