[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 101 (Tuesday, May 25, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29760-29761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-11756]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 050-00135 (Retired) and 030-01317]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendement for Department of the 
Army, Walter Reed Army Medical Center Washington, DC

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding 
of No Significant Impact.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurie Peluso, Decommissioning Branch, 
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, 
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, 19406, telephone (610) 337-5323, fax 
(610) 337-5269; or by email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance 
of a license amendment to Department of Army, Walter Reed Medical 
Center for Materials License No. 08-01738-02, to authorize release of 
Building 40 of the Washington, DC site for unrestricted use. NRC has 
prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this action in 
accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the EA, 
the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) 
is appropriate. The amendment will be issued following the publication 
of this Notice.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of the proposed action is to authorize the release of 
the licensee's Building 40 of the Washington, DC facility for 
unrestricted use. WRAMC was authorized by the U.S. Atomic Energy 
Commission (AEC) from February 18, 1959 to use radioactive

[[Page 29761]]

materials for medical research, diagnosis, and therapy purposes and on 
August 17, 1962 to operate a research reactor in Building 40 at the 
site. On March 9, 2004, WRAMC requested that NRC release the facility 
for unrestricted use. WRAMC 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 prepared an EA in 
support of the proposed license amendment.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The staff has prepared the EA (summarized above) in support of the 
proposed license amendment to release Building 40 in its entirety of 
the WRAMC facility at 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW., Washington, DC for 
unrestricted use. The NRC staff has evaluated WRAMC's request and the 
results of the surveys, performed independent measurements to confirm 
the results, and has concluded that the completed action complies with 
the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR part 20. The staff has found that 
the environmental impacts from the proposed action 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). On the basis of the EA, the 
NRC has concluded that the environmental impacts from the proposed 
action are expected to be insignificant and has determined not to 
prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action.

IV. Further Information

    The EA and the documents related to this proposed action, including 
the application for the license amendment and supporting documentation, 
are available for inspection at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML041380084). These documents are also available for inspection and 
copying for a fee at the Region I Office, 475 Allendale Road, King of 
Prussia, Pennsylvania, 19406. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, 
should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-
4209 or (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania this 18th day of May, 
2004.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ronald R. Bellamy,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. 04-11756 Filed 5-24-04; 8:45 am]
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