Uranium One Incorporated; Moore Ranch In-Situ Recovery Project; New Source Material License Application; Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, 42332-42333 [E9-20117]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 161 (Friday, August 21, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42332-42333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-20117]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-9073; NRC-2009-0364]


Uranium One Incorporated; Moore Ranch In-Situ Recovery Project; 
New Source Material License Application; Notice of Intent To Prepare a 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI).

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SUMMARY: Uranium One Incorporated (Uranium One) submitted an 
application for a new source material license for the Moore Ranch In-
Situ Recovery (ISR) Project to be located in Campbell County, Wyoming, 
approximately 50 miles south-southwest of Gillette, Wyoming and 
approximately 45 miles north-northeast of Casper, Wyoming. The 
application proposes the construction, operation, and decommissioning 
of ISR, also known as in-situ recovery, facilities and restoration of 
the aquifer from which the uranium is being extracted. Uranium One 
submitted the application for the new source material license to the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by a letter dated October 2, 
2007. A notice of receipt and availability of the license application, 
including the Environmental Report (ER) and opportunity to request a 
hearing was published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2008 (73 
FR 4642).
    The purpose of this notice of intent is to inform the public that 
the NRC, as part of its process to determine whether Uranium One's 
license request should be granted, will be preparing a site-specific 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). The SEIS will tier 
off of the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach 
Uranium Milling Facilities (ISR GEIS). In addition, as outlined in 36 
CFR 800.8, ``Coordination with the National Environmental Policy Act'' 
(NEPA) the NRC plans to use its environmental review process to 
coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on the NRC 
NEPA or the environmental review process related to the Moore Ranch ISR 
Project application, please contact the NRC Environmental Project 
Manager, Behram Shroff, at (301) 415-0666 or Behram.Shroff@nrc.gov.
    Information and documents associated with the Moore Ranch ISR 
Project, including the license application, are available for public 
review through our electronic reading room: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and on the NRC's Moore Ranch Site Web page: https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/uranium/apps-in-review/moore-ranch-new-app-review.html. Documents may also be obtained from NRC's Public 
Document Room at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Headquarters, 
11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1.0 Background

    Uranium One submitted the application for the new source material 
license to the NRC for ISR facilities by a letter dated October 2, 
2007. A notice of receipt and availability of the license application, 
including the ER, and opportunity to request a hearing was published in 
the Federal Register on January 25, 2008 (73 FR 4642). No requests for 
hearing were submitted.
    Relying on the ISR GEIS, the NRC originally planned to document its 
site-specific environmental evaluations by publishing draft 
Environmental Assessments (EAs) for comment. However, during the 
development of the final ISR GEIS, NRC decided to prepare an SEIS that 
will tier off of the ISR GEIS for applications to license new ISR 
facilities. Accordingly, draft and final SEISs will now be prepared for 
the Moore Ranch ISR Project. NRC staff met with Federal (Bureau of Land 
Management--Cheyenne, Casper, Buffalo; Bureau of Indian Affairs--Fort 
Washakie; Fish & Wildlife Service--Buffalo), State (Wyoming Department 
of Environmental Quality--Cheyenne, Sheridan; State Engineer's Office; 
Governor's Planning Office; State Historic Preservation Office) and 
local government agencies (City of Casper Planning Office; City of 
Gillette Planning Department, Town of Wright, and City of Douglas) and 
public organizations (Campbell County Economic Development Corporation; 
Wyoming Community Development Authority; Converse Area New Development 
Organization) in January 2009 as part of a site visit to gather site-
specific information to assist in the preparation of the Moore Ranch 
ISR Project environmental review. NRC also contacted potentially 
interested tribes and local public interest groups via e-mail and 
telephone to gather additional information.
    The NRC has begun evaluating the potential environmental impacts 
associated with the proposed ISR facility in parallel with the safety 
review of the license application. The NRC is

[[Page 42333]]

required by 10 CFR 51.20(b)(8) to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) or a supplement to an EIS for the issuance of a license 
to possess and use source material for uranium milling. The ISR GEIS 
and the site-specific SEIS fulfills this regulatory requirement.

2.0 Moore Ranch ISR Facilities

    The facilities, if licensed, would include a central processing 
plant, accompanying wellfields, and ion exchange columns. The milling 
process involves the dissolution of the water-soluble uranium from the 
mineralized host sandstone rock by pumping oxidants (oxygen or hydrogen 
peroxide) and chemical compounds (sodium bicarbonate) through a series 
of production and extraction wells. The uranium-rich solution is 
transferred from the production wells to the central processing plant 
for uranium concentration using ion exchange columns. Final processing 
is conducted in the central processing plant to produce yellowcake for 
use in manufacturing commercial nuclear fuel for use in power reactors.

3.0 Alternatives To Be Evaluated

    Alternative 1: The license review process analyzes the 
Construction, Operation, Aquifer Restoration, and Decommissioning with 
Disposal via Deep Well Injection (Proposed Action). The proposed 
federal action is to issue a 10 CFR Part 40 license authorizing the 
possession and use of source material at the proposed ISR facilities. 
The NRC staff will analyze the construction, operation, and 
decommissioning of the proposed ISR facilities, and the restoration of 
the aquifer from which the uranium would be extracted. The ISR 
facilities would be located in Campbell County, Wyoming, approximately 
50 miles south-southwest of Gillette, Wyoming and approximately 45 
miles north-northeast of Casper, Wyoming.
    Alternative 2: No Action. The no-action alternative would be not to 
issue the license. Under this alternative, the NRC would not approve 
the license application for the proposed ISR facilities. This serves as 
a baseline for comparison.
    Other alternatives not listed here may be identified through the 
environmental review process.

4.0 Environmental Impact Areas To Be Analyzed

    The following areas have been tentatively identified for analysis 
in the SEIS:
    Land Use: Plans, policies, and controls;
    Transportation: Transportation modes, routes, quantities, and risk 
estimates;
    Geology and Soils: Physical geography, topography, geology, and 
soil characteristics;
    Water Resources: Surface and groundwater hydrology, water use and 
quality, and the potential for degradation;
    Ecology: Wetlands, aquatic, terrestrial, economically and 
recreationally important species, and threatened and endangered 
species;
    Air Quality: Meteorological conditions, ambient background, 
pollutant sources, and the potential for degradation;
    Noise: Ambient, sources, and sensitive receptors;
    Historical and Cultural Resources: Historical, archaeological, and 
traditional cultural resources;
    Visual and Scenic Resources: Landscape characteristics, manmade 
features and viewshed;
    Socioeconomics: Demography, economic base, labor pool, housing, 
transportation, utilities, public services/facilities, and education;
    Environmental Justice: Potential disproportionately high and 
adverse impacts to minority and low-income populations;
    Public and Occupational Health: Potential public and occupational 
consequences from construction, routine operation, transportation, and 
credible accident scenarios (including natural events);
    Waste Management: Types of wastes expected to be generated, 
handled, and stored; and
    Cumulative Effects: Impacts from past, present, and reasonably 
foreseeable actions at and near the site(s).
    This list is not intended to be all inclusive, nor is it a 
predetermination of potential environmental impacts.

5.0 The NEPA Process

    The SEIS for the Moore Ranch ISR Project will be prepared pursuant 
to the NRC's NEPA Regulations at 10 CFR Part 51. The NRC and its 
contractor will prepare and publish a draft SEIS for comment. NRC 
currently plans to have a 45-day public comment period for the draft 
SEIS. Availability of the draft SEIS and the dates of the public 
comment period will be announced in the Federal Register and the NRC 
Web site: https://www.nrc.gov. The final SEIS will include responses to 
public comments received on the draft SEIS.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of August 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patrice M. Bubar,
Deputy Director, Environmental Protection and Performance Assessment 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
[FR Doc. E9-20117 Filed 8-20-09; 8:45 am]
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