[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 86 (Thursday, May 3, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19576-19577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09382]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-8943; NRC-2012-0281]
Crow Butte Resources, Inc.; Marsland Expansion Area
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of an amendment to source materials license SUA-1534 that
would authorize Crow Butte Resources, Inc., to construct and operate an
in situ uranium recovery (ISR) expansion facility at the Marsland
Expansion Area (MEA) site in Dawes County, Nebraska. The NRC staff has
prepared an environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant
impact (FONSI) for this licensing action.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
May 3, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0281 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 website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0281. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; 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 via email to [email protected]. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in 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: Jean Trefethen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0867, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC staff is considering a request for an amendment to source
materials license SUA-1534, issued to Crow Butte Resources, Inc. (CBR
or the licensee), to authorize construction and operation of the MEA,
an ISR expansion facility that would be located in Dawes County,
Nebraska. In accordance with NRC's regulations in part 51 of title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Environmental Protection
Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,''
that implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the NRC staff has prepared an
EA documenting its environmental review of the license amendment
application that included an environmental report (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17325B322) and technical report, as amended (ADAMS Accession Nos.
ML15328A422, ML16155A267, ML16155A268, and ML17193A314).
On December 15, 2017 (82 FR 59665), the NRC issued the draft FONSI
and draft EA for the proposed MEA license amendment for public review
and comment. The NRC received 20 comments. Appendix A of the EA
contains the NRC's responses to those comments. Based on the
environmental review and consideration of comments received on the
draft EA, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed action will
not significantly affect the quality of the human environment and
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required, and
therefore a FONSI is appropriate.
II. Summary of Environmental Assessment
The EA is publicly available in ADAMS using ADAMS Accession No.
ML18103A145. A summary description of the proposed action and expected
environmental impacts is provided in this notice.
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed Federal action is approval of CBR's license amendment
application, which would authorize the expansion of CBR's commercial-
scale uranium recovery operations to the MEA. Under the proposed
action, the licensee would perform construction, uranium recovery
operations, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning activities at the
proposed MEA, which would encompass approximately 4,622 acres (1,870
hectares). The CBR has proposed eleven production units in the MEA,
which is located 11.1 miles (17.9 kilometers) south-southeast of the
central processing facility (CPF) at the existing CBR license area.
Uranium recovery operations at the MEA would include injection of
lixiviant into and pumping of water from the uranium-bearing aquifer,
removal of uranium from the pumped water using ion exchange, and
transport of loaded ion exchange resin to the CPF at the existing CBR
license area for further processing into yellowcake. Approval of the
proposed action would authorize CBR to conduct uranium recovery
operations at the MEA in accordance with its license amendment
application, source materials license SUA-1534, and the requirements in
10 CFR part 40, ``Domestic Licensing of Source Material.''
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
In the EA, the NRC staff assessed the potential environmental
impacts from the construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and
decommissioning of the proposed MEA on the following resource areas:
Land use; geology and soils; water resources; ecological resources;
climatology, meteorology, and air quality; historic and cultural
resources; demographics and socioeconomics; environmental justice;
transportation; noise; scenic and visual resources; public and
occupational health; and hazardous materials and waste management. The
NRC staff also considered the cumulative impacts from past, present,
and reasonably foreseeable future actions when combined with the
proposed action.
All long-term impacts were determined to be SMALL. The NRC staff
concluded that approval of the proposed action would not result in a
significant increase in short-term or long-term radiological risk to
public health or the environment. The NRC staff identified a potential
for MODERATE short-term impacts to a few resource areas, including
noise (temporary impacts to the nearest resident to the MEA during
construction), ecological resources (localized and temporary impacts
resulting from the loss and slow recovery of forest habitat), and
groundwater resources (short-term lowering of the potentiometric
surface of the Basal Chadron Sandstone aquifer). While potential
MODERATE impacts would be expected for specific aspects of these
resource areas, the
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impacts are short-term and temporary. Therefore, the NRC staff
concluded that the overall impacts related to these resource areas
would be SMALL. Furthermore, the NRC staff found that there would be no
significant negative cumulative impact to any resource area from the
MEA when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable
future actions, and that a potential positive cumulative socioeconomic
impact could result from additional tax revenue, employment, and local
purchases.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative).
Under the no-action alternative, the NRC would not authorize CBR to
construct and operate the MEA. In situ uranium recovery activities
would not occur within the MEA and the associated environmental impacts
also would not occur.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
In accordance with the NEPA and 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has
conducted an environmental review of CBR's request for a license
amendment to NRC source materials license SUA-1534 that would authorize
construction and operation of the MEA. Based on its environmental
review of the proposed action, as documented in the EA, the NRC staff
has determined that granting the requested license amendment would not
significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore,
the NRC staff has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required for
the proposed action and a FONSI is appropriate.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of April, 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. 2018-09382 Filed 5-2-18; 8:45 am]
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