[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67416-67417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-33549]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-08968]
Hydro Resources, Inc.; Issuance of the Safety Evaluation Report
for the Crownpoint Uranium Solution Mining Project, Crownpoint, NM
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has issued
its Safety Evaluation Report (SER), dated December 1997, for Hydro
Resources, Inc.'s (HRI's) proposed Crownpoint Uranium Solution Mining
Project at Crownpoint, NM. The SER documents the NRC staff's safety
review of the project. The SER and the Crownpoint
[[Page 67417]]
Uranium Mining Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS),
dated February 1997 (NUREG-1508), provide the basis for NRC's decision
to issue a 10 CFR Part 40 source material license to HRI. The staff
will issue a license to HRI 30 days from issuance of the SER. The
license will authorize HRI to construct and operate in situ leach (ISL)
mining facilities at the Crownpoint Project for a period of five years.
In preparing the SER, the NRC staff reviewed HRI's license application
submittals and its Consolidated Operations Plan, Revision 2.0 (dated
August 15, 1997), against the applicable regulations in 10 CFR parts
19, 20, 40, and 71. The SER supports the NRC staff's finding that
issuing the license to HRI will be in accordance with the
aforementioned regulations, and with all applicable safety requirements
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (AEA), as amended.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Robert D. Carlson of the Uranium Recovery Branch, Mail Stop TWFN 7-
J9, Division of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555.
Telephone (301) 415-8165; e-mail [email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 25, 1998, HRI submitted an
application to NRC proposing to construct and operate an ISL uranium
mining facility in McKinley County, near Church Rock, New Mexico. HRI
later amended its application to include additional ISL operations in
McKinley County, near an area of land referred to as Unit 1, and
Crownpoint, NM. Together, the three sites comprise HRI's Crownpoint
Uranium Solution Mining Project.
The NRC staff's environmental review of the Crownpoint Project is
documented in the FEIS, pursuant to CFR Part 51. The NRC staff
concluded that HRI's proposed Crownpoint Project was environmentally
acceptable, and that potential impacts of the proposed project could be
mitigated. These mitigative measures will be enumerated as conditions
in HRI's source materials license. Additionally, the NRC staff
completed its safety evaluation of the Crownpoint Project and
documented its review in the SER. Based on its review, the NRC staff
concluded that issuance of a source material license, with certain
conditions specified in the license, would not be inimical to the
common defense and security or to the public's health and safety, and
otherwise meets the requirements of 10 CFR parts 19, 20, 40, and 71,
and the AEA. The NRC staff's conclusions in the FEIS and SER provide
the bases for NRC's decision to tissue a source material license to HRI
30 days from issuance of the SER.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of December 1997.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph J. Holonich,
Chief, Uranium Recovery Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 97-33549 Filed 12-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 2590-01-M
