[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 55 (Friday, March 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16150-16151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05690]


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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: Draft environmental impact statement; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Holtec 
International's (Holtec's) application to construct and operate a 
consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel 
(SNF) and Greater-Than

[[Page 16151]]

Class C (GTCC) waste, along with a small quantity of mixed oxide fuel. 
The proposed CISF would be located in southeast New Mexico at a site 
located approximately halfway between the cities of Carlsbad and Hobbs, 
New Mexico. The proposed action is the issuance of an NRC license 
authorizing the initial phase (Phase 1) of the project to store up to 
8,680 metric tons of uranium [9,568 short tons] in 500 canisters for a 
license period of 40 years. Holtec plans to subsequently request 
amendments to the license to store an additional 500 canisters for each 
of 19 expansion phases of the proposed CISF (a total of 20 phases), to 
be completed over the course of 20 years, and to expand the proposed 
facility to eventually store up to 10,000 canisters of SNF.

DATES: The NRC staff will hold public meetings on the draft EIS. The 
public meeting details will be announced in the near future. The staff 
will present the preliminary findings and receive public comments 
during transcribed public meetings.
    Members of the public are invited to submit comments by May 22, 
2020. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is 
practical to do so, but the NRC 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 https://www.regulations.gov/ and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0052. Address 
questions about NRC Docket IDs 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: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff, 
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: 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 https://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 https://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].
     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.
     Project Webpage: 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.
     Public Libraries: A copy of the draft EIS can be accessed 
at the following public libraries:

 Carlsbad Public Library, 101 S. Halagueno Street, Carlsbad, NM 
88220
 Hobbs Public Library, 509 N Shipp St., Hobbs, NM 88240
 Roswell Public Library, 301 N. Pennsylvania, Roswell, NM 88201

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2018-0052 in your comment submission. 
Written comments may be submitted during the draft EIS comment 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 and enters all 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 because the NRC does not 
routinely edit comment submissions before making the comment 
submissions available to the public or entering the comment submissions 
into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    The NRC is issuing for public comment the draft EIS for Holtec 
International's License Application for a Consolidated Interim Storage 
Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High Level Waste regarding an 
application from Holtec requesting a license to construct and operate a 
CISF for SNF and GTCC waste, along with a small quantity of mixed-oxide 
fuel, which are collectively referred to in the EIS as SNF, and 
composed primarily of spent uranium-based fuel.
    The draft EIS for Holtec's license application includes the 
preliminary analysis that evaluates the environmental impacts of the 
proposed action and alternatives to the proposed action. After 
comparing the impacts of the proposed action (Phase 1) to the No-Action 
alternative, the NRC staff, in accordance with the requirements in part 
51 of title 10 of the Codes of Federal Regulations, recommends the 
proposed action (Phase 1), which is the issuance of an NRC license for 
40 years to Holtec to construct and operate a CISF for SNF at the 
proposed location. In addition, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
staff recommends the issuance of a permit to construct and operate the 
rail spur. This recommendation is based on (i) the license application, 
which includes an environmental report and supplemental documents, and 
Holtec's responses to the NRC staff's requests for additional 
information; (ii) consultation with Federal, State, Tribal, local 
agencies, and input from other stakeholders; (iii) independent NRC and 
BLM staff review; and (iv) the assessments provided in the EIS.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of March, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cinthya I. Roman-Cuevas,
Chief, Environmental Review Materials Branch, Division of Rulemaking, 
Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2020-05690 Filed 3-19-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P