[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 3, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20146-20148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07704]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-09068; License SUA-1598; NRC-2008-0391]


Lost Creek ISR, LLC, Lost Creek Uranium In-Situ Recovery Project, 
Sweetwater County, Wyoming

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact 
for license amendment; availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an 
amendment to Source Materials License SUA-1598 for continued uranium 
production operations and in-situ recovery (ISR) of uranium at the Lost 
Creek Project in Sweetwater County, Wyoming.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0391 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access information related to this document, which the NRC 
possesses and are publicly-available, using any of the following 
methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0391. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System

[[Page 20147]]

(ADAMS): You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is 
available in ADAMS). In addition, for the convenience of the reader, 
the ADAMS accession numbers are provided in a Table in Section IV of 
this notice.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Alan B. Bjornsen, Project Manager, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-1195; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    Lost Creek ISR, LLC (LCI) is proposing to install two rotary vacuum 
dryers in the pre-existing space that was made available in the Central 
Processing Plant (CPP), and requesting to increase their production 
rate at the facility from 455,000 kilograms (kg) [1 million pounds 
(lb)] to up to 909,000 kg [2 million lb] of dry yellowcake per year. 
The licensee intends to increase production of yellowcake at the 
facility by accepting equivalent feed including loaded (uranium-laden) 
resin from other uranium recovery facilities, including potential 
future satellite facilities, but has not requested a license amendment 
to increase the flow rate at the Lost Creek wellfields. The NRC has 
prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this proposed 
license amendment, in accordance with the requirements in Part 51 of 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). The NRC is also 
conducting a safety evaluation of the proposed license amendment, 
pursuant to 10 CFR part 40. The results of the safety evaluation will 
be documented in a separate Safety Evaluation Report (SER). If 
approved, the NRC will issue the amended license following the 
publication of this notice. The amended license and associated SER will 
be made available in ADAMS.

II. Environmental Assessment Summary

    On January 6, 2012, LCI (a wholly-owned subsidiary of UR-Energy, 
Inc. of Littleton, Colorado) submitted an application to the NRC to 
amend NRC License SUA-1598 to include yellowcake rotary vacuum drying 
as an option within the CPP at the Lost Creek ISR Facility, and 
subsequent offsite shipment of vacuum dried yellowcake up to 909,000 kg 
[2 million lb] per year. This EA includes an evaluation of the 
potential environmental impacts of the action requested in LCI's 
license amendment application. The Lost Creek ISR Facility, which is 
currently under construction, is located in northeastern Sweetwater 
County, Wyoming, in the Wyoming West Uranium Milling Region identified 
in NUREG-1910, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ 
Leach Uranium Milling Facilities'' (GEIS).
    The proposed action to include yellowcake rotary vacuum drying in 
the CPP at the Lost Creek ISR Facility, and subsequent offsite shipment 
of dried yellowcake up to 909,000 kg [2 million lb] per year is not 
expected to result in significant additional impacts to the environment 
for the following reasons: (1) The licensee intends to increase dry 
yellowcake production in the future by accepting equivalent feed 
including loaded resins from other uranium recovery facilities and 
potential future satellite facilities, this would not affect the flow 
rate from the existing Lost Creek well fields; and (2) the dryers would 
be installed in a pre-existing space inside the CPP (identified in the 
existing license), there would be no physical changes to the footprint 
or structure of the building. As a result, there would be no additional 
impacts to the following resources: land use; geology and soils; water 
resources; ecological resources; visual and scenic resources; noise; 
historic and cultural resources; socioeconomics; and environmental 
justice. The resources that could be potentially affected are 
transportation, groundwater, air quality, public and occupational 
health, and waste management.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on the information presented in this EA describing the 
proposed action, the need for the proposed action, the alternatives to 
the proposed action, the environmental impacts of the proposed action 
and alternatives, and the agencies consulted, the NRC has determined 
that the proposed action will not have a significant impact on the 
quality of the human environment and does not warrant the preparation 
of an Environmental Impact Statement. Accordingly, the NRC has 
determined that a finding of no significant impact is appropriate.
    This finding and any related environmental documents are available 
for public inspection through ADAMS and may be accessed from the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
amendment and supporting documentation, 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 ADAMS, which provides text and image 
files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for the 
documents related to this notice are provided in the following Table:

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                    Document                        ADAMS Accession No.
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Acceptance of Receipt of Request to Amend         ML120330008
 License to Operate Two Rotary Vacuum Dryers at
 Lost Creek Project, February 1, 2012.
Acknowledge Receipt of Responses to the Request   ML120730084
 For Additional Information, March 12, 2012.
Summary of Teleconference and Response to RAIs    ML12153A287
 for Supplemental Information to License
 Amendment Application, June 12, 2012.
Letter to WDEQ, Request for Comments............  ML12305A410
E-mail response from WDEQ.......................  ML13045A502
Environmental Assessment........................  ML13045A829
E-mail from LCI Regarding the Increase in         ML13078A342
 Production and the Number of Resin Trucks
 Likely to Come from a Future Satellite Facility.
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    If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC 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, O-1F21, 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 25th day of March, 2013.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Aby Mohseni,
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. 2013-07704 Filed 4-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P