[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 29, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8407-8409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01867]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-3103; NRC-2024-0225]


Louisiana Energy Services, LLC, dba Urenco USA; National 
Enrichment Facility; License Amendment Application

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Opportunity to request a hearing and to petition for leave to 
intervene.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has 
received an application from Louisiana Energy Services, LLC (LES), dba 
Urenco USA (UUSA) to amend Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) License 
Number No. SNM-2010. The amendment request proposes removal of License 
Condition 14 from Materials License No. SNM-2010.

DATES: Requests for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene must 
be filed by March 31, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0225 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this action. You 
may obtain publicly available information related to this action using 
any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0225. 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.
     NRC's 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 NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) 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.
     NRC's 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: Jonathan Rowley, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-4053, email: 
Jonathan.Rowley@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    Louisiana Energy Services, LLC (LES), dba Urenco USA (UUSA), at the 
National Enrichment Facility, located five miles east of Eunice, New 
Mexico, submitted a license amendment request (LAR) to amend License 
No. SNM-2010 by letter dated September 1, 2023. The NRC staff issued a 
request for supplemental information (RSI) on the LAR to LES, dated 
November 28, 2023. LES responded to the RSI by letter and supplemented 
its LAR with Enclosure 1: UUSA License Amendment Request LAR 23-07 
Amended Environmental Considerations Section, dated January 25, 2024. 
The National Enrichment Facility is a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment 
facility authorized to possess, use, and store SNM, source material, 
and byproduct material under Materials License SNM-2010 granted June 
30, 2005. The LAR proposes deletion of License Condition 14, which 
prohibits the licensee from shipping depleted uranium hexafluoride to a 
deconversion facility that uses a deconversion process involving the 
production of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (AHF). The removal of the 
license condition would permit the transportation of the depleted 
uranium

[[Page 8408]]

hexafluoride to a deconversion facility that uses the AHF process, 
though currently no such facility exists in the U.S.
    An NRC administrative completeness review dated February 5, 2024, 
found the application, as supplemented, acceptable for a technical 
review. On October 1, 2024, LES requested that the NRC staff 
temporarily suspend its review of the current LAR. Prior to reaching a 
decision on the request to amend SNM-2010, the NRC will conduct both a 
safety and environmental review. The safety review will be documented 
in a safety evaluation report and will present the NRC staff's findings 
as required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the NRC's 
regulations. The environmental review will be conducted in accordance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and will be 
documented in an environmental assessment.

II. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through ADAMS.

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        Document description                  ADAMS accession No.
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NUREG-1827, Safety Evaluation Report  ML051780290.
 for the National Enrichment
 Facility in Lea County, New Mexico,
 dated June 30, 2005.
License for the Louisiana Energy      ML061780384.
 Services National Enrichment
 Facility, dated June 23, 2006.
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board     ML060740251.
 Order LBP-05-13, In the Matter of
 Louisiana Energy Services, L.P.
 (National Enrichment Facility).
 Washington, DC, dated June 8, 2005
 (page 385).
Commission Memorandum and Order (CLI- ML053250203.
 05-28)--In the Matter of Louisiana
 Energy Services, L.P. (National
 Enrichment Facility). Washington,
 DC, dated November 21, 2005.
UUSA License Amendment Request LAR-   ML23244A191.
 23-07, Revise SNM-2010 to Delete
 License Condition 14, dated
 September 1, 2023.
Enclosure 1--UUSA License Amendment   ML23244A192.
 Request LAR 23-07, Deletion of
 Licensing Condition 14, dated
 September 1, 2023.
Louisiana Energy Services, LLC--      ML23324A189 (Package).
 Request for Supplemental
 Information Regarding Urenco USA
 License Amendment Request 23-07,
 Revise Special Nuclear Material-
 2010 to Delete License Condition
 14, dated November 28, 2023.
Louisiana Energy Services, LLC--      ML24025A136.
 Response to Request for
 Supplemental Information Regarding
 LAR 23-07 and Enclosure 1: UUSA
 License Amendment Request LAR 23-07
 Amended Environmental
 Considerations Section, dated
 January 25, 2024.
Acceptance of LAR 23-07 for Review,   ML24037A190.
 dated February 5, 2024.
Request to Defer Public Posting of    ML24297A122.
 LAR 23-07, dated October 1, 2024.
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III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To 
Intervene

    Within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice, any 
person (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may 
file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene 
(petition) with respect to this action. Petitions shall be filed in 
accordance with the Commission's ``Agency Rules of Practice and 
Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult 10 CFR 
2.309. If a petition is filed, the presiding officer will rule on the 
petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
    Petitions must be filed no later than 60 days from the date of 
publication of this notice in accordance with the filing instructions 
in the ``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document. 
Petitions and motions for leave to file new or amended contentions that 
are filed after the deadline will not be entertained absent a 
determination by the presiding officer that the filing demonstrates 
good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i) 
through (iii).
    A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian 
Tribe, or designated agency thereof, may submit a petition to the 
Commission to participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h) no later 
than 60 days from the date of publication of this notice. 
Alternatively, a State, local governmental body, Federally recognized 
Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof may participate as a non-
party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
    For information about filing a petition and about participation by 
a person not a party under 10 CFR 2.315, see ADAMS Accession No. 
ML20340A053 (https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=ML20340A053) and on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html#participate.

IV. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)

    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including 
documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body, 
Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that 
requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. The E-Filing process requires 
participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the 
internet, or in some cases, to mail copies on electronic storage media, 
unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as 
discussed below, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic 
submissions is located in the ``Guidance for Electronic Submissions to 
the NRC'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A056) and on the NRC's public 
website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the 
Office of the Secretary by email at Hearing.Docket@nrc.gov, or by 
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID) 
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing 
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise 
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or 
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the 
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the 
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the proceeding if the 
Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. After a digital ID certificate is 
obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory 
documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on submissions is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/

[[Page 8409]]

site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete 
at the time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing 
system. To be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-
Filing system no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date. Upon receipt 
of a transmission, the E-Filing system timestamps the document and 
sends the submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-
Filing system also distributes an email that provides access to the 
document to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who 
have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate 
in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on 
those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other 
participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for and 
receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are 
filed to obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic 
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's 
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by 
email to MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. 
and 6 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and 
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper 
format. Such filings must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner 
are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants. 
Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still 
meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1), 
unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10 
CFR 2.302(g)(1).
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID 
certificate as described above, click ``cancel'' when the link requests 
certificates and you will be automatically directed to the NRC's 
electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access any 
publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket. 
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information 
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone 
numbers in their filings unless an NRC regulation or other law requires 
submission of such information. With respect to copyrighted works, 
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory 
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants 
should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.

    Dated: January 24, 2025.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samantha C. Lav,
Chief, Fuel Facility Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Management, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2025-01867 Filed 1-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P