[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 246 (Friday, December 23, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-31568] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: December 23, 1994] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 40-8681 (License No. 1358)] Energy Fuels Nuclear, Inc.; Issuance of Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206 Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (Director), has issued a decision concerning a Petition dated May 2, 1994, submitted by the Honorable Michael O. Leavitt, Governor of the State of Utah, and the Utah State Legislature pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206. The Petition requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission modify Source Material License No. SUA-1358 to limit authority of the Licensee, currently Energy Fuels Nuclear, Inc. (Umetco Minerals Corporation when the Petition was submitted), to dispose of Section 11.e.(2) material at the White Mesa Uranium Mill facility to 5,000 cubic yards per single source. The Petition also requested that the NRC confer with the State of Utah and provide opportunity for comment prior to the issuance of license amendments involving uranium mill tailings disposal in Utah. Finally, Petitioners requested that the NRC obtain the concurrence of the Governor and Legislature of the State of Utah before issuing license amendments involving disposal of uranium mill tailings in Utah. After review of the Petition, the Director has determined to grant Petitioners' request to modify Source Material License No. SUA-1358. Petitioners' request to confer with the State of Utah was granted insofar as the NRC shall provide to the State of Utah direct and Federal Register notice of significant materials license applications concerning NRC-licensed activity in the State of Utah, and thereby provide an opportunity to comment. Petitioners' request that the NRC obtain the concurrence of the State of Utah before taking licensing actions involving mill tailing disposal in the State of Utah was denied. The reasons for this Decision are explained in a ``Director's Decision Under 10 C.F.R. Sec. 2.206'' (DD-94-10), which is available for public inspection in the Commission's Public Document Room located at 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20555. A copy of this Decision will be filed with the Secretary for the Commission's review in accordance with 10 C.F.R. Sec. 2.206. As provided by this regulation, the Decision will constitute the final action of the Commission 25 days after the date of issuance of the Decision unless the Commission on its own motion institutes a review of the Decision within that time. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of December, 1994. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Robert M. Bernero, Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. Appendix A to this document--Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206 I. Introduction The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt, Governor of the State of Utah, and the Utah Legislature (Petitioners) submitted a letter dated May 2, 1994, and a copy of Utah Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 11, ``RESOLUTION REGARDING NRC ACTION REGARDING DISPOSAL OF URANIUM BY- PRODUCT 1994 GENERAL SESSION'' (Petition) pursuant to 10 CFR Sec. 2.206, in regard to Amendment No. 33 to Umetco Minerals Corporation (Umetco) Source Material License No. SUA-1348, which authorized disposal of up to 10,000 cubic yards (cy) of 11e.(2) byproduct material per in situ leach (ISL) facility per year at the White Mesa Uranium Mill facility. Petitioners request that the ``* * * NRC reconsider the license amendment issued to Umetco and modify the amendment to reflect the original request of 5,000 cubic yards [cy] [per in situ facility].'' Petitioners assert as the basis for this request that the NRC in effect created the equivalent of a commercial waste disposal facility for in situ mining waste unlicensed by Utah, while ignoring Utah's waste policy and laws. Petitioners also urge the NRC to confer with the State of Utah and provide opportunity for comment prior to the issuance of license amendments involving uranium mill tailings disposal in Utah. Finally, Petitioners request that the NRC obtain the concurrence of the Utah Governor and Legislature before issuing license amendments involving disposal of uranium mill tailings in Utah. By letter dated May 13, 1994, the State of Utah was notified that the Petition was under review and that a response would be provided in a timely manner. The Petition has been reviewed on its merits, and as a result of this review, for the reasons stated below, Petitioners' request to modify Source Material License No. SUA-1358 is granted. Petitioners' request that the NRC confer with Petitioners before taking action on future license amendments involving disposal of uranium mill tailings in Utah is granted, insofar as the NRC shall provide notice of significant materials licensing actions in the State of Utah, such as for authorization to dispose of in situ leach facility 11e.(2) byproduct material or for approval of significant changes to an approved reclamation plan, and thereby provide an opportunity to comment. Petitioners' request that the NRC obtain the concurrence of the State of Utah before issuing license amendments involving mill tailing disposal in the State of Utah is denied. II. Background On February 6, 1978, Energy Fuels Nuclear, Inc. (EFN) submitted an application for a source material license for the proposed White Mesa Mill. The NRC issued an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for White Mesa Mill in May 1979. In August of 1979, NRC issued Source Material License SUA-1358 to EFN. The White Mesa Mill operated on a continuous basis from August 1979 through February 1983 when operations were suspended. In January of 1984 Umetco purchased a controlling interest in the White Mesa Mill from EFN. The license was amended on December 5, 1984, to reflect the change in ownership and Umetco's status as the licensee. Production resumed in October 1985 and the White Mesa Mill has alternately operated and been on standby mode until the present time. EFN recently repurchased the controlling interest in the White Mesa Mill, and on May 25, 1994, the NRC staff issued License Amendment No. 35, authorizing the transfer of ownership to EFN, the current licensee. By letter dated May 20, 1993, Umetco submitted an application for a license amendment to authorize the receipt and disposal of 11e.(2) byproduct material from NRC-licensed and Agreement State-licensed in situ leach facilities. Byproduct material, under Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, is defined as ``the tailings or wastes produced by the extraction or concentration of uranium or thorium from any ore processed primarily for its source material content.'' Specifically, Umetco requested that Source Material License No. SUA-1358 be amended to authorize: disposal of not more than 5,000 cubic yards of 11e.(2) byproduct material per generating [in situ] licensee. If Umetco received a request to dispose of more than 5,000 cubic yards of 11e.(2) byproduct material, Umetco would notify URFO [NRC's Uranium Recovery Field Office\1\] in writing so that the appropriate review and approval could be received from the URFO staff prior to executing a contract [contract]. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\The Uranium Recovery Field Office closed on August 3, 1994 and the responsibility for uranium recovery licensing was transferred to the NRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, Division of Waste Management. The NRC staff reviewed Umetco's license amendment application and issued License Amendment 33 on August 2, 1993.\2\ License Amendment 33 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- authorized, through License Condition 55, the disposal of: \2\Envirocare of Utah, Inc. requested a hearing on License Amendment 33 which was denied on the grounds of timeliness. Umetco Minerals Corporation, Memorandum and Order, ASLBP No. 94-688-01-MLA- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 (March 4, 1994) byproduct material generated at licensed in situ leach facilities, subject to the following condition that: A. Disposal of [11e.(2) byproduct material] in excess of 10,000 cubic yards per year from single sources shall require specific approval from NRC. The NRC staff concluded that License Condition 55 would not result in significant impacts to the environment or to public health and safety. Further, the staff concluded that License Condition 55 was consistent with 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A, Section I, Criterion 2, which is intended to avoid the proliferation of small waste disposal sites, which would result if disposal in large tailings systems were not authorized. III. Discussion A. License Condition 55 Petitioners contend that License Condition 55, which allows Umetco to dispose of up to 10,000 cy of in situ leach 11e.(2) byproduct material per year at the White Mesa facility annually from any source, in effect creates the equivalent of a commercial disposal facility for in situ leach 11e.(2) byproduct material in Utah. Petitioners, therefore, requested that License Condition 55 be modified ``*** to reflect the original request of 5,000 cubic yards [per in situ facility].'' The NRC Staff agrees with the Petitioners that the Licensee's authorization to dispose of 11e.(2) byproduct material should be limited to the 5,000 cy per in situ leach facility requested by the Licensee. By way of background, however, it should be noted that License Amendment No. 33 authorized disposal of 11e.(2) byproduct material consistent with NRC regulations, which require that 11e.(2) byproduct material from in situ leach mines be disposed of at uranium mill tailings facilities. 10 C.F.R. Part 40, Appendix A, Section I, Criterion 2. Also, the byproduct material authorized for disposal at the White Mesa Mill represents only a subset of radioactive waste materials. Specifically, White Mesa Mill is authorized to dispose of only 11e.(2) byproduct material (mill tailings), and 11e.(2) byproduct material only from in situ leach facilities. Before EFN could dispose of 11e.(2) byproduct material other than that from its own operations or from in situ leach facilities, EFN would be required to seek licensing authority to do so. In addition, the 10,000 cubic yards per in situ leach facility per year authorized for disposal by License Amendment 33 at White Mesa Mill was insubstantial in comparison to the 2000 tons [1481 cy] per day for 15 years contemplated in the original licensing of White Mesa Mill. ``Final Environmental Statement Related to Operation of White Mesa Uranium Project'' (May 1979) NUREG 0556, p. iii. Although License Amendment No. 33 would not have resulted in the disposal of byproduct waste material in amounts approaching that contemplated at the time of the original license grant for the White Mesa Mill facility, License Condition 55 did authorize disposal of more 11e.(2) byproduct material than was requested by the Licensee. The NRC practice is, generally, to grant only the disposal authority requested by the license amendment application, and no more. During an October 20, 1994 discussion with the NRC staff, the Licensee agreed to issuance of an order to modify the License to reflect the application for authority to dispose of 5,000 cy of 11e.(2) byproduct material per in situ facility. Accordingly, for the reasons stated above, the License will be so modified by a ``Confirmatory Order Modifying License Condition 55'' to be issued concurrently with this Decision. B. Requests to Confer with and to Obtain Concurrence of Petitioners Petitioners request that the NRC confer with the State of Utah and provide opportunity to comment prior to the issuance of license amendments involving uranium mill tailing disposal in Utah. The same request was made previously by Mr. William J. Sinclair, Director of the Division Radiation Control, Utah Department of Environmental Quality, in his January 27, 1994, letter. In a February 25, 1994, response to Mr. Sinclair, the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, made several commitments designed to foster better communication with the State of Utah concerning NRC regulation of uranium tail processing mills in Utah. Specifically, the NRC committed to notify the State directly, in addition to the issuance of a Federal Register Notice (FRN), upon the receipt of, and also upon the final resolution of license amendment applications for significant materials licensing actions in the State of Utah, such as for authorization to dispose of in situ leach facility 11e.(2) byproduct material or for approval of significant changes to an approved reclamation plan.\3\ An FRN issued upon receipt of a significant license amendment application serves notice, under 10 CFR Sec. 2.1205(c)(1), that interested parties have 30 days to file a petition for hearing, and thus provides interested parties, such as the State of Utah, an opportunity to comment upon the license amendment application. The FRN issued at the final resolution of the license amendment is informational. In addition, where the license amendment application raises significant or controversial issues, NRC would be willing to attend public meetings, as appropriate. Accordingly, Petitioners' request for an opportunity to confer with the NRC and to comment before issuance of license amendments involving uranium mill tailing disposal in Utah is granted, to the extent indicated above. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \3\Although the NRC is not legally required to provide such notice, City of West Chicago v. NRC, 701 F.2d 632 (7th Cir. 1983), such notice would enhance communication with the State of Utah and material licensing decisions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- As explained above, the NRC will make every effort to obtain the views and comments of the State of Utah before taking action upon license applications for authority to dispose of uranium mill tailings in Utah. Although the NRC welcomes and will closely consider the State of Utah's comments, it would be inconsistent with the Sections 63, 81 and 84 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, to grant Petitioners' request that the NRC obtain the concurrence of the Governor and the Legislature of the State of Utah before issuing license amendments authorizing disposal of uranium mill tailings in Utah.\4\ Accordingly, this request is denied. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \4\Petitioners, nonetheless, may acquire authority to regulate Section 11e.(2) byproduct material, and thus to regulate the disposal of uranium mill tailings in Utah, through the agreement process pursuant to Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act, as amended. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Conclusion For the reasons discussed above, Petitioners' request to modify Source Material License No. SUA-1358 is granted, and will be effected by a ``Confirmatory Order Modifying License 55'' to be issued concurrently with this Decision. Petitioners' request that the NRC confer with the State of Utah before issuing license amendments involving mill tailing disposal in Utah is granted to the extent that both direct and Federal Register notice of all applications for significant materials licensing actions in Utah will be given to the State of Utah, thus providing the State of Utah with an opportunity to comment. Petitioners' request that the NRC obtain the State of Utah's concurrence before issuing license amendments concerning uranium mill tailing disposal in Utah is denied for the reasons discussed above. A copy of this Decision will be filed with the Secretary for the Commission to review as provided in 10 CFR Sec. 2.206(c). The Decision will become the final action of the Commission 25 days after issuance unless the Commission on its own motion, institutes review of the Decision in that time. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of December 1994. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Robert M. Bernero, Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. 94-31568 Filed 12-22-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P