[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 241 (Friday, December 16, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77146-77148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-27164]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-7027; NRC-2022-0201]


Notice of Intent To Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare 
Environmental Impact Statement; TRISO-X Special Nuclear Material 
License

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received a 
license application by letters dated April 5, 2022, and September 23, 
2022, from TRISO-X, LLC (TRISO-X) a wholly owned subsidiary of X-energy 
LLC. By its application, TRISO-X is requesting a license to possess and 
use special nuclear material for the manufacture of high-assay low-
enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel at a fuel fabrication facility (FFF) to 
be located in Oak Ridge, Roane County, Tennessee. The proposed action 
is the issuance of a license for the possession and use of special 
nuclear material. The NRC staff will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (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 on the scope of the EIS by February 14, 2023. 
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 on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov).
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0201. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information 
Contact section of this document.

[[Page 77147]]

     Email comments to: Comments may be submitted to the NRC 
electronically using the email address: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
     Scoping Meeting: A local in-person meeting will be held on 
January 25, 2023, to obtain comments. The details of the meeting will 
be noticed on the NRC's website at least 10 days prior.
    For additional direction on obtaining information, 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-2022-0201 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-2022-0201.
     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]. 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, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.
     Project web page: Information related to the TRISO-X 
license application can be accessed on the NRC's TRISO-X web page at 
https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/fc/triso-x.
     Public Library: A copy of the Environmental Report for the 
application is available for review at the Oak Ridge Public Library, 
1401 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN 37830.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2022-0201 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 
https://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 submissions into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    By letters dated April 5, 2022 (ADAMS Package Accession No. 
ML22101A200), September 23, 2022 (ADAMS Package Accession No. 
ML22266A269), and as supplemented on October 13, 2022 (ADAMS Package 
Accession No. ML22286A144) and November 4, 2022 (ADAMS Package 
Accession No. ML22308A251), TRISO-X submitted an application to the NRC 
requesting a license to possess and use special nuclear material for 
the manufacture of HALEU fuel at its fuel fabrication facility (FFF) to 
be located in Oak Ridge, Roane County, Tennessee. TRISO-X seeks to 
manufacture HALEU to support advanced reactors. If issued, the 
applicant would receive a special nuclear material license for a term 
of 40 years, issued pursuant to part 70 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear 
Material.''
    The TRISO-X FFF would be located in the Horizon Center Industrial 
Park on property abutting portions of Renovare Boulevard, within the 
western limits of the City of Oak Ridge and in the northeastern portion 
of Roane County, Tennessee. The site is situated in an area dedicated 
and zoned for industrial development, on an approximately 110-acre 
greenfield site.
    The NRC staff completed an acceptance review of TRISO-X's license 
application and determined it contains sufficient information for NRC 
to conduct a detailed technical review. An acceptance letter was issued 
to TRISO-X on November 18, 2022. The environmental report can be found 
on the NRC's project-specific web page at https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/fc/triso-x.

III. Review Process

    This notice is to: (1) inform the public that the NRC staff will 
prepare an EIS as part of its review of TRISO-X's 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.
    The EIS will address the potential impacts from the proposed 
action. The anticipated scope of the EIS will consider both 
radiological and non-radiological (including chemical) 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 tentatively have been 
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

[[Page 77148]]

impacts. This list is not intended to be exhaustive, nor is it a 
predetermination of potential environmental impacts.
    The NRC staff will also conduct a safety review to determine TRISO-
X's compliance with NRC's regulations, including 10 CFR part 20, 
``Standards for Protection Against Radiation'' and 10 CFR part 70. The 
NRC staff's findings for the safety review will be published in a 
safety evaluation report.

IV. Request for Comment

    As part of its environmental review, the NRC will first conduct a 
scoping process and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a 
draft EIS for public comment. Participation in this scoping process by 
members of the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal government 
agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the draft EIS will be 
used to accomplish the following:
    a. Define the proposed action that is to be the subject of the EIS;
    b. Determine the scope of the EIS and identify the significant 
issues to be analyzed in depth;
    c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are 
peripheral or are not significant or that have been covered by prior 
environmental review;
    d. Identify any environmental assessments and other ElSs that are 
being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of, the 
scope of the EIS under consideration;
    e. Identify other environmental review and consultation 
requirements related to the proposed action;
    f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation 
of the environmental analyses and the NRC's tentative planning and 
decision-making schedule;
    g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate 
assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the EIS to the 
NRC and any cooperating agencies; and
    h. Describe how the EIS will be prepared, including any contractor 
assistance to be used.
    The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
    a. The applicant, TRISO-X, LLC.;
    b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special 
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved or that is 
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
    c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those 
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
    d. Any affected Indian Tribe;
    e. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to 
participate in the scoping process; and
    f. Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave 
to intervene under 10 CFR 2.309.
    Additionally, the NRC will hold a public scoping meeting on January 
25, 2023, to receive scoping comments in person in accordance with 10 
CFR 51.26. The time and location for the meeting will be noticed on the 
NRC public website at least 10 days prior at https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg.
    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 to comments. The Scoping Summary Report will be 
made available to the public either as a separate document or as an 
appendix to the draft EIS.
    The NRC staff will also 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.

    Dated: December 9, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John M. Moses,
Deputy Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental Review and 
Financial Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2022-27164 Filed 12-15-22; 8:45 am]
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