Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices 25099

request: 34,743 hours for applicable

licensees (Reporting: 24,400 hr/yr, and

Recordkeeping: 10,343 hrs/yr).

7. Abstract: In the medical use of

byproduct material, there have been

instances where byproduct material was

not administered as intended or was

administered to a wrong individual,

which resulted in unnecessary

exposures or inadequate diagnostic or

therapeutic procedures. The most

frequent causes of these incidents were:

insufficient supervision, deficient

procedures, failure to follow

procedures, and inattention to detail. In

an effort to reduce the frequency of such

events, the NRC requires licensees to

implement a quality management

program (§ 35.32) to provide high

confidence that byproduct material or

radiation from byproduct material will

be administered as directed by an

authorized user physician.

Collection of this information enables

the NRC to ascertain whether

misadministrations are investigated by

the licensee and that corrective action is

taken. Additionally, NRC has a

responsibility to inform the medical

community of generic issues identified

in the NRC review of

misadministrations.

The NRC is currently revising 10 CFR

Part 35, including 10 CFR 35.32 and 33.

NRC sought early input and will

continue to seek input on the

rulemaking through Federal Register

notices, open meetings, public

workshops, and by putting documents

on the internet. The proposed rule will

be published for comment for 75 days,

and NRC plans to hold three public

meetings during the formal comment

period to facilitate public comment.

Submit, by July 6, 1998, comments

that address the following questions:

1. Is the proposed collection of

information necessary for the NRC to

properly perform its functions? Does the

information have practical utility?

2. Is the burden estimate accurate?

3. Is there a way to enhance the

quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be collected?

4. How can the burden of the

information collection be minimized,

including the use of automated

collection techniques or other forms of

information technology?

A copy of the draft supporting

statement may be viewed free of charge

at the NRC Public Document Room,

2120 L Street, NW (lower level),

Washington, DC. OMB clearance

requests are available at the NRC

worldwide web site (http://

www.nrc.gov) under the FedWorld

collection link on the home page tool

bar. The document will be available on

the NRC home page site for 60 days after

the signature date of this notice.

Comments and questions about the

information collection requirements

may be directed to the NRC Clearance

Officer, Brenda Jo. Shelton, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, T–6 F33,

Washington, DC, 20555–0001, or by

telephone at 301–415–7233, or by

Internet electronic mail at

BJS1@NRC.GOV.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day

of April 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Brenda Jo. Shelton,

NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief

Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 98–11981 Filed 5–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–409]

Dairyland Power Cooperative La

Crosse Boiling Water Reactor; Notice

of Receipt of the La Crosse PostShutdown Decommissioning Activities

Report and Public Meeting

The NRC is in receipt of the La Crosse

Boiling Water Reactor (LACBWR) PostShutdown Decommissioning Activities

Report (PSDAR), as previously

submitted by Dairyland Power

Cooperative (the licensee) as the

‘‘LACBWR Decommissioning Plan.’’

Therefore, in order to inform the public

of the NRC’s regulations regarding

decommissioning and licensee’s plans

to decommission the LACBWR facility,

the NRC staff will conduct a public

meeting at the Viroqua High School,

Middle School Complex—Large Lecture

Hall, 100 Blackhawk, Viroqua, WI

64665, on May 13, 1998. The doors will

open at 6:30 p.m. with the public

meeting starting at 7:00 p.m. Mr.

Geoffrey Banta, Sheriff, Vernon County,

will chair the meeting. The meeting

agenda includes a presentation by the

NRC staff on the decommissioning

regulatory process and the conduct of

NRC inspections and a presentation by

a Dairyland Power representative on the

licensee’s plans for the

decommissioning of the LACBWR

facility. Following the presentations,

there will be an opportunity for

members of the public to make

comments or ask questions to the NRC

staff and/or Dairyland Power

representatives. This public meeting

will be transcribed.

On April 30, 1987, LACBWR

permanently ceased reactor power

operations and on June 11, 1987, all

nuclear fuel was removed from the

reactor vessel and placed in the Fuel

Element Storage Well (FESW or spent

fuel pool). Then, on December 21, 1987,

the licensee submitted their

Decommissioning Plan, Preliminary

DECON Plan, and Supplement to the

Environmental Report for the PostOperating License Stage—SAFSTOR

(Accession No. 8801150072, Microfiche

No. 44034–1643). Within this submittal,

the licensee described their plans to

maintain the LACBWR facility in longterm storage until March 29, 2031, when

license termination activities would

commence. Dairyland Power then

submitted an application for

amendment of their Provisional License

DPR–45 (Accession No. 8803020068,

Microfiche No. 44547–332) on February

22, 1988, to reflect the permanently

shutdown and defueled status of the

LACBWR facility. The NRC staff

published a ‘‘Notice of Consideration of

Issuance of Amendment and

Opportunity for Hearing’’ in the Federal

Register on April 8, 1988 (53 FR 11718)

and on August 7, 1991, the ‘‘Order to

Authorize Decommissioning and

Amendment No. 66 to Possession Only

License No. 45 for La Crosse Boiling

Water Reactor,’’ was issued approving

the LACBWR Decommissioning Plan.

No request for hearing or petition to

intervene was filed following notice of

the proposed action.

Notwithstanding NRC approval of the

LACBWR Decommissioning Plan, Parts

2, 50, and 51 of Title 10 to the Code of

Federal Regulations (10 CFR parts 2, 50,

and 51) were amended (61 FR 39278,

dated July 29, 1996) changing some of

the regulations governing the

decommissioning of nuclear power

facilities. The revised regulations (10

CFR 50.82) stated, in part, that for

power reactor licensees who, before the

effective date of the amended rule

(August 28, 1996) possess an approved

decommissioning plan (such as

LACBWR), the plan is considered to be

a Post-Shutdown Decommissioning

Activities Report (PSDAR) in

accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(4)(i).

Additionally, the NRC staff shall notice

receipt of the PSDAR, make this report

available for public comment, and shall

conduct a public meeting in the vicinity

of the licensee’s facility (10 CFR

50.82(a)(4)(ii)). The NRC staff notes that

Dairyland Power continues to maintain

the LACBWR facility in long-term

storage and that the licensee has not

made significant changes to their

decommissioning plans.

Copies of the PSDAR, as revised by

the licensee, are available to the public

from the NRC Public Document Room,

Gelman Building, 2120 L Street NW,
25100 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 87 /Wednesday, May 6, 1998 / Notices

Washington, DC 20037, telephone

number at (202) 634–3273 or (800) 397–

4209. For more information, contact Mr.

Paul W. Harris, Project Manager, NonPower Reactors and Decommissioning

Project Directorate, Division of Reactor

Program Management, Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation, Washington, DC

20555–0001, telephone number at (301)

415–1169.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day

of April 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Marvin M. Mendonca,

(A) Director, Non-Power Reactors and

Decommissioning Project Directorate,

Division of Reactor Program Management,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 98–11979 Filed 5–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40–648]

UMETCO Minerals Corporation

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Final finding of no significant

impact; notice of opportunity for

hearing.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) proposes to amend

NRC Source Material License SUA–648

to authorize the licensee, Umetco

Minerals Corporation (Umetco), to

reclaim the commercial heap leach area,

located in Natrona County, Wyoming,

according to the 1996 Reclamation Plan,

as amended. This license currently

authorizes Umetco to receive, acquire,

possess, and transfer uranium at the

Umetco East Gas Hills site, which is

located approximately 50 miles (80

kilometers) southeast of the town of

Riverton, Wyoming. An Environmental

Assessment (EA) was performed by the

NRC staff in support of its review of

Umetco’s license amendment request, in

accordance with the requirements of 10

CFR Part 51. The conclusion of the

Environmental Assessment is a Finding

of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the

proposed licensing action.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Elaine Brummett, Uranium Recovery

Branch, Division of Waste Management,

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and

Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Mail Stop T7–J9,

Washington, D.C. 20555. Telephone

301/415–6606.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Umetco Mineral Corporation

(Umetco) site is licensed by the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

under Materials License SUA–648 to

possess byproduct material in the form

of uranium waste tailings as well as

other radioactive wastes generated by

past milling operations. The mill has

been dismantled and current site

activities include completion of

reclamation of three disposal areas and

continuation of the ground water

corrective action program.

The commercial heap leach

operations began in March 1980. The

operations were extended in November

1982 as permitted by Amendment No.

17 of the license and operated until

December 1984. Operations were

restarted in May 1987 and finally shut

down in January 1988. In 1992, to

control radon emission, windblown

tailings, and water infiltration, Umetco

placed 2 feet (61 cm) of cover on the

Heap Leach Disposal Area, based on

their 1991 proposed cover design.

Umetco submitted reclamation plans

or modifications to the plan for the

Heap Leach Area in 1991, 1994, and

1996. The 1996 plan also included

reclamation of Evaporation Pond No. 2,

next to the heap leach, by extension of

the Heap Leach Area cover. However,

the data available to date related to the

evaporation pond reclamation was

determined to be insufficient to support

a final design, and thus, the proposed

design for the pond was approved only

as a preliminary design. The pond

reclamation will be addressed in a

separate amendment, but is included in

the area addressed by the EA for this

licensing action. The staff also

determined that additional clarification

and modifications were required for the

Heap Leach Area design, and these

concerns were not completely addressed

until February 1998. The design

includes the earthen cover for the heap

leach area, construction testing and

inspection, stability, erosion protection,

site drainage, and quality control

procedures.

Summary of the Environmental

Assessment

The NRC staff performed an appraisal

of the environmental impacts associated

with the reclamation plan for the Heap

Leach Area, in accordance with 10 CFR

Part 51, Licensing and Regulatory Policy

Procedures for Environmental

Protection. The license amendment

would authorize Umetco to stabilize and

cover the Heap Leach Area as proposed.

In conducting its appraisal, the NRC

staff considered the following

information: (1) Umetco’s 1996 license

amendment request, as amended; (2)

previous environmental evaluations of

the facility; (3) data contained in

required semiannual environmental

monitoring reports; (4) existing license

conditions; (5) results of NRC staff site

visits and inspections of the Umetco

facility; and (6) consultations with the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S.

Bureau of Land Management, and the

Wyoming State Historic Preservation

Officer. The technical aspects of the

reclamation plan are discussed

separately in a Technical Evaluation

Report (TER) that will accompany the

final agency licensing action.

The results of the staff’s appraisal are

documented in an EA placed in the

docket file. Based on its review, the

NRC staff has concluded that there are

no significant environmental impacts

associated with the proposed action.

Conclusions

The NRC staff has examined actual

and potential impacts associated with

the reclamation of the Heap Leach Area,

and has determined that the requested

amendment of Source Material License

SUA–648, authorizing implementation

of the reclamation plan, will: (1) Be

consistent with requirements of 10 CFR

Part 40, Appendix A; (2) not be inimical

to the public health and safety; and (3)

not have long-term detrimental impacts

on the environment. The following

statements summarize the conclusions

resulting from the staff’s environmental

assessment, and support the FONSI:

1. An acceptable environmental and

effluent monitoring program is in place

to monitor effluent releases and to

detect if applicable regulatory limits are

exceeded. Radiological effluents from

facility operations have been and are

expected to remain below the regulatory

limits;

2. Present and potential health risks to

the public and risks of environmental

damage from the proposed reclamation

were assessed. Given the remote

location, limited activities requested,

small area of impact, and past activities

on the site, the staff determined that the

risk factors for health and

environmental hazards are insignificant.

Because the staff has determined that

there will be no significant impacts

associated with approval of the license

amendment, there can be no

disproportionally high and adverse

effects or impacts on minority and lowincome populations. Consequently,

further evaluation of Environmental

Justice concerns, as outlined in

Executive Order 12898 and NRC’s Office

of Nuclear Material Safety and