[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8315-8316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2214]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-00873]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment for Carroll College, 
Helena, MT

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Browder, Project Manager, 
Nuclear Materials Licensing Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region IV, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 611 Ryan Plaza 
Drive, Suite 400, Arlington, TX 76011. Telephone: (817) 274-6552; fax 
number: (817) 860-8188; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a license 
amendment to Material License No. 25-07093-01, issued to Carroll 
College, to authorize release of its site located in Helena, Montana, 
for unrestricted use and license termination. In support of the license 
amendment, the NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) 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. This license amendment complies with the standards and 
requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and NRC's 
rules and regulations for license termination as set forth in 10 CFR 
Part 20, Subpart E, ``Radiological Criteria for License Termination.'' 
Accordingly, this license amendment was issued on January 17, 2006, and 
is effective immediately.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of the license amendment is to allow for the release of 
the licensee's facility at Carroll College, Helena, Montana, for 
unrestricted use and license termination.
    Carroll College was authorized by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission 
(AEC) in the 1960's to use radioactive materials for training purposes 
in biology and chemistry courses. By letter dated October 10, 2005, 
with enclosed NRC Form 314, Carroll College requested that NRC release 
the facility for unrestricted use. The licensee submitted surveys of 
the facility and provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that 
the site meets the license termination criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR 
Part 20 for unrestricted use.
    The staff has prepared an EA in support of the proposed license 
amendment. The Carroll College site did not require any remediation of 
the land, buildings or water. The majority of radionuclides authorized 
were small quantities of beta emitters with short half-lives, less than 
162 days, with the exception of tritium, cobalt-60, strontium-90, and 
carbon-14. The licensee's renewal application dated June 20, 1984, 
states in part that the licensee was using only phosphorus-32 and 
sulfur-35, which are considered low-beta emitters with short half-
lives. Historical records indicate that the radioisotopes were used 
during four months of the year for laboratory instruction in the 
handling and use of radioisotopes and chemistry courses.
    The licensee disposed of the remaining unsealed radioactive 
materials at the facility in accordance with the regulations for 
disposal by release into sanitary sewerage under 10 CFR 20.2003. NRC 
regulations in 10 CFR Part 20 specify the maximum amount of radioactive 
materials that a licensee may release from a site in the form of liquid 
effluents. Additionally, the licensee disposed of the sealed sources by 
transfer to an authorized recipient in accordance with 10 CFR 30.41. 
The sealed source inventory was either exempt material under 10 CFR 
30.70 or non-NRC licensed material. The historical site assessment did 
not identify any short or long-term impacts to human health and the 
environment due to radiological exposures.
    During the historical site assessment, the license identified one 
onsite burial of carbon-14, iodine-131, and gold-198 on June 30, 1961. 
Carbon-14 was the only isotope evaluated because the other two isotopes 
have short half-lives and have since decayed. The burial site was 
adjacent to the U.S. Geological Survey marker located on the northeast 
part of the campus near the gate in the fence that leads to the City of 
Helena Transfer Station. The burial site was within six feet of the 
marker and approximately four feet deep. Burial of certain quantities 
of radioactive waste in soil by licensees without prior NRC approval 
was authorized on January 29, 1959 (22 FR 548). Originally, this 
authorization was codified in former 10 CFR 20.304. On January 28, 
1981, the NRC concluded that it was inappropriate to continue generic 
authorizations of burials pursuant to 10 CFR 20.304 without regard to 
factors such as location of burial, concentrations of radioactive 
material, form of packaging, and notification of NRC, and therefore NRC 
rescinded 10 CFR 20.304 (45 FR 71761).
    Carbon-14 is a low-energy beta emitter with an average energy of 50 
keV and a half-life of 5,730 years. Carbon-14 has a transport value of 
0.0 in RESRAD, which is indicative of its high mobility such that it 
essentially moves with ground water; therefore, it is considered 
readily transportable. The licensee submitted a dose modeling 
evaluation based on RESRAD Version 6.22 using the default parameters, 
for the carbon-14 burial site. The licensee calculated the 
radioactivity concentration of carbon-14 to be 0.25 [mu]Ci/g, based on: 
1) the log book record of 50 [mu]Ci, and 2) interview with the 
professor who stated that a ``coffee can size'' was buried, which was 
assumed to be 200 grams. This conservative approach utilizes the 
resident farmer scenario, which is summed over all pathways. The model 
projected a peak dose of 30 mrem, due to water consumption pathway, to 
occur in 1965 with a sharp decline to less than 1 mrem in 1971, which 
is approximately 10 years. The NRC staff recognizes that

[[Page 8316]]

the licensee's projected dose for the burial of carbon-14 is 
conservative based on the volume of the animal containing the carbon-14 
from the study, which was noted as being a ``coffee can'' size (which 
is variable.) The NRC staff performed a dose modeling evaluation based 
on a buried volume of 500 grams and using the default parameters in 
RESRAD, Version 6.22. The model projected a peak dose of 14 mrem to 
occur in 1965, with a sharp decline to less than 1 mrem in 1971. In 
either scenario, the calculated value beyond year seven (1968) is below 
the current 25 millirem limit for unrestricted use of the site as 
stipulated in 10 CFR 20.1402.
    The NRC staff considered the potential impacts of leaching of 
radioactive material into the shallow groundwater due to the burial of 
carbon-14 in 1961. In 1965, the shallow surface groundwater on the 
Carroll College campus was not used as a drinking water source. 
Additionally, local members of the public obtained their drinking water 
from the city, whose source was several miles away. There were only two 
wells identified on the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Web site 
which were installed prior to 1965. The impact of potentially 
contaminated groundwater was considered as part of the RESRAD dose 
modeling evaluation and the primary pathway of concern was the direct 
consumption of water by the resident farmer scenario. Based on the 
evaluations, there was no impact to groundwater as a result of the one-
time burial of carbon-14. The areas of the site where radioactive 
material had been stored and handled were surveyed on April 9, 2005, by 
the radiation safety officer from Montana State University. The surveys 
were performed using Ludlum survey meter with a GM probe and a low 
energy gamma (NaI) probe. In addition, survey wipes were taken and 
analyzed on a Packard Liquid Scintillation Counter. The results were 
less than twice background and adequately meet the criteria for 
unrestricted use.
    The NRC has the option, depending on the licensee's survey and 
extent of radioactive material that was used at the facility, to 
perform a close out inspection of the facility. Based on the low-energy 
beta emitting radioisotopes and the length of time since the last use 
of radioactive material at the facility, the NRC staff determined that 
a close-out inspection of the facility was not justified. The 
licensee's independent survey was sufficient to demonstrate that the 
facility was suitable for unrestricted use in accordance with 10 CFR 
Part 20. The environmental impacts resulting from the release of this 
site for unrestricted use are insignificant. There were no additional 
activities that resulted in cumulative impacts to the environment.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff concludes that the proposed action complies with the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted use as stipulated in 10 CFR 
20.1402. The licensee demonstrated that any remaining residual 
radioactivity will not result in radiological exposures in excess of 
the 25 millirem total effective dose equivalent limit specified in 
Sec.  20.1402. Dose modeling indicates that current and future members 
of the public will not receive any radiological dose from the burial 
site. The NRC staff prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in 
support of the requested license amendment. On the basis of this EA, 
the NRC has concluded that there are no significant environmental 
impacts and the license amendment does not warrant the preparation of 
an Environmental Impact Statement. Accordingly, it has been determined 
that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate.

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 may access the NRC's Agencywide 
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for 
the documents related to this notice are: Carroll College letter and 
NRC Form 314, dated October 10, 2005, (ML053040347); Carroll College 
letter dose modeling submittal, dated January 17, 2005 (ML050540533); 
NRC Environmental Assessment (ML060170746). 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].
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 
contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Arlington, Texas this 8th day of February 2006.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Jack E. Whitten,
Chief, Nuclear Materials Licensing Branch, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, Region IV.
 [FR Doc. E6-2214 Filed 2-15-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P