73 FR 220 pgs. 67213-67214 - Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Source Materials License No. Stc-133 Authorizing the Use of Site-Specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels When Determining if Unrestricted Release Criteria Has Been Met for the Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Nuclear Supply Center Depot in New Haven, IN
Type: NOTICEVolume: 73Number: 220Pages: 67213 - 67214
Docket number: [Docket No. 04000341]
FR document: [FR Doc. E8-26982 Filed 11-12-08; 8:45 am]
Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 04000341]
Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Source Materials License No. Stc-133 Authorizing the Use of Site-Specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels When Determining if Unrestricted Release Criteria Has Been Met for the Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Nuclear Supply Center Depot in New Haven, IN
AGENCY:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION:
Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dennis Lawyer, Health Physicist, Commercial and RD Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone 610-337-5366; fax number 610-337-5269 or by e-mail: dennis.lawyer@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of a license amendment to Source Materials License No. STC-133. This license is held by Defense Logistics Agency (DLA or the Licensee) at multiple sites. The site at issue is its Defense National Stockpile Center located at U.S. Highway 469, in New Haven, Indiana (the Facility). Issuance of the amendment would authorize the licensee to use site-specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGLs) in a survey of the Facility to determine if the Facility can be released for unrestricted use under the criteria in 10 CFR 20.1402. The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated February 27, 2008. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this proposed action in accordance with the requirements of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 51 (10 CFR Part 51). Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate with respect to the proposed action. The amendment will be issued to the Licensee following the publication of this FONSI and EA in the Federal Register .
II. Environmental Assessment
Identification of Proposed Action
The proposed action would approve the Licensee's February 27, 2008, license amendment request to use site-specific DCGLs as part of a later request (not yet submitted) to release the Facility for unrestricted use under the criteria in 10 CFR 20.1402. License No. STC-133 was issued on July 23, 1983, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 40, and has been amended periodically since that time. This license authorized the Licensee to use unsealed source material for purposes of storage, sampling, repackaging, and transfer.
Based on the approved DCGLs, the Licensee will conduct surveys of the Facility and provide information to the NRC to demonstrate that the Facility meets the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release.
Need for the Proposed Action
The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the Facility, and seeks the approval of site-specific DCGLs. The licensee needs these site specific DCGL values for determining if the Facility meets the criteria for unrestricted use. NRC is fulfilling its responsibilities under the Atomic Energy Act to make a timely decision on a proposed license amendment that ensures protection of public health and safety and the environment.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the Facility shows that such activities involved use of the following radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: natural uranium and thorium mixtures.
An amendment specifying the site specific DCGLs is required before the Licensee can use such DCGL values to later demonstrate compliance with unrestricted release criteria. The Licensee conducted site-specific dose modeling using input parameters specific to the Facility and a conservative assumption that all residual radioactivity is in equilibrium. The Licensee has selected a resident farmer to be a reasonable conservative scenario to bound the doses to future individuals. The Licensee utilized the RESRAD Version 6.3 computer code to calculate the resulting dose. The Licensee modified a number of parameters based on site-specific information and provided documentation of the hierarchy of informational sources used to derive data values consistent with the site-specific information from general literature values. The Licensee's report provides justification for the selection of each of its parameters. The NRC has reviewed the Licensee's methodology and proposed DCGLs and finds that the proposed DCGLs are acceptable for use at the Facility.
Based on its review, the staff has concluded that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action, its environmental impacts are small. Therefore, the only alternative the staff considered is the no-action alternative, under which the staff would leave things as they are by simply denying the amendment request. Denying the amendment request would result in no change in current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action and the alternative are therefore similar, and the no-action alternative is accordingly not further considered.
Conclusion
The NRC staff has concluded that the site specific DCGLs identified by the Licensee are acceptable for use at its Facility. Because the proposed action will not significantly impact the quality of the human environment, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed action is the preferred alternative.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the State of Indiana's Department of Health for review on October 2, 2008. On October 16, 2008, the State of Indiana's Department of Health responded by electronic mail. The State agreed with the conclusions of the EA, and otherwise had no comments.
The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a procedural nature, and will not affect listed species or critical habitat. Therefore, no further consultation is required under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff has also determined that the proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential to cause effects on historic properties. Therefore, no further consultation is required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC staff has prepared this EA in support of the proposed action. On the basis of this EA, the NRC finds that there are no significant environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted. Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.
IV. Further Information
Documents related to this action, including the application for license amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The documents related to this action are listed below, along with their ADAMS accession numbers.
1. NUREG-1757, "Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;"
2. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, "Radiological Criteria for License Termination;"
3. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, "Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions;"
4. Defense Logistics Agency letter dated February 27, 2008 (ML080860268);
5. Site-Specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels for Soils, Defense National Stockpile Center, New Haven Depot, New Haven, Indiana (ML082630683); and
6. Appendix A B for Site-Specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels for Soils, Defense National Stockpile Center, New Haven Depot, New Haven, Indiana (ML082390288).
If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.
Dated at Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia. PA this 4th day of November 2008.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and RD Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I.
[FR Doc. E8-26982 Filed 11-12-08; 8:45 am]
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