SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

By application dated August 12, 2022, as supplemented by letters dated October 14, 2022, September 27, 2023, and November 14, 2023, ACU submitted, pursuant to section 104c of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), “Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,” a CP application for the MSRR. A notice of receipt and availability of the CP application was published in the Federal Register (FR) on October 14, 2022 (87 FR 62463). A notice of the acceptability for docketing of the CP application was published in the FR on November 28, 2022 (87 FR 73051) as was a January 31, 2023, notice of opportunity to request a hearing and petition for leave to intervene (88 FR 6319). The NRC has prepared an EA as part of its review of the CP application in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51, “Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions.” Based on the results of the EA, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) and is issuing a FONSI. ( printed page 18679)

II. Environmental Assessment

The NRC issuance of a CP would constitute an authorization for ACU to proceed with the construction of the MSRR in the existing SERC building on the ACU campus in Abilene, Texas. The need for the MSRR is to conduct research on molten salt reactor technology. This would help to further the research of ACU's Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing Laboratory whose mission is to seek solutions to the world's need for energy, water, and medical isotopes by advancing the technology of molten salt reactors while educating future leaders in nuclear science and engineering. The MSRR would not produce electricity and would be the first university-based molten salt research reactor.

In the EA, the NRC staff assessed the potential direct and indirect environmental impacts from the proposed action associated with the following relevant resource areas: land use and visual resources; air quality and noise; hydrogeology and water resources; ecological resources; historic and cultural resources; socioeconomics and environmental justice; human health; nonradiological waste management; uranium fuel cycle and radiological waste management; transportation of radioactive material; postulated accidents; and climate change. 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 identified alternatives to the proposed action and the environmental impacts of the alternatives as appropriate. The NRC staff determined that the environmental impacts of the proposed action would be SMALL for each potentially affected environmental resource, meaning that the environmental effects are not detectable or are so minor that they will neither destabilize nor noticeably alter any important attribute of the resource. The NRC staff also determined that there are no alternatives that meet the need for the proposed action and that are environmentally preferrable to the proposed action.

The issuance of a CP is a separate licensing action from the issuance of an operating license (OL). If the NRC issues a CP for the MSRR and ACU were to seek NRC approval to operate the MSRR, then ACU would have to submit a separate application for an OL pursuant to the NRC's regulations, and ACU would have to obtain NRC approval before it could operate the MSRR. The NRC staff would review any application for an OL for the MSRR for new and significant information related to the environmental impacts of operating and decommissioning the MSRR that might alter the staff's conclusions made in the EA for the CP application.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

As required by 10 CFR 51.21, “Criteria for and identification of licensing and regulatory actions requiring environmental assessments,” the NRC prepared the EA. On the basis of the EA, the NRC concluded that the proposed action will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, “Determinations based on environmental assessment,” not to prepare an EIS for the proposed action.

IV. Availability of Documents

The following table identifies the EA and FONSI and related documents. The documents are available for public inspection online through ADAMS at https://www.nrc.gov/​reading-rm/​adams.html at the listed accession numbers.

89 FR 18678