80 FR 14416 - URENCO USA, Uranium Enrichment Facility

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 53 (March 19, 2015)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering approval of the URENCO USA (UUSA) license amendment request 12-10 (LAR- 12-10) that would authorize capacity expansion of the UUSA enrichment facility near Eunice, New Mexico. In addition the NRC is considering approval of related UUSA license amendment requests that would authorize increases in the mass possession limits for natural, depleted, and enriched uranium; and would authorize use of a modified enrichment process to utilize depleted uranium as the feed material.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 53 (Thursday, March 19, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14416-14417]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06334]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 070-3103; NRC-2013-0044]


URENCO USA, Uranium Enrichment Facility

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact; 
issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
approval of the URENCO USA (UUSA) license amendment request 12-10 (LAR-
12-10) that would authorize capacity expansion of the UUSA enrichment 
facility near Eunice, New Mexico. In addition the NRC is considering 
approval of related UUSA license amendment requests that would 
authorize increases in the mass possession limits for natural, 
depleted, and enriched uranium; and would authorize use of a modified 
enrichment process to utilize depleted uranium as the feed material.

DATES: The environmental assessment and finding of no significant 
impact referenced in this document is available on March 19, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0044 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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0044. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Ms. Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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 http://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]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced.
     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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Asimios Malliakos, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6458; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering approval of the UUSA LAR-12-10 (a publicly-
available version is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML12319A591), and UUSA's supplemental license amendment request (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML14171A092). The NRC's approval would authorize capacity 
expansion of the UUSA enrichment facility that operates near Eunice, 
New Mexico. LAR-12-10 and the supplemental request were submitted by 
URENCO USA (formerly Louisiana Energy Services, LLC), requesting 
amendment of its special nuclear material (SNM) License SNM-2010, under 
which UUSA operates its gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility. The 
NRC's approval would increase the authorized mass possession limits for 
natural, depleted, and enriched uranium, and would authorize use of a 
modified enrichment process to utilize depleted uranium as the feed 
material. The NRC staff has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML15072A016) of the proposed actions, in 
accordance with the requirements in Part 51 of Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR). Both LAR-12-10 and UUSA's June 2014, 
supplemental license amendment request were considered in the EA 
prepared by the NRC staff.
    The NRC staff's safety evaluation of the proposed actions will be 
documented in a separate Safety Evaluation Report (SER). If the 
proposed actions are approved, the NRC will issue to UUSA an amended 
SNM-2010 license following the publication of this notice, and the 
amended license will be made publicly available.

II. Environmental Assessment

    On September 10, 2012, UUSA submitted an Environmental Report (ER) 
(ADAMS Accession Nos. ML12262A539 and ML12262A540) that forms a basis 
for the NRC's EA of the proposed actions. On November 9, 2012, UUSA 
submitted the associated LAR-12-10 to expand the production capacity of 
the UUSA facility. Subsequent to LAR-12-10, UUSA submitted a 
supplemental license amendment request on June 17, 2014. The June 2014 
submittal requested an increase in the authorized mass possession 
limits for natural, depleted, and enriched uranium. In addition, the 
June 2014 submittal requested authorization to use a modified 
enrichment process that would utilize depleted uranium instead of 
natural uranium as the feed material.
    The NRC staff has assessed the potential environmental impacts 
associated with the 2012 and 2014 license amendment requests, as well 
as the no action alternative, and has documented the results in the EA. 
The NRC staff performed its environmental review in accordance with the 
requirements in 10 CFR part 51. In addition to the ER, the NRC staff 
also considered information received from a request for additional 
information (RAI); communications with the New Mexico State Historic 
Preservation Office (SHPO); the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish; 
information gathered from an NRC site visit; consultation with Native 
American Tribes, local governments and agencies officials; as well as 
information from independent analysis.
    In the EA, the NRC staff evaluated the potential environmental 
impacts of the proposed action and the no action alternative on the 
affected environment. The resource areas evaluated include: land use; 
historical and cultural resources; visual and scenic resources; 
climatology, meteorology, and air quality; geology, minerals, and 
soils; water resources; ecological resources; socioeconomics; 
environmental justice; noise; transportation; public and occupational 
health and safety; and waste management.
    Additionally, the NRC staff analyzed the potential cumulative 
impacts from past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions 
when combined with the environmental

[[Page 14417]]

impacts from the proposed action. The NRC staff concluded that there 
would not be significant adverse cumulative impacts to any resource 
area.
    Based on its review of the proposed action relative to the 
requirements set forth in 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has determined 
that the amendment to NRC License SNM-2010, authorizing capacity 
expansion of UUSA's uranium enrichment facility near Eunice, New 
Mexico, would not significantly affect the quality of the human 
environment.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

    Based on its review of the proposed action, in accordance with the 
requirements in 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has concluded that the 
proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of 
the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined not to 
prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of March, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Marissa G. Bailey,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental 
Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2015-06334 Filed 3-18-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P