[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29923-29924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11075]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 63-001-HLW; NRC-2015-0051]


Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and 
High-Level Radioactive Waste; Department of Energy; Yucca Mountain, Nye 
County, Nevada

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Supplement to environmental impact statement; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued the 
final ``Supplement to the U.S. Department of Energy's 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,'' NUREG-2184. This supplements the U.S. Department of 
Energy's (DOE) 2002 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and its 2008 
Supplemental EIS for the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain in 
accordance with the findings and scope outlined in the NRC staff's 2008 
Adoption Determination Report (ADR) for DOE's EISs. The scope of this 
supplement is limited to the potential environmental impacts from the 
proposed repository on groundwater and from surface discharges of 
groundwater.

DATES: May 13, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0051 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0051. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 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]. For 
the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided 
in a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this 
document.
     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: Christine Pineda, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6789.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Discussion

    This supplement evaluates the potential environmental impacts on 
groundwater and impacts associated with the discharge of any 
contaminated groundwater to the ground surface due to potential 
releases from a geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-
level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada. This 
supplements DOE's 2002 ``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'' and its 
2008 ``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,'' in 
accordance with the findings and scope outlined in the NRC staff's 2008 
``Adoption Determination Report for the U.S. Department of Energy's 
Environmental Impact Statements for the Proposed Geologic Repository at 
Yucca Mountain.'' The ADR provided the NRC staff's conclusion as to 
whether it is practicable for the NRC to adopt DOE's EISs under the 
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended. The NRC's decision on 
adoption of the EISs will occur after completion of the adjudication 
under part 2, subpart J of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
    The scope of this supplement is limited to those areas identified 
for supplementation in the ADR, specifically, the potential 
environmental impacts from the proposed repository on groundwater and 
from surface discharges of groundwater. In the ADR, the NRC staff found 
that the analysis in DOE's EISs does not provide adequate discussion of 
the radiological and nonradiological contaminants that may enter the 
groundwater over time and

[[Page 29924]]

how these contaminants would behave in the aquifer and surrounding 
environments. This supplement provides the information the NRC staff 
identified in its ADR as necessary. The supplement describes the 
affected environment with respect to the groundwater flow path for 
potential contaminant releases from the repository that could be 
transported beyond the postclosure regulatory compliance location 
through the alluvial aquifer in Fortymile Wash and the Amargosa Desert, 
and to the Furnace Creek and Middle Basin areas of Death Valley. The 
analysis in this supplement considers both radiological and 
nonradiological contaminants.
    Using groundwater modeling, the NRC staff finds that contaminants 
from the repository would be captured by groundwater withdrawal along 
the flow path, such as the current pumping in the Amargosa Farms area, 
or would continue to Death Valley if there is no or reduced pumping. 
Therefore, this supplement provides a description of the flow path from 
the postclosure regulatory compliance location to Death Valley, the 
locations of current groundwater withdrawal, and locations of potential 
natural discharge along the groundwater flow path. The supplement 
evaluates the potential radiological and nonradiological environmental 
impacts to groundwater and at surface discharge locations over a 1-
million-year period following repository closure. The analysis 
considers the potential impacts on the aquifer environment, soils, 
ecology, public health, and the potential for disproportionate impacts 
on minority and low-income populations. In addition, this supplement 
assesses the potential for cumulative impacts that may be associated 
with other past, present, or reasonably foreseeable future actions. The 
NRC staff finds that all of the impacts on the resources evaluated in 
this supplement would be SMALL.
    The draft supplement notice of availability and public meetings was 
published in the Federal Register on August 21, 2015 (80 FR 50875). A 
notice of extension to the public comment period was published on 
September 18, 2015 (80 FR 56501).

II. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through ADAMS.

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                   Document                       ADAMS  Accession No.
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NRC Staff's ``Supplement to the U.S.           ML16125A032
 Department of Energy's 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,'' NUREG-2184.
NRC Staff's Adoption Determination Report....  ML082420342
NRC Federal Register notice of intent to       ML15058A595
 prepare a supplement to a final supplemental
 environmental impact statement.
NRC Federal Register notice of availability    ML15223B192
 of the draft supplement for public comment.
NRC Federal Register notice of extension of    ML15254A399
 the public comment period for the draft
 supplement.
DOE ``Final Supplemental Environmental Impact  ML081750191
 Statement for a Geologic Repository for the
 Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-
 Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain,
 Nye County, Nevada''.
DOE ``Final Environmental Impact Statement     ML032690321
 for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal
 of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level
 Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye
 County, Nevada''.
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    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of May 2016.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James Rubenstone,
Acting Director, Yucca Mountain Directorate, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016-11075 Filed 5-12-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P