44068 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 168 / Wednesday, August 29, 2018 / Notices 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–0609; NRC–2018–0184] 

Target Fabrication Portion of the 

Northwest Medical Isotopes 

Radioisotope Production Facility 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Environmental assessment and 

finding of no significant impact; 

issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is considering 

issuing an exemption to Northwest 

Medical Isotopes, LLC (NWMI) from its 

regulations, to waive the requirement 

that NWMI submit an application to the 

NRC for a license to possess and use 

special nuclear material for processing 

and fuel fabrication, scrap recovery or 

conversion of uranium hexafluoride, or 

for the conduct of any other activity 

which the NRC has determined will 

significantly affect the quality of the 

environment, at least 9 months prior to 

commencement of construction of the 

plant or facility in which the activity 

will be conducted. The NRC has 

prepared an environmental assessment 

(EA) and finding of no significant 

impact (FONSI) for this exemption 

request. 

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in 

this document are available on the 24th 

day of August, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2018–0184 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information regarding this document. 

You may access 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–2018–0184. 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 

‘‘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: 

David Tiktinsky, Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–8740, email: David.Tiktinsky@

nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The NRC is considering issuing an 

exemption to NWMI from section 

70.21(f) in title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), which requires 

the submission of an application to the 

NRC under 10 CFR part 70, ‘‘Domestic 

Licensing of Special Nuclear Material,’’ 

for a license to possess and use special 

nuclear material for processing and fuel 

fabrication, scrap recovery or 

conversion of uranium hexafluoride, or 

for the conduct of any other activity 

which the NRC has determined 

pursuant to subpart A of 10 CFR part 51 

will significantly affect the quality of 

the environment, at least 9 months prior 

to commencement of construction of the 

plant or facility in which the activity 

will be conducted. The exemption 

would allow NWMI to commence 

construction of the entire NWMI 

medical radioisotope production facility 

(RPF) based upon the environmental 

review conducted for the 10 CFR part 50 

construction permit issued to NWMI on 

May 9, 2018. The exemption was 

requested by NWMI in a letter dated 

December 18, 2017 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML17362A040), as supplemented 

on March 12, 2018 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML18088A175). 

The NWMI 10 CFR part 50 

construction permit application, which 

included an environmental report, 

discussed processes that would fall 

under 10 CFR 70.21(f). The NRC staff 

environmental review of the 10 CFR 

part 50 construction permit application 

discussed, as a connected action, the 

environmental impacts of this process, 

consistent with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the 

NRC’s environmental protection 

regulations that implement NEPA in 10 

CFR part 51. The NRC staff documented 

the evaluation and conclusions of its 

environmental review of the NWMI 10 

CFR part 50 construction permit 

application in an environmental impact 

statement (EIS), NUREG–2209, 

‘‘Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Construction Permit for the 

Northwest Medical Isotopes 

Radioisotope Production Facility,’’ 

issued in May 2017 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML17130A862). 

As required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC 

staff prepared an EA that analyzes the 

environmental impacts of the proposed 

exemption in accordance with NEPA. 

Based on the EA that follows, the NRC 

has determined not to prepare an EIS for 

the proposed exemption, and is issuing 

a FONSI. 

II. Environmental Assessment 

Identification of the Proposed Action 

The proposed action is the issuance of 

an exemption in response to a request 

dated December 18, 2017 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML17362A040), as 

supplemented by a letter dated March 

12, 2018 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML18088A175), from NWMI. The 

purpose of the proposed action is to 

exempt NWMI from the requirement 

that NWMI submit an application to the 

NRC for a license under 10 CFR part 70 

at least 9 months prior to 

commencement of construction of the 

plant or facility in which the 10 CFR 

part 70 activities will be conducted. The 

activities that will be subject to the 10 

CFR part 70 license application are 

described in the construction permit 

application that NWMI previously 

submitted to the NRC under 10 CFR part 

50 for an RPF to be constructed in 

Columbia, Missouri. (NWMI 

Preliminary Safety Analyses Report, 

Chapter 19, ‘‘Environmental Report.’’ 

Corvallis, OR, revision OA dated June 

2015, (ADAMS Accession Nos. 

ML15210A123, ML15210A128, 

ML15210A129, and ML15210A131)). 

The NWMI exemption request asks 

the NRC to exempt NWMI from the 

timing requirement in order to allow 

NWMI to begin construction of the 10 

CFR part 70 components of the RPF 

upon the issuance of the 10 CFR part 50 

construction permit. 

Need for the Proposed Action 

NWMI received a construction permit 

under 10 CFR part 50 to construct the 

RPF, which would fabricate lowenriched uranium (LEU) targets and 

ship them to a network of U.S. research 

reactors for irradiation, receive 

irradiated LEU targets, disassemble and 

dissolve irradiated LEU targets, and 

recover and purify Molybdenum-99 

(Mo-99). These processes would take 

place in a single RPF building divided 

into two separate areas where processes 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 168 / Wednesday, August 29, 2018 / Notices 44069 

subject to different regulatory regimes 

would take place. The processes 

involved in receipt of irradiated LEU 

targets, LEU target disassembly and 

dissolution, and Mo-99 recovery and 

purification are subject to the licensing 

requirements of 10 CFR part 50. The 

processes involved in target fabrication 

that NWMI plans to perform in a 

separate area of the RPF and would be 

subject to the separate licensing 

requirements of 10 CFR part 70. 

NWMI submitted a 10 CFR part 50 

construction permit application seeking 

authorization to construct the portion of 

the RPF where the processes subject to 

the 10 CFR part 50 regulations would 

occur. NWMI submitted an 

environmental report with its 

construction permit application, 

providing environmental information 

about all of the processes that would 

occur in both portions of the RPF. In 

accordance with Section 102(2)(C) of 

NEPA and the NRC’s regulations in 10 

CFR part 51, the NRC staff prepared an 

EIS (NUREG–2209) assessing the 

potential impacts of the construction, 

operation, and decommissioning of the 

proposed RPF on the quality of the 

human environment and reasonable 

alternatives. The construction and 

operation impacts from the portion of 

the RPF in which 10 CFR part 70 target 

fabrication activities would occur were 

evaluated as a connected action to the 

10 CFR part 50 construction permit. 

Because the NRC has evaluated the 

environmental impacts from the 10 CFR 

part 70 target fabrication activities in the 

RPF, as part of its EIS supporting 

NWMI’s 10 CFR part 50 construction 

permit application, NWMI is requesting 

an exemption from the requirement that 

the application for these 10 CFR part 70 

activities must be submitted at least 9 

months prior to commencement of 

construction of the 10 CFR part 70 

components of the RPF. The exemption 

would allow NWMI to initiate 

construction of the 10 CFR part 70 

components of the RPF upon the 

issuance of the 10 CFR part 50 

construction permit for the RPF even if 

the 10 CFR 70.21(f) timing requirement 

has not been met. 

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed 

Action 

The environmental impacts associated 

with the construction of the target 

fabrication portion of the RPF were 

evaluated and discussed in the EIS 

issued for the construction permit 

application for the 10 CFR part 50 

portion of the RPF (see NUREG–2209, 

Section 6–4). The EIS concluded that 

‘‘[a]fter weighing the environmental, 

economic, technical, and other benefits 

against environmental and other costs, 

and considering reasonable alternatives, 

the NRC staff’s recommendation, unless 

safety issues mandate otherwise, is the 

issuance of the construction permit 

under 10 CFR part 50 to NWMI.’’ 

The purpose of the timing 

requirement in 10 CFR 70.21(f) is to 

allow the NRC sufficient time to 

conduct its environmental review of 

certain 10 CFR part 70 activities before 

commencement of construction of the 

facility in which they will occur. As 

explained above, the NRC considered 

the environmental impacts of the 

processes that will take place in 10 CFR 

part 70 portion of the RPF, where target 

fabrication processes will occur, as part 

of its review of the 10 CFR part 50 

construction permit application. 

Because the exemption request concerns 

only the timing of when construction of 

the 10 CFR part 70 portion of the RPF 

begins, the proposed exemption would 

not: (a) Affect the probabilities of 

evaluated accidents; (b) impact margins 

of safety; (c) reduce the effectiveness of 

programs contained in licensing 

documents; (d) increase effluents; (e) 

increase occupational radiological 

exposures; or (f) impact operations or 

decommissioning activities of the RPF. 

The staff’s safety review performed for 

issuance of the 10 CFR part 50 

construction permit is documented in 

the staff’s Safety Evaluation Report 

dated November 2017 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML17310A368). 

The requested exemption does not 

impact the scope of the proposed action 

or the connected actions at the RPF that 

were evaluated in the EIS. Accordingly, 

it does not involve any additional 

impacts or represent a significant 

change to those impacts described and 

analyzed in the environmental 

information submitted as part of the 10 

CFR part 50 construction permit 

application. Based on the foregoing, the 

NRC staff has concluded that the 

proposed action would have no 

significant environmental impact. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action 

A possible alternative to the proposed 

action would be to deny the exemption 

request (i.e., the ‘‘no-action’’ 

alternative). If the NRC denies the 

exemption request, then NWMI may 

need to defer the initiation of 

construction of the 10 CFR part 70 

components of the RPF to meet the 

timing requirements in 10 CFR 70.21(f). 

Since the exemption request relates to 

the timing of the initiation of 

construction and not to the scope of 

construction, then the impacts of this 

alternative would not be significantly 

different than if the NRC approved the 

exemption request. 

Alternative Use of Resources 

Since NWMI has no plans to perform 

any new activities that were not 

considered in previous environmental 

reviews, the change in timing to initiate 

construction does not involve the use of 

resources not previously considered. 

Agencies and Persons Consulted 

In a letter dated May 17, 2018 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML18113A504), 

the NRC staff consulted with officials 

from the Missouri Department of 

Natural Resources regarding the 

environmental impact of the proposed 

action. The State responded on July 13, 

2018, and stated that it had no 

comments (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML18197A199). 

The NRC staff also reviewed the 

proposed action in accordance with the 

Section 106 process of the National 

Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as 

amended (NHPA) (54 U.S.C. 300101 et 

seq.), which requires federal agencies to 

consider the effects of their 

undertakings on historic properties. The 

NRC has determined that the proposed 

action, which would only affect the 

timing of commencement of 

construction of a portion of the facility, 

is not the type of action that has the 

potential to cause any additional 

impacts or a significant change from the 

impacts related to historic properties 

discussed and analyzed in NUREG– 

2209, the NRC’s EIS for the 10 CFR part 

50 construction permit for the RPF. 

Therefore, in accordance with 36 CFR 

800.3(a)(1), no consultation is required 

under Section 106 of the NHPA. 

Under Section 7 of the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

seq.), prior to taking a proposed action, 

a federal agency must determine 

whether: (i) Endangered and threatened 

species or their critical habitats are 

known to be in the vicinity of the 

proposed action and, if so, whether (ii) 

the proposed federal action may affect 

listed species or critical habitats. The 

NRC has determined that the proposed 

action will not have any additional 

impacts or a significant change from the 

impacts related to threatened or 

endangered species or critical habitats 

analyzed in the NRC’s EIS for the 10 

CFR part 50 construction permit for the 

RFP in NUREG–2209. 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

NWMI requested an exemption from 

10 CFR 70.21(f) that would allow it to 

initiate construction of the 10 CFR part 

70 components of the RPF upon the 

issuance of the 10 CFR part 50 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
44070 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 168 / Wednesday, August 29, 2018 / Notices 

construction permit for the RPF even if 

the 10 CFR 70.21(f) timing requirement 

has not been met. The NRC is 

considering issuing the requested 

exemption. The proposed action would 

not significantly: (a) Affect probabilities 

of evaluated accidents; (b) affect 

margins of safety; (c) affect the 

effectiveness of programs contained in 

licensing documents; (d) increase 

effluents; (e) increase occupational 

radiological exposures; or (f) affect 

operations or decommissioning 

activities of the RPF. The reason the 

environment would not be significantly 

affected is because the requested 

exemption affects only the timing of 

construction and does not affect the 

previous evaluation regarding the 

environmental impacts of constructing 

and operating the NWMI RPF, as 

described in the Environmental Impact 

Statement for Construction Permit for 

the Northwest Medical Isotopes 

Radioisotope Production Facility, Final 

Report (NUREG–2209). The impacts of 

connected 10 CFR part 70 actions at the 

RPF were evaluated in NUREG–2209. 

On the basis of the EA included in 

Section II of this document, and 

incorporated herein by reference, the 

NRC has determined not to prepare an 

EIS for the proposed action. The related 

environmental documents are: (a) 

NWMI Exemption request dated 

December 17, 2017, as supplemented on 

March 12, 2018 (ADAMS Accession 

Nos. ML17362A040 and 

ML18088A175); (b) NWMI Preliminary 

Safety Analyses Report, Chapter 19, 

‘‘Environmental Report,’’ Corvallis, OR, 

revision OA dated June 2015, (ADAMS 

Accession Nos. ML15210A123, 

ML15210A128, ML15210A129, and 

ML15210A131; and (c) NUREG–2209, 

‘‘Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Construction Permit for the 

Northwest Medical Isotopes 

Radioisotope Production Facility,’’ 

issued in May 2018 (ADAMS Accession 

No. ML17130A862). 

This FONSI and other related 

environmental documents may be 

examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the 

NRC’s PDR, located at One White Flint 

North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

Maryland 20852. Publicly-available 

records are also accessible online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

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

adams.html. Persons who do not have 

access to ADAMS or who encounter 

problems in accessing the documents 

located in ADAMS should contact the 

NRC’s PDR reference staff by telephone 

at 1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737, or 

by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 24th day 

of August, 2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Brian W. Smith, 

Deputy Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, 

Safeguards, and Environmental Review, 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 

Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 2018–18757 Filed 8–28–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 72–1050; NRC–2016–0231] 

Interim Storage Partner’s Waste 

Control Specialists Consolidated 

Interim Storage Facility 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Revised license application; 

opportunity to request a hearing and to 

petition for leave to intervene; order 

imposing procedures. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) received a request 

from Interim Storage Partners, a joint 

venture between Waste Control 

Specialists, LLC (WCS) and Orano CIS, 

LLC by letters dated June 8, 2018, and 

July 19, 2018, to resume NRC staff 

review of a license application for the 

WCS Consolidated Interim Storage 

Facility (CISF) in Andrews County, 

Texas. By letter dated April 18, 2017, 

the previous applicant, WCS, asked 

NRC to temporarily suspend all safety 

and environmental review activities. 

DATES: A request for a hearing or 

petition for leave to intervene must be 

filed by August 29, 2018. Any potential 

party as defined in section 2.4 of title 10 

of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR), who believes access to Sensitive 

Unclassified Non-Safeguards 

Information (SUNSI) is necessary to 

respond to this notice must request 

document access by September 10, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2016–0231 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–2016–0231. 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 

‘‘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. For the convenience of the 

reader, the ADAMS accession numbers 

are provided in a table in the 

‘‘Availability of Documents’’ section of 

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: 

John-Chau Nguyen, Office of Nuclear 

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–0262; email: JohnChau.Nguyen@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The NRC received, by letter dated 

April 28, 2016, an application from 

WCS for a specific license pursuant to 

10 CFR part 72, ‘‘Licensing 

Requirements for the Independent 

Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, HighLevel Radioactive Waste, and ReactorRelated Greater Than Class C Waste.’’ 

WCS proposed to construct a 

Consolidated Interim Storage Facility 

(CISF) on its approximately 60.3 square 

kilometer (14,900 acre) site in western 

Andrews County, Texas. WCS currently 

operates facilities on this site that 

process and store Low-Level Waste and 

Mixed Waste (i.e., waste that is 

considered both hazardous waste and 

Low-Level Waste). The facility also 

disposes of both hazardous waste and 

toxic waste. 

On January 30, 2017, the NRC 

published two notices in the Federal 

Register: (1) A notice describing the 

closing date for the scoping period for 

the Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS), and dates, times, and locations of 

scoping meetings wherein the NRC 

received oral comments as part of the 

EIS scoping process (82 FR 8771); and 

(2) a notice of its acceptance of the WCS 

application and an opportunity to 

request a hearing and petition for leave 

to intervene (82 FR 8773). On March 16, 

2017 (82 FR 14039), the NRC published 

a notice in the Federal Register of an 

extension to the scoping period and 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES