[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 211 (Wednesday, October 31, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54787-54789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23781]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-3392; NRC-2017-0143]


Honeywell, International, Inc.; Metropolis Works Uranium 
Conversion Facility

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft environmental assessment and draft finding of no 
significant impact; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft environmental assessment (EA) and draft finding 
of no significant impact (FONSI) for the proposed renewal of NRC source 
materials license SUB-526 for Honeywell, International, Inc.'s 
Metropolis Works uranium conversion facility. The draft EA, ``Draft 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Renewal of Source Materials 
License SUB-526, Metropolis Works Uranium Conversion Facility (Massac 
County, Illinois),'' documents the NRC staff's environmental review of 
the license renewal application.

DATES: Comments must be filed no later than November 30, 2018. Comments 
received after this date will be

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considered, if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to 
ensure consideration only for comments received on or 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-2017-0143. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov 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.
     Mail comments to: May Ma, Office of Administration, Mail 
Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.
     Email comments to: [email protected].
    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: Christine Pineda, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6789; email: 
[email protected]; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket NRC-2017-0143 when contacting the NRC about 
the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0143.
     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 ``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 (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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2017-0143 in your comment submission.
    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 will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter 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 into ADAMS.

II. Introduction

    The NRC is considering a request for the renewal of Honeywell 
International, Inc.'s (Honeywell's) source materials license SUB-526, 
which authorizes Honeywell to operate a uranium hexafluoride processing 
(or uranium conversion) plant at the Metropolis Works Facility, located 
near Metropolis, in Massac County, Illinois. The facility was 
constructed in 1958, and uranium hexafluoride was first produced for 
several years beginning in 1959 for the U.S. Government. In 1968, the 
facility began producing uranium hexafluoride for commercial purposes.
    In accordance with the 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 a 
draft EA documenting its environmental review of the license renewal 
application (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML17048A243, ML17048A244, and 
ML18029A119). Based on the environmental review, the NRC has made a 
preliminary determination that the proposed action will not 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment and that a 
FONSI is therefore appropriate.
    By this notice, the NRC is requesting public comment on the draft 
FONSI and supporting draft EA.

III. Summary of Draft Environmental Assessment

    The draft EA is publicly available in ADAMS using ADAMS Accession 
No. ML18283B378, or at this link: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1828/ML18283B378.pdf. A summary description of the proposed action and 
expected environmental impacts is provided below.

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed Federal action is approval of Honeywell's license 
renewal request, which if granted would allow Honeywell to continue 
conversion of uranium ore concentrates, also known as yellowcake, to 
uranium hexafluoride. The proposed action analyzed in the draft EA 
accounts for a renewed license term of 40 years, which is the term 
Honeywell has requested. The proposed action and proposed license 
conditions, would allow Honeywell to continue to receive, possess, 
store, use, and ship source material. Honeywell would continue the 
conversion of uranium ore concentrates to uranium hexafluoride at an 
authorized capacity of 15,000 metric tons (16,535 tons). Honeywell 
would continue to ship the uranium hexafluoride product to enrichment 
facilities for processing into enriched uranium.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    In the draft EA, the NRC staff assessed the potential environmental 
impacts from the proposed license renewal associated with the following 
resource areas: Land use; geology and soils; water resources; 
ecological resources; cultural resources; air quality; socioeconomics; 
environmental justice; scenic and visual resources; public and 
occupational health; transportation; 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.
    The NRC staff determined that continued Honeywell operations would 
not result in significant environmental impacts, as described in the 
EA. The 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. Furthermore, the 
NRC staff found that the incremental impacts from the proposed action, 
when

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added to the impacts of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable 
future actions, would not contribute significantly to cumulative 
environmental impacts.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As one alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered 
denial of Honeywell's license renewal request (i.e., the ``no-action'' 
alternative). Under the no-action alternative, Honeywell would need to 
stop operations permanently and submit a decommissioning plan. Under 
this alternative, Honeywell would need to submit a decommissioning plan 
for NRC review and approval. This would entail an environmental review 
to assess the potential impacts associated with the proposed 
decommissioning action. The NRC determined for this EA that the 
potential environmental impacts of the no-action alternative (prior to 
decommissioning) would not be significant.
    As another alternative, the NRC considered approval of Honeywell's 
renewal request, but for a duration of less than 40 years (the 
``reduced duration alternative''). Honeywell would continue operating 
for a period of less than 40 years, resulting in potential impacts that 
would be similar to or less than the impacts of the proposed action.

IV. Draft Finding of No Significant Impact

    In accordance with NEPA and 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has 
conducted an environmental review of Honeywell's request to renew NRC 
source materials license SUB-526 to allow Honeywell to continue its 
uranium conversion operations. Based on its environmental review of the 
proposed action, as documented in the draft EA, the NRC staff 
preliminarily determined that granting the requested license renewal 
would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. 
Therefore, the NRC staff makes its preliminary determination, pursuant 
to 10 CFR 51.31, that the preparation of an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) is not required for the proposed action and a FONSI is 
appropriate.
    The draft FONSI and supporting draft EA are a preliminary analysis 
of the environmental impacts of the proposed action and its 
alternatives. Based on comments received on the draft FONSI and draft 
EA, the staff may publish a final FONSI and final EA, or instead may 
find that preparation of an EIS is warranted should significant impacts 
resulting from the proposed action be identified. Should an EIS be 
warranted, a Notice of Intent to prepare the EIS will be published in 
the Federal Register.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.33(a), the NRC staff is making the draft 
FONSI and draft EA available for public review and comment.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of October 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Smith,
Acting Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and 
Environmental Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018-23781 Filed 10-30-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P