[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 162 (Monday, August 23, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45982-45984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21730]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 070-3073]


Finding of No Significant Impact Related to Amendment of 
Materials License No. SNM-1999, Kerr-McGee Corp., Cushing Refinery Site 
Cushing, Oklahoma

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuing 
a license amendment to Materials License No. SNM-1999, held by the 
Kerr-McGee Corporation (Kerr-McGee or the licensee), to authorize 
remediation of its Cushing Refinery Site (Cushing site) located in 
Cushing, Oklahoma.

Summary of Environmental Assessment

Background

    Kerr-McGee has environmental responsibility for a former refinery 
site near the city of Cushing, Oklahoma. The refinery opened around 
1912 and was purchased by Kerr-McGee in 1956. During the early 1960s, 
in addition to petroleum processing, Kerr-McGee processed uranium fuel 
and thorium metal in several buildings onsite under licenses issued by 
the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The uranium fuel and thorium 
processing area was decommissioned, the property and facilities were 
released for unrestricted use, and the license was terminated by the 
AEC. Kerr-McGee continued to operate the refinery until 1972, at which 
time it was torn down. In May 1990, Kerr-McGee entered into a Consent 
Order with the Oklahoma State Department of Health (now referred to as 
the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality) (DEQ), addressing the 
investigation and remediation of the Cushing refinery site. The DEQ 
Consent Order divided the site work into radiological and non-
radiological remediation efforts. The non-radiological remediation is 
being performed in a manner similar to the Federal Superfund Remedial 
Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) process. On April 6, 1993, NRC 
issued Materials License SNM-1999 to the Kerr-McGee Corporation, for 
the radiological decommissioning of its Cushing site. This license 
authorized the licensee to possess radioactive contaminated soil, 
sludge, sediment, trash, building rubble, and any other contaminated 
material, at its Cushing site.

Proposed Action

    The licensee has proposed to remediate its Cushing Refinery site. 
The purpose of this remediation effort is to remove radioactive 
contamination to levels such that the site can be released for 
unrestricted use. Kerr-McGee has performed a radiological 
characterization survey of the site. Those areas found to contain 
radioactive contamination were designated as radioactive material areas 
(RMAs). In this action, Kerr-McGee is proposing to collect the 
radioactive contaminated material that exceeds NRC's Branch Technical 
Position (BTP) 1 Disposal Option 1 (Option 1), package this

[[Page 45983]]

material, and ship this material to the Envirocare Low-Level 
Radioactive Waste Disposal Site in Clive, Utah, for disposal. The 
licensee will perform a final survey of the site to determine if the 
site has been remediated in accordance with the approved Cushing site 
decommissioning plan and the criteria for unrestricted release of the 
site have been achieved. The results of this final site survey will be 
submitted to the NRC for its review. Based on the results provided in 
this final survey report and NRC confirmatory survey findings, the NRC 
will terminate Materials License SNM-1999.
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    \1\ Disposal or Onsite Storage of Thorium or Uranium Waste from 
Past Operations (46 FR 52061, October 23, 1981).
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The Need for Proposed Action

    The proposed action is necessary to remove the contamination that 
exists at the Cushing site. This action will facilitate remediation of 
this site to a condition suitable for unrestricted release and is one 
of the actions necessary for termination of Kerr-McGee's Cushing site 
Materials License SNM-1999.

Alternative to Proposed Action

    An alternative to the proposed action is a no-action alternative. 
The no-action alternative would mean that the Cushing site would not be 
remediated at this time. This conflicts with NRC's requirement, in 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 70.38, of timely 
remediation at sites that have ceased operations. Although there is no 
immediate threat to the public health and safety from this site as long 
as the licensee maintains appropriate controls over the radioactive 
material, not undertaking remediation, at this time, does not resolve 
the regulatory and potential long-term health and safety problems 
involved in storing this waste. No action now would delay remediation 
until some time in the future, when costs could be much higher than 
they are today. It is even possible that no disposal option will be 
available in the future if the current low-level radioactive waste 
disposal facilities are closed and no new ones are opened. Therefore, 
the no-action alternative is not acceptable.

Environmental Impacts of Proposed Action

    Radiological impacts on members of the public may result from 
inhalation and ingestion of releases of radioactivity in air and in 
water during the remediation operations, direct exposure to radiation 
from radioactive material at the site during remediation operations, 
and transport for disposal. Decommissioning workers may receive doses 
primarily by ingestion, inhalation, and direct exposure during the 
remediation activities. In addition to impacts from routine operations, 
the potential radiological consequences of accidents were considered.
    NRC staff considered the potential impacts of the proposed Cushing 
site remediation activities on the local ground-water supply. The 
licensee stated that the regional ground-water aquifer is isolated from 
the uppermost water-bearing zone by a low permeability strata. Further, 
the licensee's ground-water monitoring program thus far has not 
detected radioactive contamination of the shallow ground-water. 
Additionally, DEQ stated the following: (1) The shallow ground-water 
unit yields low quantities of poor quality water; (2) it is highly 
unlikely that future residential or commercial drinking water wells 
will be established from the shallow ground-water at this site; and (3) 
no known drinking water wells are screened in the shallow ground-water 
within 1.6 km (1 mile) radius of the site. Also, DEQ stated that the 
shallow ground-water should not be considered a viable drinking water 
source for the area, and that DEQ would consider water quality 
standards other than maximum contamination levels, as set by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as appropriate for the shallow 
ground-water at this site. Further, based on EPA guidance, the shallow 
ground-water would be classified as a ``Class III--Groundwater Not a 
Potential Source of Drinking Water and of Limited Beneficial Use.'' NRC 
staff has determined that removing radioactive contamination from the 
Cushing site would not cause ground-water contamination. Although, the 
removal of radioactive contamination from the Cushing site would reduce 
the potential of future contamination of the local ground-water supply.
    The licensee has evaluated the potential for exposure to both a 
member of the public and a radiation worker that would result from 
remediation of the Cushing site and from a remediation of the largest 
area that requires remediation, respectively. The results of the 
licensee's analyses indicate that the upper bound doses resulting from 
remediation activities would be: (1) 0.18 mlli-sievert (mSv) [18 milli-
roentgen-equivalent-man (mrem)] total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) 
for a member of the public; and (2) 1.4 mSv (140 mrem) TEDE, to a 
radiation worker. Thus, the radiological consequences of remediating 
the Cushing site are insignificant for both members of the public and 
radiation workers. The results are well within the regulatory limits as 
specified in 10 CFR part 20.
    The licensee also evaluated the potential for exposure from 
conditions that would result from several postulated accident 
scenarios. The licensee considered accident scenarios for both onsite 
and offsite accidents. The licensee found that the worst-case credible 
accidents were the result of contaminated wastes being spilled. The 
offsite worst-case credible accident was a single intermodal container 
holding 12.6 cubic meters (m3) (450 cubic feet 
(ft3)) of contaminated waste soil being spilled in transit. 
The resulting dose to the worker cleaning up the spilled material was 
0.35 mSv (35 mrem) TEDE and for a member of the public the resulting 
dose was 0.0015 mSv (0.15 mrem). The onsite worst-case credible 
accident was a single container holding 0.2 m3 (7.5 
ft3) of contaminated waste soil being spilled. The resulting 
dose to the worker cleaning up the spilled material was 0.11 mSv (11 
mrem) TEDE.
    The results of the licensee's analyses were considered estimates of 
upper bound doses resulting from worst-case, but credible, potential 
accidents. The results indicate that the radiological consequences of 
the potential accidents involving radioactive waste spillage are 
insignificant for both a member of the public and a radiation worker 
cleaning up the spilled waste and would result in doses to that are 
well within the regulatory limits as specified in 10 CFR part 20.
    Further, the low-level waste disposal facility, Envirocare, is 
eligible to receive Cushing waste. The Envirocare facility is regulated 
under State of Utah rules for land disposal of radioactive wastes. 
Disposal at the Envirocare facility will provide for long-term 
institutional control and minimize the potential for human intrusion 
and other environmental impacts. Waste will be packaged and shipped in 
accordance with NRC and Department of Transportation requirements. 
Therefore, NRC staff believes that disposing of the Cushing site 
radiologically contaminated wastes at the Envirocare facility will not 
cause any significant impacts on the human environment and is 
acceptable.
    The NRC staff also considered nonradiological impacts and concluded 
that all such impacts are negligible.
    Further, the conclusion in the staff's Environmental Assessment was 
that the remediation of the Cushing site represented an insignificant 
risk to the public health and safety and the human environment. 
Therefore, NRC concluded that there are no environmental justice issues 
related to the remediation of the Cushing site.

[[Page 45984]]

Conclusions

    Based on NRC staff's evaluation of the licensee's Cushing site 
decommissioning plan, NRC staff has determined that the proposed plan 
complies with NRC's public and occupational dose and effluent limits, 
and that authorizing the proposed activities by license amendment would 
not be a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of 
the human environment. NRC staff concludes that a finding of no 
significant impact is justified and appropriate, and that an 
environmental impact statement is not required. In accordance with the 
requirements of subpart L of 10 CFR part 2, an Opportunity for a 
Hearing was offered.2
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    \2\ 60FR 46318 (September 6, 1995).
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Alternative Use of Resources

    The activities leading to the proposed action would result in the 
irreversible use of energy resources in the conduct of the proposed 
Cushing site remediation. In addition, a portion of the Envirocare 
facility will be irreversibly committed for the disposal of Cushing 
site waste. There is no reasonable alternative to these resource uses, 
and the proposed action does not involve any unreviewed conflicts 
concerning use of available resources.

Agencies and Persons Consulted, and Sources Used

    The Environmental Assessment on which the finding of no significant 
impact is based was prepared by the NRC staff in the Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, Rockville, MD. NRC staff provided a 
draft of its Environmental Assessment to DEQ for review. DEQ in its 
letter Dated July 12, 1999, stated that they had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    Pursuant to 10 CFR part 51, NRC has prepared an environmental 
assessment related to the issuance of a license amendment to Materials 
License SNM-1999, authorizing remediation of the Cushing Refinery Site. 
On the basis of this environmental assessment, NRC has concluded that 
this licensing action would not have any significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment and does not warrant the preparation 
of an environmental impact statement. Accordingly, it has been 
determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.

Further Information

    For further details with respect to this action, the Environmental 
Assessment and other documents related to this proposed action are 
available for public inspection and copying at NRC's Public Document 
Room at the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC 20555-
0001.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of August 1999.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Larry W. Camper,
Chief Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 99-21730 Filed 8-20-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P