[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 5 (Monday, January 9, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2397-2398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00171]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-9092; NRC-2013-0164]
Reno Creek In Situ Uranium Recovery Project in Campbell County,
Wyoming
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final supplemental environmental impact statement; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing the
Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) (NUREG-1910,
Supplement 6) for the Reno Creek In Situ Uranium Recovery (ISR)
Project. By letter dated October 3, 2012, AUC LLC submitted an
application to the NRC for a new source materials license for the
proposed Reno Creek ISR Project proposed to be located in Campbell
County, Wyoming. The SEIS is
[[Page 2398]]
Supplement 6 to NUREG-1910, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement
for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities.''
DATES: NUREG-1910, Supplement 6, is available December 16, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0164 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may access 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-2013-0164. 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 access 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
Final SEIS (NUREG-1910, Supplement 6) is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML16342A973.
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: Jill Caverly, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7674; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Under the NRC's environmental protection regulations in part 51 of
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), which implement
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), preparation of an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or supplement to an EIS (SEIS) is
required for issuance of a license to possess and use source material
for uranium milling (see 10 CFR 51.20(b)(8)).
In May 2009, the NRC staff issued NUREG-1910, ``Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling
Facilities'' (herein referred to as the GEIS). In the GEIS, the NRC
assessed the potential environmental impacts from construction,
operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of an in situ leach
uranium milling facility (also known as an ISR facility) located in
four specific geographic regions of the western United States. The
proposed Reno Creek ISR Project is located within the Wyoming East
Uranium Milling Region identified in the GEIS. The final SEIS
supplements the GEIS and incorporates by reference relevant portions
from the GEIS, and uses site-specific information from AUC LLC's
license application and independent sources to fulfill the requirements
in 10 CFR 51.20(b)(8).
The final SEIS was prepared in response to an application submitted
by AUC LLC (the applicant) by letter dated October 3, 2012. The
applicant proposes the construction, operation, aquifer restoration,
and decommissioning of an in situ recovery facility to recover uranium.
The final SEIS was prepared by the NRC and its contractor, the
Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses, in compliance with NEPA
(as amended, and the NRC's regulations for implementing NEPA (10 CFR
part 51).
The proposed Reno Creek ISR Project will be located in Campbell
County between the communities of Wright, Edgerton, and Gillette and
would encompass approximately 2,451 hectares (6,057 acres).
The final SEIS is being issued as part of the NRC's process to
decide whether to issue a license to AUC LLC pursuant to 10 CFR part
40. In this final SEIS, the NRC staff has assessed the potential
environmental impacts from the construction, operation, aquifer
restoration, and decommissioning of the proposed Reno Creek ISR
Project. The NRC staff assessed the impacts of the proposed action and
its alternative on land use; historical and cultural resources; visual
and scenic resources; climatology, meteorology and air quality;
geology, minerals, and soils; water resources; ecological resources;
socioeconomics; environmental justice; noise; traffic and
transportation; public and occupational health and safety; and waste
management. Additionally, the final SEIS analyzes and compares the
benefits and costs of the proposed action. In preparing this final
SEIS, the NRC staff also considered, evaluated, and addressed the
public comments received on the draft SEIS published on July 7, 2016
(81 FR 44333). Appendix D of final SEIS captures the public's comments
and the NRCs responses.
In doing so, the NRC staff evaluated site-specific data and
information from the Reno Creek ISR Project to determine if AUC LLC's
proposed activities and the site characteristics were consistent with
those evaluated in the GEIS. The NRC then determined which relevant
sections of, and impact conclusions in, the GEIS could be incorporated
by reference. The NRC staff also determined if additional data or
analysis was needed to assess the potential environmental impacts for a
specific environmental resource area. The NRC documented its
assessments and conclusions in the final SEIS.
In addition to the action proposed by AUC LLC, the NRC staff
addressed the no-action alternative which serves as a baseline for
comparison of the potential environmental impacts of the proposed
action.
After weighing the impacts of the proposed action and comparing the
alternative, the NRC staff, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.71(f), sets
forth its recommendation regarding the proposed action. Unless safety
issues mandate otherwise, the NRC staff recommends that the proposed
action be approved (i.e., the NRC should issue a source material
license for the proposed Reno Creek ISR Project).
The final SEIS for the proposed Reno Creek ISR Project may be
accessed on the internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/ by selecting ``NUREG-1910'' and then
``Supplement 6,'' or on the NRC's Reno Creek ISR Project Web page at
http://www.nrc.gov/materials/uranium-recovery/license-apps/reno-creek.html. Additionally, a copy of the final SEIS will be available at
the following public libraries: Campbell County Library, 2101 S 4-J
Road, Gillette, Wyoming 82718; and Campbell County Library, Wright
Branch, 105 Wright Boulevard, Wright, Wyoming 82732.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of December, 2016.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental
Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2017-00171 Filed 1-6-17; 8:45 am]
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