[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 62 (Friday, March 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13802-13804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06398]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-1051; NRC-2018-0052]


Holtec International HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage 
Facility Project

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement; conduct a 
scoping process; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received a 
license application by letter dated March 30, 2017, from Holtec 
International (Holtec). By this application, Holtec is requesting 
authorization to construct and operate a HI-STORE consolidated interim 
storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel at a site in Lea County, 
New Mexico (the proposed action). Holtec intends to initially store 500 
canisters or 8680 metric tons of uranium in the CISF and eventually 
store up to 10,000 canisters in the CISF. The NRC staff will prepare an 
EIS to document the potential environmental impacts from the proposed 
action. As part of the EIS development process, the NRC is seeking 
comments on the scope of its environmental review.

DATES: Submit comments by May 29, 2018. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 
is able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this 
date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0052. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Mail comments to: May Ma, Office of Administration, Mail 
Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

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: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0052 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0052.
     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]. In 
addition, for the convenience of the reader, instructions about 
obtaining materials referenced in this document are provided in a table 
in Section VII of this notice entitled, Availability of Documents.
     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 13803]]

     Project web page: Information related to the Holtec HI-
STORE CISF project can be accessed on the NRC's Holtec HI-STORE CISF 
web page at https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis/holtec-international.html.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2018-0052 in your comment submission. 
Written comments may be submitted during the scoping period as 
described in the ADDRESSES section of the document.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC posts all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Background

    By letter dated March 30, 2017, Holtec submitted an application to 
the NRC for a specific license, pursuant to part 72 of title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Licensing Requirements for the 
Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive 
Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater Than Class C Waste.'' Holtec is 
seeking to construct and operate a HI-STORE CISF for spent nuclear fuel 
in Lea County, New Mexico. As proposed by Holtec, the request is to 
initially possess and store 500 canisters or up to 8,680 metric tons of 
uranium (MTUs) and subsequently amend the license to eventually store 
up to 10,000 canisters for a 40-year license period. The proposed 
Holtec HI-STORE CISF site is located in southeastern New Mexico, 32 
miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico and 34 miles west of Hobbs, New 
Mexico.
    The NRC staff has completed an acceptance review of Holtec's HI-
STORE CISF license application. By letter dated July 7, 2017, the NRC 
staff provided the results of its initial acceptance review to Holtec 
and requested supplemental information in order to accept the 
application for detailed review. Holtec, by letters dated, October 6, 
2017 and December 22, 2017, provided the supplemental information 
related to its application. The NRC staff has reviewed the additional 
information and determined it contains sufficient information for NRC 
to conduct a detailed technical review. The environmental report (ER) 
can be found on the NRC's project-specific web page at https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis/holtec-international.html.
    The purpose of this notice is to: (1) Inform the public that the 
NRC staff will prepare an EIS as part of its review of Holtec's HI-
STORE CISF license application in accordance with 10 CFR part 51, 
``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 
Related Regulatory Functions,'' and (2) provide the public with an 
opportunity to participate in the environmental scoping process as 
defined in 10 CFR 51.29. In addition, as outlined in 36 CFR 800.8, 
``Coordination with the National Environmental Policy Act,'' the NRC 
plans to coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act in meeting the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The NRC staff also will 
document its compliance with other applicable federal statutes, such as 
the Endangered Species Act, in the EIS.

III. Environmental Review

    The EIS prepared by the NRC staff will examine the potential 
environmental impacts of the proposed action. The NRC staff will 
evaluate the potential impacts to various environmental resources, such 
as air quality, surface and ground water, transportation, geology and 
soils, and socioeconomics. The EIS will analyze potential impacts of 
Holtec's proposed facility on historic and cultural resources and on 
threatened and endangered species. Additionally, the economic, 
technical, and other benefits and costs of the proposed action and 
alternatives will be considered in the EIS.
    The NRC staff will also conduct a safety review to determine 
Holtec's compliance with NRC's regulations, including 10 CFR part 20, 
``Standards for Protection Against Radiation'' and 10 CFR part 72. The 
NRC staff's findings will be published in a safety evaluation report.

IV. CISF Construction and Operation

    The NRC's Federal action is to either grant or deny Holtec's 
request for a license. If the NRC approves Holtec's request, then 
Holtec could proceed with the proposed project--the construction and 
operation of the CISF--as described in its application and summarized 
here.
    Holtec proposes to construct the CISF on an approximately 4.21 
square kilometer (1040 acre) site in Lea County, New Mexico. The site 
is located 32 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico and 34 miles west of 
Hobbs, New Mexico. Holtec is currently requesting authorization to 
possess and store 500 canisters of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) containing 
up to 8,680 MTUs, which includes spent uranium-based fuel from 
commercial nuclear reactors as well as a small quantity of spent mixed-
oxide fuel. If the requested license is issued by the NRC, Holtec 
anticipates subsequently requesting an amendment to the license to 
request authorization to possess and store SNF containing an additional 
500 canisters or up to 8,680 MTU for each of 19 subsequent expansion 
phases to be completed over the course of 20 years. Ultimately, Holtec 
anticipates that approximately 10,000 canisters of SNF would be stored 
at the CISF upon completion of 20 phases. Each phase would require NRC 
review and approval.
    Holtec would receive canisters containing SNF from the reactor 
sites, and once accepted at its site, Holtec would transfer them into 
onsite dry cask storage systems. Holtec would employ the HI-STORM UMAX 
canister storage system which is certified by the NRC (Docket No. 72-
1040). HI-STORM UMAX stores sealed canisters containing SNF in a 
subterranean in-ground vertical ventilated module. Holtec is requesting 
a license for a term of 40 years.

V. Alternatives To Be Evaluated

    The EIS will analyze the environmental impacts of the proposed 
action, the no-action alternative, and reasonable alternatives. A brief 
description of each is provided below.
    No-Action Alternative--the no-action alternative would be to deny 
the license application. Under this alternative, the NRC would not 
issue the license and Holtec would not construct nor operate the CISF 
at its site in southeast New Mexico. This alternative serves as a 
baseline for the comparison of environmental impacts of the proposed 
action and the reasonable alternatives.
    Proposed action--the proposed Federal action is to issue a license 
to Holtec authorizing the company to

[[Page 13804]]

construct and operate the CISF. If the NRC approves the license 
application, it would issue Holtec a specific license under the 
provisions of 10 CFR part 72, and Holtec would proceed with the 
proposed activities.
    Alternatives to the Proposed Action--other alternatives not listed 
here may be identified during scoping or through the environmental 
review process.

VI. Scope of the Environmental Review

    The NRC staff is conducting a scoping process for the Holtec HI-
STORE CISF EIS, which begins on the day this notice appears in the 
Federal Register. In accordance with 10 CFR 51.29, the NRC seeks public 
input to help the NRC determine the appropriate scope of the EIS, 
including significant environmental issues to be analyzed in depth, as 
well as those that should be eliminated from detailed study because 
they are peripheral or are not significant. The NRC staff is planning 
to publish information related to this action in newspapers serving the 
communities near the Holtec site, requesting information and comments 
from the public. Additionally, the NRC is planning to hold public 
scoping meetings to receive comments in person in accordance with 10 
CFR 51.26. The dates, times, and locations for any meetings will be 
provided in a future Federal Register notice.
    After the close of the scoping period, the NRC staff will prepare a 
concise summary of its scoping process, the comments received, as well 
as the NRC's responses. The Scoping Summary Report will be included in 
NRC's draft EIS as an appendix and sent to each participant in the 
scoping process for whom the staff has an address.
    The Holtec HI-STORE CISF EIS will address the potential impacts 
from the proposed action. The anticipated scope of the EIS will 
consider both radiological and non-radiological impacts associated with 
the proposed project and its alternatives. The EIS will also consider 
unavoidable adverse environmental impacts, the relationship between 
short-term uses of resources and long-term productivity, and 
irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources. The following 
resource areas have been tentatively identified for analysis in the 
EIS: Land use, transportation, geology and soils, water resources, 
ecological resources, air quality and climate change, noise, historical 
and cultural resources, visual and scenic resources, socioeconomics, 
public and occupational health, waste management, environmental 
justice, and cumulative impacts. This list is not intended to be 
exhaustive, nor is it a predetermination of potential environmental 
impacts. The EIS will describe the NRC staff's approach and methodology 
undertaken to determine the resource areas that will be studied in 
detail and the NRC staff's evaluation of potential impacts to those 
resource areas.
    The NRC encourages members of the public, local, State, Tribal, and 
Federal government agencies to participate in the scoping process. 
Written comments may be submitted during the scoping period as 
described in the ADDRESSES and SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 
this document. Participation in the scoping process for the Holtec HI-
STORE CISF EIS does not entitle participants to become parties to any 
proceeding to which the EIS relates.
    In addition to requesting scoping comments through this Federal 
Register notice, the NRC staff also intends to reach out to interested 
stakeholders, including other Federal and State agencies and Indian 
Tribes. The NRC staff seeks to identify, among other things, all review 
and consultation requirements related to the proposed action, and 
agencies with jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to 
any environmental impact involved or which is authorized to develop and 
enforce relevant environmental standards. The NRC invites such agencies 
to participate in the scoping process and, as appropriate, cooperate in 
the preparation of the EIS.
    The NRC staff will continue its environmental review of Holtec's 
HI-STORE CISF license application, and with its contractor, prepare a 
draft EIS and, as soon as practicable, publish it for public comment. 
The NRC staff plans to have a public comment period for the draft EIS. 
Availability of the draft EIS and the dates of the public comment 
period will be announced in a future Federal Register notice. The final 
EIS will include NRC's responses to public comments received on the 
draft EIS.

VII. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in this Federal Register notice are 
accessible to interested persons by the means indicated in either the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice or in the table below:

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                Document                        Adams Accession No.
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Holtec's HI-STORE CISF license            ML17115A418
 application and Environmental Report.    ML17139C535
Rev. 0 (March 2017).....................
NRC's request for supplemental            ML17191A357
 information (July 2017).                 ML17191A358
Holtec's submittal of responses to NRC's  ML17310A234
 request for supplemental information     ML17345B064
 and Environmental Report Rev. 0A
 (October 2017).
Holtec's submittal of responses to NRC's  ML17362A093
 request for supplemental information     ML18023A904
 and Environmental Report Rev. 1
 (December 2017).
NRC's response to Holtec and acceptance   ML18059A251
 of the application for docketing and
 detailed review (February 28, 2018).
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    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, on March 26, 2018.

    For the 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. 2018-06398 Filed 3-29-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7509-01-P