[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 183 (Monday, September 22, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49538-49539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-25078]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket 40-7102]


Finding of No Significant Impact for the Renewal of Source 
Material, License SMB-743, Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation, 
Newfield, New Jersey

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the renewal 
of the Source Material License SMB-743 for the continued operation of 
Shieldalloy Metallurgical Corporation (SMC), located in Newfield, New 
Jersey

Summary of the Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is the renewal of SMC's Source Material License 
SMB-743 for 5 years. With this renewal, the SMC facility will continue 
to produce specialty alloys, slag fluidizers, and other products. The 
proposed action would permit SMC to possess up to 1,200,000 kilograms 
(kg) of thorium-232 and 180,000 kg of uranium-238, as requested in 
SMC's September 15, 1995, renewal application. As part of the proposed 
action, SMC would also continue to add radioactive materials to the 
temporary stockpiles of slag and baghouse dust currently stored at the 
site until a final disposition is approved by the commission. Although 
the continued storage of this material is evaluated as part of the 
environmental assessment (EA), the evaluation of environmental impacts 
from a final disposition method is outside the scope of this EA and 
will be addressed in a separate environmental action.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    SMC performs a service for the commercial steel industry by 
producing speciality alloys, slag fluidizers, and other products. SMC 
is one of two domestic producers of ferrocolumbium (ferroniobium 
alloy), its main product from the licensed activities; ferrocolumbium 
is readily available from foreign producers, such as Brazil and, 
recently, the Confederation of Independent States (formerly the Soviet 
Union) and Canada. The element niobium can increase the strength of 
steel by more than 5,000 pounds per square inch (psi) with only a small 
addition of niobium (approximately 0.01 percent), thus allowing lighter 
weight alloys. Denial of the license renewal for the SMC facility is an 
alternative available to NRC, but would either require the construction 
of a new facility at another site or a possible dependence upon foreign 
imports of ferrocolumbium.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The radiological impacts of the continued operation of the SMC 
facility were assessed by calculating the radiation doses to the 
maximally exposed individual located at the facility fence line and the 
collective radiation dose to the local population living within 80 
kilometers (50 miles0 of the plant site. The primary exposure pathway 
is release and transport of radioactive effluents to the air.

Doses From Routine Airborne Releases

    SMC operates their process using two baghouses to filter airborne 
material: the Flex Kleen (FK) Baghouse and the American Air Filter 
(AAF) Baghouse. Atmospheric releases were determined from the two D-111 
Baghouse stacks. Other potential release points including stored dust 
and slag piles were also

[[Page 49539]]

considered, but off-site doses from these release points were found to 
be negligible.
    SMC submitted March 1996 measurement data from stack emissions 
showing doses less than 1 millirem (mrem) per year at the fence line 
under nominal conditions. Conservative estimates of the expected 
effluent release rates were calculated by the NRC staff using 
assumptions, including the following: (1) the use of conservative 
values for the efficiencies of baghouse filters based upon the 
possibility of undetected filter bag breakages and (2) a ground-level 
release point for both baghouses. The radiation doses resulting from 
atmospheric releases were estimated using the CAP88-PC (Clean Air 
Assessment Package 1988) Version 1.0 computer code. The maximally 
exposed individual was located at the fence line, which was 250 meters 
(820) feet) south of the SMC facility. The Total Effective Dose 
Equivalent (TEDE) to the nearest resident is estimated to be less than 
9 mrem per year from all pathways. Inhalation intakes accounted for 
greater than 85 percent of the total radiation dose. Thorium-232 was 
the dominant dose contributor, accounting for about 30 percent of the 
total dose This estimated radiation dose is less than the 100 mrem per 
year limit established by NRC in 10 CFR 20.1301 and the 10 millirem per 
year dose constraint for air emissions in 10 CFR 20.1101.
    The population within 80 km (50 miles) of SMC's facility is about 
6,766,961 people, based on 1994 census data. The collective dose to the 
surrounding population is expected to be less than 7 person-rem per 
year. Based on an average background radiation dose of about 0.3 rem 
per year for individuals in the U.S. from natural sources, the same 
population would receive about 2,00,000 person-rem per year from 
background radiation. Thus, the collective radiation dose associated 
with atmospheric releases from the SMC's facility is a small percentage 
of the collective radiation dose from natural background radiation for 
these same people.

Accident Evaluation

    In the EA, NRC staff evaluated one accident as the bounding 
accident: the release of dust from a baghouse or silo. This accident 
assumed that 10,000 kg of dust were released from structural failure of 
a baghouse. Calculated release fractions were 4 to 5 x 10 
-3. Other accidents were determined to be within the bounds 
of this accident because both quantities and form of the material made 
larger dispersions unlikely. This bounding accident was calculated as a 
result in an exposure of less than 6 mrem TEDE to the nearest resident. 
The expected population dose from this accident would be no greater 
than 0.9 person-rem.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    Discussions were held with representatives from the State of New 
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency at various times throughout the 
preparation of the EA. NRC consulted SMC representatives in preparing 
this document.

Conclusion

    On the basis of this Environmental Assessment, NRC has concluded 
that the environmental impacts from the proposed action would not be 
significant.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC has prepared an EA related to the renewal of Source 
Material License SMB-743. On the basis of the assessment, the NRC has 
concluded that environmental impacts that would be created by the 
proposed action would not be significant and do not warrant the 
preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement. Accordingly, NRC has 
determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.
    The EA, the license renewal application dated September 15, 1995, 
and the documents related to this proposed action are available for 
public inspection and copying at the Commission's Public Document Room 
at the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street NW, Washington, DC. Anyone with 
questions or comments about this proposed action should contact Ms. 
Heather Astwood, NRC's Project Manager for the facility, at Mail Stop 
T-8D-14, U.S. NRC, Washington, D.C. 20555 or in (301) 415-5819.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of September, 1997.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael F. Weber,
Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 97-25078 Filed 9-19-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M