[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 122 (Monday, June 27, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36966-36967]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-3321]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-36574]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment for the Department of the 
Army's Facility at Fort Belvoir, VA

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom McLaughlin, Project Manager, 
Decommissioning Directorate, Division of Waste Management and 
Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; Telephone: (301) 415-5869; fax number: (301) 415-5398; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is considering issuance of a license amendment to the 
Department of the Army (Army or licensee) for License No. 19-10306-02, 
to authorize decommissioning for its facility at Fort Belvoir, 
Virginia. 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.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of this proposed amendment to License No. 19-10306-02 
is to authorize the decommissioning of the licensee's Building 7304 at 
Fort Belvoir, Virginia, for unrestricted use to allow for license 
termination. The Army was authorized by the NRC on March 31, 1989, to 
use radioactive materials for research purposes at the site. On May 17, 
2004, the Army requested that NRC approve the decommissioning plan for 
the facility which when completed would permit the site to be released 
for unrestricted use. Final approval for release of the site for 
unrestricted use and license termination would be contingent upon NRC 
staff's approval of the licensee's final status survey report and 
making the findings required by the Commission's regulations following 
completion of the licensee's decommissioning activities. The Army's 
request for the proposed amendment was previously noticed in the 
Federal Register on December 28, 2004 (69 FR 77779), with a notice of 
an opportunity to request a hearing. No comments or request for a 
hearing were received.
    Following a Characterization Survey, the Army found that there are 
elevated levels of radioactivity on the floor of Building 7304, in the 
soil beneath the floor, in the wall storage vaults, and in the floor 
vaults. These elevated levels indicate the need for the removal of the 
Building 7304 structure and any soil that is above the soil screening 
criteria, then transport of the contaminated waste to an authorized 
disposal facility. The NRC staff determined that all steps in the 
proposed decommissioning could be accomplished in compliance with the 
NRC public and occupational dose limits, effluent release limits, and 
residual radioactive material limits. In addition, the staff concluded 
that approval of the decommissioning of Building 7304 at Fort Belvoir, 
Virginia, in accordance with the commitments in NRC License No. 19-
10306-02 and the final decommissioning plan, would not result in a 
significant adverse impact on the environment.
    If the NRC approves the license amendment, the authorization will 
be documented in an amendment to NRC License No. 19-10306-02. However, 
before approving the proposed amendment, the NRC will need to make the 
findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 
NRC's regulations. These findings will be documented in a Safety 
Evaluation Report in addition to the EA.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The staff has prepared the EA (summarized above) in support of the 
Army's proposed decommissioning. The NRC staff has concluded that there 
will be no adverse environmental impacts associated with approving the 
Army's license amendment request for decommissioning Building 7304. The 
radiological environmental impacts from the proposed amendment are 
bounded by the impacts evaluated by NUREG-1496, Volumes 1-3, ``Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological 
Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Facilities'' 
(ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385). The staff has also found 
that the non-radiological impacts are not significant. On the basis of 
the EA, the NRC has concluded that the environmental impacts from the 
action are expected to be insignificant and has determined that an 
environmental impact statement does not need to be prepared for the 
action.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at 
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agency-wide 
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession number for 
the documents related to this notice are: The Army's package to NRC 
dated May 17, 2004, ML041490071; EA prepared for this action, 
ML050810012; and Federal Register Notice for Amendment No. 2, 
ML050960044. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are 
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC 
Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].
    Any questions should be referred to Thomas McLaughlin, Division of 
Waste Management and Environmental Protection, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington DC 20555, Mailstop T-7E18, telephone (301) 415-
5869, fax (301) 415-5397.

    Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of June, 2005.


[[Page 36967]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel M. Gillen,
Deputy Director, Decommissioning Directorate, Division of Waste 
Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E5-3321 Filed 6-24-05; 8:45 am]
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