[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 161 (Friday, August 19, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52022-52024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21215]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2011-0054; Docket No. 40-0299]


Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for 
License Amendment No. 64 for Umetco Minerals Corporation Gas Hill 
Reclamation Project, License No. SUA-648

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dominick A. Orlando, Senior Project 
Manager, Special Projects 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: 301-415-6749; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of a license amendment to Source Materials License SUA-648 
issued to Umetco Minerals Corporation (Umetco or the licensee) to 
authorize repairs to the erosion protection system at its Gas Hills 
Reclamation Project in Fremont and Natrona Counties, Wyoming. The NRC 
has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for this proposed action 
in accordance with the requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded 
that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate with 
respect to the proposed action. The amendment will be issued following 
the publication of this Notice.
    The current Umetco site consists of three primary tailings disposal 
areas on the 1,920 acre parcel--the 170 acre Above-Grade Tailings 
Impoundment (AGTI), the 55 acre A-9 Repository (A-9), and the 60 acre 
Heap Leach Area. In addition, the Gas Hills Pond No. 2 area, adjacent 
to the Heap Leach Area, also contains waste from heap leach operations.
    Umetco submitted a reclamation plan for the AGTI area of the site 
in 1980. During the mid-1990s, the existing reclamation plan was 
reevaluated to address potential erosion of the cover design and 
additional contamination identified adjacent to the existing cover in 
the area. In addition, given the NRC's position on the acceptance of 
previously approved reclamation plans and license termination 
requirements, Umetco re-examined the AGTI reclamation design and the 
completed work, and concluded that license termination would not be 
possible with the existing erosion protection design. Umetco submitted 
an enhanced reclamation plan for the AGTI area in October 1997. The NRC 
approved this enhanced plan in 1999. In 2000, Umetco requested approval 
for modification of the erosion protection design to prevent potential 
disturbance of cultural resources discovered during reclamation 
activities. The modification was approved by the NRC in April 2001. 
Umetco completed the work in this area

[[Page 52023]]

in 2002. The A-9 is a former open pit uranium mine that was used for 
tailings disposal. The original reclamation plan was previously 
approved by the NRC, but the cover was never constructed. Umetco 
submitted a revised reclamation plan in 1998 to implement modifications 
to the A-9. The NRC approved the revised reclamation plan in 1999 [NRC 
1999]. Umetco completed work in this area in 2006.
    In June 2007, Umetco submitted the Construction Completion Report 
documenting the completed construction activities at the site inclusive 
of the AGTI and A-9 reclamation covers. The Construction Completion 
Report was subsequently approved by License Amendment 60 in September 
2008.
    Monitoring and inspection activities performed by Umetco on the 
AGTI and A-9 reclamation covers identified isolated areas of erosion, 
namely sub-grade erosion of the erosion protection layer resulting in 
isolated, shallow incisions of the underlying cover soils. While this 
issue has resulted in shallow incisions of the underlying cover soils 
in isolated locations, the incisions do not extend deeper than 12-18 
inches. In addition, the frost protection layer is 54 inches thick on 
the cover and the radon barrier is located beneath the frost protection 
layer. Thus, it does not appear that there has been a release of 
tailings or degradation of the radon attenuation capacities of the 
completed reclamation covers.
    On December 21, 2010, Umetco submitted an evaluation that 
identified what Umetco believed was the reason for the incisions and 
requested approval of an enhanced design to repair the cover. The 
current licensing action is to approve Umetco's request.

Environmental Assessment Summary

    The purpose of the proposed amendment is to authorize the repair of 
the erosion protection system at Umetco's Gas Hills Reclamation Project 
site, in Fremont and Natrona Counties, Wyoming. By letters dated 
December 21, 2010, May 10, 2011, June 8, 2011, July 13, 2011, and July 
18, 2011, Umetco submitted a request for approval of, and provided 
additional information supporting, their proposed repair approach for 
the cover.
    Umetco proposes to correct the sub-grade erosion by placing a 
bedding layer under the AGTI and A-9 covers by one of two methods. The 
first would involve removing the cover, laying down a bedding layer and 
replacing the cover. The second method would involve laying the bedding 
layer on the cover and using a mechanical vibrator to move the bedding 
layer under the cover. Umetco also proposed installing bedding layer on 
the northeast portion of the AGTI to reduce erosion and repair erosion 
sink holes and repairing the erosion control apron on the southeast 
corner of the AGTI by placing riprap around the apron channel.
    The NRC staff has prepared the EA in support of the proposed 
licensing action. The EA evaluates the repair of the AGTI, A-9 and 
other locations and is limited to these repair impacts as all other 
impacts were previously evaluated in the approvals of the final cover 
as described above.
    Umetco will perform the proposed activities either on the existing 
tailings pile or on areas that were disturbed during earlier closure 
activities and were previously evaluated by NRC. The footprint of the 
site will not be expanded as a result of the proposed actions. The NRC 
staff, therefore, does not expect the proposed action to significantly 
impact land use, geology, soils, water resources, ecological resources, 
meteorology, climatology, air quality, endangered and threatened 
species, historic and cultural resources. The staff also does not 
expect significant environmental impacts to ecological resources, 
transportation, noise, visual resources, socioeconomic conditions or 
public and occupational health.
    Only one alternative to the proposed action was considered by the 
staff, the ``no action'' alternative, because no other alternatives 
were considered reasonable or technically feasible.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on the analysis contained in the EA, the NRC staff concluded 
that there are no significant environmental impacts from the proposed 
action and that the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is 
not warranted. Accordingly, the NRC determined that a Finding of No 
Significant Impact is appropriate.

Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
license amendment, are available electronically at the NRC Library 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 NRC's public documents. 
The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related to this Notice 
are:

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                                                        ADAMS Accession
                       Document                               No.
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Umetco Above Grade Tailings Impoundment and A-9              ML103640265
 Repository Erosion Protection Enhancement Design
 Report and Request for Approval, December 21, 2010..
Umetco Gas Hills Erosion Enhancement Design Report           ML111110263
 Photos, February 22, 2011...........................
NRC Meeting Summary for March 30, 2011, meeting with         ML111101409
 Umetco, April 20, 2011..............................
Umetco Response to NRC Staff Request for Additional          ML11132A154
 Information, May 10, 2011...........................
Umetco Clarifications to NRC Questions and Comments,         ML11160A096
 June 8, 2011........................................
Letter from Umetco Regarding Cost Estimate for Repair        ML11196A143
 Methods, July 13, 2011..............................
Letter from Umetco Regarding Cost Estimate for Repair        ML11201A304
 Methods, July 18, 2011..............................
NRC Environmental Assessment.........................        ML112060216
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[[Page 52024]]

    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 
by 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, Maryland 20852. The PDR reproduction 
contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of August 2011.

    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. 2011-21215 Filed 8-18-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P