NRC: News Release - 2009-135 - NRC Announces Hearing Opportunity, Public Meetings in Hawaii on U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Munitions


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No. 09-135

August 17, 2009

NOTE: CORRECTED TO REFLECT VENUE AND TIME CHANGE
FOR AUG. 24 MEETING

NRC ANNOUNCES HEARING OPPORTUNITY, PUBLIC MEETINGS IN
HAWAII ON U.S. ARMY DEPLETED URANIUM MUNITIONS
Printable Version

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a notice of opportunity to request a hearing on a license application from the U.S. Army for possession of depleted uranium at two installations in Hawaii where depleted uranium remains from munitions training during the 1960s.

Enough depleted uranium remains on the sites to require an NRC possession license and environmental monitoring and physical security programs to ensure protection of the public and the environment.

NRC staff will hold public meetings in Oahu on Aug. 24 and 25, in Kona on Aug. 26 and Hilo on Aug. 27, to explain how the agency will review the Army’s license application and – if the license is subsequently granted – monitor and enforce the license to ensure there is no danger to public health and safety or the environment. Finally, the agency is requesting public comment on the Army’s plan.

In the 1960s, the Army used M101 spotting rounds made with depleted uranium in training soldiers with the Davy Crockett recoilless gun. The M101 rounds were used at proving grounds at Schofield Barracks on Oahu and the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Island of Hawaii until 1968. Fragments of expended rounds remain on the ground in impact areas of those training ranges.

Following a site visit to Schofield Barracks on Aug. 24, NRC staff will conduct a meeting with Army representatives at Wahiawa District Park – Hale Koa Nutrition Site, 1139 Kilani Ave., in Wahiawa, beginning at 1:30 p.m. This meeting will be primarily for Army officials to discuss their monitoring plans for managing the depleted uranium. Members of the public are welcome to attend and will have a chance to talk with NRC staff after the business portion of the meeting but before the meeting adjourns.

NRC staff will brief the public on the agency’s license review process on Aug. 25 from
6 – 8:30 p.m. at the Wahiawa District Park – Hale Koa Nutrition Site, 1139 Kilani Ave., in Wahiawa. Similar meetings will be held Aug. 26 from 6 – 8:30 p.m. at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel, 75-5660 Palani Road, Kailua-Kona, and Aug. 27 from 6 – 8:30 p.m. at the Hilo High School, 556 Waianuenue Ave., in Hilo.

To request an adjudicatory hearing on this application, potential parties must demonstrate standing by showing how the proposed license might affect them. They must also raise at least one admissible contention challenging the license application. Guidance on how to file a petition for a hearing is contained in a Notice of License Application and Opportunity for Hearing, published Aug. 13 in the Federal Register and available online at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-19449.pdf.

The deadline for requesting a hearing is Oct. 13. Members of the public may submit comments on the Army’s application until that date as well, to the NRC project manager, John J. Hayes, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T8-F5, Washington, D.C., 20055-0001, or by e-mail at John.Hayes@nrc.gov.

The Army license application and associated documents, including the environmental monitoring and physical security plans and site characterization studies, are available through the NRC’s ADAMS online documents database at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html by entering these accession numbers: ML090070095, ML091950280, ML090900423 and ML091170322.

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