Bear Creek

1.0 Site Identification

2.0 Site Status Summary

The decommissioning and reclamation of the Bear Creek Uranium Mill, including the mill tailings impoundment, was completed in November 1999. The tailings impoundment contains 4.7 million tons of uranium ore tailings and covers an area of approximately 101 acres. The staff performed a final "closeout" inspection of the completed reclamation construction activities in July 2000. The staff completed its review of the Bear Creek Tailings Reclamation Construction Report in July 2001 with the conclusion that reclamation of the Bear Creek tailings impoundment was completed in accordance the requirements of 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A, and the licensee's approved Tailings Reclamation Plan. DOE has aquired the deed to the site and is in the process of taking over as the long-term custodian of the site. The cost for decommissioning is still being determined. The current surety that Bear Creek has for the site is $950,000.

3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues

A review of the Alternate Concentration Limits established in 1997 found the assumptions about the level of uranium in the Point of Exposure wells to be in error. The license was requested to redo the modeling to incorporate the ground water data collected in the 13 years since the original ACL application.

4.0 Estimated Date For Closure

09/01/2012