[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 200 (Wednesday, October 16, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55339-55341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-22550]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-3392; NRC-2017-0143]
Honeywell, International, Inc.; Metropolis Works Uranium
Conversion Facility
AGENCY: 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 issuing an
environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact
(FONSI) for the proposed renewal of NRC source materials license SUB-
526 for Honeywell, International, Inc.'s Metropolis Works uranium
conversion facility. The final EA, ``Final Environmental Assessment for
the Proposed Renewal of Source Materials License SUB-526, Metropolis
Works Uranium Conversion Facility (Massac County, Illinois),''
documents the NRC staff's environmental review of the license renewal
application.
DATES: The final EA is available on October 16, 2019.
[[Page 55340]]
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0143 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 Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0143. Address
questions about NRC docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Anne Frost;
telephone: 301-287-9232; 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 https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 final EA is available in ADAMS
under Accession No. ML19273A012.
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: Christine Pineda, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6789; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering a request for the renewal of Honeywell
International, Inc.'s (Honeywell's) source materials license SUB-526,
which authorizes Honeywell to operate a uranium hexafluoride processing
(or uranium conversion) plant at the Metropolis Works Facility, located
near Metropolis, in Massac County, Illinois. The facility was
constructed in 1958, and uranium hexafluoride was first produced for
several years beginning in 1959 for the U.S. Government. In 1968, the
facility began producing uranium hexafluoride for commercial purposes.
In accordance with the NRC's regulations in part 51 of title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Environmental Protection
Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,''
that implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as
amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the NRC staff has prepared a
final EA documenting its environmental review of the license renewal
application (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML17048A243, ML17048A244, and
ML18029A119). The NRC published a notice of availability of the draft
EA in the Federal Register on October 31, 2018 (83 FR 54787). The
public comment period for the draft EA closed on November 30, 2018.
Summaries of and responses to public comments on the draft EA are
provided in Appendix B of the final EA.
II. Summary of Environmental Assessment
The final EA is publicly-available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML19273A012, or at this link: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1927/ML19273A012.pdf. A summary description of the proposed action and
expected environmental impacts is provided below.
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed Federal action is approval of Honeywell's license
renewal request, which if granted would allow Honeywell to continue
conversion of uranium ore concentrates, also known as yellowcake, to
uranium hexafluoride. The proposed action analyzed in the final EA
accounts for a renewed license term of 40 years, which is the term
Honeywell has requested. The proposed action and proposed license
conditions would allow Honeywell to continue to receive, possess,
store, use, and ship source material. Honeywell would continue the
conversion of uranium ore concentrates to uranium hexafluoride at an
authorized capacity of 15,000 metric tons (16,535 tons). Honeywell
would continue to ship the uranium hexafluoride product to enrichment
facilities for processing into enriched uranium.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
In the final EA, the NRC staff assessed the potential environmental
impacts from the proposed license renewal associated with the following
resource areas: Land use; geology and soils; water resources;
ecological resources; cultural resources; air quality; socioeconomics;
environmental justice; scenic and visual resources; public and
occupational health; transportation; and waste management. 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 determined that continued Honeywell operations would
not result in significant environmental impacts, as described in the
EA. The staff concluded that approval of the proposed action would not
result in a significant increase in short-term or long-term
radiological risk to public health or the environment. Furthermore, the
NRC staff found that the incremental impacts from the proposed action,
when added to the impacts of other past, present, and reasonably
foreseeable future actions, would not contribute significantly to
cumulative environmental impacts.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As one alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
denial of Honeywell's license renewal request (i.e., the ``no-action''
alternative). Under the no-action alternative, Honeywell would need to
stop operations permanently and submit a decommissioning plan for NRC
review and approval. This would entail an environmental review to
assess the potential impacts associated with the proposed
decommissioning action. The NRC determined for this EA that the
potential environmental impacts of the no-action alternative (prior to
decommissioning) would not be significant.
As another alternative, the NRC considered approval of Honeywell's
renewal request, but for a duration of less than 40 years (the
``reduced duration alternative''). Honeywell would continue operating
for a period of less than 40 years, resulting in potential impacts that
would be similar to or less than the impacts of the proposed action.
III. Final Finding of No Significant Impact
In accordance with NEPA and 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has
conducted an environmental review of Honeywell's request to renew NRC
source materials license SUB-526 to allow Honeywell to continue its
uranium conversion operations. Based on its environmental review of the
proposed action, as documented in the final EA, the NRC staff
determined that granting the requested license renewal would not
significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore,
the NRC staff makes its final determination, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31,
that the preparation of an environmental impact statement is not
required for the proposed action and a FONSI is appropriate.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of October 2019.
[[Page 55341]]
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Kathryn M. Brock,
Acting Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and
Environmental Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2019-22550 Filed 10-15-19; 8:45 am]
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