[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 110 (Thursday, June 6, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28906-28908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-14236]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No.: 040-08724]
Finding of No Significant Impact Related To Amendment To
Materials License SUB-1357, Chemetron Corporation, Inc.
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Finding of No Significant Impact associated with
amendment to Materials License SUB-1357, Chemetron Corporation, Inc.,
Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio, to authorize remediation of Harvard Avenue
site.
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The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering issuing an
amendment of Materials License No. SUB-1357, held by Chemetron
Corporation, Inc., to authorize the remediation of the Harvard Avenue
site located on Harvard Avenue in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio.
Environmental Assessment Summary
Background
By the letter of March 24, 1994, Chemetron Corporation, Inc.,
(Chemetron) requested that NRC amend its license to authorize it to
perform the remediation of the Harvard Avenue and Bert Avenue sites in
accordance with its remediation plan entitled, ``Site Remediation Plan,
Chemetron Remediation Project, Harvard and Bert Avenue Sites, Chemetron
Corporation, Inc., Newburgh Heights, Ohio,'' Revision 1, dated February
25, 1995. This remediation plan also included Chemetron's plans for
remediating buildings, adjacent to the Harvard Avenue site, owned by
the McGean-Rohco, Inc., that are contaminated with radioactive
material. By letter of May 18, 1995, Chemetron requested NRC staff to
expedite and separately review the remediation of the Harvard Avenue
site so that remediation would not be delayed due to the required Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) review of the solid waste issues
at the Bert Avenue site, under the jurisdiction of OEPA.
Following the review of the portions of the Chemetron Final
Remediation Plan for Harvard Avenue and Bert Avenue sites that
addressed the McGean-Rohco building remediation, NRC staff published,
in the Federal Register (FR), on August 5, 1994, a Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI) and an environmental assessment for the
McGean-Rohco complex remediation. On August 9, 1994, NRC staff issued
Amendment 4 to the Chemetron license authorizing Chemetron to conduct
the McGean-Rohco building remediation. On August 9, 1994, NRC staff
also issued a Safety Evaluation Report for the proposed remediation of
the McGean-Rohco complex.
Proposed Action
In this action, Chemetron is proposing to utilize onsite disposal,
under 10 CFR 20.2002, at the Harvard Avenue facility, for wastes, from
the remediation of the Harvard Avenue site, with concentrations up to
the Option 2 limit in the NRC's Branch Technical Position on ``Disposal
or Onsite Storage of Thorium or Uranium Wastes from Past Operations''
(1981 BTP). If wastes, that exceed the Option 2 concentration limits in
the 1981 BTP, are discovered at the Harvard Avenue site, these wastes
would be shipped offsite, to a licensed low-level waste disposal site.
Need for Proposed Action
The purpose of the proposed action is to decommission the Harvard
Avenue site, by removing depleted uranium contamination in soils and
building rubble, so that the site can be released for unrestricted use.
Remediating the site will allow Chemetron to release the site back to
the site owner, McGean-Rohco, Inc., and to remove the site from
Chemetron's NRC license.
Environmental Impacts of Proposed Action
The NRC staff reviewed the levels of contamination, the proposed
remediation methods, and the radiological and environmental controls
that will be used during the remediation. These controls include worker
dosimetry, the As Low As Is Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) program, air
monitoring, routine surveys, a bioassay program for workers, and
routine monitoring of both airborne and liquid effluent releases to
meet 10 CFR Part 20 radiation protection requirements. Worker and
public doses will be limited so that exposures will not exceed 10 CFR
Part 20 requirements.
Chemetron proposed to remediate the Harvard Avenue site in
accordance with ``Guidelines for Decontamination of Facilities and
Equipment Prior to Release for Unrestricted Use or Termination of
Licenses for Byproduct, Source, and Special Nuclear Materials,'' dated
August 1987. Chemetron also proposed to dispose of depleted uranium
wastes onsite in accordance with the 1981 BTP. Based on uranium
solubility testing of the Harvard Avenue wastes, the maximum depleted
uranium concentration that is acceptable for disposal in the disposal
cell is 7.4 Bq/gm (200 pCi/gm) total uranium.
The staff also analyzed the radiological impacts to the public from
the disposal of depleted uranium contaminated soils and building rubble
in the proposed onsite disposal cell. Radiological impacts to members
of the public will result from inhalation and ingestion of releases of
radioactivity in air and in water during the remediation operations and
direct exposure to radiation from radioactive materials at the site
during remediation operations. The public will also be exposed to
radiation as a result of the onsite disposal. Decommissioning workers
will receive doses primarily by inhalation and direct exposure during
the remediation activities. In addition to impacts from routine
operations, the potential radiological consequences of accidents were
considered.
The licensee provided an estimate of the dose to the public from
airborne effluents to be generated during the excavation activities
associated with the decommissioning of Harvard Avenue site. The maximum
public dose from airborne effluents is 0.02 mSv (2 mrem) for the
Harvard Avenue site. The staff performed a more conservative,
independent analysis of the potential for public exposure from airborne
effluents. The staff estimated the dose to the nearest resident during
excavation of soil at the Chemetron Harvard Avenue site to be
approximately 0.09 mSv (9 mrem).
The licensee performed dose assessments for the Harvard Avenue
disposal cell using the RESRAD computer code, Version 5.05. The RESRAD
code calculates dose impacts assuming a resident-farmer scenario, where
an individual would construct a residence, live there, grow food, and
consume all drinking water from a conservatively located groundwater
well. Radiation doses were calculated to be 0.132 mSv/yr (13.2 mrem/yr)
at 1000 years and peak at 0.142 mSv/yr (14.2
[[Page 28907]]
mrem/yr) at 2150 years after construction of the disposal cell. These
predicted doses are less than NRC's limit of 1 mSv/yr (100 mrem/yr) for
radiation doses to the public in 10 CFR Part 20. These doses reflect
the worst case scenario with the proposed cover over the disposal cell
assumed to have been removed.
NRC staff verified Chemetron's RESRAD code analyses, using Version
5.05, and obtained the same results as Chemetron. NRC staff also ran
the calculations using an individual groundwater consumption rate of
730 l/yr, as recommended in NRC Policy and Guidance Directive PG-8-08,
``Scenarios for Assessing Potential Doses Associated with Residual
Radioactivity.'' Chemetron assumed a consumption rate of 510 l/yr,
recommended in Argonne National Laboratory's ANL/EAIS-8, ``Data
Collection Handbook to Support Modeling the Impacts of Radioactive
Material in Soil.'' The peak dose, assuming a cover, was computed to be
0.26 mSv/yr (26 mrem/yr) at 2160 years after disposal. At 1000 years
after disposal, the dose would be 0.22 mSv/yr (22 mrem/yr). The peak
dose, assuming no cover, was computed to be 0.20 mSv/yr (20 mrem/yr) at
2150 years after disposal. At 1000 years after disposal, the dose would
be 0.185 mSv/yr (18.5 mrem/yr). The above doses estimated for the
public are substantially less than the 1 mSv/yr (100 mrem/yr) limit for
exposures to the public in 10 CFR Part 20.
During the remediation of the contaminated materials, workers will
receive doses from direct exposure and from the inhalation of dusts
containing depleted uranium. From direct exposure, assuming the maximum
measured background radiation levels at the Harvard Avenue site of 0.2
mSv/month (20 mrem/month) and a 2000 hr exposure, Chemetron computed
the direct exposure dose to be 0.55 mSv (55 mrem). Chemetron computed
the inhalation dose to be 0.03 mSv (3 mrem). NRC staff reviewed and
agrees with these calculations. The above doses are substantially below
the 10 CFR Part 20 limit of 0.05 Sv/yr (5 rem/yr) for routine
occupational exposure.
Based on the above evaluations, radiation exposures of persons
living or traveling near the site due to onsite operations will be well
within limits contained in NRC regulations and will be small in
comparison to natural background radiation. The licensee has a
radiation protection program that will maintain radiation exposures and
effluent releases within the limits of 10 CFR Part 20 and will maintain
exposures as low as is reasonably achievable.
The NRC staff reviewed the licensee's estimated potential
consequences of postulated accidents. The licensee evaluated two worst
case accident scenarios--a truck tipping over releasing its contents
and a truck fire causing radioactivity to be dispersed into the air.
The scenarios assumed the maximum total uranium concentration of 507
Bq/gm (13,700 pCi/gm) total uranium found at the Bert Avenue site in
Chemetron's site characterization. This concentration is substantially
higher than the maximum total uranium concentration of 5.9 Bq/gm (160
pCi/gm) at the Harvard Avenue site. Receptors 10 meters away would
receive a dose of 4.3E-4 mSv (4.3E-2 mrem) from the truck spill
accident and 0.04 mSv (4 mrem) from the truck fire accident. These
postulated accidents do not have the potential for onsite or offsite
radiation doses that exceed the minimum Protective Action Guide level
of 1 Rem, recommended in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
``Manual of Protective Action Guides and Protective Actions for Nuclear
Incidents,'' or above the 10 CFR Part 20 limit of 0.05 Sv (5 Rem/yr)
for routine occupational exposure.
No wastes that exceed the Option 2 limits in the 1981 BTP are
expected at the Harvard Avenue site. However, if wastes that exceed the
Option 2 limits are discovered, the wastes will be shipped offsite to a
licensed low-level waste disposal site. Wastes will be packaged and
shipped in containers or covered railcars or trucks in accordance with
NRC and Department of Transportation requirements. Wastes will be
disposed of in accordance with the disposal site license conditions.
Therefore, there are no expected impacts from the transportation or
offsite disposal of radioactive materials.
The NRC staff also considered nonradiological impacts and concluded
that all such impacts are negligible.
Chemetron has identified, at the Harvard Avenue site, no solid
wastes and hazardous wastes, as defined under the Resource,
Conservation, and Recovery Act (RCRA) that will need to be managed in
accordance with the requirements of the OEPA. If such wastes are
encountered, the wastes will be managed in accordance with OEPA
requirements. Any impacts for handling RCRA solid and hazardous wastes,
if identified, are expected to be small.
Based on the very low minority populations in Cuyahoga Heights,
Ohio, and in Newburgh Heights, Ohio, which borders the Harvard Avenue
site, and income statistics that show no significant low-income
populations compared with those in Cuyahoga County and in the State of
Ohio, there will be no significant impacts to minorities and low-income
households from the proposed activities.
The proposed remediation of the Harvard Avenue site will enable
Chemetron to release the site for unrestricted use. On the basis of the
NRC staff's evaluation of Chemetron's proposed remediation approach for
the Harvard Avenue site, and analysis of the environmental impacts of
the proposed action, the staff concludes that the proposed remediation
activities will not result in any significant environmental or
radiological impact.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
The staff evaluated the following alternatives to the proposed
action: (1) leaving the depleted uranium in place; (2) delaying the
remediation; (3) disposing of contamination at an existing licensed
low-level radioactive disposal site; (4) applying volume reduction
methods to the contaminated materials; and, (5) onsite disposal.
Alternatives 1 and 2 would not allow the license to be terminated and
would be unacceptable. There are no significant environmental impacts
associated with Alternatives 3, 4, and 5. However, Alternatives 3 and 4
are substantially more expensive than Alternative 5, the licensees
proposed option. Based on this evaluation, NRC staff concludes that
there are no reasonably available alternatives to the licensee's
proposed plan that are obviously superior.
Agencies and Persons Consulted, and Sources Used
This environmental assessment was prepared by staff of the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, Rockville, MD, and Region III, Lisle, IL.
During the review of Chemetron's Final Site Remediation Plan, NRC
requested comments from the Mayor of Newburgh Heights, the Ohio
Department of Health (ODH), the OEPA, and the Cuyahoga County Board of
Health (CCBH). NRC received formal comments from ODH and CCBH, and
informal comments from OEPA. The principle comments received from ODH
and OEPA were that NRC should require post-closure controls and
monitoring, for the radiologic components in the waste, after
completion of the onsite disposal cells. These controls would be
consistent with the post-closure controls required by OEPA for solid
waste landfills. NRC staff indicated that under the conditions
[[Page 28908]]
of onsite disposal under the Option 2 limits of the 1981 BTP the
Harvard Avenue site could be released for unrestricted use, and doses
to hypothetical intruders, who might construct homes and consume
groundwater and foodstuffs grown in the wastes, would be acceptable.
The principle comments made by CCBH were to correct technical
inconsistencies, in the Site Remediation Plan, related to the design of
the proposed Bert Avenue disposal cell.
A draft of this environmental assessment was also transmitted to
ODH, OEPA, CCBH, and the Mayor of Newburgh Heights, Ohio. The CCBH,
OEPA, and the Mayor of Newburgh Heights had no comments on the draft
EA. ODH concurred with the dose assessment modeling results, and
indicated that the proposed action will be protective of public health.
ODH also commented that they desired a mechanism for detecting disposal
cell failure and deed restrictions that would limit any type of
activity that might jeopardize disposal cell integrity. As indicated
above, NRC staff consider that under the Option 2 disposal conditions,
the Harvard Avenue site can be released for unrestricted use, without
post-closure controls related to radioactive materials.
The NRC staff requested a review by the Ohio Historic Preservation
Office (OHPO) of the Harvard Avenue property. The OHPO concluded that
the project, if completed as proposed, would have no effect on
properties listed on or eligible for the National Register of
Historical Places.
No other sources of information were used beyond those which are
referenced in the report.
Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on the environmental assessment, the Commission concludes
that the issuance of the license amendment will not have a significant
impact on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the
Commission has determined not to prepare an environmental impact
statement for the proposed action.
Opportunity for a Hearing
On April 11, 1994, the NRC published in the FR a notice of
Consideration of Amendment to Chemetron Corporation License and
Opportunity for Hearing (59 FR 17124) with respect to the matters
covered in the amendment that is the subject of this notice. In
response to that notice, Earth Day Coalition submitted a petition for
hearing. On July 7, 1994, the Presiding Officer granted a three week
period for Earth Day Coalition to supplement a deficient hearing
request. The Coalition's petition failed to demonstrate that the NRC's
standing requirements were met and that its concerns were germane to
the subject matter of the proceeding. Because the Coalition did not
file the supplemental information, on September 1, 1994, the Presiding
Officer dismissed the proceeding. Accordingly, the agency has complied
with its rules in 10 CFR Part 2, Subpart L, and no further offer of an
opportunity for a hearing is made regarding the subject matter of this
notice.
The environmental assessment and the documents related to this
proposed action are available for public inspection and copying at the
NRC's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20555,
and the NRC's Local Public Document Room at the Garfield Heights Branch
Library, 5409 Turney Road, Garfield Heights, Ohio, (Docket No. 040-
08724).
For additional information, contact Timothy C. Johnson, Section
Leader, Materials Decommissioning Section, Low-Level Waste and
Decommissioning Projects Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, (310) 415-7299.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of May 1996.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Robert A. Nelson,
Acting Chief, Low-Level Waste and Decommissioning Projects Branch,
Division of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 96-14236 Filed 6-5-96; 8:45 am]
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