[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 134 (Thursday, July 11, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36585-36586]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17652]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 36586]]


NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-6354]


Notice of NRC Consideration of Removing the Aberdeen Proving 
Ground, Maryland, Site From the Site Decommissioning Management Plan

SUMMARY: This notice informs the public that the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission is considering the removal of the U.S. Department 
of the Army, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, site from the list of 
contaminated sites contained in NRC's Site Decommissioning Management 
Plan (SDMP). The NRC intends to remove the site from the SDMP list if 
it determines that the environmental impact of the continued use of 
munitions containing depleted uranium (DU) at this location is small 
and acceptable.

DATES: The NRC hereby provides notice of an opportunity to comment on 
the proposed NRC action. Comments must be submitted by no later than 
August 12, 1996. Comments received after this date will be considered 
if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to assure 
consideration only for comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to USNRC, Region I, Attn: 
Anthony Dimitriadis, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 
19406. Hand deliver comments to 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA 
19406 between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony Dimitriadis, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety, USNRC, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of 
Prussia, PA 19406, Telephone: (610) 337-6953.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of the Army site at Aberdeen 
Proving Ground, Maryland, was identified in 1990 by the NRC as a site 
where significant residual radioactive contamination was present as a 
result of licensed operations. The Army has tested munitions containing 
depleted uranium (DU) at the Aberdeen Proving Ground since the 1950's 
under a license issued under the Atomic Energy Act. DU munitions have 
been test-fired on an outdoor testing range and have become commingled 
with unexploded ordnance. Environmental monitoring performed by the 
Army identified measurable amounts of uranium in some samples, but the 
existing information was not sufficient to determine if this uranium 
was naturally occurring or the result of the licensed activities.
    The NRC included the Aberdeen site on the list of contaminated 
sites in the Site Decommissioning Management Plan (SDMP) in 1990 
because it satisfied the criterion of large amounts of contaminated 
soil that may be difficult to decommission. Since the site was included 
in the SDMP, NRC has reviewed further the licensee's contention that 
the uranium contamination is environmentally of low consequence and the 
licensee's request to continue testing DU munitions at the site. The 
Department of the Army submitted a study of the long term fate of DU at 
the Aberdeen site, which was performed by Los Alamos National 
Laboratory. The study evaluated the current distribution of DU in 
environmental media (e.g., soil, surface water, groundwater, 
vegetation) at the Aberdeen site and assesses environmental transport 
of DU that may result in exposures to humans and wildlife. The study 
concludes that radiological doses to the environment due to current and 
projected DU testing at Aberdeen are minimal and acceptably low.
    On June 26, 1996, the Department of the Army requested by letter 
that NRC remove the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland site from the 
SDMP. The request before the NRC at this time is to authorize continued 
use of DU at the Aberdeen site based on existing information that shows 
minimal environmental impact from the Army's DU testing program. Since 
1990, the NRC staff has reviewed and approved various actions proposed 
by the Army including ``recovery operations'' for all future testing of 
DU munitions, an Environmental Radiation Monitoring Plan, and the Los 
Alamos National Laboratory Long Term Fate Study.
    The SDMP describes four criteria that make a site eligible for 
removal from the SDMP list, including (1) termination of a license 
after successful remediation, (2) completion of remediation of an area 
and modification of an active license to reflect the remediation, (3) 
completion of remediation at an unlicensed site, or (4) transferral of 
regulatory jurisdiction for remediation. Aberdeen does not qualify for 
removal from the SDMP list under any of these criteria. However, the 
NRC staff has concluded that the Army has established acceptable 
procedures for controlling and monitoring the DU testing and that 
unacceptable environmental impacts are not occurring at the Aberdeen 
site. In addition, the Army has stated its intent to pay for 
decommissioning of the firing range and other facilities at Aberdeen in 
the event that the license is terminated at some point in the future. 
With these controls in place, little benefit would be gained by 
continuing to include the Aberdeen site in the SDMP. Consequently, the 
NRC staff is considering whether the Aberdeen site should be removed 
from the SDMP.
    For further details with respect to this action, documents are 
available for inspection at the NRC's Region I offices located at 475 
Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406. Persons desiring to review 
documents at the Region I Office, should call Ms. Cheryl Buracker at 
(610) 337-5093 several days in advance to assure that the documents 
will be readily available for review.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 5th day of July, 1996.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Michael F. Weber,
Chief, Low-Level Waste and Decommissioning Projects Branch Division of 
Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 96-17652 Filed 7-10-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P