[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 10, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17472-17474]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-8608]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-36]


Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact of 
License Amendment for Westinghouse Electric Company LLC

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Amendment of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, Materials 
License SNM-33 to exempt the licensee from the fissile material package 
standards for shipment of certain bulk materials (e.g. soils) 
containing low concentrations of uranium-235 contamination and to 
impose limits on these shipments.

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    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the amendment 
of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-42 to exempt the licensee from 
the fissile material package standards for shipment of certain bulk 
materials (e.g. soils) containing low concentrations of uranium-235 
contamination at the Westinghouse Electric Company LLC facility located 
in Hematite, MO, and to impose limits on these shipments, and has 
prepared an Environmental Assessment in support of this action.

Environmental Assessment

1.0  Introduction

1.1  Background
    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has evaluated the 
environmental impacts of the exemption of Westinghouse Electric Company 
from the fissile material package standards

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for shipment of certain bulk materials (e.g. soils) containing low 
concentrations of uranium-235 contamination, with limits placed on the 
shipments to ensure adequate controls for nuclear criticality safety. 
This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared pursuant to the 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508) and NRC regulations (10 CFR part 51) which implement the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. 
The purpose of this document is to assess the environmental 
consequences of the proposed license amendment.
    The Westinghouse facility in Hematite, MO, was authorized under NRC 
Materials License SNM-33 to manufacture nuclear reactor fuel utilizing 
Special Nuclear Material (SNM), specifically low-enriched uranium, and 
to receive, possess, use, store and transfer source material. On June 
29, 2001, all activities under NRC Materials License SNM-33 related to 
the possession and use of low-enriched uranium for fabrication of power 
reactor fuel ceased in their entirety. Activities at the Hematite site 
are now solely limited to those necessary to remove the facility and 
site safely from service and to reduce the residual radioactivity to a 
level that permits the eventual release of the site.
1.2   Review Scope
    In accordance with 10 CFR part 51, this EA serves to (1) present 
information and analysis for determining whether to issue a Finding of 
No Significant Impact (FONSI) or to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS); (2) fulfill the NRC's compliance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when no EIS is necessary; and (3) 
facilitate preparation of an EIS if one is necessary. Should the NRC 
issue a FONSI, no EIS would be prepared and the license amendment would 
be granted.
1.3   Proposed Action
    The proposed action is to amend NRC Materials License SNM-33 to 
exempt the licensee from the fissile material package standards for 
shipment of certain bulk materials containing low concentrations of 
uranium-235 contamination and to impose limiting conditions to ensure 
adequate controls for nuclear criticality safety. These materials would 
be exempt from fissile material classification and the fissile material 
package standards of 10 CFR 71.55 and 71.59, but subject to other 
requirements of 10 CFR part 71 and the further limiting conditions. A 
Safety Evaluation Report (SER) has been prepared by the NRC staff and 
contains a discussion of the safety considerations for approval of the 
amendment. The SER will be included in the license amendment when it is 
issued.
1.4   Need for Proposed Action
    Westinghouse is currently decommissioning the Hematite site and one 
of the near term goals is to reduce the site inventory of SNM by 
removing materials currently on-site to other appropriate licensed 
facilities.
    On February 10, 1997, the NRC issued an emergency direct final rule 
(62 FR 5913) changing the fissile material exemption specifications of 
10 CFR part 71. The revised rule limits the fissile-material mass in a 
consignment and restricts the presence of select moderators with very 
low neutron-absorption properties (i.e., special moderators). Under 
this rule, specifically 10 CFR 71.53(a), Westinghouse would be limited 
to 400 grams of U-235 per consignment. The imposition of this 400-gram 
U-235 limit per consignment will increase the number of shipments 
required to decommission the Westinghouse facility. Therefore, 
Westinghouse submitted this license amendment request for a specific 
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 71.55 and 71.59 for specified 
SNM shipments with greater than 400 grams U-235 per consignment.
1.5   Alternatives
    The alternatives available to the NRC are:
    1. Approve the license amendment request as submitted; or
    2. Deny the amendment request.

2.0  Affected Environment

    The affected environment for Alternative 1 would be the immediate 
vicinity of the vehicle used to transport the material to a licensed 
disposal facility.
    The affected environment for Alternative 2 is the Westinghouse 
site. A full description of the site and its characteristics is given 
in the 1994 Environmental Assessment for the Renewal of the NRC license 
for Westinghouse. The Westinghouse facility is located on a site of 
about 228 acres in Jefferson County, Missouri, approximately 3/4 mile 
northeast of the unincorporated town of Hematite, Missouri and 35 miles 
south of St. Louis, Missouri.

3.0  Environmental Impacts of Proposed Action and Alternatives

3.1  Occupational and Public Health
Alternative 1
    The risk to human health from the transportation of all radioactive 
material in the U.S. was evaluated in the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and 
Other Modes (NRC, 1977). The principal radiological environmental 
impact during normal transportation is direct radiation exposure to 
nearby persons from radioactive material in the package. The average 
annual individual dose from all radioactive material transportation in 
the U.S. was calculated to be approximately 0.5 mrem, well below the 10 
CFR part 20 requirement of 100 mrem for a member of the public.
    Occupational health was also considered in the Final Environmental 
Impact Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air 
and Other Modes (NRC, 1977). The average annual occupational dose to 
the driver(s) is estimated to be 8.7 mSv (870 mrem), which is below the 
10 CFR Part 20 requirement of 50 mSv (5000 mrem). The Department of 
Transportation (DOT) regulations in 49 CFR 177.842(g) require that the 
radiation dose may not exceed 0.02 mSv (2 mrem) per hour in any 
position normally occupied in a motor vehicle.
    The NRC staff evaluated the possibility of a criticality accident 
due to transportation of this material. Based on the statements and 
representations in the application, the staff concluded that limiting 
the contents as described in the application will provide adequate 
assurance that an inadvertent criticality cannot occur if the materials 
are exempt from the fissile material classification and fissile 
material package standards of 10 CFR 71.55 and 71.59. A detailed 
discussion of this analysis can be found in the Safety Evaluation 
Report for this amendment.
    Under Alternative 1, the doses to the public and to the workers are 
not increased beyond those considered in the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and 
Other Modes (NRC, 1977). Therefore, shipment of these materials would 
not affect the assessment of environmental impacts or the conclusions 
in the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Transportation of 
Radioactive Material by Air and Other Modes (NRC, 1977).
Alternative 2
    The risk to the public health from radiological materials is not 
expected to

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increase as a result of denying this amendment request. If this 
amendment request was denied, the licensee would be required to ship 
the contaminated soils in smaller containers. Increasing the number of 
shipments would not affect the assessment of environmental impacts or 
the conclusions in the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the 
Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and Other Modes (NRC, 
1977).
    Denial of this amendment will result in a larger number of 
shipments, therefore, a slight increase in nonradiological truck 
emissions from transportation would be expected.
    The occupational health impacts would not change significantly as a 
result of denial of this amendment request. The workers at the facility 
will have the same dose regardless of how the material is transported. 
Occupational doses at the facility may change slightly as a result of 
the increase in the number of packages that workers must prepare and 
handle; however, the facility will continue to implement NRC-approved 
radiation safety procedures for handling radioactive materials.
3.2  Effluent Releases, Environmental Monitoring, Water Resources, 
Geology, Soils, Air Quality, Demography, Biota, Cultural and Historic 
Resources
Alternative 1
    The NRC staff has determined that the approval of the proposed 
amendment will not impact effluent releases, environmental monitoring, 
water resources, geology, soils, air quality, demography, biota, or 
cultural or historic resources under normal transport conditions.
Alternative 2
    The NRC staff has determined that denial of the proposed amendment 
will not impact effluent releases, environmental monitoring, water 
resources, geology, soils, air quality, demography, biota, or cultural 
or historic resources at or near the Westinghouse site.

3.3  Conclusions

    Based on its review, the NRC staff has concluded that the 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action are not 
significant and, therefore, do not warrant denial of the license 
amendment request. The staff has determined that Alternative 1, 
approval of the license amendment request as submitted, is the 
appropriate alternative for selection. Based on an evaluation of the 
environmental impacts of the amendment request, the NRC has determined 
that the proper action is to issue a FONSI in the Federal Register.

4.0  Agencies and Persons Contacted

    The NRC provided the draft Environmental Assessment and FONSI to 
staff from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on 
November 21, 2001. NRC staff provided the licensee's exemption request 
and NRC's Safety Evaluation Report supporting the exemption. NRC staff 
also participated in a conference call with the DNR staff on February 
15, 2002. No comments were received from DNR on the Environmental 
Assessment and FONSI.
    Because the proposed action is entirely within existing facilities 
or existing roadways, the NRC has concluded that there is no potential 
to affect endangered species or historic resources, and therefore 
consultation with the State Historic Preservation Society and the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service was not necessary.

5.0  References

    U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), December 1977, ``Final 
Environmental Impact Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive 
Material by Air and Other Modes.''
    U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), March 1994, 
``Environmental Assessment for Renewal of Special Nuclear Material 
License SNM-33.''

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The Commission has prepared the above Environmental Assessment 
related to the amendment of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-33. On 
the basis of the assessment, the Commission has concluded that 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action would not be 
significant and do not warrant the preparation of an Environmental 
Impact Statement. Accordingly, it has been determined that a Finding of 
No Significant Impact is appropriate.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' 
the Environmental Assessment and the documents related to this proposed 
action will be available electronically for public inspection from the 
Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system 
(ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/ index.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).
    The NRC contact for this licensing action is Mary Adams, who may be 
contacted at (301) 415-7249 or by e-mail at [email protected] for more 
information about the licensing action.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of March, 2002.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael F. Weber,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-8608 Filed 4-9-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P