[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 13, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42071-42072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20585]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 040-8027]
Notice of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant
Impact Related to Amendment of Materials License No. SUB-1010 For the
Sequoyah Fuels Corporation, Gore, Oklahoma
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a license
amendment request, submitted by the Sequoyah Fuels Corporation (SFC).
The proposed action is to abandon certain groundwater monitoring wells
at SFC's Gore, Oklahoma, facility, and to replace these groundwater
monitoring points, specified in the license, with existing wells of
better construction that produce more reliable data.
Summary of the Environmental Assessment
By license amendment application dated October 3, 1994, SFC
requested changes to the license for its Sequoyah facility at Gore,
Oklahoma. This amendment to the license is needed to implement the well
plugging and abandonment described in Section 8 of the Groundwater
Monitoring Interim Measures (GMIM) Workplan approved by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on December 15, 1993, under the
Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) signed August 3, 1993. This
license amendment request was revised by the licensee by letter dated
February 9, 1996, in response to staff comments dated December 8, 1995.
The proposed action is necessary so that SFC can permanently
abandon, and remove from the license, 35 groundwater monitoring wells
that may not provide reliable information and may serve as a conduit
for the movement of contaminants between groundwater zones. These wells
will be replaced in the license with 24 more recently installed, better
constructed wells. This action is intended to reduce the potential for
contamination between groundwater zones at the SFC site and provide for
the monitoring of groundwater wells that yield more reliable data.
None of the wells proposed to be plugged are in areas of current
uranium contamination in the groundwater. Therefore, it is not expected
that the plugging operation will result in the generation of
contaminated material or effluents. However, the GMIM Workplan states
that all material removed from each hole will be managed in compliance
with all State and Federal regulations and facility procedures. SFC is
expected to follow its environmental and radiation protection programs
for the removal and plugging of the wells described in the amendment
request.
The environmental impact associated with the preferred alternative
is minimal. The well abandonment procedure is similar to installing a
new well. There is the generation of soil, well cuttings, and old well
casing. If none of this material is impacted by radioactive or
hazardous substances, the material removed from the wells can be
handled as solid waste. As stated previously, the GMIM Workplan states
that all material removed from the abandoned wells will be managed in
compliance with all State and Federal regulations and facility
procedures. Therefore, if the licensee determines that the material
removed from any of the boreholes is contaminated with radioactivity,
above the action levels in the license, the material must be handled
and disposed of in accordance with NRC regulations and SFC's license.
In addition, the GMIM Workplan is being implemented under an AOC that
the licensee has with EPA. Therefore, material removed from the
abandoned wells that is contaminated with hazardous constituents will
be handled in accordance with EPA regulations.
The removal of these old wells from service and plugging of the
boreholes may have a positive impact on the environment if, because of
poor construction, the old wells could serve as potential pathways for
migration of contaminants between groundwater zones. The NRC staff
believes that the proposed replacement wells will provide an acceptable
level of groundwater monitoring capability based on well location and
depth in relation to known and potential sources of groundwater
contamination.
The NRC staff identified alternatives other than the preferred
alternative of abandonment and replacement of the identified
groundwater monitoring wells. The alternatives are as follows: (1) No
action; (2) abandonment with no replacement; and (3) no abandonment but
with replacement. None of the alternatives meet the dual purpose of the
preferred alternative of replacing unreliable monitoring points with
more reliable ones and reducing the possibility for migration of
contaminants between groundwater zones through the old well boreholes.
Therefore, the staff believes that the proposed alternative provides
the optimum level of protection of the environment, among the various
alternatives.
Based on evaluation of SFC's well abandonment and replacement plan,
NRC staff determined that SFC's proposal complies with NRC's
regulations, and that authorizing the license amendment would not be a
major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human
environment. The NRC staff concludes that a finding of no significant
impact is justified and appropriate and that an environmental impact
statement is not required. Notice of consideration of this amendment
request and opportunity for hearing was published in the Federal
Register (59 FR 55716, November 8, 1994). No hearing was requested.
Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on the findings in the environmental assessment, the NRC
staff has determined that, under the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969, as amended, and NRC's regulations in 10 CFR Part 51,
authorizing this license amendment would not be a major Federal action
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, and
therefore an environmental impact statement is not required. The NRC
staff concludes that a finding of no significant impact is justified
and appropriate.
Further Information
For additional information with respect to the proposed action, see
the licensee's request for license amendment dated October 3, 1994, and
supplementary information, the safety evaluation report, and the
environmental assessment which are available for inspection at the
NRC's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW, Washington, DC.
For further information, contact James Shepherd, Division of Waste
Management, USNRC, Mailstop T-7F27, Washington, DC 20555-0001,
Telephone: (301) 415-6712.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of August 1996.
[[Page 42072]]
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael F. Weber,
Chief, Low-Level Waste and Decommissioning Projects Branch, Division of
Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 96-20585 Filed 8-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
