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Cogema Mining, Inc.; Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Pursuant to delegation by the Commission dated December 29, 1972, published in the Federal Register, 37 FR 28,710 (1972), and the Commission's regulations, see 10 CFR 2.104, 2.300, 2.303, 2.309, 2.311, 2.318, and 2.321, notice is hereby given that an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Board) is being established to preside over the following proceeding: Cogema Mining, Inc. Irigaray and Christensen Ranch Facilities (License Renewal for Source Materials License SUA-1341) This Board is being established in response to requests for hearing that were filed pursuant to a Notice of Request to Renew Source Materials License SUA-1341, COGEMA Mining, Inc., Irigaray and Christensen Ranch Facilities, Johnson and Campbell Counties, WY, and Opportunity to Request a Hearing dated February 9, 2009 (74 FR 6436). Requests for hearing dated April 10, 2009 were filed by: (1) The Powder River Basin Resource Council; and (2) the Oglala Delegation of the Great Sioux Nation Treaty Council (Oglala Delegation), which also seeks ``leave to make filings by e-mail due to problems with the NRC's EIE document system encountered by [petitioner's counsel] due to computer system and software incompatibilities'' (Pet. for Hearing at 125)

Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment Request To Revert to Operating Status From Restoration and Decommissioning Status, Cogema Mining Inc., Christensen and Irigaray Ranch Facilities, Johnson and Campbell Counties, WY

"Extension of Public Comment Period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Moore Ranch In-Situ Recovery Project in Campbell County, WY; Supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Extension of Public Comment Period. SUMMARY: This notice revises a notice published on Friday, December 11, 2009, in the Federal Register (74 FR 65806), which announced, in part, that the public comment period for the NRC's Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS) for the Moore Ranch In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Project closes on February 1, 2010. The purpose of this notice is to extend the public comment period on the Draft SEIS for the Moore Ranch ISR Project to March 3, 2010. DATES: Members of the public have been submitting written comments on the Draft SEIS for the Moore Ranch ISR Project since the initial notice of availability was published on December 11, 2009 (74 FR 65806). In response to multiple requests received in writing, the comment period on the Draft SEIS is being extended to March 3, 2010. The NRC will consider comments received or postmarked after that date to the extent practical. Written comments should be submitted as described in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. "

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission now says two uranium mine proposals in Wyoming are going ahead as planned despite greatly weakened prices for uranium. The NRC told the Casper Star-Tribune this week that the Strathmore Minerals Corp. Reno Creek and Gas Hills proposals in Wyoming no longer were under consideration. The Reno Creek project is near Wright and the Gas Hills project is southwest of Casper. NRC spokesman David McIntyre says the agency "goofed" in reporting the information. Strathmore officials say they're making significant progress on the company's uranium projects in Wyoming. They say the company is working with state regulators to obtain necessary permits.

"Gov. Dave Freudenthal has vetoed three bills, including one that called for creating a task force to encourage nuclear energy production in the state. Freudenthal says the nuclear energy bill seemed aimed more at holding meetings and media forums than on real analytical work. Republican Sen. Eli Bebout of Riverton was a sponsor of the task force bill and says he disagrees with the governor's action. Freudenthal also vetoed a bill that would have set up a way for citizens to complain if they thought that state government was competing unfairly with the private sector."

A fire in a Wyoming missile silo last spring exposed more problems in the oversight of the nation's nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal, but posed no threat of nuclear detonation or radiation release, Air Force Space Command said Thursday. The command, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, released an accident investigation report Thursday on the silo, which caused more than $1 million in damage. It had made no previous announcement of the incident.

Environmental activists from a four-state area met near Chadron last weekend to discuss their objections to the rapid expansion of uranium mining in the region, and to plan strategies to advance their cause. The meeting, hosted by the Western Nebraska Resources Council (WNRC), was held in Chadron because of its proximity to the Crow Butte Resources in-situ leach (ISL) uranium mine, which is already in the process of permitting one major expansion and has two more in planning stages. Participanting groups included the Powder River Basin Resource Council, from Wyoming, ACTion for the Environment from South Dakota's Black Hills, the Black Hills chapter of the Sierra Club, Defenders of the Black Hills, Owe Aku/Bring Back the Way, a Lakota cultural group, and Coloradoans Against Resource Destruction.

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearing in Chadron last week, intended primarily to take public comment on a proposal for use of a generic Environmental Impact Statement in issuing permits for In-Situ Leach (ISL) mines such as the Crow Butte Resources mine near Crawford, provided a primer on the ISL process for an audience of about 35 people, and a discussion forum for several of those involved in challenges to Crow Butte's proposed expansion project. Among the details to emerge from the meeting was acknowledgment by the NRC that, although ISL mine permits call for returning groundwater to its original condition when mining is done, some of the "baseline parameters" have proved unachievable by mining companies.

At Cameco Inc.'s Smith Ranch-Highland in-situ leach uranium mine, a typical barrel holds about 883 pounds of "yellowcake," which is 83 percent U308, the foundation of nuclear fuel that has sparked a mining rush in Wyoming. Price-wise, it's worth about $64 per pound on the spot market, and about $45 on contract -- the equivalent of about 450 barrels of oil.

DEVELOPMENT: A Utah uranium mill is cranking out yellowcake. WHAT IT MEANS: Thanks to rising prices, uranium claims are booming on the Colorado Plateau. But actual mining has been hampered by a lack of mills to process the ore. Until now, that is. The White Mesa Mill in southeastern Utah has opened its doors to uran

Ranchers and rural residents in northeast Wyoming say they've seen the brochure on how uranium producers perform in-situ leach mining. What they don't know is how it's going to work in their neighborhood, with the soils and aquifers under their homes. Some say they're also unsure about how reliable producers are when it comes to self-monitoring, and whether state regulators are prepared to properly oversee a pending rush on in-situ uranium mining in the state.

Uranium One Incorporated; Moore Ranch In-Situ Recovery Project; New Source Material License Application; Notice of Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI). SUMMARY: Uranium One Incorporated (Uranium One) submitted an application for a new source material license for the Moore Ranch In- Situ Recovery (ISR) Project to be located in Campbell County, Wyoming, approximately 50 miles south-southwest of Gillette, Wyoming and approximately 45 miles north-northeast of Casper, Wyoming. The application proposes the construction, operation, and decommissioning of ISR, also known as in-situ recovery, facilities and restoration of the aquifer from which the uranium is being extracted. Uranium One submitted the application for the new source material license to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by a letter dated October 2, 2007. A notice of receipt and availability of the license application, including the Environmental Report (ER) and opportunity to request a hearing was published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2008 (73 FR 4642).

Second contract signed by Uranerz for the sale of uranium to a U.S. utility Uranerz Energy Corporation has announced that it has entered into an agreement for the sale of uranium to one of the United States' largest nuclear operators, with plants located in several states. This is the second contract signed by Uranerz for the sale of uranium to a U.S. utility; the Company announced its first such contract in July 2009. This agreement is a long-term contract with deliveries over a five year period and pricing which contains market referenced prices, with combined spot and long term indicators, to set the final sales price. The agreement's pricing structure contains floor prices to provide Uranerz with downside protection and ceiling prices which protect the buyer from unlimited upside price risk. Uranerz continues to pursue additional uranium off-take sales opportunities to develop a portfolio that reflects a balance between market-related and fixed price contracts thus providing appropriate security to market price fluctuations, production cost fluctuations and pricing diversification.

The Hualapai (WAHL'-uh-peye) Tribe has renewed a ban on uranium mining on its land near the Grand Canyon, joining other American Indian tribes in opposing what they see as a threat to their environment and their culture. The tribal bans add to a temporary mining ban on nearly 1 million federally owned acres around the Grand Canyon. The combined actions mean uranium-bearing lands in northern Arizona open to companies hungry to open mines are growing scarce. Much of the uranium in Arizona is in the northwest corner of the state. The high-grade ore used in nuclear energy and for medicine is especially attractive at a time when prices for uranium have risen. But members of northern Arizona tribes say it's not worth putting their health, water and land at risk.

Uranium One Inc. is buying several uranium facilities in Wyoming's Powder River Basin, including in Campbell and Johnson counties. The company said this week that it has agreed to pay $35 million for the Irigaray in-situ recovery central processing plant in Johnson County, the Christensen Ranch processing facility in Campbell County and several uranium resources in the Powder River Basin. The company also plans to open a separate processing facility at the Moore Ranch in southern Campbell County. Uranium One is one of the world's largest uranium producers and has assets located in Kazakhstan, Australia and South Africa, as well as the United States. It says its buying the facilities from subsidiaries of AREVA and EDF.

The name Poison Canyon offers a hint of what's faced by those trying to clean up abandoned uranium mines in the West. The area north of the village of Milan contains some of the 259 abandoned uranium sites in New Mexico that need cleanup. State officials are pressuring the federal government to direct more money to those areas because of their unique hazard of radioactivity. "In this case, a pile of rocks is more than just a pile of rocks," said New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division Director Bill Brancard. There are hundreds of thousands of safety issues at abandoned hardrock mines in 13 western states, according to the Government Accountability Office. Thousands of sites, many dating to the 19th century, also are considered environmentally damaged.

The name Poison Canyon offers a hint of what's faced by those trying to clean up abandoned uranium mines in the West. The area north of the village of Milan contains some of the 259 abandoned uranium sites in New Mexico that need cleanup. State officials are pressuring the federal government to direct more money to those areas because of their unique hazard of radioactivity. "In this case, a pile of rocks is more than just a pile of rocks," said New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division Director Bill Brancard. There are hundreds of thousands of safety issues at abandoned hardrock mines in 13 western states, according to the Government Accountability Office. Thousands of sites, many dating to the 19th century, also are considered environmentally damaged.

The name Poison Canyon offers a hint of what's faced by those trying to clean up abandoned uranium mines in the West. The area north of the village of Milan contains some of the 259 abandoned uranium sites in New Mexico that need cleanup. State officials are pressuring the federal government to direct more money to those areas because of their unique hazard of radioactivity. "In this case, a pile of rocks is more than just a pile of rocks," said New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division Director Bill Brancard. There are hundreds of thousands of safety issues at abandoned hardrock mines in 13 western states, according to the Government Accountability Office. Thousands of sites, many dating to the 19th century, also are considered environmentally damaged.