[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 48 (Thursday, March 12, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13029-13030]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05578]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. NRC-2015-0051]


Department of Energy; Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Intent to prepare a supplement to a final supplemental 
environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is informing the 
public of its intent to prepare a supplement to the U.S. Department of 
Energy's (DOE's) ``Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic 
Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level 
Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada'' (February 
2002), and its ``Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for 
a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-
Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada'' (July 
2008). The NRC staff determined in September 2008 that it is 
practicable to adopt, with further supplementation, the DOE's 
environmental impact statements (EISs). The NRC staff concluded that 
the EISs did not address adequately all of the repository-related 
impacts on groundwater or from surface discharges of groundwater.

DATES: March 12, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0051 when contacting the 
NRC for further information about the supplement. You may obtain 
publicly-available information using any of the following methods:
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 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.

[[Page 13030]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Pineda, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: 301-287-0758; Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982, as amended, specifies 
that in the United States, spent nuclear fuel and high-level 
radioactive waste will be disposed of in a deep geologic repository. 
Amendments to the NWPA in 1987 identified Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as 
the single candidate site for characterization as a potential geologic 
repository. As described in the NWPA, Section 114(f), the DOE prepared 
a final EIS related to the construction, operation, and closure of a 
potential geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste at Yucca 
Mountain, Nevada in February 2002 pursuant to requirements of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The EIS accompanied 
the Secretary of Energy's site recommendation to the President on 
February 14, 2002. In July 2002, Congress passed and the President 
signed a joint resolution designating Yucca Mountain as the site for 
development of a geologic repository. In October 2006, the DOE 
announced its intent to prepare a supplemental EIS to update the 2002 
EIS. The DOE published a final supplemental EIS on June 16, 2008. In 
accordance with NWPA, Section 114(f)(5), the NRC is to adopt the DOE's 
EIS to ``the extent practicable.'' The NRC staff reviewed the DOE's 
EISs and found that it is practicable for the NRC to adopt them, with 
further supplementation (see the NRC staff's Adoption Determination 
Report, dated September 5, 2008, and available in ADAMS at Accession 
No. ML082420342). The NRC staff concluded that the EISs did not 
adequately address all of the repository-related impacts on 
groundwater, or from surface discharges of groundwater. The NRC staff 
therefore requested that the DOE prepare an EIS supplement. The DOE 
initially stated that it would prepare a supplement, but later declined 
to prepare the supplement. Instead, the DOE prepared a technical 
analysis, ``Analysis of Postclosure Groundwater Impacts for a Geologic 
Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level 
Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada'' (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML092150328). In 2014, the DOE updated this report (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML14303A399). The NRC staff will consider these reports 
in preparing the supplement.
    The supplement will provide additional information about the 
proposed repository's impacts on groundwater and from surface 
discharges of groundwater. More specifically, the supplement will 
describe the extent of the volcanic-alluvial aquifer, particularly 
those parts that could become contaminated, and how water (and 
potential contaminants) can leave the flow system. In addition, the 
supplement will provide an analysis of the cumulative amount of 
radiological and non-radiological contaminants that can be reasonably 
expected to enter the aquifer from the repository, and the amount that 
can be reasonably expected to remain over time. The supplement will 
provide estimates of contamination in the groundwater, given potential 
accumulation of radiological and non-radiological contaminants. The 
supplement also will provide a discussion of the impacts on soils and 
surface materials from the processes involved in surface discharges of 
contaminated groundwater. A description of locations of potential 
natural discharge of contaminated groundwater for present and expected 
future wetter periods will be included, as will a description of the 
physical processes at surface discharge locations that can affect 
accumulation, concentration, and potential remobilization of 
groundwater-borne contaminants. Finally, the supplement will provide 
estimates of the amounts of contaminants that could be deposited at or 
near the surface and describe their potential environmental impacts.

II. Schedule

    The NRC staff intends to issue the draft supplement in the late 
summer of 2015 and announce the availability of the supplement in the 
Federal Register, via email distribution, in a press release, on the 
NRC's Web site, and in media in Nevada. A public comment period will 
start upon publication of the NRC's Notice of Availability in the 
Federal Register. During the public comment period, the NRC plans to a 
public meeting at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, two public 
meetings in Nevada, and a public conference call.
    All meetings will be transcribed. The meeting at NRC headquarters 
will be webcast and accessible via a conference line. The NRC staff 
plans to publish the final supplement 12 to 15 months after issuing 
this notice.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of March 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Josephine Piccone,
Director, Yucca Mountain Directorate, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2015-05578 Filed 3-11-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P