[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 213 (Friday, November 4, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-27375]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: November 4, 1994]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-364]

 

Information Meeting on the Remediation of Babcock and Wilcox's 
Parks Township Shallow Land Disposal Area in Armstrong County, PA

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Meeting.

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SUMMARY: This notice is to inform the public of a meeting to share 
information concerning the decommissioning of Babcock and Wilcox's 
Shallow Land Disposal Area (SLDA) located on the Parks Township 
Facility in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. The SLDA is an area which 
was used by B&W in the 1960's and 1970's to dispose of radioactively 
contaminated materials in accordance with the regulations found in the 
now rescinded 10 CFR Section 20.304. On September 28, 1994, B&W 
submitted to the NRC a remediation proposal for the remediation of the 
SLDA. Interested individuals are invited to observe a meeting between 
the NRC, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources (PADER), 
B&W, Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), local officials, and citizen 
groups to share information concerning the remediation proposal and 
future actions related to the remediation of the SLDA.

Background

    The Parks Township site is located in Armstrong county, 
approximately 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, along the 
Kiskiminetas River and Route 66. The former owners of the Parks 
Township site (NUMEC) disposed of radioactive (primarily uranium and 
thorium) and non-radioactive waste in the SLDA during the 1960's and 
early 1970's. In 1967, the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) purchased 
stock in NUMEC and sold the stock to B&W in 1971.
    The materials placed in the trenches by NUMEC, consisted of process 
wastes, scrap, and trash from the nearby Apollo nuclear fuel 
fabrication facility. This material contained enriched, depleted and 
natural uranium and lesser quantities of thorium. At the time, 
disposals were authorized under 10 CFR 20.304. This provision has since 
been rescinded and at least some of the waste is known to exceed NRC's 
existing radiological criteria for decommissioning. Therefore, NRC is 
requiring the licensee to remediate the SLDA to met the NRC's 
decommissioning criteria, as described in the Site Decommissioning 
Management Plan Action Plan (April 16, 1994, 57 FR 3389).
    The current owners, B&W and ARCO have performed characterization 
activities for the SLDA and submitted a Site Characterization Report 
(SCR) for the SLDA, dated October 1993. The NRC reviewed and commented 
on the SCR by letter dated March 24, 1994 and received a response to 
those comments from B&W by letter dated September 28, 1994.
    B&W also submitted for NRC review a proposed method for remediating 
the SLDA which involves capping and stabilizing the waste disposal 
area. The NRC is currently reviewing this proposal.

Conduct of Meeting

    The NRC will conduct the first in a series of meetings on November 
10, 1994 in the Leechburg Area High School Cafeteria, 215 First Street, 
Leechburg, PA. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will end at 10 p.m. 
The meeting will be facilitated by F. X. Cameron, Special Counsel for 
Public Liaison at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The purpose of 
this meeting is to share, with representative stakeholders and the 
public, information concerning the status of current actions at the 
Parks Township Shallow Land Disposal Area, projected schedules and 
plans for the remediation of the site, and the responsibilities of the 
NRC and other regulatory Agencies in the remediation of the site. The 
meeting will involve invited representatives from the following groups: 
NRC, PADER, the Licensee, state and local officials, and local citizen 
groups.
    These representatives will participate in a facilitated round-table 
discussion and will present information and views on upcoming actions 
concerning the remediation of the SLDA. An agenda for each meeting will 
be prepared and distributed to all invited representatives, as well as 
placed in the local public document room in advance of the meeting. The 
public will be present during the meeting, and time will be provided 
for public comment at the end of the meetings. Comments and questions 
will be limited to the remediation of the SLDA. An agenda for the 
meeting follows. Future Information Meetings will be held periodically 
concerning other issues of the remediation of the SLDA.

Agenda

7:00  Opening and Welcome
7:05  Overview of Process and Groundrules
7:15  Overview of NRC's Role and Future Actions concerning SLDA and 
Participants' comments
8:00  Overview of PADER's Role and Future Actions concerning the SLDA 
and Participants' comments
9:00  Overview of B&W and ARCO's Role and Future Actions concerning the 
SLDA and Participants' comments
9:30  Future Meetings
9:40  Open Floor for Questions and Comments
10:30  Adjournment

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Astwood, Division of Waste 
Management, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T-7-F27, 
Washington, DC 20555, telephone (301) 415-5819.

    Dated at Rockville, MD this 27th day of October, 1994.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John H. Austin,
Chief, Low-Level Waste and Decommissioning Projects Branch, Division of 
Waste Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 94-27375 Filed 11-3-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M