Stakeholders have nearly two months to request intervention and a hearing in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review of plans for a waste repository at the Church Rock uranium mine cleanup site in New Mexico.
General Electric subsidiary United Nuclear Corp. in September 2008 submitted an amendment request for its remediation project near the city of Gallup. The NRC is now conducting a full technical review of the request.
“This amendment, if granted, would allow the construction of a Repository for mine impacted soil and debris on and around the licensed mill tailings disposal area,” according to a March 13 notice in the Federal Register. “Mine waste would be removed from the Northeast Church Rock Mine Site and placed in the Repository, located on the existing tailings disposal area.”
The NRC will issue both a safety evaluation report and environmental impact statement for the request.
Would-be intervenors have until May 13 to file an intervention petition with the nuclear industry regulator. Per, federal regulations, the document must make the case for the organization’s standing to intervene. That would include: the petitioner’s name, address, and telephone number; “the nature of the petitioner’s right … to be made a party to the proceeding”; details of property, financial, or other interests in the proceeding, along with how they might be impacted by the NRC decision on the United Nuclear Corp. request.
Petitioners must also cite technical contentions they would raise if authorized to intervene in the proceeding.
