Honeywell, International, Inc.; Metropolis Works Uranium Conversion Facility, 54787-54789 [2018-23781]
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54787
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 211 / Wednesday, October 31, 2018 / Notices
TABLE 1—ANTICIPATED PROGRAMS THAT WILL COLLECT DATA ON PROJECT PROGRESS AND OUTCOMES ALONG WITH
THE NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS AND BURDEN HOURS PER COLLECTION PER YEAR
Number of
respondents
Collection title
Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) and Historically Black
Colleges and Universities Research Infrastructure for Science and Engineering (HBCU–
RISE) Monitoring System .........................................................................................................
Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT) Monitoring System ...........................................................................................................................................
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Monitoring System ..........................
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation Bridge to the Doctorate (LSAMP–BD) Monitoring System ...........................................................................................................................
Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce) Monitoring System ................................
Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S–STEM) Monitoring
System .....................................................................................................................................
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP)
Monitoring System ...................................................................................................................
Total ......................................................................................................................................
Dated: October 26, 2018.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science
Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2018–23784 Filed 10–30–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[License No. XW019; Docket No. 11005986;
NRC–2018–0245]
Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc.;
Correction
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Export license application;
opportunity to comment, request a
hearing, and petition for leave to
intervene; extension of comment period
and correction.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is correcting a notice
that was published in the Federal
Register (FR) on October 24, 2018,
regarding the review of an export
license application (XW019), submitted
by Perma-Fix Northwest Richland, Inc.
(PFNW). This action is necessary to
correct the Regulations.gov Docket ID
provided to the public for obtaining
information and submitting comments
through the Federal rulemaking website.
In addition, the NRC is extending the
period for commenting, requesting a
hearing, and petitioning for leave to
intervene.
DATES: The comment period and the
date to request a hearing, and petition
for leave to intervene in the document
published on October 24, 2018 (83 FR
53666) is extended. Comments must be
filed by November 30, 2018. Requests
for a hearing or petition for leave to
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:06 Oct 30, 2018
Jkt 247001
intervene must be filed by November 30,
2018. The correction is effective October
31, 2018.
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–2018–0245. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
• Email comments to:
hearing.docket@nrc.gov. If you do not
receive an automatic email reply
confirming receipt, then contact us at
301–415–1677.
• Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301–
415–1101.
• Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, ATTN:
Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
• Hand deliver comments to: 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland
20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.
(Eastern Time) Federal workdays;
telephone: 301–415–1677.
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:
Andrea R. Jones, Office of International
Programs, telephone: 404–997–4443;
email: Andrea.Jones2@nrc.gov, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the FR
on October 24, 2018 (83 FR 53666),
correct the Federal rulemaking website
PO 00000
Frm 00087
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Number of
responses
Annual hour
burden
30
30
1,650
35
602
35
602
1,890
13,846
56
460
56
460
2,128
6,440
700
1,750
4,200
277
277
6,648
2,160
3,210
39,802
Docket ID from ‘‘NRC–2012–7946’’ to
‘‘NRC–2018–0245.’’
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day
of October 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cindy K. Bladey,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, Division of
Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018–23828 Filed 10–30–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40–3392; NRC–2017–0143]
Honeywell, International, Inc.;
Metropolis Works Uranium Conversion
Facility
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Draft environmental assessment
and draft finding of no significant
impact; request for comments.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing for public
comment a draft environmental
assessment (EA) and draft finding of no
significant impact (FONSI) for the
proposed renewal of NRC source
materials license SUB–526 for
Honeywell, International, Inc.’s
Metropolis Works uranium conversion
facility. The draft EA, ‘‘Draft
Environmental Assessment for the
Proposed Renewal of Source Materials
License SUB–526, Metropolis Works
Uranium Conversion Facility (Massac
County, Illinois),’’ documents the NRC
staff’s environmental review of the
license renewal application.
DATES: Comments must be filed no later
than November 30, 2018. Comments
received after this date will be
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\31OCN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 211 / Wednesday, October 31, 2018 / Notices
considered, if it is practical to do so, but
the Commission 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:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2017–0143. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individual 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.
• Email comments to: HoneywellMTW-EA@nrc.gov.
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:
Christine Pineda, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards;
telephone: 301–415–6789; email:
Christine.Pineda@nrc.gov; U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket NRC–2017–
0143 when contacting the NRC about
the availability of information for this
action. You may obtain publicly
available information related to this
action by any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2017–0143.
• 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 pdr.resource@
nrc.gov. 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.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:06 Oct 30, 2018
Jkt 247001
• 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.
human environment and that a FONSI
is therefore appropriate.
By this notice, the NRC is requesting
public comment on the draft FONSI and
supporting draft EA.
B. Submitting Comments
III. Summary of Draft Environmental
Assessment
The draft EA is publicly available in
ADAMS using ADAMS Accession No.
ML18283B378, or at this link: https://
www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1828/
ML18283B378.pdf. A summary
description of the proposed action and
expected environmental impacts is
provided below.
Please include Docket ID NRC–2017–
0143 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 into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
The NRC is considering a request for
the renewal of Honeywell International,
Inc.’s (Honeywell’s) source materials
license SUB–526, which authorizes
Honeywell to operate a uranium
hexafluoride processing (or uranium
conversion) plant at the Metropolis
Works Facility, located near Metropolis,
in Massac County, Illinois. The facility
was constructed in 1958, and uranium
hexafluoride was first produced for
several years beginning in 1959 for the
U.S. Government. In 1968, the facility
began producing uranium hexafluoride
for commercial purposes.
In accordance with the NRC’s
regulations in part 51 of title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR),
‘‘Environmental Protection Regulations
for Domestic Licensing and Related
Regulatory Functions,’’ that implement
the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969, as amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.), the NRC staff has prepared
a draft EA documenting its
environmental review of the license
renewal application (ADAMS Accession
Nos. ML17048A243, ML17048A244,
and ML18029A119). Based on the
environmental review, the NRC has
made a preliminary determination that
the proposed action will not
significantly affect the quality of the
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed Federal action is
approval of Honeywell’s license renewal
request, which if granted would allow
Honeywell to continue conversion of
uranium ore concentrates, also known
as yellowcake, to uranium hexafluoride.
The proposed action analyzed in the
draft EA accounts for a renewed license
term of 40 years, which is the term
Honeywell has requested. The proposed
action and proposed license conditions,
would allow Honeywell to continue to
receive, possess, store, use, and ship
source material. Honeywell would
continue the conversion of uranium ore
concentrates to uranium hexafluoride at
an authorized capacity of 15,000 metric
tons (16,535 tons). Honeywell would
continue to ship the uranium
hexafluoride product to enrichment
facilities for processing into enriched
uranium.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
In the draft EA, the NRC staff assessed
the potential environmental impacts
from the proposed license renewal
associated with the following resource
areas: Land use; geology and soils; water
resources; ecological resources; cultural
resources; air quality; socioeconomics;
environmental justice; scenic and visual
resources; public and occupational
health; transportation; and waste
management. The NRC staff also
considered the cumulative impacts from
past, present, and reasonably
foreseeable future actions when
combined with the proposed action.
The NRC staff determined that
continued Honeywell operations would
not result in significant environmental
impacts, as described in the EA. The
staff concluded that approval of the
proposed action would not result in a
significant increase in short-term or
long-term radiological risk to public
health or the environment. Furthermore,
the NRC staff found that the incremental
impacts from the proposed action, when
E:\FR\FM\31OCN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 211 / Wednesday, October 31, 2018 / Notices
added to the impacts of other past,
present, and reasonably foreseeable
future actions, would not contribute
significantly to cumulative
environmental impacts.
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As one alternative to the proposed
action, the NRC staff considered denial
of Honeywell’s license renewal request
(i.e., the ‘‘no-action’’ alternative). Under
the no-action alternative, Honeywell
would need to stop operations
permanently and submit a
decommissioning plan. Under this
alternative, Honeywell would need to
submit a decommissioning plan for NRC
review and approval. This would entail
an environmental review to assess the
potential impacts associated with the
proposed decommissioning action. The
NRC determined for this EA that the
potential environmental impacts of the
no-action alternative (prior to
decommissioning) would not be
significant.
As another alternative, the NRC
considered approval of Honeywell’s
renewal request, but for a duration of
less than 40 years (the ‘‘reduced
duration alternative’’). Honeywell
would continue operating for a period of
less than 40 years, resulting in potential
impacts that would be similar to or less
than the impacts of the proposed action.
IV. Draft Finding of No Significant
Impact
In accordance with NEPA and 10 CFR
part 51, the NRC staff has conducted an
environmental review of Honeywell’s
request to renew NRC source materials
license SUB–526 to allow Honeywell to
continue its uranium conversion
operations. Based on its environmental
review of the proposed action, as
documented in the draft EA, the NRC
staff preliminarily determined that
granting the requested license renewal
would not significantly affect the
quality of the human environment.
Therefore, the NRC staff makes its
preliminary determination, pursuant to
10 CFR 51.31, that the preparation of an
environmental impact statement (EIS) is
not required for the proposed action and
a FONSI is appropriate.
The draft FONSI and supporting draft
EA are a preliminary analysis of the
environmental impacts of the proposed
action and its alternatives. Based on
comments received on the draft FONSI
and draft EA, the staff may publish a
final FONSI and final EA, or instead
may find that preparation of an EIS is
warranted should significant impacts
resulting from the proposed action be
identified. Should an EIS be warranted,
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18:06 Oct 30, 2018
Jkt 247001
a Notice of Intent to prepare the EIS will
be published in the Federal Register.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.33(a), the NRC
staff is making the draft FONSI and draft
EA available for public review and
comment.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day
of October 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Smith,
Acting Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety,
Safeguards, and Environmental Review,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018–23781 Filed 10–30–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND
HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION
Privacy Act of 1974; System of
Records
Occupational Safety and Health
Review Commission.
ACTION: Notice of a Modified System of
Records.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Privacy Act of 1974, the Occupational
Safety and Health Review Commission
(OSHRC) is revising the notice for
Privacy Act system-of-records OSHRC–
5.
DATES: Comments must be received by
OSHRC on or before November 30,
2018. The revised system of records will
become effective on that date, without
any further notice in the Federal
Register, unless comments or
government approval procedures
necessitate otherwise.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
• Email: rbailey@oshrc.gov. Include
‘‘PRIVACY ACT SYSTEM OF
RECORDS’’ in the subject line of the
message.
• Fax: (202) 606–5417.
• Mail: One Lafayette Centre, 1120
20th Street NW, Ninth Floor,
Washington, DC 20036–3457.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as
mailing address.
Instructions: All submissions must
include your name, return address, and
email address, if applicable. Please
clearly label submissions as ‘‘PRIVACY
ACT SYSTEM OF RECORDS.’’
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron
Bailey, Attorney-Advisor, Office of the
General Counsel, via telephone at (202)
606–5410, or via email at rbailey@
oshrc.gov.
SUMMARY:
The
Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(4),
requires federal agencies such as
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
54789
OSHRC to publish in the Federal
Register notice of any new or modified
system of records. As detailed below,
OSHRC is revising Office of the General
Counsel Records, OSHRC–5, to
accurately reflect the authorities for
maintaining this system and its
categories of records; to revise storage,
safeguarding, and retrieval methods
based on changes in practices; and to
incorporate references to applicable
General Records Schedules for disposal
of records. In addition, OSHRC has
previously relied on blanket routine
uses to describe the circumstances
under which records may be disclosed.
Going forward, as revised notices are
published for new and modified
systems of records, a full description of
the routine uses—rather than a reference
to blanket routine uses—will be
included in each notice. This is simply
a change in format that has not resulted
in any substantive changes to the
routine uses for this system of records.
The notice for OSHRC–5, provided
below in its entirety, is as follows.
SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER:
Office of the General Counsel Records,
OSHRC–5.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
Office of the General Counsel,
OSHRC, 1120 20th Street NW, Ninth
Floor, Washington, DC 20036–3457.
SYSTEM MANAGER(S):
Office of the General Counsel,
OSHRC, 1120 20th Street NW, Ninth
Floor, Washington, DC 20036–3457;
(202) 606–5100.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
5 U.S.C. 301; 5 U.S.C. 552; 29 U.S.C.
661; 44 U.S.C. 3101.
PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM:
This system of records is maintained
to assist management in making
decisions with respect to case
processing activities; to assist OSHRC
attorneys in organizing their work
product; and to assist in other matters
assigned to the Office of the General
Counsel, such as processing FOIA
requests.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE
SYSTEM:
This system of records covers current
and former OSHRC attorneys (including
supervising attorneys), Commission
members, and Administrative Law
Judges (ALJs); Freedom of Information
Act requesters; and parties in cases that
have been, or presently are, before
OSHRC.
E:\FR\FM\31OCN1.SGM
31OCN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 211 (Wednesday, October 31, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54787-54789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23781]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-3392; NRC-2017-0143]
Honeywell, International, Inc.; Metropolis Works Uranium
Conversion Facility
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft environmental assessment and draft finding of no
significant impact; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for
public comment a draft environmental assessment (EA) and draft finding
of no significant impact (FONSI) for the proposed renewal of NRC source
materials license SUB-526 for Honeywell, International, Inc.'s
Metropolis Works uranium conversion facility. The draft EA, ``Draft
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Renewal of Source Materials
License SUB-526, Metropolis Works Uranium Conversion Facility (Massac
County, Illinois),'' documents the NRC staff's environmental review of
the license renewal application.
DATES: Comments must be filed no later than November 30, 2018. Comments
received after this date will be
[[Page 54788]]
considered, if it is practical to do so, but the Commission 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:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0143. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual 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.
Email comments to: [email protected].
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: Christine Pineda, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards; telephone: 301-415-6789; email:
[email protected]; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket NRC-2017-0143 when contacting the NRC about
the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0143.
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 at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2017-0143 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 into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
The NRC is considering a request for the renewal of Honeywell
International, Inc.'s (Honeywell's) source materials license SUB-526,
which authorizes Honeywell to operate a uranium hexafluoride processing
(or uranium conversion) plant at the Metropolis Works Facility, located
near Metropolis, in Massac County, Illinois. The facility was
constructed in 1958, and uranium hexafluoride was first produced for
several years beginning in 1959 for the U.S. Government. In 1968, the
facility began producing uranium hexafluoride for commercial purposes.
In accordance with the NRC's regulations in part 51 of title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Environmental Protection
Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,''
that implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the NRC staff has prepared a
draft EA documenting its environmental review of the license renewal
application (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML17048A243, ML17048A244, and
ML18029A119). Based on the environmental review, the NRC has made a
preliminary determination that the proposed action will not
significantly affect the quality of the human environment and that a
FONSI is therefore appropriate.
By this notice, the NRC is requesting public comment on the draft
FONSI and supporting draft EA.
III. Summary of Draft Environmental Assessment
The draft EA is publicly available in ADAMS using ADAMS Accession
No. ML18283B378, or at this link: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1828/ML18283B378.pdf. A summary description of the proposed action and
expected environmental impacts is provided below.
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed Federal action is approval of Honeywell's license
renewal request, which if granted would allow Honeywell to continue
conversion of uranium ore concentrates, also known as yellowcake, to
uranium hexafluoride. The proposed action analyzed in the draft EA
accounts for a renewed license term of 40 years, which is the term
Honeywell has requested. The proposed action and proposed license
conditions, would allow Honeywell to continue to receive, possess,
store, use, and ship source material. Honeywell would continue the
conversion of uranium ore concentrates to uranium hexafluoride at an
authorized capacity of 15,000 metric tons (16,535 tons). Honeywell
would continue to ship the uranium hexafluoride product to enrichment
facilities for processing into enriched uranium.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
In the draft EA, the NRC staff assessed the potential environmental
impacts from the proposed license renewal associated with the following
resource areas: Land use; geology and soils; water resources;
ecological resources; cultural resources; air quality; socioeconomics;
environmental justice; scenic and visual resources; public and
occupational health; transportation; and waste management. The NRC
staff also considered the cumulative impacts from past, present, and
reasonably foreseeable future actions when combined with the proposed
action.
The NRC staff determined that continued Honeywell operations would
not result in significant environmental impacts, as described in the
EA. The staff concluded that approval of the proposed action would not
result in a significant increase in short-term or long-term
radiological risk to public health or the environment. Furthermore, the
NRC staff found that the incremental impacts from the proposed action,
when
[[Page 54789]]
added to the impacts of other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable
future actions, would not contribute significantly to cumulative
environmental impacts.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As one alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
denial of Honeywell's license renewal request (i.e., the ``no-action''
alternative). Under the no-action alternative, Honeywell would need to
stop operations permanently and submit a decommissioning plan. Under
this alternative, Honeywell would need to submit a decommissioning plan
for NRC review and approval. This would entail an environmental review
to assess the potential impacts associated with the proposed
decommissioning action. The NRC determined for this EA that the
potential environmental impacts of the no-action alternative (prior to
decommissioning) would not be significant.
As another alternative, the NRC considered approval of Honeywell's
renewal request, but for a duration of less than 40 years (the
``reduced duration alternative''). Honeywell would continue operating
for a period of less than 40 years, resulting in potential impacts that
would be similar to or less than the impacts of the proposed action.
IV. Draft Finding of No Significant Impact
In accordance with NEPA and 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has
conducted an environmental review of Honeywell's request to renew NRC
source materials license SUB-526 to allow Honeywell to continue its
uranium conversion operations. Based on its environmental review of the
proposed action, as documented in the draft EA, the NRC staff
preliminarily determined that granting the requested license renewal
would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment.
Therefore, the NRC staff makes its preliminary determination, pursuant
to 10 CFR 51.31, that the preparation of an environmental impact
statement (EIS) is not required for the proposed action and a FONSI is
appropriate.
The draft FONSI and supporting draft EA are a preliminary analysis
of the environmental impacts of the proposed action and its
alternatives. Based on comments received on the draft FONSI and draft
EA, the staff may publish a final FONSI and final EA, or instead may
find that preparation of an EIS is warranted should significant impacts
resulting from the proposed action be identified. Should an EIS be
warranted, a Notice of Intent to prepare the EIS will be published in
the Federal Register.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.33(a), the NRC staff is making the draft
FONSI and draft EA available for public review and comment.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of October 2018.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian W. Smith,
Acting Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and
Environmental Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018-23781 Filed 10-30-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
