Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/07/24/2015-18236/lost-creek-isr-llc
Timestamp: 2017-11-18 22:05:35
Document Index: 607377207

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40']

Federal Register :: Lost Creek ISR, LLC
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2015-18236 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2015-18236
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a temporary exemption from certain NRC financial assurance requirements to Lost Creek ISR, LLC (Lost Creek), in response to its annual financial assurance update for its Lost Creek In-Situ Recovery (ISR) project. Issuance of this temporary exemption will not remove the requirement for Lost Creek to provide adequate financial assurance through an approved mechanism, but will allow the NRC staff to further evaluate whether the State of Wyoming's separate account provision for financial assurance instruments it holds is consistent with the NRC's requirement for a standby trust agreement.
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0391 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:
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 Start Printed Page 44159document referenced (if it available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced.
John L. Saxton, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0697; email: John.Saxton@nrc.gov.
Pursuant to Part 40 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), Appendix A, Criterion 9 and NRC materials license SUA-1598, License Condition 9.5, Lost Creek is required to submit to the NRC for review and approval an annual update of the financial surety to cover third-party costs for decommissioning and decontamination of the Lost Creek ISR facility located in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. By letter dated November 21, 2014, Lost Creek submitted to the NRC its annual surety update for 2014-2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML14337A251). The NRC's staff reviewed the annual financial surety update and found the values reasonable for the required reclamation activities (ADAMS Accession No. ML14162A050). Lost Creek maintains an approved financial assurance instrument in favor of the State of Wyoming; however, it does not have a standby trust agreement (STA) in place, as required by 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 9.
As of December 17, 2012, NRC's uranium milling licensees, which are regulated, in part, under 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 9, are required to have an STA in place. Criterion 9 provides that if a licensee does not use a trust as its financial assurance mechanism, then the licensee is required to establish a standby trust fund to receive funds in the event the Commission or State regulatory agency exercises its right to collect the funds provided for by surety bond or letter of credit. The purpose of an STA is to provide a separate account to hold the decommissioning funds in the event of a default.
Consistent with provisions of 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 9(d), Lost Creek has consolidated its NRC financial assurance sureties with those it is required to obtain by the State of Wyoming, and the financial instrument is held by the State of Wyoming. Lost Creek has not established an STA, nor has it requested an exemption from the requirement to do so.
The NRC has the discretion, under 10 CFR 40.14(a), to grant an exemption from the requirements of a regulation in 10 CFR part 40 on its own initiative, if the NRC determines the exemption is authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security and is otherwise in the public interest. The NRC has elected to grant Lost Creek an exemption to the STA requirements in 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 9, for the current surety arrangement until the next review cycle to allow the NRC an opportunity to evaluate whether the State of Wyoming's separate account requirements for financial assurance instruments it holds is consistent with the NRC's STA requirements.
The exemption is related to the financial surety. The requirement that the licensee provide adequate financial assurance through an approved mechanism (e.g., a surety bond, irrevocable letter of credit) would remain unaffected by the exemption. Rather, the exemption would only pertain to the establishment of a dedicated trust in which funds could be deposited in the event that the financial assurance mechanism needed to be liquidated. The requirement in 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 9(d), allows for the financial or surety arrangements to be consolidated within a State's similar financial assurance instrument. The NRC has determined that while the WDEQ does not require an STA, the special revenue account may serve a similar purpose in that forfeited funds are not deposited into the State treasury for general fund use, but instead are set aside in the special revenue account to be used exclusively for site-specific reclamation, i.e., decommissioning, purposes. Because the licensee remains obligated to establish an adequate financial assurance mechanism for its licensed sites, and the NRC has approved such a mechanism, sufficient funds are available in the event that the site would need to be decommissioned. A temporary delay in establishing an STA does not impact the present availability and adequacy of the actual financial assurance mechanism. Therefore, the limited exemption being issued by the NRC herein presents no undue risk to public health and safety.
The NRC staff has determined that granting of an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 9 belongs to a category of regulatory actions which the NRC, by regulation, has determined do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the environment, and as such do not require an Start Printed Page 44160environmental assessment. The exemption from the requirement to have an STA in place is eligible for categorical exclusion under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(25)(vi)(H), which provides that exemptions from surety, insurance, or indemnification requirements are categorically excluded if the exemption would not result in any significant hazards consideration; change or increase in the amount of any offsite effluents; increase in individual or cumulative public or occupational radiation exposure; construction impacts; or increase in the potential for or consequence from radiological accidents. The NRC staff finds that the STA exemption involves surety, insurance and/or indemnity requirements and that granting Lost Creek this temporary exemption from the requirement of establishing a standby trust arrangement would not result in any significant hazards or increases in offsite effluents, radiation exposure, construction impacts, or potential radiological accidents. Therefore, an environmental assessment is not required.
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 40.14(a), the proposed temporary exemption is authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, is consistent with the common defense and security, and is in the public interest. NRC hereby grants Lost Creek ISR, LLC an exemption from the requirement in 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 9 to set up a standby trust to receive funds in the event the NRC or the State regulatory agency exercises is right to collect the surety. This exemption will expire on February 10, 2015, for the Lost Creek ISR Project. At that time, Lost Creek will be required to ensure compliance with the STA requirements.
Deputy Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Environmental Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2015-18236 Filed 7-23-15; 8:45 am]