ML24214A324
| ML24214A324 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07007004 |
| Issue date: | 09/13/2024 |
| From: | John Moses NRC/NMSS/DREFS |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML24214A316 | List: |
| References | |
| NRC-2024-0145 | |
| Download: ML24214A324 (7) | |
Text
[7590-01-P]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-7004; NRC-2024-0145]
American Centrifuge Operating, LLC;
American Centrifuge Plant;
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
SUMMARY
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an
amendment of Special Nuclear Material (SNM) License No. SNM-2011, issued on
April 13, 2007, to American Centrifuge Operating, LLC (ACO) for the operation of the
American Centrifuge Plant (ACP). This proposed amendment would increase ACOs
licensed material possession limits under the high-assay, low-enriched uranium
(HALEU) demonstration and operations program to support production of approximately
1,400 kilograms (kg) of HALEU in the form of uranium hexafluoride (UF 6). For this
proposed action, the NRC staff is issuing an environmental assessment (EA) and finding
of no significant impact (FONSI).
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
September 19,024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0145 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regar ding 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-2024-0145. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; email:
Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the
For Further Information Contact section of this document.
- NRCs 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 NRCs Public Document Room (P DR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at
301-415-4737, or by email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. For the convenience of the
reader, instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are provided
in the Availability of Documents section. The EA is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML24254A206.
- NRCs PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies of publicly
available documents, is open by appointment. To make an appointment to visit the PDR,
please send an email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-
4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
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: Christine.Pineda@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering an amendment of ACOs Special Nuclear Materials
License No. SNM-2011, which authorized the operation of the HALEU cascade at the
ACP in Pike County, Ohio in June 2021. If approved, the amendment would increase
2 ACOs licensed material possession limits to support the production of HALEU UF 6 from
600 kg to approximately 1,400 kg and would allow ACO to store approximately 1,400 kg
of HALEU UF6 at the ACP. As required in section 51.21 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing
and Related Regulatory Functions, the NRC developed an EA for the proposed license
amendment to increase the possession limits for licensed material at the ACP. Based on
the results of the EA summarized in this notice, the NRC has determined not to prepare
an environmental impact statement (EIS) fo r the amendment and is issuing a FONSI.
ACO is producing HALEU for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). HALEU is
uranium that has been enriched so that the concentration of the fissile isotope U-235 is
between 5 and 20 percent of the mass of the uranium. The DOE established a 3-phase
contract with ACO to deploy a cascade of 16 operating centrifuges and two spare
centrifuges to demonstrate the capability to enrich uranium to the higher level. The NRC
approved the license amendment for the operation of this HALEU cascade in June 2021.
The expiration date of the current phase (phase 2) of the contract that DOE has funded
is December 31, 2024. Phase 3, involving up to three, 3-year periods of operation of the
HALEU cascade, would need Congressional appropriations and the approval of the NRC
to move forward.
II. Summary of Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
The proposed action would increase the authorized limits for possession of
licensed material for the purpose of producing approximately 1,400 kg of HALEU UF 6
from the current HALEU UF6 production amount of 600 kg. This amendment would be
effective until DOEs contract with ACO expires on December 31, 2024. If ACO requests
an extension of the HALEU cascade program beyond December 31, 2024, the NRC
3 would need to conduct a separate licensing and env ironmental review for that extension.
ACO operates the HALEU cascade in a building that previously housed the
former Lead Cascade Facility, which was decommissioned in 2018. ACO does not
propose to construct new buildings, conduct ground-disturbing activities, ship HALEU
offsite, or make changes to the HALEU centrifuge cascade design that the NRC
approved in 2021.
The proposed action is in accordance with the licensees application dated
February 13, 2023, as supplemented by letters dated June 29, 2023, February 15, 2024,
and March 7, 2024.
Need for the Proposed Action
The proposed amendment would allow ACO to continue demonstrating the
capability to enrich uranium-235 up to a level necessary to produce HALEU. ACO is
under contract with DOE to enrich uranium and produce HALEU using the 16-centrifuge
enrichment cascade constructed for this purpose.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC staff assessed the potential environmental impacts from the increase in
possession limits on land use; historic and cultural resources; visual and scenic
resources; climatology, meteorology and air quality; geology and soils; water resources;
ecological resources; socioeconomics; noise; traffic and transportation; public and
occupational health and safety; and waste management. The NRC staff determined that
the proposed action would not affect most resource areas and would not have significant
impacts on air quality, transportation, occupational health and safety, and waste
management. ACO would not make changes to the enrichment processes or to the
outside portions of buildings. All HALE U produced would be stored onsite. All
enrichment activities would continue to take place indoors, resulting in no changes to
4 noise levels. Because operations would continue entirely inside buildings, including
storage of additional enriched UF 6 depleted UF6, and wastes, and because the current
rate of HALEU production would not change, there would be no change to potential
impacts on public health and safety. Bec ause additional employees would not be
required for the proposed action, there would be no change to socioeconomic impacts
already assessed. The NRC staff further concluded in the EA that the potential impacts
on air quality, occupational health and safety, waste management, and transportation
are bounded by the impacts assessed in prev ious NRC environmental assessments, as
documented in the NRC's 2021 EA for the approval of the HALEU demonstration
program.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered denial of the
proposed action (i.e., the no-action alternative). Under the no-action alternative, the
NRC would deny ACOs request and ACOs HALEU production level would remain at
600 kg. The no-action alternative would not permit ACO to meet the terms of DOEs
contract with ACO. The potential environmental impacts of denying the request would be
unchanged from the impacts as assessed in the NRCs 2021 EA for the approval of the
HALEU demonstration program.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
In accordance with NRC policy, on June 27, 2024, the staff consulted with the
Ohio Emergency Management Agency, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and
Ohio Department of Health regarding the EA and FONSI. On July 5, 2024, the staff
consulted with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 regarding the EA
and FONSI. In addition, on July 5, 2024, the staff provided a courtesy notification of the
5 proposed action to the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office. The NRC received no
comments on the EA.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on its review of the proposed license amendment request, in accordance
with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has determined that approving
the requested license amendment to increase the possession limits of licensed material
for the HALEU demonstration and operations program would not significantly affect the
quality of human environment. No significant radiological or non-radiological impacts are
expected from the proposed action. Therefore, the NRC staff has determined that,
pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, Determinations based on environmental assessment,
preparation of an EIS is not required for the proposed action, and pursuant to 10 CFR
51.32, Finding of no significant impact, a FONSI is appropriate. In accordance with 10
CFR 51.32(a)(4), this FONSI incorporates the EA summarized in this notice by
reference.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to interested
persons through ADAMS.
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION ADAMS ACCESSION NUMBER
EA for a proposed increase in production ML24254A206 of HALEU at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, August 2024.
ACOs application for amendment to ML23047A046 increase its licensed material possession limits to support increased HALEU production, February 13, 2023.
Supplement to ACOs application, ML23187A143 June 29, 2023.
Supplement to ACOs application, ML24054A033 February 15, 2024.
Supplement to ACOs application, ML24072A046 March 7, 2024.
6 EA for the approval of the HALEU ML21085A705 demonstration program, June 2021.
Email transmitting the draft EA for ML24194A182 increased HALEU production to Ohio agencies, June 27, 2024.
Email to EPA Region 5 transmitting the ML24194A185 draft EA for increased HALEU production, July 5, 2024.
Email to Ohio State Historic Preservation ML24194A181 Office re: courtesy notification of NRC review of ACOs license amendment request, July 5, 2024.
Dated: September 13, 2024
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
/RA/
John Moses, Deputy Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
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