[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59748-59749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24268]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 040-8027; NRC-2010-0306]
Notice of License Amendment for the Sequoyah Fuels Corporation's
Facility at Gore, OK
AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Action.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken Kalman, Project Manager,
Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing Directorate, Division of
Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; Telephone: (301) 415-
6664; fax number (301) 415-5369; e-mail: kenneth.kalman@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuance of a license amendment to Sequoyah Fuels Corporation (SFC or
licensee) for License No. SUB-1010. This action would authorize SFC to
implement the groundwater corrective action plan (CAP) proposed for its
site in Gore, Oklahoma. SFC's proposal for the CAP was first submitted
to the NRC by letter dated June 16, 2003, and was supplemented by
additional information submitted to the NRC by letters dated, December
16, 2005, July 2, 2009, and July 31, 2009. By letter dated August 18,
2010, SFC submitted a June 14, 2010, revision of the CAP that
encompasses all supplements in a single document. NRC previously issued
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in support of this action in
accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. See NUREG-1888,
``Environmental Impact Statement for the Reclamation of the Sequoyah
Fuels Corporation Site in Gore, Oklahoma,'' issued May 2008.
II. Proposed Action
The purpose of this proposed CAP is to remediate existing
groundwater contamination and to facilitate the eventual termination of
License No. SUB-1010. This CAP is part of an overall site reclamation
program described in SFC's Reclamation Plan (RP) dated January 2003.
SFC's RP was reviewed and approved by NRC on April 20, 2009 (License
Amendment 33). Whereas the RP primarily addresses the site
decommissioning, disposal cell construction, and surface reclamation,
the CAP addresses residual contamination in groundwater.
III. NRC Review
The NRC staff reviewed the CAP and supporting documents using
Section 4.0 of NUREG-1620, ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of a
Reclamation Plan for Mill Tailings Sites Under Title II of the Uranium
Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978,'' Rev. 1, issued June
2003. The staff's review process included evaluating the site
hydrogeology particularly with respect to the locations and types of
groundwater restoration structures. Effectiveness of the proposed
action was then evaluated by reviewing flow and transport models, as
well as actual volume and concentration data from the current
structures. Finally, the staff reviewed groundwater flow and
contaminant transport models to evaluate the long-term groundwater
contaminant concentrations and pollutant loads during and after
corrective actions are completed.
SFC's CAP specifies the use of interceptor trenches and recovery
wells placed in hydrologically strategic positions to intercept
groundwater contamination remaining onsite. The CAP does not draw back
any contamination that has passed the extraction points. Consequently,
the CAP allows small pollutant loads (defined as pollutant
concentration x volumetric flow) to enter the surface water system.
However, NRC staff determined that the pollutant loads to surface water
pose little threat to human health and safety and the environment. A
Safety Evaluation Report (SER) dated September 20, 2010 (ML101170749)
documents the NRC staff's technical review of the CAP to determine its
compliance with 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A.
SFC's request for the proposed amendment was previously noticed in
the Federal Register (68 FR 51033; Aug. 25, 2003) with a notice of an
opportunity to request a hearing. The State of Oklahoma and the
Cherokee Nation submitted requests for hearing on September 29, 2003
and October 2, 2003, respectively. Both requests were subsequently
denied on November 19, 2003. No other comments or requests for a
hearing were received.
The Final EIS for the Reclamation of the Sequoyah Fuels Corporation
Site in Gore, Oklahoma (NUREG-1888) was issued on May 20, 2008. The EIS
documented the NRC staff's determination that all steps in the proposed
reclamation could be accomplished in compliance with the NRC public and
occupational dose limits, effluent release limits, and residual
radioactive material limits. In addition, the EIS concluded that
approval of the proposed action, in accordance with the commitments in
NRC License SUB-1010 and the final RP, would not result in a
significant adverse impact on the environment.
The findings, required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended, necessary to support the proposed site reclamation activities
will be documented in an SER that will be issued in connection with
this license amendment.
IV. Further Information
Documents related to this action, including the application for
amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agency-wide
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession
[[Page 59749]]
numbers for the documents related to this notice are:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NRC
Document PDR* Web ADAMS Staff
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SFC's letter to NRC dated June X..... X..... ML031710029..... X
16, 2003.
SFC's letter to NRC dated X..... X..... ML053560158..... X
December 16, 2005.
SFC's letter to NRC dated July X..... X..... ML092040088..... X
2, 2009.
SFC's letter to NRC dated July X..... X..... ML092240691..... X
31, 2009.
SFC's letter to NRC dated X..... X..... ML102380151..... X
August 18, 2010.
NUREG-1888, ``Environmental X..... X..... ML081300103..... X
Impact Statement for the
Reclamation of the Sequoyah
Fuels Corporation Site in
Gore, Oklahoma,'' issued May
2008.
Notice of Receipt of License X..... X..... ML032310041..... X
Amendment Request from the
Sequoyah Fuels Corp. to
Approve a Groundwater
Monitoring Plan for Its Gore,
Oklahoma Facility, and
Opportunity to Request a
Hearing August 25, 2003 (68
FR 51033).
Federal Register Notice for X..... X..... ML101170703..... X
this license amendment.
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* PDR--Public Document Room
If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public
Document Room Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-
mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov.
Any questions should be referred to Kenneth Kalman, Division of
Waste Management and Environmental Protection, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Mailstop T-7E18, telephone (301) 415-
6664, fax (301) 415-5369.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of September, 2010.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Paul Michalak,
Acting Deputy Director, Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection,
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2010-24268 Filed 9-27-10; 8:45 am]
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