Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of the National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NUREG-1873)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: October 2007
Date Published: December 2007

Division of License Renewal
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

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Abstract

This environmental impact statement (EIS) was prepared in response to an application submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to renew the operating license for the National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NBSR) for a period of an additional 20 years. This is the second operating license renewal application for the NBSR. The first license renewal was granted May 16, 1984, and included a power uprate from 10 megawatts of thermal power (MWt) to 20 MWt. This EIS includes the NRC staff's analysis that considers and weighs the environmental impacts of the proposed action, as well as mitigation measures available for reducing or avoiding adverse impacts. It also includes the staff's recommendation regarding the proposed action.

No public comments were received during the scoping process. Two comment letters – one from the U.S. Department of the Interior and one from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – were received during the comment period provided for review of the Draft EIS. These comment letters are provided in Appendix B, part II of this Final EIS. The staff determined from ts review of the application that no issues having a significant environmental impact exist, and additional mitigation measures are not likely to be sufficiently beneficial as to be warranted.

The NRC staff's recommendation is that the Commission determines the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal for the NBSR are not so great that license renewal would be unreasonable. This recommendation is based on (1) the Environmental Report submitted by NIST; (2) consultation with Federal, State, and local agencies; and (3) the staff's own independent review.