DRC-2017-001241 - 0901a068806ba21b

State of Utah
GARY R. HERBERT Governor SPENCER J. COX
Lieutenant Governor
Department of
Environmental Quality
Alan Matheson Executive Director DIVISION OF WASTE MANAGEMENT AND RADIATION CONTROL Scott T. Anderson Director

February 23, 2017

Amber Reimondo
Energy Program Director
Grand Canyon Trust
2601 North Fort Valley Road Flagstaff, AZ 86001

RE: Response to Email

Dear Ms. Reimondo:
The Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control has completed its review of your email dated
February 8, 2017 in which you expressed concerns regarding the alternate feed material accepted at
Energy Fuels’ White Mesa Uranium Mill; specifically, whether the KOH material is still the material
authorized by License Condition 10.7 of Radioactive Material License (RML) UT1900479.
We understand your concerns to be based on the following:

1. The uranium concentration of the KOH shipment that arrived at the Mill in January had a
uranium concentration of 61% compared to the original amendment request that estimated the uranium concentration to be between 7 to 10%.
2. The original amendment request was to receive and process 2,475 tons of KOH material and
whether or not the Mill has exceeded that tonnage.
3. The length of time a license condition remains valid.
When an alternate feed amendment request is reviewed by the Division, it is understood that the
information provided reflects what is available at the time of the request. As a project progresses,
situations, timelines, processes and/or characteristics can change that may affect the material that is
shipped to the Mill (e.g., percent uranium, tonnage and time to complete a project). We ask our
licensees to keep us informed of these changes. However, there is no state or federal requirement for them to do so.

(Over)
DRC-2017-001241 195 North 1950 West • Salt Lake City, UT Mailing Address: P.O. Box 144880 • Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4880
Telephone [phone] • Fax [phone] • T.D.D. [phone] www.deq.utah.gov Printed on 100% recycled paper

To address your first concern, please refer to the Federal Register, Volume 57, No. 93, pages 20530
through 20533. This federal register discusses the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) position on alternate feed material. The KOH material must still meet the three alternate feed criteria outlined in the
federal register and as amended by more recent NRC publications. Even though the percentage of
uranium is higher than what was specified in the original approval, the KOH material still meets the
definition of alternate feed materials and can still be accepted by the Mill.
Your second concern is how much KOH material the Mill is allowed to receive. The tonnage that you
referenced in your email is an approximate tonnage, as is the tonnage that is discussed in the Licensee’s
original amendment request. License Condition 10.7 does not limit the total number tons of KOH
material that the Mill can receive. The only restrictions in the Mill’s RML are found in Condition 10.1.
Basically, the Mill cannot have more feed material, native and alternate, than tailing cell disposal capacity. Division staff verified that there was adequate space in the Mill’s tailings cells during their
onsite inspections last year.

The third concern is simple. Unless noted in the license condition, there is no time limit on license
conditions. There is no way to predict how long an alternate feed project will last. For example, in the 2007 RML renewal application, Volume 1, Table 4.2-1, EFRI reports that it has processed 1,595 tons of
KOH material. That tonnage is still below the estimated tonnage from the original application.
However, during RML renewals, the Division tries to identify which license conditions are still
appropriate and which are not. For example, during the review of the 2007 RML renewal application,
the Division identified several alternate feed license conditions that were no longer needed and will be removing them from the RML.

In summary, EFRI is allowed to receive and process KOH alternate feed material at the White Mesa
Uranium Mill until the project is completed and License Condition 10.7 is removed from the RML.
If you have any questions, please call Phil Goble [phone] or Ryan Johnson at [phone].

Sincerely,

Scott T. Anderson, Director
Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control

STA/RMJ/ka
c: Kirk Benge, Health Officer/Environmental Health Director, San Juan County Health Department
Rick Meyer, Environmental Health Director, San Juan County Health Department
Scott Hacking, P.E., DEQ District Engineer
Kathy Weinel, Quality Assurance Manager, Energy Fuels Resources (USA) Inc.