[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 84 (Monday, May 4, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20508-20509]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10141]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-7015; NRC-2009-0187]
Notice of Intent and Opportunity to Provide Written Comments
AREVA Enrichment Services LLC Eagle Rock Enrichment, Idaho Falls, ID
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: AREVA Enrichment Services (AES) LLC submitted the original
license application on December 30, 2008, that proposes the
construction, operation and decommissioning of a gas centrifuge uranium
enrichment facility to be located near Idaho Falls, Idaho. On April 24,
2009, AREVA resubmitted the application to request an enrichment
capacity increase. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and 10 CFR
Part 51, announces its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) evaluating this proposed action. The EIS will examine
the potential environmental impacts of the proposed facility.
DATES: NRC invites public comments on the appropriate scope of issues
to be considered in the EIS. The public scoping process begins with
publication of this NOI. Written comments submitted by mail should be
postmarked by no later than June 19, 2009, to ensure consideration.
Comments mailed after that date will be considered to the extent
practical. The NRC will conduct a public scoping meeting in Idaho Falls
to assist in defining the appropriate scope of the EIS, and to help
identify the significant environmental issues that need to be addressed
in detail. The meeting date, times and location are listed below:
Meeting date: June 4, 2009.
Meeting location: Shilo Inn, 780 Lindsay Boulevard, Idaho
Falls, Idaho 83402.
Scoping meeting time: 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Members of the public are invited and encouraged to submit
written comments regarding the appropriate scope and content of the
EIS. Comments may be sent to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch,
Mail Stop TWB-05-B01, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001. Please note Docket No. 70-7015 when submitting comments.
Also comments may be sent electronically to nrc.gov">EagleRock.EIS@nrc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general or technical information
associated with the license review of the AES application, please
contact Breeda Reilly at (301) 492-3110. For general information on the
NRC NEPA or the environmental review process related to the AES
application, please contact Gloria Kulesa at (301) 415-5308.
Information and documents associated with the AES project,
including the license application (submitted on December 30, 2008), are
available for public review through our electronic reading room: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and on the NRC's AREVA Eagle Rock
Enrichment Facility Web page: http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/arevanc.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
AES submitted a license application and an Environmental Report for
a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility to the NRC on December 30,
2008. The NRC will evaluate the potential environmental impacts
associated with the proposed enrichment facility in parallel with the
review of the license application. This environmental evaluation will
be documented in draft and final EISs in accordance with NEPA and NRC's
implementing regulations contained in 10 CFR part 51.
If NRC later finds AES' complete license application to be
acceptable for review, a Notice of Hearing and Opportunity to Petition
for Leave to Intervene will be published in a future Federal Register
notice. The purpose of the present notice is to inform the public that
the NRC staff will prepare an EIS as part of the review of the
application, and to encourage the public to participate in the
environmental scoping process as defined in 10 CFR 51.29.
2.0 AREVA Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility
The facility, if licensed, would enrich uranium for use in
manufacturing commercial nuclear fuel for use in power reactors. Feed
material would be natural (not enriched) uranium in the form of uranium
hexafluoride (UF6) which contains the uranium-235 isotope.
AES proposes to use centrifuge technology to enrich this isotope in the
UF6 to up to 5 percent by weight. The centrifuge would
operate at below atmospheric pressure. The capacity of the plant would
be up to 6.6 million separative work units (SWU) (SWU relates to a
measure of the work used to enrich uranium). The enriched
UF6 would be transported to a fuel fabrication facility. The
depleted UF6 would be stored on site until it is sold,
disposed of commercially, or taken by the Department of Energy.
3.0 Alternatives to be Evaluated
No-Action--The no-action alternative would be to not build the
proposed gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility. Under this
alternative, the NRC would not approve the license application. This
serves as a baseline for comparison.
Proposed Action--The proposed action involves the construction,
operation, and decommissioning of a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment
facility located near Idaho Falls, Idaho. The applicant would be issued
an NRC license under the provisions of 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, and 70.
Other alternatives not listed here may be identified through the
scoping process.
4.0 Environmental Impact Areas to be Analyzed
The following areas have been tentatively identified for analysis
in the EIS:
Land Use: Plans, policies and controls;
[[Page 20509]]
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 view shed;
Socioeconomics: Demography, economic base, labor pool,
housing, transportation, utilities, public services/facilities,
education, recreation, and cultural resources;
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. The list is
presented to facilitate comments on the scope of the EIS. Additions to,
or deletions from this list may occur as a result of the public scoping
process.
5.0 Scoping Meeting
One purpose of this notice is to solicit public comments on the
proposed scope and content of the EIS. The NRC will hold a public
scoping meeting in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to solicit both oral and written
comments from interested parties. Scoping is an early and open process
designed to determine the range of actions, alternatives, and potential
impacts to be considered in the EIS and to identify significant issues
related to the proposed action. It is intended to solicit input from
the public and other agencies so that the analysis can be more clearly
focused on issues of genuine concern. The principal goals of the
scoping process are to:
Ensure that concerns are identified early and are properly
studied;
Identify alternatives that will be examined;
Identify significant issues that need to be analyzed;
Eliminate unimportant issues from detailed consideration;
and
Identify public concerns.
On June 4, 2009, the NRC will hold a public scoping meeting in
Idaho Falls to solicit both oral and written comments from interested
parties. The meeting will be transcribed to record public comments. The
meeting will begin with NRC staff providing a description of the NRC's
role and mission. A brief overview of the licensing process will be
followed by a brief description of the environmental review process.
Most of the meeting time will be allotted for attendees to make oral
comments.
In addition, the NRC staff will host informal discussions for one
hour prior to the start of the public meeting. No formal comments on
the proposed scope of the EIS will be accepted during the informal
discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the
transcribed public meeting or in writing, as discussed below.
Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the
scoping meeting by contacting Tarsha Moon at (301) 415-7843, or by
sending e-mail to nrc.gov">Tarsha.Moon@nrc.gov no later than May 28, 2009.
Members of the public may also register to speak at the meeting prior
to the start of the session. Individual oral comments may be limited by
the time available, depending on the number of persons who register.
Members of the public who have not registered may also have an
opportunity to speak, if time permits. If special equipment or
accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the
public meeting, please contact Tarsha Moon no later than May 21, 2009,
so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be
accommodated.
6.0 Scoping Comments
Members of the public may provide comments orally at the
transcribed public scoping meeting or in writing. Written comments may
be sent by e-mail to nrc.gov">EagleRock.EIS@nrc.gov or mailed to the address
listed above in the ADDRESSES Section.
At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC staff will
prepare a summary of public comments regarding the scope of the
environmental review and significant issues identified. NRC staff will
send this summary to each participant in the scoping process for whom
the staff has an address. This summary and project-related material
will be available for public review through our electronic reading
room: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The scoping meeting
summaries and project-related materials will also be available on the
NRC's AREVA Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility Web page: http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/arevanc.html.
7.0 The NEPA Process
The EIS for the AES facility will be prepared pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the NRC's NEPA
Regulations at 10 CFR Part 51. After the scoping process is complete,
the NRC and its contractor will prepare and publish a draft EIS. A 45-
day comment period on the draft EIS is planned, and public meetings to
receive comments will be held approximately three weeks after
publication of the draft EIS. Availability of the draft EIS, the dates
of the public comment period, and information about the public meetings
will be announced in the Federal Register, on NRC's AREVA Eagle Rock
Enrichment Facility Web page, and in the local news media. The final
EIS will include responses to any comments received on the draft EIS.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of April 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. E9-10141 Filed 5-1-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P