[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 148 (Thursday, August 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51358-51359]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16538]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-038415; NRC-2023-0090]


Rare Element Resources, Inc.; Upton Pilot Project

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: License; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued Source 
Material License No. SUA-1603 to Rare Element Resources, Inc. (RER, the 
licensee) for its possession, and storage of source material in a pilot 
project for the recovery of rare earth elements (REE). The pilot 
project, partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is being 
conducted at a location in Upton, Wyoming to demonstrate the 
effectiveness of the licensee's proprietary process to recover rare 
earth element such as Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) and other rare 
earth oxides at high purity levels. The project is scheduled to operate 
for approximately one year, processing approximately 1000 tons of 
material. Waste generated as a result of processing will contain 
greater than 99 percent of the radioactive components and will be 
treated and solidified onsite and then shipped offsite to a licensed 
low level waste facility. The site will be decommissioned at the end of 
the pilot project.

DATES: This document was published in the Federal Register on August 3, 
2023

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2023-0090 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 https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2023-0090. 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.
     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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. 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 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martha Poston-Brown, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 817-200-1181; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The NRC has issued Source Material License No. SUA-1603 to RER for 
its possession, and storage of source material in a pilot project for 
the recovery of REE as a pilot project. RER's pilot project shall be as 
specified in its license and license application documents as amended 
and modified.
    The record of decision for the NRC decision to approve Rare Element 
Resources, Inc. license application for the Upton Pilot Project and 
issue Materials License SUA-1603 is available in Section II of this 
notice.
    The NRC considers the entire publicly available record for a 
license application to constitute the agency's record of decision. 
Documents related to the application carry NRC Docket ID NRC-2023-0090. 
These documents for the Rare Element Resources, Inc. license include 
the Safety Evaluation Report; and the Environmental Assessment.
    Rare Element Resources, Inc.'s request for a source materials 
license was previously noticed in the Federal Register on May 15, 2023, 
88 FR 31041, with a notice of an opportunity to request a hearing. No 
Hearing requests were received. The NRC's Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact were also previously noticed in the 
Federal Register on July 27, 2023 (88 FR 484940).
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' 
the details with respect to this action, including the safety 
evaluation report and accompanying documentation and license, are 
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at 
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can 
access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System 
(ADAMS), which provides text and image files of the NRC's public 
documents.

II. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through ADAMS.

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                    Document description                                     ADAMS accession No.
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Rare Element Resources Inc, Demonstration License            ML22130A014.
 Application, dated May 4, 2022.
Rare Element Resources, Inc, response to request for         ML22238A107.
 supplemental information, dated August 26, 2022.
Rare Element Resources Inc, resubmittal in response to       ML22258A140.
 request for supplemental information, dated September 13,
 2022.
Rare Element Resources Inc, License Application, Technical   ML22256A319 (Package).
 Report, and Environmental Report, dated September 30, 2022.
NRC response to request for additional information (RAI)     ML23044A097.
 environmental information, dated February 23, 2023.
NRC response to request additional information (RAI)--       ML23068A307 (Package).
 technical information, dated March 13, 2023.
Rare Element Resources, Inc, response to NRC RAI--           ML23082A306.
 environmental information, dated March 21, 2023.
Rare Element Resources, Inc, response to NRC RAI--safety     ML23097A072.
 evaluation, dated April 7, 2023.
Environmental Assessment for Rare Element Resources, Inc.,   ML23145A039.
 July 2023.
Safety Evaluation Report for Rare Element Resources, Inc.,   ML23173A117.
 July 2023.
Source Material License for Rare Element Resources, Inc.,    ML23173A116.
 dated July 27, 2023..
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    Dated: July 31, 2023.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Randolph W. Von Till,
Chief, Uranium Recovery and Materials Decommissioning Branch, Division 
of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-16538 Filed 8-2-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P