[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 79 (Friday, April 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22100-22101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-910]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-8084]
Finding of No Significant Impact and Notice of Availability of
the Environmental Assessment Addressing A License Amendment Request To
Approve Rio Algom Mining Llc's Application for Alternate Concentration
Limits At Its Lisbon Uranium Mill Tailings Impoundment Located in San
Juan County, UT
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability of an environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Caverly, Fuel Cycle Facilities
Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Mail Stop T8-A33, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6699
and e-mail jsc1@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the
issuance of an amendment to Rio Algom Mining LLC's (Rio Algom) Source
Materials License SUA-1119. The proposed action would revise
groundwater protection standards from background to alternate
concentration limits (ACL) at its Lisbon Uranium Mill Tailings
Impoundment located in San Juan County, Utah. The licensee's
application for ACLs was made pursuant to 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A,
Criterion 5 B(6), by letter dated May 22, 2002, as revised by
additional information sent, at the staffs request, on January 7, 2004,
January 12, 2004, and February 19, 2004. This request was previously
noticed in the Federal Register on July 24, 2002 (67FR48495), with an
opportunity to provide written comments or to request a hearing.
Pursuant to the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51, Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory
Functions, the NRC has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) to
evaluate the environmental impacts associated with this request. Based
on this evaluation, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate for the proposed licensing
action.
II. EA Summary
The EA was prepared to evaluate the environmental impacts
associated with Rio Algom's application for ACLs for groundwater at its
Lisbon uranium mill facility. Approving this action will result in the
cessation of active groundwater remediation (pump and treat), allowing
groundwater contamination at the site to migrate and naturally degrade
over time and distance. ACLs for this groundwater will be protective at
the site boundary. In addition, a post-remediation groundwater
monitoring program will assure that protection of human health and the
environment is maintained.
As indicated in the ACL application and the response to the staff's
request for additional information (RAI), Rio Algom proposes the
following revised standards (ACL) at the Point of Compliance
(monitoring location):
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arsenic (mg/ Molybdenum Selenium (mg/ Uranium (mg/
Aquifer L) (mg/L) L) L)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southern........................................ 3.06 23.34 0.93 96.87
Northern........................................ 2.63 58.43 0.10 101.58
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Rio Algom asserts that it has met the Federal requirements under 10
CFR part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 5 for ACLs. It has included fate and
transport modeling to demonstrate that groundwater contaminant levels
will degrade to acceptable levels prior to migrating to the point of
exposure (POE), i.e., property boundary. At this point, an exposure
assessment indicates that the human dose from all viable pathways will
not exceed the criteria in subpart E of 10 CFR part 20 (25 mrem/year).
Additionally, a corrective action assessment indicates that the ACL
approach is the only economical alternative that will be protective of
human health and the environment.
The NRC staff has reviewed this request in accordance with the
requirements under 10 CFR part 40,
[[Page 22101]]
Appendix A, Criterion 5 and NRC guidance NUREG-1620 Rev 1, ``Standard
Review Plan for Review of a Reclamation Plan for Mill Tailings Sites
Under Title II of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of
1978.''
Groundwater flow and transport modeling from Rio Algom estimates
that only uranium will migrate past the property boundary above
background levels for the above stated constitutents during the 1,000
year compliance period. The maximum estimated uranium concentration in
the groundwater will be 0.32 mg/L at the property boundary. Rio Algom
has included flow and transport modeling to demonstrate that
groundwater contaminant levels will degrade to acceptable levels prior
to migrating to the POE, i.e, the property boundary.
Based on groundwater fate and transport modeling, water quality and
use will not be impacted by the proposed action because the State of
Utah has determined that the aquifer can be classified as a Class III,
Limited Use Groundwater Aquifer under Utah Administrative Code R317-6-
3.6, due to the background concentrations found in License Conditions
53B and 53C. This characterization was confirmed in a letter from the
State of Utah to the U.S. NRC dated January 12, 2004. Modeling
indicates that of the hazardous constituents in the groundwater
contaminant plume (arsenic, selenium, molybdenum, and uranium) only
uranium will migrate past the long-term care boundary. It is estimated
that the uranium plume will intersect the boundary in approximately 500
to 1000 years but will be at levels consistent with the class of use
and will not present a significant risk to human health or the
environment. The long-term groundwater monitoring program will monitor
levels within the plume and downgradient of the plume to assure
protection of human health and the environment to confirm that model
predictions are correct.
The State of Utah also indicated in an e-mail dated January 13,
2004, that the proposed ACL approach satisfies Utah State Rule R317-6-
15 and will meet the requirements of a Class III-limited Use Aquifer.
The ACL will be an acceptable corrective action if the uranium
groundwater concentrations at the POE do not exceed a human dose of 25
mrem/year (10 CFR part 20, subpart E). Therefore, performing an
exposure assessment at the POE conforms with guidance in NUREG-1620,
section 4.3.3.2 which states that ``exposure pathways should be
identified and evaluated using water classification and water use
standards, along with existing and anticipated water uses.''
The results of Rio Algom's exposure assessment (including its
bounding analyses) and the NRC staff's confirmatory analysis indicate
that the dose to the critical group, i.e., the offsite rancher, at the
POE from site-generated uranium should not exceed 25 mrem/year, which
conforms to the NRC criteria for unrestricted release of sites with
residual radioactivity in 10 CFR part 20.1402.
Rio Algom conducted a corrective action assessment to identify
potential remedial alternatives for the restoration of site
groundwater, and to determine the costs and benefits associated with
various remedial actions. Rio Algom believes that the only economically
viable alternative is natural attenuation because the cost benefit
ratios associated with active remedial alternatives are far too great
to justify their implementation. Additionally, Rio Algom believes that
the proposed action is necessary because it is technically
impracticable and economically infeasible to remediate the groundwater
to the background levels required by its License Condition 53. The NRC
staff has reviewed and agrees with these conclusions.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Pursuant to 10 CFR part 51, the NRC has prepared the EA, summarized
above. The staff has determined that no significant environmental
impacts are expected when groundwater pump and treat programs are
terminated. There will be no significant impacts to the surface
features and therefore, no effect on wildlife.
Constituents in the groundwater will migrate off site but will not
pose any significant impact to the environment because attenuation of
the constituents will be at levels that are consistent with the aquifer
class of use as designated by the State of Utah. A dose model verified
that the constituents in the groundwater will not cause additional risk
to human health or the environment.
The proposed NRC approval of the action when combined with known
effects on resource areas at the site, including further site
remediation, is not anticipated to result in any cumulative impacts at
the sites. Therefore, the NRC staff has concluded that there will be no
significant environmental impacts on the quality of the human
environment and, accordingly, the staff has determined that preparation
of an Environmental Impact Statement is not warranted.
IV. Further Information
The EA for this proposed action, as well as the licensee's request,
as supplemented and revised, are available electronically for public
inspection and copying from the Publicly Available Records (PARS)
component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from
the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The ADAMS
Accession Numbers for the licensee's request, as supplemented and
revised, are: ML021710023, ML021710056, ML021710083, ML021710139,
ML021710181, ML021710189, ML021710450, ML021710605, and ML021750010.
The ADAMS Accession number for the EA is ML040990712. Most of the
documents referenced in the EA are also available through ADAMS.
Documents can also be viewed electronically on the public computers
located at the NRC's Public Document Room, O1 F21, One White Flint
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction
contractor will copy documents for a fee. Persons who do not have
access to ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by
telephone at l-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to
pdr@nrc.gov.
Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of April, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jill Caverly,
Project Manager, Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle
Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E4-910 Filed 4-22-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P