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Home > Nuclear Materials > Uranium Recovery
> GEIS for Uranium Milling Facilities
> Environmental Impact Areas To Be Analyzed in the GEIS
Environmental
Impact Areas To Be Analyzed in the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for Uranium Milling Facilities
In anticipation of receiving numerous license applications for in situ leach (ISL) uranium recovery facilities
in 2008 through 2010, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is preparing a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS)
for Uranium Milling Facilities. In doing so, the NRC staff will analyze potential environmental impacts that may be generically associated with ISL milling facilities.
Based on the public scoping process required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the NRC has identified the following impact areas1 for analysis in the GEIS:
- Public and occupational health includes potential public and occupational consequences of
construction, routine operation, transportation, and credible accident
scenarios (including natural events), as well as decommissioning.
- Waste management includes the types of waste expected to be generated,
handled, stored,
and subject to re-use or disposal.
- Land use encompasses the anticipated plans, policies, and controls
for use of the land.
- Transportation includes the potential transportation modes, routes, quantities,
and risk estimates.
- Geology and soil relate to the physical geography, topography, geology,
and soil characteristics.
- Water resources encompass the surface and ground water hydrology, water
use and quality, and the potential for degradation.
- Ecology encompasses the potential impact on wetlands, aquatic, terrestrial,
economically and recreationally important species, and threatened and
endangered species.
- Air quality relates to meteorological conditions, ambient background,
pollutant sources, and the potential for degradation.
- Noise includes ambient noise, sources, and sensitive receptors.
- Historical and cultural resources encompass historical, archaeological, and
traditional cultural resources.
- Visual and scenic resources include landscape characteristics,
man-made
features, and view shed.
- Socioeconomics relates to the demography, economic base, labor pool, housing,
transportation, utilities, public services and facilities, education,
recreation, and cultural resources.
- Environmental justice involves potential disproportionately high and adverse impacts to minority
and low-income populations.
- Cumulative effects encompass all effects from past, present, and reasonably
foreseeable future actions at and near the site.
1 The examples listed for each
of the above impact areas are not intended to be all-inclusive, nor is this list an indication that environmental impacts will occur.
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