Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 128 / Tuesday, July 2, 1996 / Notices 34451

Allen Hansen, a Commission employee

in the Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation, have been appointed as

Commission adjudicatory employees

within the meaning of section 2.4, to

advise the Commission on issues related

to the pending appeal of LBP–95–17, 42

NRC 137 (1995). Messrs. Serpan and

Hansen have not previously performed

any investigative or litigating function

connected with this or any factuallyrelated proceeding.

Until such time as a final decision is

issued in this matter, parties to the

proceeding shall not communicate with

Messrs. Serpan or Hansen with regard to

the merits of this case.

It is so ordered.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day

of June, 1996.

For the Commission.

John C. Hoyle,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 96–16875 Filed 7–1–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–M

[Docket No. 40–8943]

Crow Butte Resources Inc.

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–1534

to allow the licensee, Crow Butte

Resources, Inc., to increase the

maximum concentrations of radium,

uranium, and sulfate in process waste

fluids to be disposed by deep well

injection at its in-situ leach uranium

mining facility in Dawes County,

Nebraska. An Environmental

Assessment was performed by the NRC

staff 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: Mr.

James R. Park, Uranium Recovery

Branch, Mail Stop TWFN 7–J9, Division

of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555. Telephone 301/

415–6699.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

During April 1991, Crow Butte

Resources, Inc. (Crow Butte)

commenced uranium recovery

operations at its Crow Butte in-situ

leach (ISL) uranium mining facility in

Dawes County, Nebraska. These

activities are authorized by NRC Source

Material License SUA–1534. The NRC

staff prepared an Environmental

Assessment (EA) based on its review of

Crow Butte’s license application and

environmental report (ER); a Final

Finding of No Significant Impact

(FONSI) concerning the issuance of

SUA–1534 was issued on December 27,

1989 (54 FR 53200). Supplemental EAs

were prepared based on the NRC staff’s

review of Crow Butte’s amendment

requests to increase its maximum

processing flow rate from 2500 gallons

per minute (gpm) to 3500 gpm, and

separately, from 3500 gpm to the

currently approved level of 5000 gpm.

The NRC staff issued Final FONSIs on

March 12, 1993 (58 FR 13561), and

February 28, 1996 (61 FR 7541),

respectively, concerning these licensing

actions.

Summary of the Environmental

Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

The proposed action is an amendment

to SUA–1534 to allow Crow Butte to

increase the maximum concentration

limits for radium, uranium, and sulfate

in process waste fluids to be disposed

by deep well injection at its ISL facility.

The concentration limits for these

constituents would be increased as

follows: (1) For radium, from 1000

picocuries per liter (pCi/l) to 5000 pCi/

l; (2) for uranium, from 10 milligrams

per liter (mg/l) to 25 mg/l; and (3) for

sulfate, from 5000 mg/l to 10,000 mg/l.

The NRC staff’s review was conducted

in accordance with the requirements of

10 CFR 40.32 and 10 CFR 40.45.

Need for the Proposed Action

Crow Butte requested NRC approval

of this increase in the concentration

limits because the concentrations of

radium, uranium, and sulfate in its

typical facility waste water may

approach or exceed the currently

approved limits.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed

Action

The NRC staff approved deep well

injection as an alternate method of

waste disposal for the Crow Butte ISL

facility by amendment to SUA–1534 on

October 4, 1994. The NRC staff’s

approval was conditional on the State of

Nebraska issuing the necessary

underground injection permit for the

deep well disposal process, and finding

that the potential for contamination of

other usable aquifers by deep well

injection was minimal. If the State

determined in the affirmative on both of

these issues, the NRC staff considered

the potential impacts to a member of the

public to be minimal. In addition, the

NRC staff considered that worker

exposure could be adequately managed

under Crow Butte’s radiation safety

program. Finally, the NRC staff

determined that the radiological

constituent concentration limits

requested by Crow Butte were

comparable to levels allowed by the

NRC at other ISL uranium recovery

operations which employ deep well

injection as a waste disposal option.

State of Nebraska Department of

Environmental Quality (NDEQ) Permit

No. NE0206369 was issued to Crow

Butte on June 20, 1995. Under this

permit, Crow Butte is authorized to

operate a Class I non-hazardous waste

injection well to inject waste fluids into

the Morrison and Sundance Formations,

which are located below the lowermost

underground source of drinking water

(USDW), at approximately 3500 to 3800

feet below ground surface. Due to

elevated concentrations of total

dissolved solids, water quality in these

formations is not considered under

Federal or State of Nebraska regulations

to be a USDW.

Among other provisions, NDEQ

Permit No. NE0206369 requires Crow

Butte to continuously monitor the

injection pressure to ensure that,

coupled with the hydrostatic pressure,

the fracture pressure of the injection

zones is not exceeded, and to conduct

regular mechanical integrity testing of

the well to assure that process waste

fluids are not injected into an

unauthorized injection zone and thus

pose a threat to fresh and/or usable

waters of the State.

Based on its review of Crow Butte’s

proposed amendment request, the NRC

staff considers that the requested

concentration limits for uranium and

radium continue to be comparable to

levels approved for other ISL

operations. The NRC staff defers to the

NDEQ on a determination regarding the

requested concentration limit for the

non-radiological constituent, sulfate.

The NRC staff notes that a revised

NDEQ Permit No. NE0206369, issued on

April 18, 1996, incorporates the

increased sulfate concentration level.

Finally, the monitoring and testing

provisions required under NDEQ Permit

No. NE0206369 are not impacted by the

proposed amendment.

Conclusion

The NRC staff concludes that

approval of Crow Butte’s amendment

request to increase the maximum
34452 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 128 / Tuesday, July 2, 1996 / Notices

concentration limits for radium,

uranium, and sulfate to be disposed by

deep well injection will not cause

significant environmental impacts.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

Since the NRC staff has concluded

that there are no significant

environmental impacts associated with

the proposed action, any alternatives

with equal or greater environmental

impacts need not be evaluated. The

principal alternative to the proposed

action would be to deny the requested

action. Since the environmental impacts

of the proposed action and this noaction alternative are similar, there is no

need to further evaluate alternatives to

the proposed action.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

The NRC staff consulted with the

State of Nebraska, Department of

Environmental Quality (NDEQ), in the

development of the Environmental

Assessment. A facsimile copy of the

final Environmental Assessment was

transmitted to Mr. Frank Mills of the

NDEQ on June 11, 1996. In a telephone

conversation on June 11, 1996, Mr. Mills

indicated that the NDEQ had no

comments on the Environmental

Assessment.

Finding of No Significant Impact

The NRC staff has prepared an

Environmental Assessment for the

proposed amendment of NRC Source

Material License SUA–1534. On the

basis of this assessment, the NRC staff

has concluded that the environmental

impacts that may result from the

proposed action would not be

significant, and therefore, preparation of

an Environmental Impact Statement is

not warranted.

The Environmental Assessment and

other documents related to this

proposed action are available for public

inspection and copying at the NRC

Public Document Room, in the Gelman

Building, 2120 L Street NW.,

Washington, DC 20555.

Dated at Rockville, MD., this 25th day of

June 1996.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Joseph J. Holonich,

Chief, Uranium Recovery Branch, Division

of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 96–16876 Filed 7–1–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

[Docket Nos. 50–361 and 50–362]

Southern California Edison Co.; Notice

of Consideration of Issuance of

Amendment to Facility Operating

License, Proposed No Significant

Hazards Consideration Determination,

and Opportunity for a Hearing

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (the Commission) is

considering issuance of an amendment

to Facility Operating License Nos. NPF–

10 and NPF–15 issued to Southern

California Edison Company (the

licensee) for operation of the San Onofre

Nuclear Generating Station, Unit Nos. 2

and 3 located in San Diego County,

California.

The proposed amendment would

revise Technical Specifications 3.3.11,

‘‘Post Accident Monitoring

Instrumentation (PAMI),’’ and 5.5.2.13,

‘‘Diesel Fuel Oil Testing Program.’’

Specifically, the number of instruments

required to measure reactor coolant inlet

temperature (Tcold), and reactor coolant

outlet temperature (Thot), will be revised

from two per loop to two (with one per

steam generator). The proposed change

would also revise criteria for diesel fuel

oil testing. The changes described above

would reinstate provisions of the

current San Onofre Nuclear Generating

Station (SONGS), Unit Nos. 2 and 3

technical specifications that were

revised as part of Amendment Nos. 127

and 116. These amendments adopted

the recommendations of NUREG–1432,

‘‘Standard Technical Specifications

Combustion Engineering Plants.’’

Before issuance of the proposed

license amendment, the Commission

will have made findings required by the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended

(the Act) and the Commission’s

regulations.

The Commission has made a

proposed determination that the

amendment request involves no

significant hazards consideration. Under

the Commission’s regulations in 10 CFR

50.92, this means that operation of the

facility in accordance with the proposed

amendment would not (1) involve a

significant increase in the probability or

consequences of an accident previously

evaluated; or (2) create the possibility of

a new or different kind of accident from

any accident previously evaluated; or

(3) involve a significant reduction in a

margin of safety. As required by 10 CFR

50.91(a), the licensee has provided its

analysis of the issue of no significant

hazards consideration, which is

presented below:

1. The proposed change does not involve

a significant increase in the probability or

consequences of an accident previously

evaluated.

Proposed Technical Specification Change

Number NPF–10/15–466 (PCN–466),

Supplement 1 addresses modifications to the

Technical Specifications for San Onofre

Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Units 2

and 3 approved by NRC Amendment Nos.

127 and 116. NRC Amendment Nos. 127 and

116 approved changes to adopt the

recommendations of NUREG–1432,

‘‘Standard Technical Specifications

Combustion Engineering Plants,’’ requested

through Proposed Technical Specification

Change Number NPF–10/15–299 (PCN–299).

The proposed changes were identified during

drafting of the procedure changes required to

implement NRC Amendment Nos. 127 and

116.

PCN–466 Supplement 1 is required to

restore certain provisions of the current

Technical Specifications that were not

properly incorporated in Amendment Nos.

127 and 116. Changes are proposed that

would revise Technical Specification (TS) TS

3.3.11, ‘‘Post Accident Monitoring

Instrumentation (PAMI),’’ and TS 5.5.2.13,

‘‘Diesel Fuel Oil Testing Program.’’

Specifically, the proposed change corrects

the number of instruments required to

measure TCold and THot from two per loop to

two (with one cold leg RDT [RTD] and one

hot leg RTD per steam generator) in TS

3.3.11. Also, the proposed change revises

diesel fuel oil testing requirements specified

in TS 5.5.2.13. In particular, the viscosity

limit specified in the Administrative Controls

is revised to the correct range per ASTM–

D975–81, which is consistent with the Bases

to SR 3.8.3.3. Also, a typographical error in

paragraph b is corrected. The ASTM standard

for sampling fuel oil is restored to ASTM–

D4057–81.

These provisions are contained in the

current Technical Specifications, TS 3/

4.3.3.6, ‘‘Accident Monitoring

Instrumentation,’’ and in SR 4.8.1.1.2.c of TS

3/4.8.1.1, ‘‘A.C. Sources.’’

Operation of the facility would remain

unchanged as a result of the proposed

changes. Therefore, the proposed change will

not involve a significant increase in the

probability or consequences of any accident

previously evaluated.

2. The proposed change does not create the

possibility of a new or different kind of

accident from any accident previously

evaluated.

The proposed change will restore

provisions of the current Technical

Specifications for SONGS Units 2 and 3. The

proposed change would correct the number

of instruments required to be operable to

measure TCold and THot from two per loop to

two (with one cold leg RDT [RTD] and one

hot leg RTD per steam generator), and revise

diesel fuel oil testing requirements.

Operation of the facility would remain

unchanged as a result of the proposed

change. Therefore, the proposed change will

not create the possibility of a new or different

kind of accident from any accident

previously evaluated.

3. The proposed change does not involve

a significant reduction in a margin of safety.

The proposed change will restore

provisions of the current Technical