[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 216 (Friday, November 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 63134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-28066]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-7580]
Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of
No Significant Impact for License Amendment for Fansteel, Inc.--
Muskogee, Oklahoma License No. SMB-911
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
of No Significant Impact.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: James C. Shepherd, Project Manager,
Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Mail Stop: T-7F27, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: (301) 415-
6712; Fax number: (301) 415-5398; E-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the
issuance of a license amendment to Material License Number SMB-911,
issued to Fansteel, Inc. (the licensee), to authorize decommissioning
of its facility located in Muskogee, Oklahoma. NRC has prepared an
Environmental Assessment (EA) in accordance with the requirements of 10
CFR part 51 and to determine the environmental impacts of approving the
decommissioning plan (DP), subsequent release of the site for
unrestricted use (as defined in 10 CFR 20.1402), and termination of the
license.
II. EA Summary
The purpose of the proposed action is to authorize the
decommissioning of Fansteel's Speciality Metals facility, in Muskogee,
Oklahoma, for unrestricted use to allow for license termination. The
Fansteel processing facility produced tantalum and columbium metals for
approximately 33 years until operations ceased in 1990. The raw
materials used for tantalum and columbium production contain uranium
and thorium as naturally occurring trace constituents. The
concentration of radioactive species present in the process raw
materials is sufficient to cause the ores and slags to be classified by
the NRC as source material. Consequently, Fansteel operated under NRC
License No. SMB-911 for the possession of source material. Fansteel was
authorized by the NRC on March 25, 1997, to complete the processing of
ore residues, calcium fluoride residues, and wastewater treatment
residues containing uranium and thorium, in various site impoundments.
On July 24, 2003, Fansteel requested that NRC approve the DP for
the facility, which when complete, would permit the site to be released
for unrestricted use. Final approval for release of the site for
unrestricted use and license termination would be contingent upon NRC
approval of the licensee's final status survey report and making the
findings required by the Commission's regulations following completion
of the licensee's decommissioning activities. Fansteel's request for
the proposed action was previously noticed in the Federal Register on
August 11, 2003 (68 FR 47621), along with a notice of an opportunity to
request a hearing and an opportunity to provide comments on the action
and its environmental impacts.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The staff has prepared the EA in support of the proposed license
amendment to decommission the site, terminate the license, and release
the site for unrestricted use. On the basis of the EA, NRC has
concluded that there are no significant environmental impacts from the
proposed action, and the license amendment does not warrant preparation
of an Environmental Impact Statement. It has been determined that a
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The amendment
will be issued following the publication of this Notice.
IV. Further Information
The EA and the documents related to this proposed action, including
the application for the license amendment and supporting documentation,
are available for inspection at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html [ADAMS Accession Nos.: ML030240051,
ML030240062, ML030240109, ML030240134, and ML030240432 (Decommissioning
Plan); ML032100530 (request for license amendment); ML032100558
(revised Decommissioning Plan Sections 15.3-15.5); and ML033040204
(Environmental Assessment, Finding of No Significant Impact). These
documents may also be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC
Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of October, 2003.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Janet R. Schlueter,
Acting Director, Division of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 03-28066 Filed 11-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P