Notice of Availability of Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed National Enrichment Facility in Lea County, NM, NUREG-1790, Draft Report, and Notice of Public Meeting

Résumé

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Louisiana Energy Services (LES) license application, dated December 12, 2003, as revised by letters dated February 27, 2004, and July 30, 2004, and docketed on January 30, 2004, for the possession and use of source, byproduct and special nuclear materials at its proposed National Enrichment Facility (NEF) in Lea County, New Mexico. The DEIS discusses the purpose and need for the proposed LES facility and reasonable alternatives to the proposed action, including the no-action alternative. The DEIS also discusses the environment potentially affected by the LES proposal, presents and compares the potential environmental impacts resulting from the proposed action and its alternatives, and identifies mitigation measures that could eliminate or lessen the potential environmental impacts. The DEIS is being issued as part of the NRC's decision-making process on whether to issue a license to LES. Based on the preliminary evaluation in the DEIS, the NRC environmental review staff has concluded that the proposed action would have small effects on the physic