ML18088A042

Letter to Mr. Geoffrey Standing Rock, Chief, Osage Nation; Re., Section 106 Consultation Under the Nhpa for the American Centrifuge Lead Cascade Facility Decommissioning Plan Approval Request

ML18088A042
Person / Time
Site:	07007003
Issue date:	04/11/2018
From:	Craig Erlanger Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental Review
To:	Bear G Osage Nation
Trefethen J
Shared Package
ML18088A036	List: ML18088A042 ML18088A054
References
Download: ML18088A042 (2)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 April 11, 2018 Mr. Geoffrey Standing Bear, Chief Osage Nation 627 Grandview Ave Pawhuska, OK 74056

SUBJECT:

SECTION 106 CONSULTATION UNDER THE NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT FOR THE AMERICAN CENTRIFUGE LEAD CASCADE FACILITY DECOMMISSIONING PLAN APPROVAL REQUEST (DOCKET NUMBER: 70-7003)

Dear Chief Standing Bear:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received, by letter dated January 5, 2018, a revised decommissioning plan from the American Centrifuge Operating, LLC (ACO) with a request for review and approval of their Release Criteria and Final Status Survey contained in the decommissioning plan for the American Centrifuge Lead Cascade Facility (LCF). The LCF is located on the U.S. Department of Energy site, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, in Piketon, Ohio. NRC's undertaking is the proposed approval of ACO's decommissioning plan and associated activities.

The NRC authorized operations at the LCF under Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) License Number 7003 (license SNM-7003). The LCF was to provide reliability, performance, cost, and other data to aid the decision making process prior to deploying a commercial uranium enrichment plant. Centrus Energy Corp., formerly named USEC Inc., began operating the LCF on June 6, 2007. On February 19, 2016, Centrus decided to cease operations at the LCF, and to terminate license SNM-7003 following the completion of decommissioning activities. In December 2017, under the authority of its license, ACO completed the process of packaging and shipping all of the classified and/or contaminated waste located at the LCF offsite for permanent burial at an appropriately licensed facility. In order to terminate its NRC license for the LCF, ACO has now requested NRC review and approval of their decommissioning plan.

ACOs proposed decommissioning activities are to clean the LCF to acceptable regulatory levels of contamination, as outlined in their Release Criteria and Final Status Survey Design for the LCF, and to perform site surveys. The proposed surveys would be performed within restricted areas of the LCF, and the LCF-related buildings and facilities would remain intact and not be modified after the Final Status Survey is complete. These activities do not include ground or structure-disturbing activities. Enclosed for your information are a site layout and general location map.

The NRC staff is preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed action in accordance with the NRC regulations in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 51 that implements the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA). Consistent with 36 CFR 800.8, the NRC staff is coordinating compliance with the Section 106 process of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) with its NEPA review process. The EA will include an analysis of potential impacts to historic and cultural resources. ACO anticipates no new construction or ground breaking activities at the LCF, and no impact to the cultural resources if any are present. However, to support the EA, the NRC staff is requesting any information you may have regarding historic or cultural resources that may be affected by review and approval of this proposed decommissioning plan. The NRC is interested in knowing

G. Standing Bear if you have specific knowledge of any sites that you believe have traditional religious and cultural significance.

Portions of the ACO decommissioning plan are publicly available in the NRC Public Document Room located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System [ADAMS]. The ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. The ADAMS Accession Number for the application is ML18025B285.

Please submit any comments and information you may have regarding this environmental review within 30-days of receipt of this letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN:

Ms. Cinthya Román, Chief of the Environmental Review Branch, 11555 Rockville Pike, Mail Stop T-4B16, Rockville, Maryland 20852. After assessing the information provided by you, the NRC will determine what additional actions, if any, are necessary to comply with the Section 106 process of the NHPA.

If you have any questions, please contact the NRC Project Manager Ms. Jean Trefethen by telephone at 301- 415-0867 or via e-mail at Jean.Trefethen@nrc.gov. Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

\RA\

Craig G. Erlanger, Director Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental Review Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket No. 70-7003 License No. SNM-7003

Enclosure:

Site Layout and General Location Map

G. Standing Bear

SUBJECT:

SECTION 106 CONSULTATION UNDER THE NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT FOR THE AMERICAN CENTRIFUGE LEAD CASCADE FACILITY DECOMMISSIONING PLAN APPROVAL REQUEST (DOCKET NUMBER: 70-7003)

DATED: April 11, 2018 DISTRIBUTION: FCSE r/f YFaraz, NMSS ADAMS Accession Number: Package: ML18088A036 *via email OFC FCSE/ERB FCSE/ERB FCSE/ERB OGC FCSE/ERB FCSE NAME *JTrefethen *JPark AWalker-Smith *GHenderson CRomán CErlanger DATE 03/30/2018 04/03/2018 03/30/2018 04/09/2018 04/10/2018 04/11/2018 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY