[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 182 (Thursday, September 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76871-76873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21276]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-7004; NRC-2024-0145]


American Centrifuge Operating, LLC; American Centrifuge Plant; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an 
amendment of Special Nuclear Material (SNM) License No. SNM-2011, 
issued on April 13, 2007, to American Centrifuge Operating, LLC (ACO) 
for the operation of the American Centrifuge Plant (ACP). This proposed 
amendment would increase ACO's licensed material possession limits 
under the high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) demonstration and 
operations program to support production of approximately 1,400 
kilograms (kg) of HALEU in the form of uranium hexafluoride 
(UF6). For this proposed action, the NRC staff is issuing an 
environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact 
(FONSI).

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
September 19, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0145 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-2024-0145. 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

[[Page 76872]]

``Availability of Documents'' section. The EA is available in ADAMS 
under Accession No. ML24254A206.
     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: Christine Pineda, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6789; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering an amendment of ACO's Special Nuclear 
Materials License No. SNM-2011, which authorized the operation of the 
HALEU cascade at the ACP in Pike County, Ohio in June 2021. If 
approved, the amendment would increase ACO's licensed material 
possession limits to support the production of HALEU UF6 
from 600 kg to approximately 1,400 kg and would allow ACO to store 
approximately 1,400 kg of HALEU UF6 at the ACP. As required 
in section 51.21 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR), ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 
Related Regulatory Functions,'' the NRC developed an EA for the 
proposed license amendment to increase the possession limits for 
licensed material at the ACP. Based on the results of the EA summarized 
in this notice, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) for the amendment and is issuing a FONSI.
    ACO is producing HALEU for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). 
HALEU is uranium that has been enriched so that the concentration of 
the fissile isotope U-235 is between 5 and 20 percent of the mass of 
the uranium. The DOE established a 3-phase contract with ACO to deploy 
a cascade of 16 operating centrifuges and two spare centrifuges to 
demonstrate the capability to enrich uranium to the higher level. The 
NRC approved the license amendment for the operation of this HALEU 
cascade in June 2021. The expiration date of the current phase (phase 
2) of the contract that DOE has funded is December 31, 2024. Phase 3, 
involving up to three, 3-year periods of operation of the HALEU 
cascade, would need Congressional appropriations and the approval of 
the NRC to move forward.

II. Summary of Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action would increase the authorized limits for 
possession of licensed material for the purpose of producing 
approximately 1,400 kg of HALEU UF6 from the current HALEU 
UF6 production amount of 600 kg. This amendment would be 
effective until DOE's contract with ACO expires on December 31, 2024. 
If ACO requests an extension of the HALEU cascade program beyond 
December 31, 2024, the NRC would need to conduct a separate licensing 
and environmental review for that extension.
    ACO operates the HALEU cascade in a building that previously housed 
the former Lead Cascade Facility, which was decommissioned in 2018. ACO 
does not propose to construct new buildings, conduct ground-disturbing 
activities, ship HALEU offsite, or make changes to the HALEU centrifuge 
cascade design that the NRC approved in 2021.
    The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's 
application dated February 13, 2023, as supplemented by letters dated 
June 29, 2023, February 15, 2024, and March 7, 2024.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The proposed amendment would allow ACO to continue demonstrating 
the capability to enrich uranium-235 up to a level necessary to produce 
HALEU. ACO is under contract with DOE to enrich uranium and produce 
HALEU using the 16-centrifuge enrichment cascade constructed for this 
purpose.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff assessed the potential environmental impacts from the 
increase in possession limits on land use; historic and cultural 
resources; visual and scenic resources; climatology, meteorology and 
air quality; geology and soils; water resources; ecological resources; 
socioeconomics; noise; traffic and transportation; public and 
occupational health and safety; and waste management. The NRC staff 
determined that the proposed action would not affect most resource 
areas and would not have significant impacts on air quality, 
transportation, occupational health and safety, and waste management. 
ACO would not make changes to the enrichment processes or to the 
outside portions of buildings. All HALEU produced would be stored 
onsite. All enrichment activities would continue to take place indoors, 
resulting in no changes to noise levels. Because operations would 
continue entirely inside buildings, including storage of additional 
enriched UF6 depleted UF6, and wastes, and 
because the current rate of HALEU production would not change, there 
would be no change to potential impacts on public health and safety. 
Because additional employees would not be required for the proposed 
action, there would be no change to socioeconomic impacts already 
assessed. The NRC staff further concluded in the EA that the potential 
impacts on air quality, occupational health and safety, waste 
management, and transportation are bounded by the impacts assessed in 
previous NRC environmental assessments, as documented in the NRC's 2021 
EA for the approval of the HALEU demonstration program.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered 
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). 
Under the no-action alternative, the NRC would deny ACO's request and 
ACO's HALEU production level would remain at 600 kg. The no-action 
alternative would not permit ACO to meet the terms of DOE's contract 
with ACO. The potential environmental impacts of denying the request 
would be unchanged from the impacts as assessed in the NRC's 2021 EA 
for the approval of the HALEU demonstration program.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    In accordance with NRC policy, on June 27, 2024, the staff 
consulted with the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, Ohio Environmental 
Protection Agency, and Ohio Department of Health regarding the EA and 
FONSI. On July 5, 2024, the staff consulted with U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 regarding the EA and FONSI. In 
addition, on July 5, 2024, the staff provided a courtesy notification 
of the proposed action to the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office. 
The NRC received no comments on the EA.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on its review of the proposed license amendment request, in 
accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has 
determined that approving the requested license amendment to increase 
the possession limits of licensed material for the HALEU

[[Page 76873]]

demonstration and operations program would not significantly affect the 
quality of human environment. No significant radiological or non-
radiological impacts are expected from the proposed action. Therefore, 
the NRC staff has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, 
``Determinations based on environmental assessment,'' preparation of an 
EIS is not required for the proposed action, and pursuant to 10 CFR 
51.32, ``Finding of no significant impact,'' a FONSI is appropriate. In 
accordance with 10 CFR 51.32(a)(4), this FONSI incorporates the EA 
summarized in this notice by reference.

IV. Availability of Documents

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

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                                                        ADAMS accession
                 Document description                         No.
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EA for a proposed increase in production of HALEU at         ML24254A206
 the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio,
 August 2024.........................................
ACO's application for amendment to increase its              ML23047A046
 licensed material possession limits to support
 increased HALEU production, February 13, 2023.......
Supplement to ACO's application, June 29, 2023.......        ML23187A143
Supplement to ACO's application, February 15, 2024...        ML24054A033
Supplement to ACO's application, March 7, 2024.......        ML24072A046
EA for the approval of the HALEU demonstration               ML21085A705
 program, June 2021..................................
Email transmitting the draft EA for increased HALEU          ML24194A182
 production to Ohio agencies, June 27, 2024..........
Email to EPA Region 5 transmitting the draft EA for          ML24194A185
 increased HALEU production, July 5, 2024............
Email to Ohio State Historic Preservation Office re:         ML24194A181
 courtesy notification of NRC review of ACO's license
 amendment request, July 5, 2024.....................
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    Dated: September 13, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John Moses,
Deputy Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial 
Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2024-21276 Filed 9-18-24; 8:45 am]
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