[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 143 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44108-44109]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-18960]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-09164]


Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact 
Related to Issuance of a License Amendment of U. S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission Byproduct Material License No. 47-15473-01, Charleston Area 
Medical Center

I. Summary

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
amending Byproduct Material License No. 47-15473-01 to authorize the 
release of one of the licensee's facilities located on Pennsylvania 
Avenue in Charleston, West Virginia, for unrestricted use and has 
prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant 
Impact (FONSI) in support of this action.
    The NRC has reviewed the results of the final survey of Laboratory 
304 located at 830 Pennsylvania Avenue in Charleston, West Virginia. 
The Charleston Area Medical Center was authorized by the NRC from 
August 31, 1995 until the present to use radioactive materials for 
research and development purposes at the Pennsylvania Avenue facility. 
The authorization was limited to the in-vitro use of small quantities 
of Hydrogen-3, Carbon-14, Phosphorous-32, and Iodine-125. In September 
2002, the Charleston Area Medical Center ceased operations with 
licensed materials at the Pennsylvania Street location and requested 
that it be removed from their materials license as a place of use. The 
Charleston Area Medical Center has conducted surveys of the facility 
and determined that the facility meets the license termination criteria 
in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20. The NRC staff has evaluated the 
Charleston Area Medical Center's request and the results of the 
surveys, performed a confirmatory survey, and has developed an EA in 
accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. Based on the staff 
evaluation, the conclusion of the EA is a Finding of No Significant 
Impact on human health and the environment for the proposed licensing 
action.

II. Environmental Assessment

Introduction

    The Charleston Area Medical Center has requested release, for 
unrestricted use, of their facility located at Suite 304, 830 
Pennsylvania Avenue, in Charleston, West Virginia, as authorized for 
use by NRC License No. 47-15473-01. This location of use was authorized 
on August 31, 1995. NRC-licensed activities performed at the 
Pennsylvania Avenue location were limited to laboratory procedures 
typically performed on bench tops and in hoods. No outdoor areas were 
affected by the use of licensed materials. Licensed activities ceased 
completely in September 2002, and the licensee requested release of the 
facility for unrestricted use. Based on the licensee's historical 
knowledge of the site and the condition of the facility, the licensee 
determined that only routine decontamination activities, in accordance 
with licensee radiation safety procedures, were required. The licensee 
surveyed the facility and provided documentation that the facility 
meets the license termination criteria specified in Subpart E of 10 CFR 
part 20, ``Radiological Criteria for License Termination.''

The Proposed Action

    The proposed action is to amend NRC Radioactive Materials License 
No. 47-15473-01 to release one of the licensee's facilities located at 
Suite 304, 830 Pennsylvania Avenue, in Charleston, West Virginia, for 
unrestricted use. By letter dated September 3, 2002, the Charleston 
Area Medical Center provided survey results which demonstrate that the 
Pennsylvania Avenue facility in Charleston, West Virginia is in 
compliance with the radiological criteria for license termination in 
Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20, ``Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination.'' No further actions or activities are required on the 
part of the licensee to remediate the facility.

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

    The purpose of the proposed action is to release the licensee's 
Pennsylvania Avenue facility for unrestricted use and to remove the 
location as an authorized place of use from the materials license. This 
will allow the licensee to make other use of the facility. There is no 
residual radioactivity remaining at the facility that is 
distinguishable from background levels. NRC is fulfilling its 
responsibilities under the Atomic Energy Act to make a decision on a 
proposed license amendment for release of facilities for unrestricted 
use that ensures protection of public health and safety and 
environment.

Alternative to the Proposed Action

    The only alternative to the proposed action of amending the license 
to release the Pennsylvania Avenue facility for unrestricted use is no 
action. The no-action alternative is not acceptable because it will 
result in violation of NRC's Timeliness Rule (10 CFR 30.36), which 
requires licensees to decommission their facilities when licensed 
activities cease. The licensee does not plan to perform any activities 
with licensed materials at these locations. Maintaining the area under 
a license would also reduce options for future use of the property.

The Affected Environment and Environmental Impacts

    The licensee's place of use within Laboratory 304 is located in a 
four story concrete and stucco medical offices building adjacent to the 
Charleston Area Medical Center's Women and Children's Hospital. The 
hospital is surrounded by similar type construction office buildings.
    The NRC staff has reviewed the surveys performed by the Charleston 
Area Medical Center to demonstrate compliance with the 10 CFR 20.1402 
license termination criteria and has performed a confirmatory survey. 
Based

[[Page 44109]]

on its review, the staff has determined that the affected environment 
and environmental impacts associated with the decommissioning of the 
Charleston Area Medical Center facility are bounded by the impacts 
evaluated by the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of 
Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Facilities'' (NUREG-1496). The staff also finds that the 
proposed release for unrestricted use of the Charleston Area Medical 
Center facility is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402, ``Radiological 
Criteria for Unrestricted Use.'' The NRC has found no other activities 
in the area that could result in cumulative impacts.

Agencies and Persons Contacted and Sources Used

    This Environmental Assessment was prepared entirely by the NRC 
staff. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was contacted for comment and 
responded by letter dated December 10, 2002, with no opposition to the 
action. The West Virginia Division of Culture and History was also 
contacted and responded by letter dated November 15, 2002, with no 
opposition.

Conclusion

    Based on its review, the NRC staff has concluded that the proposed 
action complies with 10 CFR Part 20. NRC has prepared this EA in 
support of the proposed license termination to release the Charleston 
Area Medical Center facility located at Suite 304, 830 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, in Charleston, West Virginia, for unrestricted use. On the 
basis of the EA, NRC has concluded that the environmental impacts from 
the proposed action are not expected to be significant and has 
determined that preparation of an environmental impact statement for 
the proposed action is not required.

List of Preparers

    Orysia Masnyk Bailey, Health Physicist, Materials Licensing/
Inspection Branch 1, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region II.

List of References

    1. NRC License No. 47-15473-01 inspection and licensing records.
    2. Charleston Area Medical Center. (License amendment request and 
supporting documentation) Letter from S. Danak to NRC dated September 
3, 2002. (ML022470219)
    3. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination.''
    4. Federal Register notice, Volume 65, No. 114, page 37186, dated 
Tuesday, June 13, 2000, ``Use of Screening Values to Demonstrate 
Compliance With the Federal Rule on Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination.''
    5. NRC. NUREG-1757 ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' 
Final Report dated September 2002.
    6. NRC. NUREG 1496 ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in 
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination 
of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities,'' Final Report dated July 1997.
    7. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Letter from J.K. Towner to NRC 
dated December 10, 2002 (ML023500031).
    8. West Virginia Department of Culture and History. Letter from 
S.M. Pierce to NRC dated November 15, 2002.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based upon the environmental assessment, the staff concludes that 
the proposed action will not have a significant effect of the quality 
of the human environment. Accordingly, the staff has determined that 
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted.

IV. Further Information

    The references listed above are available for public inspection and 
may also be copied for a fee at the NRC's Public Document Room, located 
at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. 
These documents are also available for public review through ADAMS, the 
NRC's electronic reading room, at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.htlm. Any questions with respect to this action should be 
referred to Orysia Masnyk Bailey, Materials Licensing/Inspection Branch 
1, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Region II, Suite 23T85, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, 
Georgia, 30303. Telephone 404-562-4739.

    Dated at Atlanta, Georgia the 11th day of July, 2003.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Douglas M. Collins,
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region II.
[FR Doc. 03-18960 Filed 7-24-03; 8:45 am]
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