[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 16, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2250-2251]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-1090]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Notice of Finding of No Significant Impact

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
has made a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) with respect to the 
potential environmental impact related to the request by Alaron 
Corporation to utilize a wet waste processing system to dry high-solids 
wet wastes and aqueous liquid wastes in their Wampum, Pennsylvania 
facility.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John R. McGrath, Senior Health 
Physicist, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, 
Pennsylvania 19406. Telephone 610-337-5069.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Alaron Corporation of Wampum, 
Pennsylvania holds a license issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) for performing decontamination of equipment 
contaminated with radioactive material. Alaron has requested authority 
to add a system for the treatment of wet wastes by installing a system 
which includes a concentrate dryer, ultra-filtration, reverse-osmosis, 
demineralizers and steam generator on its site in Wampum.
    Alaron estimates that approximately 214 curies of radioactive 
materials would be processed per year. Environmental radiation safety 
concerns include exposure due to airborne releases. To evaluate 
airborne releases, the licensee utilized a computer code (COMPLY, an 
EPA computer code for calculating the dose to individuals due to 
airborne releases) to assess dose from radionuclide emissions. The code 
assumed that an activity of 740 millicuries would be released in 
effluents to the air and projected a effective dose equivalent of 0.03 
millirem/year to an individual at the nearest site boundary.
    NRC has reviewed the assumptions used in the above described codes 
and concurs with the reported results. The maximum annual dose of 0.03 
millirem is well below the regulatory limit of 100 millirem per year.
    Copies of the EA and FONSI as well as supporting documentation are 
available for review at the NRC offices located at 475 Allendale Road, 
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406, telephone number (610) 337-5000, 
during normal business hours.

John D. Kinneman,
Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch 2, Division of Nuclear Material 
Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region I.

Environmental Assessment of Proposal by Alaron Corporation To 
Perform Processing of Wet Wastes Utilizing a Multi-Methodology 
Treatment System

1. The Need for the Proposed Action

    The Alaron Corporation of Wampum, Pennsylvania holds a license 
issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for performing

[[Page 2251]]

decontamination of equipment contaminated with radioactive material. 
Alaron uses a variety of techniques to perform the decontamination. In 
a letter dated May 31, 2001, Alaron requested an amendment to their 
license to authorize a wet waste processing system to dry high-solids 
wet wastes and aqueous liquid wastes in their Wampum facility. The 
system will be supplied by NUKEM Nuclear Technologies and includes a 
concentrate dryer, ultra-filtration units, reverse-osmosis units, 
demineralizers, steam generator and holding tanks. The purpose of this 
Environmental Assessment is to determine whether or not the proposed 
action could contribute to significant impacts on the human 
environment.

2. Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The only credible alternative is to not allow Alaron to install and 
use the treatment system. Relocation of the unit to another part of the 
site would not alter the environmental impact of the operation of the 
unit. To allow the use of some components of the system and not others 
could actually result in an increase in the amount of activity released 
to the environment.

3. The Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    Alaron is located on a 24 acre site in the Point Industrial Park, 
Wampum, Pennsylvania. Building F1 is a 67,800 ft2 steel 
frame and steel wall building with a flat synthetic membrane type roof. 
The proposed wet waste processing system would be located inside a 
curbed area at the east end of the F1 Annex. The F1 Annex is located on 
the east side of the F1 Building and is a steel frame, steel walled 
building 32 feet wide and 88 feet long. The curbed area in the F1 Annex 
is capable of holding all of the contaminated liquid in the wet waste 
system. The NUKEM system consists of a number of water treatment 
components, including a concentrate dryer (CD), an ultra-filtration 
(UF) unit, a reverse osmosis (RO) unit, two demineralizers, and a steam 
generator. Wet waste will arrive by truck and will be transferred to 
one of two 1400 gallon sludge tanks inside the curbed area of the F1 
Annex using a pneumatic pump through a double containment transfer 
hose.
    Alaron's License No. 37-20826-01 was last renewed in its entirety 
on December 3, 1998. As part of that renewal, NRC issued an 
Environmental Assessment (NUREG/CR-5549) and published a Finding of No 
Significant Impact in the Federal Register on December 2, 1998. The 
Environmental Assessment found that no atmospheric emissions containing 
radioactive contaminants were expected to be released from the 
operation as then licensed. This was based on the fact that potentially 
contaminated air within work areas is cycled through HEPA filters and 
exhausted back into the building. Alaron recognized, though, that 
fugitive emissions, through doors, vents, etc. exist and a conservative 
estimate of an annual dose to the nearest residence was calculated to 
be 0.26 millirem. 10 CFR 20.1301 requires that each licensee conduct 
operations so that the total effective dose equivalent to individual 
members of the public from the licensed operation does not exceed 0.1 
rem (100 millirem) in a year.
    The installation of this waste treatment system would add an 
airborne release point at the Alaron facility. Steam from the steam 
generator will be vented through an exhaust stack on the roof of the F1 
Building. Most of the radioactivity in the wet waste to be processed 
will be removed by the various treatment methods in the system and will 
be disposed of as solid waste. After being cleaned by passing through 
the system, the cleaned or polished water feeds the steam generator. 
Steam from the steam generator is exhausted through the stack.
    Alaron estimates that the wet waste processing system will process 
liquid, sludge and/or resin waste whose isotopic distribution is 
typical of waste currently being disposed from nuclear power 
facilities. Based on the estimated waste throughput, approximately 214 
curies of radioactive material will be processed per year. Assuming 
that all of the H-3 activity will become airborne, that the polished 
water feed to the steam generator contains other isotopes at 10 CFR 
Part 20 effluent limits, and that all of the radioactivity in the feed 
is released, the total activity emitted per year would be about 740 
millicuries. The licensee performed dose calculations using the 
computer code COMPLY (an EPA computer code for calculating the dose to 
individuals due to airborne releases) which projects an effective dose 
equivalent of 0.03 millirem/year to an individual at the nearest site 
boundary as a result of the estimated release. NRC has performed a dose 
assessment of the proposal and agrees with the basic assumptions and 
results of the licensee's analysis.
    With regard to direct radiation exposure, the licensee plans to 
conduct cleaning and back flush evolutions that will assure that 
accumulation of radioactive material on filter media will not result in 
high radiation levels around the unit. In addition, there will be 
shielding in place to avoid creation of high radiation levels. The 
maximum radiation levels is expected to be 50 millirem per hour one 
foot from the Concentrate Dryer, i.e. within the restricted area. 
Radiation levels at the closest unrestricted area, including the 
contribution from existing operations, will be about 10 microrem per 
hour.

4. Conclusion

    In view of the fact that the additional dose of 0.03 millirem/year 
to an individual at the nearest site boundary as a result of the 
proposed amendment is a small fraction of the dose attributed to 
fugitive emissions to an individual at the nearest residence as a 
result of existing operations, the staff concludes that the proposed 
action will have a negligible impact on the environment.

[FR Doc. 02-1090 Filed 1-15-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P