[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77722-77724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-30532]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2013-0184; Docket No. 70-0036]


Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact 
Related to an Alternative Disposal Request of Westinghouse Electric 
Company, LLC; Hematite Decommissioning Project; Festus, Missouri

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
issuance of a license amendment to special nuclear material (SNM) 
license number SNM-33 issued to Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC for 
the former Hematite Fuel Cycle Facility in Festus, Missouri authorizing 
alternative disposal of soil and soil-like wastes at the US Ecology 
Idaho, Inc. (USEI) disposal facility located near Grand View, Idaho. In 
addition, the NRC is considering the issuance of an exemption to USEI 
so that it may accept the waste for disposal. This exemption is 
required so that USEI may accept NRC regulated material under its Idaho 
Department of Environmental Quality license. The NRC has prepared an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) for this proposed action and has 
concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate with 
respect to the proposed action.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0184 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0184. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(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,

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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 document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced.
     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: John J. Hayes, Office of Federal and 
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-
5928; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC received a license amendment application from Westinghouse 
Electric Company, LLC (WEC or the licensee), dated May 28, 2013 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML13149A291). The licensee requests: (1) NRC 
authorization for disposal, pursuant to Sec.  20.2002 of Title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), of an additional 22,000 m\3\ 
(cubic meters) of soil and soil-like material containing NRC-licensed 
source, byproduct, and special nuclear materials from its former fuel 
cycle facility located in Festus, Missouri; (2) NRC approval for the 
treatment, as needed, for removal of chemical contaminants from the 
22,000 m\3\ or from the material associated with the previous approvals 
of approximately 46,000 m\3\ of Hematite waste for alternate disposal; 
and (3) NRC authorization for disposal of dewatered sanitary sludge as 
soil-like material. The licensee holds NRC License No. SNM-33 and is 
authorized to conduct decommissioning activities at the facility. The 
amendment requests authorization for WEC to transfer decommissioning 
waste from the facility to US Ecology Idaho, Inc. (USEI), a Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act Subtitle C disposal facility located near 
Grand View, Idaho. The USEI facility is regulated by the Idaho 
Department of Environmental Quality and is not an NRC-licensed 
facility. Pursuant to 10 CFR 30.11 and 70.17, WEC's application 
provided information to support the grant of exemptions from the 
licensing requirements of 10 CFR 30.3 and 70.3 for byproduct and 
special nuclear material, respectively, to USEI so that USEI may accept 
the material under the terms of its facility permits. In a letter dated 
June 5, 2013, USEI also formally requested an exemption from the 
requirements of 10 CFR 30.3 and 70.3 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13227A016).
    An NRC administrative review, documented in a letter to WEC dated 
June 11, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13161A067), found the application 
acceptable to begin a technical review. On August 23, 2013 (78 FR 
52574), the NRC published in the Federal Register, a Notice of 
Opportunity for Hearing on the May 28, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML13170A434), WEC license amendment request. The NRC relied upon the 
information provided in the May 28, 2013, license amendment request, 
supporting documentation and other sources as noted in the EA 
references section, in preparing the EA.

II. Environmental Assessment Summary

    The WEC Hematite Decommissioning Project (HDP) is a decommissioning 
and environmental restoration project that will generate low-activity, 
low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) in the form of concrete/asphalt, 
piping, miscellaneous equipment, soil and soil-like wastes containing 
low concentrations of source, byproduct and special nuclear material 
(SNM). There is also the potential that this LLRW will contain 
hazardous constituents, such as metals and volatile organics, that 
exceed the levels identified in 40 CFR Part 261 for classification as 
hazardous waste and will require treatment at USEI prior to disposal. 
The need for the proposed action is the safe and permanent disposal of 
HDP's LLRW.
    Under 10 CFR 20.2002, WEC proposes to dispose of this LLRW at the 
USEI hazardous waste disposal facility near Grand View, Idaho. The 
facility occupies Section 19 (2.59 square kilometers or 640 acres) of 
Township 4 South and Range 2 East in Owyhee County Idaho. This disposal 
is in addition to the approximately 23,000 m\3\ (30,000 yd\3\) of LLRW 
which was approved for alternate disposal by Hematite License Amendment 
58 and the 23,000 m\3\ (30,000 yd\3\) of LLRW that was approved for 
Hematite License Amendment 60. As such, the cumulative impacts on the 
USEI facility and surrounding environment resulting from the receipt of 
the waste material described in the May 2009 request, the January 2012 
request, and the waste material contained in the May 2013 request were 
considered.
    In 2002, WEC and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources 
(MDNR) entered into a Letter Agreement, which, among other things, 
provided for MDNR oversight of certain studies and response actions in 
accordance with the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution 
Contingency Plan under the requirements of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 
U.S.C. Sec.  9601 et seq. (Westinghouse MDNR Review Draft Remedial 
Design Work Plan, 2002 (ADAMS Accession No. ML020880266)).
    Subsequently, Missouri and WEC entered into a Consent Decree, and 
the Letter Agreement was terminated. The Consent Decree provides for 
MDNR oversight of those portions of the investigation and selection of 
the remedy for Operable Units at the site that are not preempted by the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. The Selected Remedy for Operable 
Unit 1 at the HDP is Alternative 4: Removal, Treatment of Volatile 
Organic Compound Waste, and Off-site Disposal of Low-Level Radioactive 
Waste and Non-Hazardous Treatment Residues.
    The no-action alternative involves discontinuing ongoing 
decommissioning activities at the HDP and leaving soil and soil-like 
waste at the HDP site. This action would require an exemption from the 
requirement in 10 CFR 70.38(d) that decommissioning of facilities 
specifically licensed for possession and use of special nuclear 
material be completed and approved by the NRC after licensed activities 
cease. The no-action alternative would result in leaving approximately 
22,000 m\3\ of total waste volume onsite.
    As was previously noted, the radiologically contaminated 
remediation waste, regulated by the NRC is co-mingled with chemically 
contaminated waste regulated under CERCLA. The ``no-action 
alternative'' would not be in accordance with the July 2009 CERCLA 
Record of Decision (http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/docs/20090721HRSFINALROD.pdf) for removal and subsequent treatment of the 
chemically contaminated waste.
    The no-action alternative would not allow WEC to meet the 
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. Selection of 
this alternative would require WEC to continue environmental 
monitoring/surveillance and to maintain administrative and engineered 
controls to ensure facility safety and security. The environmental 
impacts of the no-action alternative would include continued 
contamination of soil and water, which could further escalate over time 
if groundwater contamination spreads and material such as Technicium-99 
(Tc-99), continues to

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leach into the soil. The continued monitoring required at the site 
would result in environmental impacts due to the emissions from 
vehicular traffic associated with workers traversing to and from the 
site and entities providing services and supplies to the Hematite 
facility. Additional vehicular traffic could also impact public and 
occupational health with the potential for vehicle accidents.
    Another alternative to the proposed action is to dispose of the 
LLRW in a facility licensed by an NRC Agreement State for the storage 
and/or disposal of LLRW. For this EA, the NRC evaluated the 
EnergySolutions, LLC (EnergySolutions) Clive Utah facility as the 
alternative disposal site for the radioactive and chemically hazardous 
waste.
    The EnergySolutions LLRW disposal facility at Clive, Utah is 
located 128 kilometers (80 miles) west of Salt Lake City, Utah and 70 
kilometers (45 miles) east of Wendover, Nevada. The site is arid with 
an annual precipitation of approximately 20 centimeters (8 inches). The 
facility is licensed by the State of Utah to dispose of Class A 
radioactive waste only (Utah License 2300249) and 11e.(2) byproduct 
material (UT2300478) and holds a Part B Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA) solid waste permit (Environmental Protection Agency 
ID No. UTD982598898).
    The selection of this alternative would allow WEC to meet the 
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. In addition, 
this site is environmentally similar to USEI. However, this alternative 
was not selected by the licensee.

lIl. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA (ADAMS Accession No. ML13269A308), the NRC 
has concluded that there are no significant environmental impacts from 
the proposed actions and the issuance of a license amendment and the 
associated exemptions does not warrant the preparation of an 
Environmental Impact Statement. Accordingly, it has been determined 
that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of November, 2013.

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrew Persinko,
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. 2013-30532 Filed 12-23-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P