Holtec International HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Project, 13802-13804 [2018-06398]
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13802
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 62 / Friday, March 30, 2018 / Notices
transport, special nuclear material;
actively decommissioning reactor
licensees; Category I fuel facilities;
Category II and III fuel facilities;
nonpower reactors (research and test
reactors); and other entities who mark
and handle Safeguards Information.
7. The estimated number of annual
responses: 177,986 (40,819 reporting
responses + 136,957 third party
disclosure responses + 210
recordkeepers).
8. The estimated number of annual
respondents: 210 (60 power reactors; 10
decommissioning reactor facilities; 3
Category I fuel facilities; 4 Category II
and III fuel facilities; 31 nonpower
reactors; and 102 other entities who
mark and handle Safeguards
Information.
9. The estimated number of hours
needed annually to comply with the
information collection requirement or
request: 541,406 hours (22,591 reporting
+ 475,852 recordkeeping + 42,963 third
party disclosure).
10. Abstract: The NRC regulations in
10 CFR part 73 prescribe requirements
to establish and maintain a physical
protection system and security
organization with capabilities for
protection of (1) Special nuclear
material (SNM) at fixed sites, (2) SNM
in transit, and (3) plants in which SNM
is used. Part 73 contains reporting and
recordkeeping requirements which are
necessary to help ensure that an
adequate level of protection is provided
for nuclear facilities and nuclear
material, such as: Development and
maintenance of security documents,
including a physical security plan,
training and qualification plan,
safeguards contingency plan, cyber
security plan, and security
implementing procedures; notifications
to the NRC regarding safeguards and
cyber security events; notifications to
state governors and tribes of shipments
of irradiated reactor fuel; and
requirements for conducting criminal
history records checks of individuals
granted unescorted access to a nuclear
power facility, a non-power reactor, or
access to Safeguards Information. The
objective is to ensure that activities
involving special nuclear material are
consistent with interests of common
defense and security and that these
activities do not constitute an
unreasonable risk to public health and
safety. The information in the reports
and records submitted by licensees is
used by the NRC staff to ensure that the
health and safety of the public and the
environment are protected, and licensee
possession and use of special nuclear
material is in compliance with license
and regulatory requirements.
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III. Specific Requests for Comments
The NRC is seeking comments that
address the following questions:
1. Is the proposed collection of
information necessary for the NRC to
properly perform its functions? Does the
information have practical utility?
2. Is the estimate of the burden of the
information collection accurate?
3. Is there a way to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected?
4. How can the burden of the
information collection on respondents
be minimized, including the use of
automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology?
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day
of March, 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David Cullison,
NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018–06495 Filed 3–29–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 72–1051; NRC–2018–0052]
Holtec International HI–STORE
Consolidated Interim Storage Facility
Project
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement;
conduct a scoping process; request for
comment.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) received a license
application by letter dated March 30,
2017, from Holtec International (Holtec).
By this application, Holtec is requesting
authorization to construct and operate a
HI–STORE consolidated interim storage
facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel at
a site in Lea County, New Mexico (the
proposed action). Holtec intends to
initially store 500 canisters or 8680
metric tons of uranium in the CISF and
eventually store up to 10,000 canisters
in the CISF. The NRC staff will prepare
an 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 by May 29,
2018. Comments received after this date
will be considered if it is practical to do
so, but the Commission is able to ensure
consideration only for comments
received before this date.
SUMMARY:
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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 dockets to Jennifer
Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127;
email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For
technical questions, contact the
individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
document.
• Mail comments to: May Ma, Office
of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN–7–
A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001.
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: Jill.Caverly@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ADDRESSES:
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 publiclyavailable documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
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 pdr.resource@nrc.gov. In
addition, for the convenience of the
reader, instructions about obtaining
materials referenced in this document
are provided in a table in Section VII of
this notice entitled, Availability of
Documents.
• 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.
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• Project web page: 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-fuelstorage/cis/holtec-international.html.
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B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC–2018–
0052 in your comment submission.
Written comments may be submitted
during the scoping 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 as well as entering
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. Background
By letter dated March 30, 2017, Holtec
submitted an application to the NRC for
a specific license, pursuant to part 72 of
title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ‘‘Licensing
Requirements for the Independent
Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, HighLevel Radioactive Waste, and ReactorRelated Greater Than Class C Waste.’’
Holtec is seeking to construct and
operate a HI–STORE CISF for spent
nuclear fuel in Lea County, New
Mexico. As proposed by Holtec, the
request is to initially possess and store
500 canisters or up to 8,680 metric tons
of uranium (MTUs) and subsequently
amend the license to eventually store up
to 10,000 canisters for a 40-year license
period. The proposed Holtec HI–STORE
CISF site is located in southeastern New
Mexico, 32 miles east of Carlsbad, New
Mexico and 34 miles west of Hobbs,
New Mexico.
The NRC staff has completed an
acceptance review of Holtec’s HI–
STORE CISF license application. By
letter dated July 7, 2017, the NRC staff
provided the results of its initial
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acceptance review to Holtec and
requested supplemental information in
order to accept the application for
detailed review. Holtec, by letters dated,
October 6, 2017 and December 22, 2017,
provided the supplemental information
related to its application. The NRC staff
has reviewed the additional information
and determined it contains sufficient
information for NRC to conduct a
detailed technical review. The
environmental report (ER) can be found
on the NRC’s project-specific web page
at https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spentfuel-storage/cis/holtecinternational.html.
The purpose of this notice is to: (1)
Inform the public that the NRC staff will
prepare an EIS as part of its review of
Holtec’s HI–STORE CISF 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, such as the
Endangered Species Act, in the EIS.
III. Environmental Review
The EIS prepared by the NRC staff
will examine the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed
action. The NRC staff will evaluate the
potential impacts to various
environmental resources, such as air
quality, surface and ground water,
transportation, geology and soils, and
socioeconomics. The EIS will analyze
potential impacts of Holtec’s proposed
facility on historic and cultural
resources and on threatened and
endangered species. Additionally, the
economic, technical, and other benefits
and costs of the proposed action and
alternatives will be considered in the
EIS.
The NRC staff will also conduct a
safety review to determine Holtec’s
compliance with NRC’s regulations,
including 10 CFR part 20, ‘‘Standards
for Protection Against Radiation’’ and
10 CFR part 72. The NRC staff’s findings
will be published in a safety evaluation
report.
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IV. CISF Construction and Operation
The NRC’s Federal action is to either
grant or deny Holtec’s request for a
license. If the NRC approves Holtec’s
request, then Holtec could proceed with
the proposed project—the construction
and operation of the CISF—as described
in its application and summarized here.
Holtec proposes to construct the CISF
on an approximately 4.21 square
kilometer (1040 acre) site in Lea County,
New Mexico. The site is located 32
miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico and
34 miles west of Hobbs, New Mexico.
Holtec is currently requesting
authorization to possess and store 500
canisters of spent nuclear fuel (SNF)
containing up to 8,680 MTUs, which
includes spent uranium-based fuel from
commercial nuclear reactors as well as
a small quantity of spent mixed-oxide
fuel. If the requested license is issued by
the NRC, Holtec anticipates
subsequently requesting an amendment
to the license to request authorization to
possess and store SNF containing an
additional 500 canisters or up to 8,680
MTU for each of 19 subsequent
expansion phases to be completed over
the course of 20 years. Ultimately,
Holtec anticipates that approximately
10,000 canisters of SNF would be stored
at the CISF upon completion of 20
phases. Each phase would require NRC
review and approval.
Holtec would receive canisters
containing SNF from the reactor sites,
and once accepted at its site, Holtec
would transfer them into onsite dry cask
storage systems. Holtec would employ
the HI–STORM UMAX canister storage
system which is certified by the NRC
(Docket No. 72–1040). HI–STORM
UMAX stores sealed canisters
containing SNF in a subterranean inground vertical ventilated module.
Holtec is requesting a license for a term
of 40 years.
V. Alternatives To Be Evaluated
The EIS will analyze the
environmental impacts of the proposed
action, the no-action alternative, and
reasonable alternatives. A brief
description of each is provided below.
No-Action Alternative—the no-action
alternative would be to deny the license
application. Under this alternative, the
NRC would not issue the license and
Holtec would not construct nor operate
the CISF at its site in southeast New
Mexico. This alternative serves as a
baseline for the comparison of
environmental impacts of the proposed
action and the reasonable alternatives.
Proposed action—the proposed
Federal action is to issue a license to
Holtec authorizing the company to
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 62 / Friday, March 30, 2018 / Notices
construct and operate the CISF. If the
NRC approves the license application, it
would issue Holtec a specific license
under the provisions of 10 CFR part 72,
and Holtec would proceed with the
proposed activities.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action—
other alternatives not listed here may be
identified during scoping or through the
environmental review process.
VI. Scope of the Environmental Review
The NRC staff is conducting a scoping
process for the Holtec HI–STORE CISF
EIS, which begins on the day this notice
appears in the Federal Register. In
accordance with 10 CFR 51.29, the NRC
seeks public input to help the NRC
determine the appropriate scope of the
EIS, including significant environmental
issues to be analyzed in depth, as well
as those that should be eliminated from
detailed study because they are
peripheral or are not significant. The
NRC staff is planning to publish
information related to this action in
newspapers serving the communities
near the Holtec site, requesting
information and comments from the
public. Additionally, the NRC is
planning to hold public scoping
meetings to receive comments in person
in accordance with 10 CFR 51.26. The
dates, times, and locations for any
meetings will be provided in a future
Federal Register notice.
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. The Scoping Summary
Report will be included in NRC’s draft
EIS as an appendix and sent to each
participant in the scoping process for
whom the staff has an address.
The Holtec HI–STORE CISF EIS will
address the potential impacts from the
proposed action. The anticipated scope
of the EIS will consider both
radiological and non-radiological
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 have been
tentatively 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
impacts. This list is not intended to be
exhaustive, nor is it a predetermination
of potential environmental impacts. The
EIS will describe the NRC staff’s
approach and methodology undertaken
to determine the resource areas that will
be studied in detail and the NRC staff’s
evaluation of potential impacts to those
resource areas.
The NRC encourages members of the
public, local, State, Tribal, and Federal
government agencies to participate in
the scoping process. Written comments
may be submitted during the scoping
period as described in the ADDRESSES
and SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
of this document. Participation in the
scoping process for the Holtec HI–
STORE CISF EIS does not entitle
participants to become parties to any
proceeding to which the EIS relates.
In addition to requesting scoping
comments through this Federal Register
notice, the NRC staff also intends to
reach out to interested stakeholders,
including other Federal and State
agencies and Indian Tribes. The NRC
staff seeks to identify, among other
things, all review and consultation
requirements related to the proposed
action, and agencies with jurisdiction by
law or special expertise with respect to
any environmental impact involved or
which is authorized to develop and
enforce relevant environmental
standards. The NRC invites such
agencies to participate in the scoping
process and, as appropriate, cooperate
in the preparation of the EIS.
The NRC staff will continue its
environmental review of Holtec’s HI–
STORE CISF license application, and
with its contractor, prepare a draft EIS
and, as soon as practicable, publish it
for public comment. The NRC staff
plans to 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.
VII. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in this
Federal Register notice are accessible to
interested persons by the means
indicated in either the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this notice or in
the table below:
Adams
Accession
No.
Document
Holtec’s HI–STORE CISF license application and Environmental Report ......................................................................................
Rev. 0 (March 2017) .........................................................................................................................................................................
NRC’s request for supplemental information (July 2017) ................................................................................................................
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Holtec’s submittal of responses to NRC’s request for supplemental information and Environmental Report Rev. 0A (October
2017).
Holtec’s submittal of responses to NRC’s request for supplemental information and Environmental Report Rev. 1 (December
2017).
NRC’s response to Holtec and acceptance of the application for docketing and detailed review (February 28, 2018) ................
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, on March 26,
2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety,
Safeguards, and Environmental Review,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018–06398 Filed 3–29–18; 8:45 am]
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY
CORPORATION
Submission of Information Collection
for OMB Review; Comment Request;
Payment of Premiums
Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation.
AGENCY:
BILLING CODE 7509–01–P
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ML18023A904
ML18059A251
Notice of request for extension
of OMB approval of collection of
information.
ACTION:
The Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC) is requesting that
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) extend approval for three years
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of
the collection of information under its
regulation on Payment of Premiums
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 62 (Friday, March 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13802-13804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06398]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 72-1051; NRC-2018-0052]
Holtec International HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage
Facility Project
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement; conduct a
scoping process; request for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received a
license application by letter dated March 30, 2017, from Holtec
International (Holtec). By this application, Holtec is requesting
authorization to construct and operate a HI-STORE consolidated interim
storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel at a site in Lea County,
New Mexico (the proposed action). Holtec intends to initially store 500
canisters or 8680 metric tons of uranium in the CISF and eventually
store up to 10,000 canisters in the CISF. The NRC staff will prepare an
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 by May 29, 2018. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission
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 dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
Mail comments to: May Ma, Office of Administration, Mail
Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
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 ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then 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]. In
addition, for the convenience of the reader, instructions about
obtaining materials referenced in this document are provided in a table
in Section VII of this notice entitled, Availability of Documents.
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.
[[Page 13803]]
Project web page: 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.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2018-0052 in your comment submission.
Written comments may be submitted during the scoping 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 as well as entering 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. Background
By letter dated March 30, 2017, Holtec submitted an application to
the NRC for a specific license, pursuant to part 72 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Licensing Requirements for the
Independent Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, High-Level Radioactive
Waste, and Reactor-Related Greater Than Class C Waste.'' Holtec is
seeking to construct and operate a HI-STORE CISF for spent nuclear fuel
in Lea County, New Mexico. As proposed by Holtec, the request is to
initially possess and store 500 canisters or up to 8,680 metric tons of
uranium (MTUs) and subsequently amend the license to eventually store
up to 10,000 canisters for a 40-year license period. The proposed
Holtec HI-STORE CISF site is located in southeastern New Mexico, 32
miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico and 34 miles west of Hobbs, New
Mexico.
The NRC staff has completed an acceptance review of Holtec's HI-
STORE CISF license application. By letter dated July 7, 2017, the NRC
staff provided the results of its initial acceptance review to Holtec
and requested supplemental information in order to accept the
application for detailed review. Holtec, by letters dated, October 6,
2017 and December 22, 2017, provided the supplemental information
related to its application. The NRC staff has reviewed the additional
information and determined it contains sufficient information for NRC
to conduct a detailed technical review. The environmental report (ER)
can be found on the NRC's project-specific web page at https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis/holtec-international.html.
The purpose of this notice is to: (1) Inform the public that the
NRC staff will prepare an EIS as part of its review of Holtec's HI-
STORE CISF 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, such as
the Endangered Species Act, in the EIS.
III. Environmental Review
The EIS prepared by the NRC staff will examine the potential
environmental impacts of the proposed action. The NRC staff will
evaluate the potential impacts to various environmental resources, such
as air quality, surface and ground water, transportation, geology and
soils, and socioeconomics. The EIS will analyze potential impacts of
Holtec's proposed facility on historic and cultural resources and on
threatened and endangered species. Additionally, the economic,
technical, and other benefits and costs of the proposed action and
alternatives will be considered in the EIS.
The NRC staff will also conduct a safety review to determine
Holtec's compliance with NRC's regulations, including 10 CFR part 20,
``Standards for Protection Against Radiation'' and 10 CFR part 72. The
NRC staff's findings will be published in a safety evaluation report.
IV. CISF Construction and Operation
The NRC's Federal action is to either grant or deny Holtec's
request for a license. If the NRC approves Holtec's request, then
Holtec could proceed with the proposed project--the construction and
operation of the CISF--as described in its application and summarized
here.
Holtec proposes to construct the CISF on an approximately 4.21
square kilometer (1040 acre) site in Lea County, New Mexico. The site
is located 32 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico and 34 miles west of
Hobbs, New Mexico. Holtec is currently requesting authorization to
possess and store 500 canisters of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) containing
up to 8,680 MTUs, which includes spent uranium-based fuel from
commercial nuclear reactors as well as a small quantity of spent mixed-
oxide fuel. If the requested license is issued by the NRC, Holtec
anticipates subsequently requesting an amendment to the license to
request authorization to possess and store SNF containing an additional
500 canisters or up to 8,680 MTU for each of 19 subsequent expansion
phases to be completed over the course of 20 years. Ultimately, Holtec
anticipates that approximately 10,000 canisters of SNF would be stored
at the CISF upon completion of 20 phases. Each phase would require NRC
review and approval.
Holtec would receive canisters containing SNF from the reactor
sites, and once accepted at its site, Holtec would transfer them into
onsite dry cask storage systems. Holtec would employ the HI-STORM UMAX
canister storage system which is certified by the NRC (Docket No. 72-
1040). HI-STORM UMAX stores sealed canisters containing SNF in a
subterranean in-ground vertical ventilated module. Holtec is requesting
a license for a term of 40 years.
V. Alternatives To Be Evaluated
The EIS will analyze the environmental impacts of the proposed
action, the no-action alternative, and reasonable alternatives. A brief
description of each is provided below.
No-Action Alternative--the no-action alternative would be to deny
the license application. Under this alternative, the NRC would not
issue the license and Holtec would not construct nor operate the CISF
at its site in southeast New Mexico. This alternative serves as a
baseline for the comparison of environmental impacts of the proposed
action and the reasonable alternatives.
Proposed action--the proposed Federal action is to issue a license
to Holtec authorizing the company to
[[Page 13804]]
construct and operate the CISF. If the NRC approves the license
application, it would issue Holtec a specific license under the
provisions of 10 CFR part 72, and Holtec would proceed with the
proposed activities.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action--other alternatives not listed
here may be identified during scoping or through the environmental
review process.
VI. Scope of the Environmental Review
The NRC staff is conducting a scoping process for the Holtec HI-
STORE CISF EIS, which begins on the day this notice appears in the
Federal Register. In accordance with 10 CFR 51.29, the NRC seeks public
input to help the NRC determine the appropriate scope of the EIS,
including significant environmental issues to be analyzed in depth, as
well as those that should be eliminated from detailed study because
they are peripheral or are not significant. The NRC staff is planning
to publish information related to this action in newspapers serving the
communities near the Holtec site, requesting information and comments
from the public. Additionally, the NRC is planning to hold public
scoping meetings to receive comments in person in accordance with 10
CFR 51.26. The dates, times, and locations for any meetings will be
provided in a future Federal Register notice.
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. The Scoping Summary Report will be included in
NRC's draft EIS as an appendix and sent to each participant in the
scoping process for whom the staff has an address.
The Holtec HI-STORE CISF EIS will address the potential impacts
from the proposed action. The anticipated scope of the EIS will
consider both radiological and non-radiological 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 have been tentatively 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 impacts. This list is not intended to be
exhaustive, nor is it a predetermination of potential environmental
impacts. The EIS will describe the NRC staff's approach and methodology
undertaken to determine the resource areas that will be studied in
detail and the NRC staff's evaluation of potential impacts to those
resource areas.
The NRC encourages members of the public, local, State, Tribal, and
Federal government agencies to participate in the scoping process.
Written comments may be submitted during the scoping period as
described in the ADDRESSES and SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document. Participation in the scoping process for the Holtec HI-
STORE CISF EIS does not entitle participants to become parties to any
proceeding to which the EIS relates.
In addition to requesting scoping comments through this Federal
Register notice, the NRC staff also intends to reach out to interested
stakeholders, including other Federal and State agencies and Indian
Tribes. The NRC staff seeks to identify, among other things, all review
and consultation requirements related to the proposed action, and
agencies with jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to
any environmental impact involved or which is authorized to develop and
enforce relevant environmental standards. The NRC invites such agencies
to participate in the scoping process and, as appropriate, cooperate in
the preparation of the EIS.
The NRC staff will continue its environmental review of Holtec's
HI-STORE CISF license application, and with its contractor, prepare a
draft EIS and, as soon as practicable, publish it for public comment.
The NRC staff plans to 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.
VII. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in this Federal Register notice are
accessible to interested persons by the means indicated in either the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice or in the table below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Document Adams Accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holtec's HI-STORE CISF license ML17115A418
application and Environmental Report. ML17139C535
Rev. 0 (March 2017).....................
NRC's request for supplemental ML17191A357
information (July 2017). ML17191A358
Holtec's submittal of responses to NRC's ML17310A234
request for supplemental information ML17345B064
and Environmental Report Rev. 0A
(October 2017).
Holtec's submittal of responses to NRC's ML17362A093
request for supplemental information ML18023A904
and Environmental Report Rev. 1
(December 2017).
NRC's response to Holtec and acceptance ML18059A251
of the application for docketing and
detailed review (February 28, 2018).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, on March 26, 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental
Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018-06398 Filed 3-29-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7509-01-P
