NRC: News Release - 2010-019 - NRC Extends Comment Period to March 3 on Draft Environmental Reports for Proposed Uranium Recovery Facilities


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No. 10-019

January 29, 2010

NRC EXTENDS COMMENT PERIOD TO MARCH 3 ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL
REPORTS FOR PROPOSED URANIUM RECOVERY FACILITIES
Printable Version

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is extending until March 3 the public comment period on draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statements (SEIS) for three proposed uranium recovery facilities in Wyoming. The NRC received several requests from interested parties to extend the comment period for these documents. The public can use the additional 30 days to continue reviewing the draft SEIS and provide comments to the NRC regarding review of the proposed facilities.

The draft reports are the first issued by the agency under its Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities (GEIS, NUREG-1910), published in June 2009. The GEIS analyzed environmental impacts common to in situ recovery operations in four regions of the western United States. The SEIS for each facility incorporates relevant discussions and conclusions from the GEIS and examines site-specific impacts unique to that proposed facility and its location. All three draft SEIS preliminary recommendations are that, unless safety issues mandate otherwise, there are no environmental impacts that would preclude granting licenses for the proposed facilities.

The three draft SEISs cover license applications for the Moore Ranch Project, proposed by Uranium One in Campbell County; the Lost Creek Project, proposed by Lost Creek ISR, LLC, for Sweetwater County; and the Nichols Ranch Project, proposed by Uranerz Energy Corp. in Campbell and Johnson counties. Each draft SEIS was coordinated with the state of Wyoming, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, as well as potentially affected Native American tribes near the license applicant facility locations.

The GEIS and the individual draft SEIS reports are available on the NRC’s Web site through the agency’s online documents database, ADAMS, at the following page: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html , using accession numbers ML093350050 for Moore Ranch; ML093350051 for Lost Creek; and ML093340536 for Nichols Ranch. They are also available at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1910. More information on the in situ uranium recovery process is available at http://www.nrc.gov/materials/uranium-recovery/extraction-methods/isl-recovery-facilities.html.

�� Comments on the draft SEIS reports may be submitted online by March 3 through the federal government’s rulemaking Web site, http://www.regulations.gov using docket numbers NRC-2009-0364 for Moore Ranch, NRC-2008-0391 for Lost Creek, and NRC-2008-0339 for Nichols Ranch. Comments may be e-mailed to MooreRanchISRSEIS@nrc.gov, LostCreekISRSEIS@nrc.gov, or NicholsRanchISRSEIS@nrc.gov. They may also be mailed to Michael T. Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. Comments may also be submitted by fax to (301) 492-3446.

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