[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]
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