37530 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 148 / Wednesday, August 1, 2018 / Notices 

1The specific NRC regulations are 10 CFR 30.35, 

10 CFR 40.36, and 10 CFR 70.25, each entitled 

‘‘Financial Assurance and Recordkeeping for 

Decommissioning.’’ 

DATES: Submit comments by September 

17, 2018. Comments received after this 

date will be considered if it is practical 

to do so, but the Commission is able to 

ensure consideration only for comments 

received before this date. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0159. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer 

Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127; 

email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions, contact the 

individual listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

• Mail comments to: May Ma, Office 

of Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN–7– 

A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001. 

For additional direction on obtaining 

information and submitting comments, 

see ‘‘Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments’’ in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kenneth Kline, Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–7075, email: Kenneth.Kline@

nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and 

Submitting Comments 

A. Obtaining Information 

Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2018– 

0159 when contacting the NRC about 

the availability of information for this 

action. You may obtain publiclyavailable information related to this 

action by any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0159. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 

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, 301–415–4737, or by 

email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ISG 

for Decommissioning Funding Plans for 

Materials Licensees is available in 

ADAMS under Accession No. 

ML18163A087. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

B. Submitting Comments 

Please include Docket ID NRC–2018– 

0159 in your comment submission. 

The NRC cautions you not to include 

identifying or contact information that 

you do not want to be publicly 

disclosed in your comment submission. 

The NRC will post all comment 

submissions at http://

www.regulations.gov as well as enter the 

comment submissions into ADAMS. 

The NRC does not routinely edit 

comment submissions to remove 

identifying or contact information. 

If you are requesting or aggregating 

comments from other persons for 

submission to the NRC, then you should 

inform those persons not to include 

identifying or contact information that 

they do not want to be publicly 

disclosed in their comment submission. 

Your request should state that the NRC 

does not routinely edit comment 

submissions to remove such information 

before making the comment 

submissions available to the public or 

entering the comment into ADAMS. 

II. Discussion 

Since 1988, NRC licensees have been 

required to provide decommissioning 

financial assurance. The NRC published 

its ‘‘Decommissioning Planning Rule’’ 

in the Federal Register on June 17, 2011 

(76 FR 35512). The rule became 

effective on December 17, 2012. The 

rule’s purpose is to minimize the 

likelihood of new ‘‘legacy sites,’’ those 

sites owned or controlled by licensees 

with insufficient resources to complete 

decommissioning. Successful 

completion of decommissioning is a 

prerequisite to the NRC terminating the 

license. 

The NRC’s radioactive materials 

licensing regulations, part 30 of Title 10 

of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR), ‘‘Rules of General Applicability to 

Domestic Licensing of Byproduct 

Material’’; 10 CFR part 40, ‘‘Domestic 

Licensing of Source Material’’; and 10 

CFR part 70, ‘‘Domestic Licensing of 

Special Nuclear Material,’’ require NRC 

licensees to provide adequate financial 

assurance for all decommissioning 

activities.1 The NRC staff utilizes 

NUREG–1757, Vol. 3 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML12048A683), as 

guidance to evaluate DFPs submitted by 

10 CFR parts 30, 40 and 70 licensees. 

The NRC’s Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.22, 

‘‘Decommissioning Planning During 

Operations’’ (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML12158A361), provides guidance to 

licensees for use during licensed 

operations to minimize radiological 

contamination, including radiological 

subsurface contamination, and to 

properly retain survey results. For those 

licensees having or likely to have 

significant residual radioactivity, RG 

4.22 provides guidance on arranging for 

sufficient funding to complete 

decommissioning, thereby allowing the 

NRC to terminate the license. 

The purpose of this ISG is to provide 

NRC staff and industry with guidance 

based on developments and lessons 

learned in financial assurance since the 

last update to NUREG–1757, Vol. 3. The 

ISG covers decommissioning cost 

estimates describing current facility 

conditions, evaluating events since the 

last DFP approval, and updates for 

certain financial instruments. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day 

of July, 2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

John R. Tappert, 

Director, Division of Decommissioning, 

Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 

Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16392 Filed 7–31–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 70–7003; NRC–2018–0160] 

American Centrifuge Operating, LCC; 

Lead Cascade Facility 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Environmental assessment and 

finding of no significant impact; 

issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing an 

environmental assessment (EA) and a 

finding of no significant impact (FONSI) 

regarding a request from American 

Centrifuge Operating, LLC (ACO) for 

approval of its Decommissioning Plan. 

ACO is authorized to possess and use 

special nuclear material (SNM), source 

material, and byproduct material at its 

Lead Cascade Facility (LCF) in Piketon, 

Ohio under NRC License SNM–7003, 

issued in 2004. ACO’s Decommissioning 

Plan contains its proposed Release 

Criteria and the Final Status Survey 

design. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 148 / Wednesday, August 1, 2018 / Notices 37531 

DATES: The EA referenced in this 

document is available on August 1, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2018–0160 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information regarding this document. 

You may obtain publicly-available 

information related to this document 

using any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0160. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer 

Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127; 

email: Jennifer.Borges@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 publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 

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, 301–415–4737, or by 

email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 

ADAMS accession number for each 

document referenced (if it is available in 

ADAMS) is provided the first time that 

it is mentioned in this document. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean 

Trefethen, Office of Nuclear Material 

Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415– 

0867, email: Jean.Trefethen@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

By letter dated January 5, 2018 

(ADAMS Accession Number 

ML18025B285), American Centrifuge 

Operating, LLC (ACO or the licensee) 

requested NRC approval of ACO’s 

Decommissioning Plan (DP). The DP 

contains ACO’s proposed Release 

Criteria (RC) and Final Status Survey 

(FSS) design. The Lead Cascade Facility 

(LCF) is located at the Portsmouth 

Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) site in 

Pike County, Ohio. The PORTS site is 

owned by the U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE), and the DOE leases 

portions of the PORTS site, including 

the LCF buildings, to the licensee. The 

NRC staff has prepared an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) 

(ADAMS Accession Number 

ML18204A294) as part of its review of 

this proposed action in accordance with 

the requirements in part 51 of title 10 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR), ‘‘Environmental Protection 

Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 

Related Regulatory Functions’’ and 

associated staff guidance. The NRC has 

concluded that the proposed action will 

not have a significant effect on the 

quality of the human environment. 

II. Summary of the Environmental 

Assessment 

Description of the Proposed Action 

The proposed action is to review and 

approve ACO’s DP which provides the 

proposed RC and FSS design. The RC 

are regulatory limits identified in 10 

CFR part 20.1402. The FSS is performed 

by the licensee to verify that residual 

contamination levels are less than these 

limits. 

Need for the Proposed Action 

By letter dated March 2, 2016, the 

licensee notified the NRC of its decision 

to permanently cease LCF operations 

(ADAMS Accession Number 

ML16074A405). In preparation for 

decommissioning of the LCF, 

termination of license SNM–7003, and 

potential future release of the site and 

return to DOE as outlined in the lease 

agreement, ACO has performed clean-up 

and survey activities. 

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed 

Action 

The NRC staff evaluated the potential 

environmental impacts associated with 

the proposed action, and has performed 

its environmental review in accordance 

with the requirements in 10 CFR part 51 

and associated staff guidance. As 

detailed in the EA, the staff reviewed 

relevant information submitted by the 

licensee and consulted with the Ohio 

State Historic Preservation Office 

(SHPO), the Osage Nation, Advisory 

Council on Historic Preservation 

(ACHP), and the State of Ohio 

Department of Health (ODH). 

Survey activities for the FSS have 

occurred inside the LCF buildings, and 

no land disturbance activities were 

involved or are planned. Therefore, the 

NRC staff considers that there would be 

no impacts to the following resources 

areas: Land use, geology and soils, water 

resources, ecology, meteorology, 

climate, air quality, noise, 

transportation, waste management, 

visual and scenic resources, and 

socioeconomic resources. 

The NRC staff evaluated the 

radiological impacts to workers and the 

public. The staff found that the 

radiological doses to workers would be 

within the dose limits specified in 10 

CFR 20.1201, ‘‘Occupational dose limits 

to adults,’’ and that radiological doses to 

the public would be indistinguishable 

when compared to background 

radiation. 

The NRC staff also evaluated the 

cumulative impacts by identifying past, 

present, and reasonably foreseeable 

future actions at DOE’s Piketon, Ohio 

site, and the incremental impacts of 

ACO’s proposed action. The staff 

determined that the proposed action 

would not significantly contribute to 

cumulative impacts. The staff also 

determined that the proposed action 

would not affect federally-listed 

endangered or threatened species or 

their critical habitats, if present. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action 

As an alternative to the proposed 

action, the staff considered denial of the 

proposed action and requesting ACO to 

submit a revised DP (i.e., the ‘‘noaction’’ alternative). Under the no-action 

alternative, the LCF FSS and RC would 

not be approved and license termination 

would not be possible. The NRC 

considers the environmental impacts of 

this alternative to be similar to those of 

the proposed action. The no-action 

alternative does not comply with the 

licensee’s commitments made during 

licensing or the decommissioning 

requirements of 10 CFR 70.38 and does 

not provide any environmental benefit. 

The NRC staff concludes that not 

approving the provided RC and FSS, 

which meet the regulatory requirements, 

is not a reasonable alternative to 

approving the proposed action. 

Agencies and Persons Consulted 

By letter dated June 12, 2018 (ADAMS 

Accession Number ML18130A468), the 

staff consulted with the ODH regarding 

the environmental impact of the 

proposed action. By letter dated July 6, 

2018, the ODH replied indicating that 

they had no comments on the draft EA 

(ADAMS Accession Number 

ML18130A468). The NRC staff also 

consulted with the Ohio SHPO by letter 

dated April 9, 2018 (ADAMS Accession 

Number. ML18078B230). The Ohio 

SHPO responded by letter dated May 

16, 2018, stating that they could not 

concur with a finding of No Adverse 

Effect for the proposed action and 

recommended that NRC initiate and 

carry out consultation and contact the 

ACHP (ADAMS Accession Number 

ML18155A296). On June 11, 2018, a 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
37532 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 148 / Wednesday, August 1, 2018 / Notices 

conference call was held between the 

Ohio SHPO, the ACHP, and the NRC to 

discuss the concerns expressed in the 

SHPO’s May 16, 2018, letter. During the 

call the ACHP expressed its agreement 

with the NRC that the requested action 

falls under 36 CFR 800.3(a)(1), No 

potential to cause effects, which states, 

‘‘If the undertaking is a type of activity 

that does not have the potential to cause 

effects on historic properties, assuming 

such properties were present, the 

agency official has no further 

obligations under Section 106 or this 

part’’. The NRC sent a letter, dated July 

16, 2018, to the Ohio SHPO 

summarizing the conference call and 

concluding Section 106 consultation 

(ADAMS Accession Number 

ML18171A218). By letter dated April 

11, 2018, the NRC initiated Section 106 

consultation under the National Historic 

Preservation Act with the Osage Nation. 

In their reply, the Osage Nation stated 

it concurred with the NRC 

determination that the proposed DP 

most likely would not adversely affect 

any sacred properties and/or properties 

of cultural significance to the Nation, 

and also stated, ‘‘[t]he Osage Nation has 

no further concern with this project’’ 

(ADAMS Accession Number 

ML18158A263). 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

In accordance with the requirements 

in 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has 

concluded that the proposed action will 

not significantly affect the quality of the 

human environment. Therefore, the staff 

finds, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that 

preparation of an environmental impact 

statement is not required for the 

proposed action, and that a finding of 

no significant impact is appropriate. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day 

of July 2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Craig G. Erlanger, 

Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, 

Safeguards, and Environmental Review, 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and 

Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16404 Filed 7–31–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–409; NRC–2018–0157] 

LaCrosse Solutions, LLC; Dairyland 

Power Cooperative La Crosse Boiling 

Water Reactor 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Exemption; issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is issuing an 

exemption in response to a February 22, 

2018, request from LaCrosseSolutions, 

LLC (LS) from the regulatory 

requirement to maintain a specified 

level of onsite property damage 

insurance to permit the La Crosse 

Boiling Water Reactor (LACBWR) to 

reduce its onsite insurance coverage 

from $180 million to $50 million. 

DATES: The exemption was issued on 

July 24, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2018–0157 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information regarding this document. 

You may obtain publicly-available 

information related to this document 

using any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0157. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer 

Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127; 

email: Jennifer.Borges@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 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 

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, 301–415–4737, or by 

email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 

ADAMS accession number for each 

document referenced (if it is available in 

ADAMS) is provided the first time that 

it is mentioned in this document. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marlayna G. Vaaler, Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–3178, email: 

Marlayna.Vaaler@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor 

was an Atomic Energy Commission 

(AEC) Demonstration Project Reactor 

that first went critical in 1967, 

commenced commercial operation in 

November 1969, and was capable of 

producing 50 megawatts of electric 

power. The LACBWR site is located on 

the east bank of the Mississippi River in 

Vernon County, Wisconsin, and is colocated with the Genoa Generating 

Station, which is a coal-fired electrical 

power plant that is still in operation. 

The Allis-Chalmers Company was the 

original licensee; the AEC later sold the 

plant to the Dairyland Power 

Cooperative (DPC) and granted it 

Provisional Operating License No. DPR– 

45 on August 28, 1973 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML17080A423). 

The LACBWR permanently ceased 

operations on April 30, 1987 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML17080A422), and 

reactor defueling was completed on 

June 11, 1987 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML17080A420). In a letter dated August 

4, 1987 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML17080A393), the NRC terminated 

DPC’s authority to operate LACBWR 

under Provisional Operating License 

No. DPR–45, and granted the licensee a 

possess-but-not-operate status. By letter 

dated August 18, 1988 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML17080A421), the NRC 

amended DPC’s Provisional Operating 

License No. DPR–45 to Possession Only 

License No. DPR–45 to reflect the 

permanently defueled configuration at 

LACBWR. 

The NRC issued an order to authorize 

decommissioning of LACBWR and 

approve the licensee’s proposed 

Decommissioning Plan (DP) on August 

7, 1991 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML17080A454). Because the NRC 

approved DPC’s DP before August 28, 

1996, pursuant to section 50.82 of title 

10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(10 CFR), the DP is considered the PostShutdown Decommissioning Activities 

Report (PSDAR) for LACBWR. The 

PSDAR public meeting was held on May 

13, 1998, and subsequent updates to the 

LACBWR decommissioning report have 

combined the DP and PSDAR into the 

‘‘LACBWR Decommissioning Plan and 

Post-Shutdown Decommissioning 

Activities Report’’ (D-Plan/PSDAR). 

This document is also considered the 

Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) for 

LACBWR and is updated every 24 

months in accordance with 10 CFR 

50.71(e). The DPC constructed an onsite 

Independent Spent Fuel Storage 

Installation (ISFSI) under its 10 CFR 

part 72 general license, and completed 

the movement of all 333 spent nuclear 

fuel elements from the Fuel Element 

Storage Well to dry cask storage at the 

ISFSI by September 19, 2012 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML12290A027). The 

remaining associated buildings and 

structures are currently undergoing 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES