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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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No. 97-040

March 7, 1997

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a final technical evaluation report on Atlas Corporation's proposed reclamation plan for its uranium mill site near Moab, Utah.

The report concludes that the company's plan to dispose of mill tailings on site meets NRC technical requirements. The NRC will not, however, make a final determination on the acceptability of the on-site disposal plan until the agency completes its environmental review and issues an environmental impact statement.

The uranium mill near Moab, which operated from 1956 until 1984, has been owned by Atlas since 1962. Uranium is no longer processed at the site. Atlas has been in the process of cleaning up the site for several years.

The cleanup plan proposed by Atlas involves demolishing all structures on the site and disposing of the rubble in and adjacent to the 7.5 million-cubic-yard tailings pile already located there. The pile would be recontoured and covered with earthen material and rock to control radon emissions and prevent erosion.

NRC issued a draft version of the technical evaluation report and a draft environmental impact statement for public comment in January 1996. The agency held a public meeting on the two reports in Moab on February 28 of last year.

The final technical evaluation report reflects consideration of comments received, Atlas response to 20 issues identified in the draft report, and additional NRC staff analysis. A copy will be available for review at the Grand County Public Library, 25 South 100 East, Moab. Copies will also be available at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20555, and via an NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/OPA/reports.

NRC expects to issue the final environmental impact statement this summer.