[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 29, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12333-12335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4823]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-3103; NRC-2010-0264]
Special Nuclear Material License Amendment From Louisiana Energy
Services, LLC, for the National Enrichment Facility, Hobbs, NM
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Publication of environmental assessment and finding of no
significant impact.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary T. Adams, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555; telephone: 301-492-3113; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is
considering a request to amend special nuclear material license SNM-
2010, held by Louisiana Energy Services, LLC, (LES), under which LES
operates a uranium enrichment facility in Eunice, New Mexico. On May 6,
2011, in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR) Section 70.34, LES requested an amendment to SNM-2010 that
would extend the license expiration date to recapture the 48 months
that elapsed from the 2006 license issuance date to when authorization
to introduce uranium hexafluoride (UF6) into Cascade 1 was
granted on June 10, 2010 (ML11131A048). During this 48-month period,
construction, preoperational testing, and an operational readiness
review were ongoing. The proposed action would extend the expiration
date of SNM-2010 from June 22, 2036, to June 9, 2040. In response to
agency questions about the changed operational schedule, LES provided a
clarification of the license amendment request, dated November 23, 2011
(ML11329A080).
II. Background
On June 23, 2006, the NRC issued SNM-2010 to LES authorizing the
construction and operation of the National Enrichment Facility (NEF) in
New Mexico. License Condition 13 of SNM-2010 states that the license
will expire 30 years after the date of license issuance. In June 2005,
to support the issuance of SNM-2010, the NRC issued a final
environmental impact statement (EIS) for the NEF (NUREG-1790)
(ML051730238 and ML051730292) in accordance with 10 CFR Part 51
(Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and
Related Regulatory Functions), which implements the National
Environmental Policy Act. The EIS concluded that operation of the NEF
for 30 years will generally have small to moderate effects on the
public and the environment.
III. Environmental Assessment
In support of the proposed action, the NRC has prepared an
environmental assessment (EA), set forth below. Based on the EA, the
NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact is
appropriate regarding the proposed action.
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action is to revise the expiration date of SNM-2010
from June 22, 2036, to June 9, 2040. Table 2-1 of the 2005 EIS (NUREG-
1790) set forth an operation schedule for the NEF as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Task Start date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submit license application to NRC................... 12/2003
Begin construction of facility...................... 8/2006
Begin operation of first cascade.................... 10/2008
Achieve full production output...................... 10/2013
Operate at full capacity............................ 10/2013-10/2027
Submit decommissioning plan to NRC.................. 4/2025
Complete construction of decontamination and 4/2027
decommissioning facility...........................
Cease all operation of cascades..................... 4/2033
Complete decommissioning of facility................ 4/2036
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the license amendment request, LES provided an updated schedule
of major steps associated with the proposed action, shown on the
following table:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milestone Estimated date (actual date)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submit Facility License Application. December 2003
(December 12, 2003)
Initiate Facility Construction...... August 2006
(August 2006)
Start First Cascade................. October 2008
(June 10, 2010)
Achieve Full Nominal Production May 2014
Output.
Submit License Termination Plan to April 2029
NRC.
Complete Construction of D&D April 2031
Facility.
D&D Completed....................... April 2040
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Need for the Proposed Action
In the license amendment request, LES noted that because 48 months
of the original license had elapsed before the facility actually began
its operations, the facility's operational period would be shorter than
the 30 years authorized by the license. LES needs the proposed license
expiration date extension to operate the facility for 30 years.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The 2005 EIS (NUREG-1790) determined that the environmental impacts
of the license issuance that
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would authorize operation for 30 years were small to moderate. These
findings were summarized in Table 2-9 of the EIS. The license extension
would shift the operating period by four years (i.e., changing it from
2006-2036 to 2010-2040). Because the facility will still operate for 30
years as originally envisioned in the EIS, environmental impacts
relating to the construction of the facility or its duration of
operations will not be significantly different from those documented in
the EIS. An assessment of each of the environmental impacts examined in
Chapter 4 of the EIS is discussed below:
Land use impacts are described in EIS Section 4.2.1. Because the
footprint of the LES facility and the duration of its operations will
be unchanged by the license extension, there is no impact on land use
beyond those previously evaluated in the EIS.
Historical and cultural resource impacts are described in EIS
Section 4.2.2. Based on the successful completion of the identification
of historic and archaeological sites, National Register of Historic
Places evaluations, and effective treatment of potential adverse
effects to historic properties, along with the existence of written
procedures to provide immediate notification in the event of
inadvertent discovery of cultural resources, the potential impacts on
historical and cultural resources at the proposed NEF site were
expected to be small. No additional impacts will occur due to the
license extension because LES will continue to follow the written
procedures in the event of an inadvertent discovery of cultural
resources.
Visual and scenic resource impacts are described in EIS Section
4.2.3. A delay in decommissioning the LES facility allowed by the
license extension would extend the visual impact by 4 years; however,
the visual impact of the construction and operation of the facility was
initially determined to be small, and will not be significantly changed
by the brief license extension.
Air quality impacts are described in EIS Section 4.2.4. A change in
the years of enrichment operations will not change the facility's
impact on air quality. Air quality impacts are evaluated on an annual
basis, and the license extension will only shift the years in which the
effluents are released to a later period, but will not change the
amount of annual effluents.
Impacts on geology and soils are described in EIS Section 4.2.5.
Most impacts on geology and soils occurred during construction, and
were determined to be small. Regarding impacts from operations,
accumulation of uranium and fluoride in the Treated Effluent
Evaporative Basin was evaluated over an operating period of 30 years
(EIS Section 4.2.12.2), and since the license amendment will not
increase the operating period above 30 years, this accumulation will
not change as a result of the license extension.
Impacts on water resources are described in EIS Section 4.2.6. LES
will obtain its water from the Eunice and Hobbs city water supplies.
Eunice and Hobbs obtain the water from the Ogallala aquifer. LES
estimates a peak use of 23.1 million gallons per year, approximately
695 million gallons over the 30-year life of the facility. The EIS
adequately evaluated the water use impacts of 30 years of plant
operations, and the brief proposed license extension only changes which
years the plant will operate, but not the duration of plant operations.
Impacts on ecological resources during operations are described in
EIS Section 4.2.7, and were determined to be small because no
additional lands will be disturbed beyond those utilized during
construction and LES will implement wildlife management practices. The
license extension will not change the impact on ecological resources
because LES will continue to implement its wildlife management
practices during the period of the license extension.
Socioeconomic impacts during plant operation are described in EIS
Section 4.2.8. The plant payroll during operations is projected to be
approximately $10.9 million in 2004 dollars per year of operation.
Therefore, extension of the license operating term will extend this
moderate annual impact on local employment for four more years.
Environmental justice impacts are described in EIS Section 4.2.9.
It was determined that there were no disproportionately high and
adverse impacts to minority or low-income populations from either
construction or normal operations, rather, all impacts were small.
Shifting the period of operations by four years will not change the
impact on these populations.
Noise impacts are described in EIS Section 4.2.10. They were
determined to be small for construction and operations because the
nearest resident is approximately 2.6 miles from the facility. The
proposed license extension will not significantly change noise impacts
because the plant will still operate for 30 years as envisioned in the
EIS.
Transportation impacts are described in EIS Section 4.2.11. Impacts
during post-construction normal operations were found to be small. The
likelihood of transportation accidents with chemical or radiological
consequences were evaluated on an annual basis and the impacts were
found to be small to moderate. Shifting the plant's period of operation
by four years will not change the annual likelihood or the consequences
of transportation accidents.
Public and occupational health impacts are described in EIS Section
4.2.12. The radiological and non-radiological impacts of normal
operations were evaluated on an annual basis, found to be small, and
during the brief license extension, annual exposure to both workers and
the public will remain the same as previously evaluated in the EIS.
EIS Section 4.2.13 describes public and occupational impacts from
accidents during operations. These impacts were determined to be small
to moderate, and will not significantly change during the period of
license extension. The impacts of industrial accidents, including
rupture of an overfilled and/or overheated cylinder, were determined to
be small to moderate. The likelihood of accidents is significantly
reduced by specified design features and will not significantly change
during the period of the license extension.
EIS Section 4.2.14 describes waste management impacts. The impacts
of solid wastes on local land disposal capacity were evaluated on an
annual basis, were determined to be small, and will not be increased by
the license extension because the previously evaluated annual volume of
solid wastes is a small fraction of the Lea County landfill capacity
and will not change. The impacts of DUF6 waste management
were determined to be small to moderate, and will not be changed by the
license extension because the plant will not generate any more
DUF6 than was originally evaluated in the EIS.
The EIS considered cumulative impacts in Section 4.4. The license
extension would not increase any cumulative environmental impacts
because the EIS previously evaluated cumulative impacts for a full 30
years of facility operations.
Environmental Impacts of Alternatives to the Proposed Action
An alternative to the proposed action is for the NRC to deny the
request for the license extension. If this ``no-action'' alternative
were adopted, LES would need to cease operations after 26 years in
accordance with the original license expiration date (i.e., in 2036).
Although
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the environmental impacts that would be caused by 26 years of operation
would be slightly less than those that would be caused by the full 30
years of operation previously evaluated in the EIS, the difference is
not significant. Therefore, denial of the amendment request would
result in no significant change in the environmental impacts previously
evaluated in the EIS.
Alternative Use of Resources
The proposed action does not involve the use of any different
resources than those considered in the EIS for NEF (NUREG-1790).
List of Agencies and Persons Consulted and Identification of Sources
Used
The NRC staff consulted the New Mexico Environment Department
(NMED) in December 2011 for their review and comment on the draft EA/
FONSI. In an email response dated December 28, 2011 (ML120370017), the
NMED indicated that it had no comments on the EA and supported approval
of the license amendment.
The NRC staff has determined that consultation with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service for compliance with Section 7 of the Endangered
Species Act is not necessary because the proposed action does not have
the potential to affect listed species or critical habitat.
The NRC staff has determined that the proposed extension of the
license expiration date is not a type of activity that has potential to
cause effects on historic properties because it will not authorize any
additional activities that were not previously evaluated in the final
EIS for NEF (NUREG-1790) in Section 4.2.2, and because, as noted above,
LES will continue to follow the written procedures in the event of an
inadvertent discovery of cultural resources. Therefore, no further
consultation is required under Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act.
Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC reviewed LES's license amendment request to revise license
condition 13 to extend the expiration date from 2036 to 2040, and found
no significant environmental impacts from the shift in enrichment
operation dates. On the basis of this EA, the NRC concludes that the
proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of
the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to
prepare an EIS for the proposed action.
IV. Further Information
Documents related to this action, including the application for
license amendment and supporting documentation are available online in
the NRC Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this
site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide Documents 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:
ML11329A080....................... Clarification of License Amendment
Request 10-13, November 23, 2011.
ML051730238....................... 2005/06/30-NUREG-1790, Vol. 1,
``Environmental Impact Statement
for the Proposed National
Enrichment Facility in Lea County,
New Mexico, Chapters 1 through 10
and Appendices A through G. Final
Report.''
ML051730292....................... 2005/06/30-NUREG-1790, Vol. 2,
``Environmental Impact Statement
for the Proposed National
Enrichment Facility in Lea County,
New Mexico, Appendices H through J.
Final Report.''
ML120370017....................... Email from Butch Tongate, New Mexico
Environment Department, December
28, 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
by email to [email protected]. These documents may also be viewed
electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O1F21,
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The
PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of February 2012.
Brian W. Smith,
Chief, Uranium Enrichment Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
[FR Doc. 2012-4823 Filed 2-28-12; 8:45 am]
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