[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 28 (Thursday, February 10, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-3059]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: February 10, 1994]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030-01176]

 

Environmental Assessment: Finding of No Significant Impact and 
Notice of Opportunity for Hearing Related to Amendment of Material 
License 49-09955-10, University of Wyoming

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment.

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SUMMARY: NRC plans to issue an amendment to NRC License No. 49-09955-
10, authorizing the University of Wyoming to use hydrogen-3 (tritium) 
for in-vivo studies on captive pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra 
americana) living in fenced pastures at Sybille Wildlife Research and 
Conservation Education Unit, Albany County, Wyoming.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Donna-Beth Howe, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555, Telephone: (301) 504-2636.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is to amend NRC Byproduct Material License No. 
49-09955-10, issued to the University of Wyoming and renewed on June 
22, 1993. The license currently authorizes personnel from the 
University of Wyoming to use byproduct material at the University of 
Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming. It does not authorize use of radioactive 
materials at Sybille Wildlife Research and Conservation Education Unit 
(Sybille Unit) and prohibits the release of radioactive materials for 
field studies. The proposed amendment would authorize University of 
Wyoming personnel to use hydrogen-3 labeled water (tritiated water) in 
studies on approximately six lactating pronghorn antelopes (Antilocapra 
americana) and their respective fawns.
    The tritiated water portion of the proposed study is part of a 
larger scientific study of pronghorn antelope. The larger study focuses 
on lactation (the most demanding activity of the female pronghorn 
antelope's energy cycle) and examines the factors of female body 
condition, milk output, fawn birth weights, and fawn growth rates. The 
study will compare fawn milk intake, body-water turnover, and growth 
with observed behavioral activities for both mothers and fawns and 
physical measurements of the mother's weight, body-water turnover, and 
milk composition. This scientific information will also be used in a 
comparison with information from similar studies with other native 
North American ungulates (hoofed mammals).
    The female pronghorn antelopes and their fawns will be located in 
two fenced outdoor enclosures at the Sybille Unit, a facility in Albany 
County, Wyoming, operated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The 
study involves the injection of tritiated water into the lactating 
female pronghorn antelopes, the females' production of tritiated milk, 
the ingestion of tritiated milk by their fawns, and the release of 
tritiated water, water vapor, and feces directly into the environment, 
by both the mothers and the fawns. Accordingly, pursuant to 10 CFR 
51.21, NRC has prepared this assessment of the resulting environmental 
impact.
    The non-site-specific aspects of the pronghorn antelope tritiated 
water studies (i.e., possession of the preinjection tritiated water, 
use and subsequent laboratory analysis of tritiated biological samples, 
analysis of wipe test samples for removable contamination, waste 
disposal, and health and safety aspects of tritium use at the 
University) are performed under the University of Wyoming's current 
authority in License No. 49-09955-10.

Background

    By letter dated April 7, 1993 (and attachments), the University of 
Wyoming, (applicant) Safety Office requested an NRC amendment to 
perform hydrogen-3 labeled water (tritiated water) field studies on 
lactating pronghorn antelopes at the Sybille Unit. The Wyoming Game and 
Fish Department conditionally authorized the performance of the studies 
at the Sybille Unit, pending NRC approval of the amendment request. The 
tritiated studies cannot begin until NRC amends the University of 
Wyoming's license to authorize the studies.
    As the name ``Sybille Wildlife Research and Conservation Education 
Unit'' indicates, the Sybille Unit has two missions. The first is to 
provide facilities and services for research on hoofed big-game species 
and other exotic species considered for reintroduction into the wild. 
Pronghorn antelope, elk (Cervus canadensis), white tailed deer 
(Odocoileus virginianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), bighorn 
sheep (Ovis canadensis), and other wild animals are maintained at the 
facility. Two exotic species (the blackfooted ferret (Mustela nigripes) 
and Wyoming toad (Bufo hemiophrys baxteri)) being considered for 
reintroduction into the wild are quartered at Sybille Unit and included 
in the Federal list of endangered species. Research at the Sybille 
research facilities supplements and enhances field work done by Wyoming 
Game and Fish personnel and laboratory work done at the Game and Fish 
Research Laboratory in Laramie. The research facility is capable of 
supporting parasite, disease, nutrition, anatomy, physiology, ecology, 
management, research technique, and toxicology projects. All of these 
areas are important in managing Wyoming's wildlife.
    The second mission is to provide conservation education to 
individuals, groups, and the general public. This mission is considered 
just as important as the first and is why most of the facilities at the 
Sybille Unit are open to the public. The visitors center alone receives 
4000 to 6000 visitors, from May to September, when it is open. The 
education activities include lectures, tours for individuals and 
groups, training professional wildlife personnel in handling captive 
wild animals, and providing public recreational activities. Public 
hunting, fishing, camping, and sight-seeing are permitted at the 
Sybille Unit when they do not jeopardize the wildlife research mission.
    The Sybille Unit, itself, is 12.5 square kilometers (3100 acres) of 
land operated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The Sybille Unit 
was formed in 1948 to protect an important winter grazing range for 
wild deer. The area had historically been range land for white tailed 
deer, mule deer, bighorn sheep, elk, and pronghorn antelope. When the 
Sybille Unit was established, this winter range was threatened by 
cattle overgrazing and ranchers' fences. It physically consists of two 
adjacent areas with different primary missions. These areas are 
referred to as the 1.2-square-kilometer (300-acre) Sybille Area and the 
larger 11.3-square-kilometer (2800-acre) Johnson Creek Area.
    The Sybille Area is located in a 3.2-kilometer (2-mile) section of 
the open-ended North Sybille Canyon, about 72 kilometers (45 miles) 
northeast of Laramie and 55 kilometers (34 miles) southwest of 
Wheatland, Wyoming, in Southeastern Wyoming. The Sybille Unit personnel 
live at the Sybille Area. The research animals are also quartered 
there. The tritiated pronghorn antelope studies will be done at the 
Sybille Area. The larger Johnson Creek Area, located north of the 
Sybille Area, includes the Johnson Creek and a 26,700-square-meter 
(6.6-acre) reservoir on the creek.
    The Johnson Creek Area is used for public water recreation, 
fishing, camping, and elk and deer hunting. In the Sybille Area, 
hunting is not permitted where the research animals are quartered, and 
fishing is prohibited. The public has free access to certain areas of 
the Sybille Area and may be given guided tours to the normally 
restricted areas where the research animals are quartered. It is 
estimated that from 1300 to 2000 individuals take guided tours through 
the restricted area each year. In the restricted areas, the visitors 
may observe, but not come into contact with, research animals or their 
quarters.
    The pronghorn antelope, a native North American ungulate, is 
physically 1- to 1.5-meters (3- to 5-feet) long, 0.8- to 1-meter (2.5- 
to 3-feet) high at the shoulder, and weighs from 36 to 70 kilograms (79 
to 155 pounds). The females are usually 10 percent smaller than the 
males. Their native habitats include grasslands and deserts ranging in 
altitude from sea level to 3.3 kilometers (2 miles). They browse and 
graze on a wide variety of shrubs, forbs, grasses, cacti, and other 
plants. In desert areas, pronghorn antelopes survive not only by 
drinking available water, but also by conserving water and getting most 
of their water from the plants they eat. They are the fastest 
terrestrial mammals in the New World, with a maximum speed, on hard 
ground, of 86 kilometers (53 miles) per hour and a cruising speed of 48 
kilometers (30 miles) per hour. They have very little body fat and 
obtain their speed from their muscular front legs and shoulders that 
can produce leaps from 3.5 to 6 meters (12 to 20 feet).
    All animals used in the studies are already living in captivity and 
no new animals will be taken from the wild for the study. The six 
pregnant females for the 1994 study will be selected from surplus 
pronghorn antelopes obtained from a group of captive pronghorn 
antelopes at the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Foothills Wildlife 
Research Facility, Fort Collins, Colorado. The same six adult females 
will be bred for the proposed 1995 studies. Each study animal will be 
marked with either a color-coded neck collar or fluorescent paint. For 
ease of identification, each mother and her fawns will be marked with 
the same color. The six pronghorn antelopes from Colorado may either 
become part of the Sybille Unit's permanent pronghorn antelope research 
herd or be returned to Colorado. Their fawns will probably continue to 
live at the Sybille Unit. Any animals that die in the study will be 
sent to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory for necropsy and 
incineration. No animals in the study will be used for human 
consumption.
    The animals in the study will be kept in two 4047-square-meter (1-
acre) pastures at the Sybille Area. These pastures will be formed by 
extending the 1014-square-meter (0.25-acre) paddock previously 
designated for the pronghorn antelope. The field studies are expected 
to extend over 4 months (June-October) in both 1994 and 1995. As many 
as six pregnant pronghorn antelopes are expected to be available for 
the studies each year.
    Periodically, during the course of the study, the lactating females 
will be injected with tritiated water; tritiated milk samples will be 
collected from the mothers; and tritiated urine samples will be 
collected from both the mothers and their fawns. The milk and urine 
samples are taken to measure milk intake and body-water turnover during 
milk production and infant growth. All biological samples will be 
returned to the University of Wyoming, for analysis.

Need for the Proposed Action

    A number of researchers are studying the effects of observable 
physical, behavioral, and environmental parameters on the balance 
between neonatal survival and maternal body condition for survival and 
future reproductive success in different native North American 
ungulates. This will be one of the first studies on the pronghorn 
antelope. The study is designed to be comprehensive and include many 
interrelated parameters obtained from different scientific approaches 
(i.e., observation of nursing behavior, chemical analysis of the milk, 
physical measurement of weight gain, and quantitative measurement of 
milk intake and body-water turnover).
    The pronghorn antelope is unique among the native North American 
ungulates for the following reasons: It is the fastest North American 
mammal; both males and females are subjected to extremely high energy 
demand (e.g., locomotory costs, climatic extremes, and thermal stress) 
with minimal body reserves (i.e., body fat); the female has the highest 
known relative reproductive effort among ungulates (e.g., the highest 
ratio of offspring birth weight to maternal body weight); and the 
female may be able to sequentially abort embryos under severe 
nutritional conditions. In the wild, the pronghorn antelope continues 
to forage during the winter, moving as far as 160 kilometers (100 
miles) from summering areas. During winter snow conditions in their 
native habitat, they experience high energy expenditures at a time when 
available foraging is reduced.
    Mature females, weighing approximately 50 kilograms (110 pounds), 
breed in the fall (October), deliver in early summer (June), and 
usually have twins. The fawns have approximately 4 months to grow large 
enough and strong enough to survive predatory threats and the rigors of 
winter foraging. At the same time that the mother is expending large 
amounts of energy to ensure the survival of her current offspring, she 
must also replenish her reserves, and expend energy to ensure her own 
survival and that of future offspring. The tritiated water studies are 
intended to quantify the body-water turnover of the mother during milk 
production, quantify the milk transfer from the mother to the fawns, 
and quantify the fawns' body-water turnover during a period of rapid 
growth and development. The tritiated water injections will be repeated 
every 2 weeks, to quantify changes in body-water turnover, with time 
and development.
    The study is expected to enable researchers to identify critical 
physiological compromises in the balance between maximizing neonatal 
survival and maintaining good maternal body condition in pronghorn 
antelopes. Information from this study can be compared with similar 
information obtained from research on other native North American 
ungulates (e.g., mule deer, red deer (cervus elaphus), muskoxen (ovibos 
moschatus), caribou (rangifer tarandus), and reindeer (rangifer 
tarandus)) to identify important factors in their management and 
survival.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

The Affected Environment
    In general the Sybille Unit terrain is described as rugged and 
rocky, with narrow rock-crowned ridges and numerous deep draws. Some 
sections have fairly level ridge tops and swales. There are level 
stretches of bottom land of various sizes along Johnson Creek and North 
Sybille Creek. The soils are young, shallow, rocky, and well-drained. 
When the Sybille Unit was started, in 1948, the area was overgrazed and 
cattle were removed from the area. The range vegetation consists of 
primarily big mountain sage brush and mid-range grasses. Sage brush 
provides 20 to 30 percent of the ground cover. The area is considered 
semiarid, with moderate to cool summers, and moderate to severe 
winters. Precipitation in the area averages between 38 and 50 
centimeters (15 and 20 inches) per year. Snowfall can be heavy, but the 
spatial distribution ranges from bare to deep drifts.
    Wheatland, Wyoming, 55 kilometers (34 miles) away, with a 
population of approximately 5000 people, is the nearest community. The 
Johnson Creek Area forms the northern boundary of the Sybille Area. 
Private cattle ranches form the western, southern, and eastern 
boundaries. The 1.2-square-kilometer (300-acre) Sybille Area stretches 
for 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) along the North Sybille Creek and Wyoming 
State Route 34, near the bottom of the open-ended North Sybille Canyon. 
The canyon is 0.4-kilometers (0.25-miles) wide at the widest point, 
with steep sides on both the northern and southern boundaries of the 
Sybille Area. North Sybille Creek and State Route 34 run roughly 
parallel to each other and the sides of the southwest- to northwest-
oriented canyon.
    North Sybille Creek flows in a northeast direction toward 
Wheatland. Natural drainage areas for the Johnson Creek and the Sybille 
areas are physically separated until Johnson Creek flows into the North 
Sybille Creek just east of the Sybille Unit boundary on private ranch 
land downstream from the Sybille Area. The natural drainage from the 
canyon sides along the southern boundary is from the private ranches 
onto the Sybille Area. The lowest expected water flow within the 
Sybille Area during the summer studies is 167 liters (5.93 cubic feet) 
per second. This estimate is based on the 1974 to 1992 monthly 
summaries reported for the nearby US Geological Survey Station.
    Most of the land immediately south of the Sybille Area drains into 
the Middle Sybille Creek, which eventually flows into the North Sybille 
Creek farther downstream than Johnson Creek. North Sybille Creek flows 
through private cattle ranch land east of the Sybille Area and 
eventually flows into the Laramie River, which flows into the Platt 
River. Therefore, tritium released into the North Sybille Creek will 
not affect either the private ranch lands west and south of the Sybille 
Area or the public-use areas in the Johnson Creek Area, but would be 
carried through private lands downstream, after it leaves the Sybille 
Area.
    The Sybille Area, used primarily for big-game research, is 
physically divided into eight fenced areas containing pastures, 
permanent residences, and wildlife research buildings and shelters. 
Currently 11 people (9 adults and 2 children approximately 3 years old) 
live in the four permanent residences at the Sybille Area. The 
visitor's center and three houses are located on the same side of State 
Route 34 as the research animal quarters that include the pronghorn 
antelope pastures, but are physically separated from the animal areas 
by at least one locked 2.1-meter (7-foot) game fence (i.e., a 2.3-meter 
(7.5-foot) woven-wire fence topped with barb wire).
    The three houses are the Headquarters building, with attached staff 
living quarters, the blackfooted ferret biologist's residence near the 
blackfooted ferret facility, and the third house, which is the closest 
residence to the tritiated pronghorn antelope quarters. Permanent 
buildings on the animal quarter side of the fence include the Wyoming 
toad facility, the blackfooted ferret facility, numerous animal 
shelters, hay barns, a veterinary lab, and offices. The blackfooted 
ferret facility is approximately 460 to 550 meters (500 to 600 yards) 
away and on the other side of a hill from the tritiated pronghorn 
antelope quarters. The closest residence is 137 to 183 (150 to 200 
yards) and downhill from the tritiated pronghorn antelope quarters. The 
majority of the buildings and pastures are downstream from the 
tritiated antelopes. The fourth residence, some animal shelters, and 
hay barns are located on the other side of Wyoming State Route 34.
    The research animal quarter area consists of a series of large 
semi-enclosed animal shelter structures, fenced pens, paddocks, and 
corrals. All of these are linked together with both covered and open 
lanes. The lanes can be used as temporary holding areas for animals; 
confined routes to move animals between buildings, corrals, and 
pastures; and pedestrian walkways for the general public on guided 
tours, or for Sybille Area workers. The tritiated pronghorn antelopes' 
two 4047-square-meter (one-acre) pastures are attached to a 61-meter- 
(200-foot-) long semi-enclosed structure. The structure has a center 
corridor and four isolation or holding pens on each side of the 
corridor. The north half of each pen is roofed with metal sheathing and 
galvanized metal and walled with metal. All the floors are concrete and 
drain into a waste water disposal system by concrete gutters. The 
animals are free to move between the pastures and the shelter. Their 
water, feed troughs, and weight scale are located in the shelter.
    The Pronghorn antelope shelter is between the office-veterinary 
laboratory building on the east and an equally large semi-enclosed 
sheep building on the west. The sheep building is north of the elk 
corrals and separated from them by a concrete lane that continues 
through the pronghorn antelope shelter to the office building. A gravel 
lane separates the elk corrals behind the sheep building from the 
pronghorn antelope paddocks. The veterinary laboratory office building 
is to the east of the corridor. The central corridor serves as the main 
walking lane connecting the pens to each other, as well as connecting 
the veterinary building and all other corrals in the Headquarters area.
    The waste water disposal system consists of the open concrete floor 
gutters passing through the animal shelters and veterinary laboratory, 
an underground holding tank, and drain tile field. The tile field is 
located just north of the veterinary building. This waste water 
disposal system was developed as part of the Sybille Unit's animal 
quarantine system, to prevent the spread of disease from quarantined 
animals to other animals in the area. The pronghorn antelope paddocks 
and pastures have the same game-proof fencing found elsewhere at 
Sybille Area.
    The southern fence of the pronghorn antelope pastures is on the 
southern boundary of the Sybille Area. Cattle on the private cattle 
ranch south of the Sybille area may graze on the other side of the 
fence. Although the cattle could come in nose-to-nose contact with the 
pronghorn antelopes, the size of the cattle grazing range makes this 
unlikely.
Water for Human and Animal Use
    Although animals in pastures with the North Sybille Creek flowing 
through them have access to the creek for drinking, the majority of the 
animals at the Sybille Area receive all their water from wells. None of 
the water used by the residents and visitors at Sybille Area comes from 
surface water in the North Sybille Creek. The primary water source for 
visitors and residents and animals south of the road are three shallow 
wells 7.8- to 9.6-meters (26- to 32-feet) deep, located at the 
Headquarters building, at the residence closest to the tritiated 
pronghorn antelopes, and at the bighorn sheep corral. The closest well 
is approximately 135 to 180 meters (150 to 200 yards) from the proposed 
paddock. Water for the supervisor's residence and for animals north of 
the road comes from a spring located north of the supervisor's 
residence, which is much farther away from the proposed pastures. The 
boundaries of the Sybille Area have game-proof fences.
Study Subjects
    The Pronghorn antelopes included in the tritiated water studies 
will be adult females that have recently given birth and the young they 
are nursing. Females that did not give birth or lost their young 
shortly after birth will not be used in the study. The study animals 
will be free to move in the pasture. Although this is not the same as 
free-ranging, the pronghorn antelopes' basic movements and behaviors 
should be sufficiently similar to free-ranging animals to provide 
scientific data. The mothers and their offspring will be similarly 
marked by color-coded neck collars or fluorescent paint, for easy 
visual identification. The mothers are expected to be captured every 2 
weeks for new tritiated water injections and milk-sample collections. 
When the mother receives her tritium injection, the fawns will be given 
deuterated water to drink. The biological half-life of tritium in the 
pronghorn antelope is expected to be similar to the 2.7-day biological 
half-life of tritium in caribou (another North American ungulate living 
in arid areas). Both the mothers and the fawns will be weighed 
periodically on animal scales. Routine tritiated milk and urine samples 
will be collected during the study.
Endangered or Threatened Species
    There are two endangered species living in captivity at the Sybille 
Area of the Sybille Unit (i. e., the blackfooted ferret (Mustela 
nigripes) and Wyoming toad (Bufo hemiophrys baxteri)). Black-footed 
ferrets can weigh up to 1.3 kilograms (2.5 pounds), are 50- to 63-
centimeters (20- to 25-inches) long (including their 13- to 15-
centimeters (5- to 6-inch) tail), and have black face mask, black feet, 
and black tip to their tails. The blackfooted ferret was officially 
placed on the Federal list of endangered species in 1967 and thought to 
be extinct in the 1970's, until a group was found in Wyoming. All known 
wild blackfooted ferrets were taken into captivity between 1985 and 
1987, when canine distemper reduced their numbers to 18. The Sybille 
Unit is one of three locations with active breeding programs. The goal 
is to reintroduce the animals born in these facilities into the wild. 
The blackfooted ferret is a member of the weasel family that preys 
primarily on prairie-dogs and in the wild lives in prairie-dog burrows. 
Their natural predators are owls, hawks, eagles, coyotes, badgers, and 
bobcats. With conversion of the prairies into farmland, prairie-dog 
habitats were eliminated and blackfooted ferrets almost disappeared.
    The Wyoming toad is a glacial relic known to live only in Albany 
County, Wyoming. The adult is about 5.6-centimeters (2.2-inches) long. 
The female is slightly larger than the male. The toads' back is a dark 
brown, gray, or greenish color, with small dark blotches, an indistinct 
median strip, and rounded warts. The cranial crest is fused. Individual 
toads can be identified by the variations in their skin color and wart 
patterns, and the Wyoming toad can be distinguished from other species 
by the small adult size and the fused cranial crest. The Wyoming toad 
was first discovered in 1946 and placed on the Federal list of 
endangered species in 1984. Its historical distribution was restricted 
to within 48 kilometers (30 miles) of Laramie, Wyoming. It inhabited 
floodplain, ponds, and small seepage lakes in the shortgrass 
communities of the Laramie Basin. Recent reproduction has been low, and 
red-leg bacteria, discovered in 1990, caused a further reduction in the 
adult population.
    At the Sybille Unit, the toads are kept in hibernation in the 
Wyoming toad building and brought out of hibernation in late spring 
(May), to be carried to breeding ponds in the Laramie Basin about 97 
kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the Sybille Unit, for breeding and 
introduction of the tadpoles into the wild. The adults are then 
returned to the Sybille Unit. The breeding ponds located at Lake 
George, Hutton National Wildlife Refuge in the Laramie Basin (about 16 
to 24 kilometers (10 to 15 miles) southwest of Laramie), are not 
located in the North Sybille drainage area. They eat ants, beetles, and 
other arthropods. Spraying insecticides to control mosquitoes, changes 
in agricultural practices, increased predation, diseases, and climatic 
changes may have contributed to their declining numbers.
    Both endangered species are physically isolated from the other 
animals at Sybille Area and neither receives any of its water from the 
North Sybille Creek. They are located inside their own adjacent 
buildings and not permitted outside unless being reintroduced to areas 
away from the Sybille Area.
Study Protocol
    The tritiated water will be injected into the adult females. 
Routine tritiated milk and urine samples will be collected for 
analysis. Tritium concentration in the milk and urine will provide 
information on the body-water turnover of the mother and the ingestion 
of tritiated milk by the fawn. However, quantitative data on the fawns' 
own body-water turnover cannot be determined unless the fawns' body 
water is labeled with a different isotope. Therefore, the fawns are 
given deuterated water (1 gram of deuterated water per kilogram of body 
weight) by mouth tube, each time the mother is injected with tritiated 
water. Deuterium is a naturally occurring non-radioactive isotope of 
hydrogen. The deuterium concentrations are measured by infrared 
spectrophotometry. Because it is not radioactive, the deuterated water 
neither involves byproduct material nor results in radioactive releases 
at the study site.
    The study protocol calls for the initial collection of a body water 
sample (urine or milk) from the adult, injection of tritiated water 
intramuscularly into each adult, and administration of deuterated water 
to each fawn by mouth tube. The following day, and every 2 to 3 days, 
for 10 days, urine samples are collected from each animal, using a 
small vial on a pole. Most of the tritiated urine will fall to the 
ground. The samples are frozen and analyzed later. The process is 
repeated at 2 week intervals (approximately 5 effective half-lives), 
for up to 4 months. The tritium injections will be stopped once the 
fawns are weaned. The researchers expect them to be weaned in less than 
4 months.
    Each 50 kilogram (110 pound) adult female is expected to receive a 
maximum of 8 injections with 11 megabecquerels (300 microcuries) of 
tritium in each injection. Six adult females are expected to be in the 
tritiated water phase of the study each year. The maximum amount of 
tritium in a pronghorn antelope mother and her fawns at any one time is 
11 megabecquerels (300 microcuries). The maximum amount of tritium 
expected to be released by an adult in a single day is 2.5 
megabecquerels (66 microcuries). The maximum amount of tritium released 
in 4 months by one mother and her fawns is expected to be 89 
megabecquerels (2.4 millicuries).
    At any one time, the maximum amount of tritium in all the study 
animals is expected to be 67 megabecquerels (1.8 millicuries). This 
assumes six mothers are in the study and all deliver healthy fawns. The 
maximum amount of tritium expected to be released by all six mothers in 
one day is 15 megabecquerels (396 microcuries). The maximum amount of 
tritium expected to be released in 4 months by six mothers and their 
fawns is 533 megabecquerels (14.4 millicuries).
Pathways to the Environment
    The adult lactating pronghorn antelope will lose tritiated water by 
respiration (exhaled water vapors), direct losses in urine, milk, and 
feces. Some tritium may be lost in saliva during grooming. The 
tritiated milk will be ingested by the fawns, who will in turn lose 
tritium through respiration, urine, and feces.
    In the Sybille Area's semiarid environment, most of the tritiated 
water released by feces and urine is expected to evaporate into water 
vapor. The dynamic environment in which the tritium is released is 
expected to distribute the tritium in water vapor, soil, water, and 
plants, within the pronghorn antelope's shelter and pasture, and not 
reconcentrate it. Sun, wind, and rain would be expected to disperse the 
tritium in and beyond these enclosures. The expected pathway is for 
tritium to be released primarily into the air and secondarily into the 
North Sybille Creek.
    The open waste water gutter in the pronghorn antelope shelters will 
be covered and sealed during the study. Therefore, tritium in surface 
run off or deposited on the concrete, or in the soil, will not enter 
the waste water holding tank and drain tile system. The effective half-
life of tritium within any particular part of the environment will be 
on the order of 3 days, as it moves through biological systems at 
Sybille Area and beyond. If it were trapped in the holding tank, the 
expected half-life of tritium would be the same as its 12-year physical 
half-life. In the drain field, the effective half-life would have 
depended on the molecular and biological stability of the molecules 
containing the tritium.
Pathway to Humans
    Several factors, such as the exclusion of visitors and guided 
tours, in the restricted areas, from the pronghorn antelope shelters, 
pastures, and corridor for the pronghorn antelope shelter, make it 
unlikely that the tritium and tritiated animals will come in direct 
contact with the general public.
    In the semiarid environment of the Sybille Unit, most of the 
tritiated water vapor and tritiated water released is expected to 
evaporate. Tritium left in the ground is expected to commingle with 
surface water run-off with very little, if any, migration into the 
aquifer. Well water provides all the drinking water at the Sybille 
area. Well water calculations, for the worst case scenario assuming one 
percent of the tritium entered the aquifer and migrated to a single 
well with an average water usage of (50 gallons) per day (very 
conservative and unlikely assumptions), resulted in a concentration of 
74 becquerels (2,000 picocuries) per liter. This concentration is an 
order of magnitude less than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 
drinking water standard 740 becquerels (20,000 picocuries) per liter. 
This concentration would be minuscule if more realistic assumptions 
were made for the probability of tritium penetrating the aquifer, its 
dispersion in the aquifer, and total water usage from the well. 
Therefore, neither the general public nor the Sybille residents are 
expected to ingest tritiated water.
    Surface water calculations, for the worst case scenario assuming 
all the tritium injected from June to September went into the North 
Sybille Creek and the flow rate for the creek was only half its lowest 
flow rate (very conservative and unlikely assumptions), resulted in a 
concentration of 0.6 becquerel (17 picocuries) per liter. This 
concentration is three orders of magnitude less than the EPA's drinking 
water standard. This concentration becomes even smaller when water 
flowing through the Sybille Area is further diluted with water from 
Johnson Creek, Middle Sybille Creek, and other tributaries.
    No one is expected to eat tritiated meat from the study pronghorn 
antelopes. The licensee has prohibited the use of the study animals for 
human consumption; hunters are not permitted to hunt where the animals 
are quartered; and the animals are not able to jump the fences and 
escape into areas where hunting is permitted.
    The animals are permitted to move freely between their roofed 
shelter and the open pasture. Since the roofed shelter is not air-
tight, the tritium released in exhaled water vapor or evaporating 
tritium in urine of feces deposited within the shelter is expected to 
disperse into the atmosphere and not concentrate in the shelter. Air 
inhalation calculations, for the worst case scenario assuming all the 
tritium injected between June and September was inhaled by a single 
individual standing one meter above and downwind of the tritium with an 
average wind velocity of 0.25 meters per second (very conservative and 
extremely unlikely assumptions), resulted in a total dose equivalent to 
the individual for the year of 0.027 millisievert (2.7 millirem). This 
is ten percent of the total dose equivalent permitted for the general 
public (10 CFR 20.1301). When realistic occupancy factors, distances, 
and wind velocities are used the total effective dose equivalent to any 
one individual becomes minuscule.
    The tritium released as tritiated water is expected to evaporate 
and mix with water and water vapor present in the semiarid environment. 
Therefore, concentration in any particular water, plant, or animal 
segment of the environment is unlikely. Tritium may enter the food 
chain in minute amounts, through commercially grown food crops or 
domestic live stock animals downwind or downstream from the site. If 
this occurred, the total dose equivalent for a member of the general 
public would be significantly less than the worst-case calculations 
discussed above. They would be insignificant.
    University of Wyoming personnel who handle the tritiated water, 
collect samples, and inject the pronghorn antelopes have procedures and 
equipment to minimize their exposure to tritium and to ensure exposures 
are below the 10 CFR part 20 limits. Instruction and written procedures 
address proper receipt, survey, transportation, and handling of tritium 
and tritium-contaminated waste, and how to handle spills and other 
emergency situations. Further, these individuals are subject to the 
University of Wyoming's bioassay program, to monitor their tritium 
uptake from all sources.
Dose and Effect on the Pronghorn Antelopes
    The adult pronghorn antelope will receive injections of 11 
megabecquerels (300 microcuries) of tritiated water. The initial 
concentration of tritiated water is expected to be 0.2 megabecquerels 
(6 microcuries) per milliliter of body water. The biological half-life 
of tritium for the adult pronghorn antelope is estimated to be 2.7 
days, and the estimated maximum radiation dose to a single adult is 
approximately 0.56 millisieverts (56 millirem). The dose to an 
individual fawn is dependent upon the tritium concentration in the 
mother's milk, amount of milk ingested, tritium retention in the fawn, 
and the weight of the fawn. With all these factors taken into 
consideration, the dose to the fawn is probably between 0.1 and 10 
times the dose to the mother.
    Although most reported radiation biology studies used external 
gamma radiation and small mammals, some studies on larger mammals such 
as burros, pigs and sheep were done. No specific information is 
currently available for pronghorn antelopes. The internal beta dose 
from the tritiated water to each pronghorn antelope is well below the 
7.7 millicoulombs per kilogram (30 roentgens) (gamma) that may cause 
reduced reproductive potential in mammals (which varies with age, 
species, and sex) and the 1.5 to 2.5 sieverts (150-to 250-rads) (gamma) 
radiation dose expected to kill 50 percent of a burro, pig, or sheep 
population, the LD-50 (lethal dose-50). The radiation doses to the 
pronghorn antelopes and their fawns are not expected to cause either 
acute or latent effects.
Effects on Endangered Species
    The tritiated mothers and fawns are not expected to come in direct 
contact with the two endangered species (the blackfooted ferret and the 
Wyoming toad) because both of these species are kept in buildings 
isolated from the other animals at the Unit. If any tritium is released 
into North Sybille Creek, it is not expected to come into contact with 
these endangered species, because they receive their water from wells. 
They also have very different biological life cycles and habitats.
Effects on Other Species
    Other plant and animal species in the area should not be adversely 
affected by the release of tritiated water into the environment. The 
pronghorn antelopes are kept in a fenced area that will keep out most 
predators. Although coyotes have attacked and killed adult pronghorn 
antelopes in their pastures, coyotes are not hunted for food and the 
tritium ingested by the coyote is not expected to enter the human food 
chain. Eagles may attempt to take young fawns in the wild, but the 
fenced areas are not expected to provide the birds enough open space to 
attempt a landing and escape. Pronghorn antelopes that die during the 
study will be sent to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory for 
necropsy and incineration and would not be available for scavengers. 
The pronghorn antelopes are expected to be free of tritium within 4 to 
8 weeks of the end of the last tritium injection, because of the 2.7-
day biological half-life of tritium in the animals.
    Since the tritium exposure levels in the pronghorn antelopes are 
not high enough to cause either short- or long-term effects in the 
pronghorn antelopes, the even lower levels of tritium dispersed in the 
environment are not expected to have acute or long-term effects on 
other species in the area.

Conclusions

    Based on the foregoing assessment, the NRC staff concludes that the 
environmental effects of using tritium for the in-vivo studies of the 
nursing pronghorn antelope and her fawns are expected to be extremely 
small. The concentrations of tritium released by the pronghorn antelope 
into the unrestricted areas will be well below the limits specified in 
10 CFR part 20. Thus, the estimated doses to residents, other members 
of the general public, and the University of Wyoming personnel at the 
Sybille Wildlife Research Center are insignificant. Based on these 
considerations, this action will not result in significant effects on 
the quality of the human environment.
    The estimated doses to the pronghorn antelope are too low to result 
in acute effects in the animals and are not expected to cause long-term 
effects. Additionally, dispersion in the environment would expose other 
species to even lower levels of tritium.
    Neither of the two endangered species (i.e., the blackfooted ferret 
and the Wyoming Toad) living at the Sybille Area are expected to come 
in direct contact with the tritiated pronghorn antelopes, tritium-
contaminated soil in the pronghorn antelope pastures, or tritiated 
water in North Sybille Creek. Further, the probability of them coming 
into contact with tritium-contaminated food products, soil, water, or 
air is quite small.
    Therefore, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.31, a Finding of No 
Significant Impact is considered appropriate for this proposed action.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As required by section 102(2)E of the National Environmental 
Protection Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4322 (2) E), 
possible alternatives to the proposed action have been considered. The 
first alternative is to confine the animals to an indoor laboratory or 
environmental chamber to quantify the metabolic and energy 
expenditures. These experiments, however, cannot duplicate the 
metabolic rates and energy expenditures of the pronghorn antelopes when 
they are grazing and involved in other natural behaviors in the wild. 
Because they are not easily restrained and their movement would be 
restricted in laboratory conditions, data obtained under these 
conditions would not be meaningful. Although the 4046-square-meter (1-
acre) pastures cannot replicate free-ranging conditions, the pronghorn 
antelopes' diet of sagebrush and grasses is the same, the animals 
appear to move normally, and the mother-fawn interactions are not 
expected to be adversely affected by the confinement of the pasture. 
Therefore, this alternative cannot be used in this study to quantify 
milk production and body-water turnover in both the mothers and the 
fawns.
    A second alternative is to use only deuterium in either the mother 
or the fawns. In the mothers, it would provide data on milk uptake in 
the fawn and body-water turnover in the mother, but without the second 
isotope, the body-water turnover in the fawns could not be determined, 
and this is an critical parameter in the study. In the fawns, it would 
provide body-water turnover data, but not quantify milk uptake. If the 
six mother-fawn sets were divided evenly into 2 groups of either just 
mothers or just fawns receiving the deuterium, data could be collected 
for all the mother-fawn parameters. This is not an acceptable 
alternative because there may not be enough measurements for each data 
point to overcome individual mother-fawn dynamic differences, 
especially, if one or more groups are not able to complete the study.
    A third alternative is to collect milk-production data and fawn 
body-growth data from carefully weighing the mother and fawns before 
and after feeding. The scales that would be used are not located in the 
Pronghorn antelope paddock and pastures. The animals would have to be 
captured after each feeding session and moved to the scales. This 
activity is considered to be too disruptive to the mothers and their 
fawns to result in meaningful data. Therefore, this alternative cannot 
be used in this study.
    The last alternative to the proposed action is the denial of the 
license amendment request. This would result in the University of 
Wyoming having to abandon its attempt to study body-water turnover and 
milk production in the Pronghorn antelope, which, in turn, provides 
quantitative data on the role of adult body condition and neonatal 
survival. Although some of this information may be available for other 
ungulates, it is not available for the Pronghorn antelope, and the 
uniqueness of the Pronghorn antelope makes it important to 
scientifically understand its survival strategies.
    The Pronghorn antelope is the only member of its family and genus, 
and it may have survival strategies that have not been measured in 
other species. Data on lactation strategies of the adult female and the 
growth rate of the fawns will increase the scientific understanding of 
herd recruitment and contribute to effective management of the species.
    There are no currently available alternatives to quantifying the 
milk production and body-water turnover data determinations for the 
mothers and fawns, obtained from the study. The applicant will do 
double-labeled studies, using tritium in the mother and deuterium in 
the fawns, measuring the amount of tritium in the milk and urine of the 
mother, and measuring the amount of tritium and deuterium in the fawns' 
urine. The deuterium portion of the study does not involve byproduct 
material. Both the tritium and the deuterium data are needed to 
interpret the milk production and body-water data.
    The benefit of denying the license amendment request would be no 
excess radiation exposure above normal background at Sybille Area to 
the individual Pronghorn antelope mothers and their fawns involved in 
the study. The benefit and the risk, to the Pronghorn antelopes, from 
the additional radiation exposure, have to be weighed against the 
scientific information, needed to manage and protect the species, that 
is to be obtained from this study (i.e., quantitative milk production 
and body-water turnover information for the Pronghorn antelope during 
lactation and nursing). Further, this benefit has to be weighed against 
the scientific information obtained clarifying the physiological 
compromises between maximizing neonatal survival and maintaining good 
maternal body condition for survival of future reproductive success in 
Pronghorn antelopes and other ungulates.
    The benefits to be gained from denial would be no release of 
radioactive material to the environment. This is not a significant 
benefit, because the estimated concentrations in unrestricted areas and 
resulting doses to humans from the studies will be insignificant.

Agencies and Persons Contacted

    In performing this assessment, the staff contacted the University 
of Wyoming and the Sybille Wildlife Research and Conservation Education 
Unit.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The Commission has determined, under NEPA and the Commission's 
regulations in 10 CFR part 51, that this proposed amendment to 
Byproduct Material License No. 49-09955-10 to permit the injection of 
tritiated water into six nursing Pronghorn antelopes, if granted, would 
not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment 
or the tritiated Pronghorn antelopes, and that an environmental impact 
statement is not required. This determination is based on the foregoing 
environmental assessment performed in accordance with the procedures 
and criteria in 10 CFR Part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations 
for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions.''
    For further details of this action, see the license application 
dated April 7, 1992, and other related correspondence. The documents 
(in Docket No. 030-01176) may be examined or copied, for a fee, in the 
Commission's Region IV Public Document Room, 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, 
suite 400, Arlington, Texas 76011-8064.

Notice of Opportunity for a Hearing

    Any person whose interest may be affected by the issuance of this 
amendment may file a request for a hearing. Any request for hearing 
must be filed with the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555 within 30 days of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register and must be served on the NRC staff by 
mail addressed to the Executive Director for Operations, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 or by delivery to the 
Executive Director for Operations, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852; and must be served on the 
applicant by mail or delivery to the University of Wyoming, Safety 
Office, P. O. Box 3413, room 312, Merica Hall, Laramie, Wyoming 82071-
3413. The request for a hearing must comply with the requirements set 
forth in the Commission's regulations, 10 CFR part 2, subpart L, 
``Informal Hearing Procedures for Adjudications in Material Licensing 
Proceedings.'' Subpart L of 10 CFR part 2 may be examined or copied for 
a fee in the Commission's Region IV Public Document Room, 611 Ryan 
Plaza Drive, suite 400, Arlington, Texas 76011-8064, or in the 
Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, 
NW., Washington, DC 20555.
    As required by 10 CFR part 2, subpart L (10 CFR 2.1205), the 
request for hearing must describe in detail: (1) The interest of the 
requestor in the proceeding; (2) how that interest may be affected by 
the results of the proceedings, including the reasons why the requestor 
should be permitted a hearing, with particular reference to the factors 
set out in paragraph (g) of 10 CFR 2.1205; (3) the requestor's areas of 
concern about the licensing activity that is the subject matter of the 
proceeding; and (4) the circumstances establishing that the request for 
a hearing is timely in accordance with paragraph (c) of 10 CFR 2.1205.
    The factors in 10 CFR 2.1205(g) that must be addressed in the 
request for hearing include: (1) The nature of the requestor's right 
under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to be made a party to the 
proceeding; (2) the nature and extent of the requestor's property, 
financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (3) the possible 
effect of any order that may be entered in the proceeding upon the 
requestor's interest.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 7th day of February 1994.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John E. Glenn,
Chief, Medical, Academic, and Commercial Use Safety Branch, Division of 
Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, NMSS.
[FR Doc. 94-3059 Filed 2-9-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P