[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 33 (Friday, February 17, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8623-8624]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-2327]



[[Page 8623]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-34325]


Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Approval for 
the Department of Veterans Affairs To Issue an Amendment to a Materials 
Permit for the Unrestricted Release of an Illiana Health Care System 
Facility in Danville, IL

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Issuance of environmental assessment and finding of no 
significant impact for license amendment.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Snell, Senior Health 
Physicist, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2443 
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; telephone: (630) 829-9871; fax 
number: (630) 515-1259; or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
is considering allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to 
issue an amendment to a materials permit in accordance with NRC 
Byproduct Materials License No. 03-23853-01VA. The NRC approval would 
allow the DVA to authorize the unrestricted release of Building 13 of 
the DVA's Illiana Health Care System facility at 1900 East Main Street 
in Danville, Illinois. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment 
in support of this action in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 
Part 51. Based on the Environmental Assessment, the NRC has determined 
that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate. The permit 
amendment by the DVA will be allowed following the publication of this 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact.

I. Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would approve DVA's request to issue an 
amendment to a materials permit to release Building 13 of the DVA's 
Danville, Illinois facility for unrestricted use in accordance with 10 
CFR Part 20, Subpart E. The proposed action is in accordance with the 
DVA's request to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on 
November 18, 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. ML053260120), to approve the 
release of the facility for unrestricted use, and is consistent with 
the current NRC policy to review all DVA permittee requests for the 
release of buildings for unrestricted use where radioactive materials 
with a half-life greater than 120 days were used. The DVA identified 
two isotopes of concern with half-lives greater than 120 days that it 
used in Building 13 of the Danville, Illinois facility: hydrogen-3 and 
carbon-14. The DVA has been authorized to use byproduct material for 
medical diagnosis, therapy, and research at Building 13 of the 
Danville, Illinois facility since 1975.
    The DVA conducted surveys of the facility and provided this 
information to the NRC to demonstrate that the radiological conditions 
at Building 13 of the Danville, Illinois facility are consistent with 
radiological criteria for unrestricted use in 10 CFR Part 20, Subpart 
E. No radiological remediation activities are required to complete the 
proposed action.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The DVA is requesting approval of this permitting action because it 
no longer plans to use Building 13 of the Danville, Illinois facility 
for NRC-permitted activities. The NRC is fulfilling its 
responsibilities under the Atomic Energy Act to make a decision on the 
proposed action for decommissioning that ensures that residual 
radioactivity is reduced to a level that is protective of the public 
health and safety and the environment, and allows the DVA to authorize 
the Danville, Illinois facility to be released for unrestricted use.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff reviewed the information provided and surveys 
performed by the DVA to demonstrate that the release of Building 13 of 
DVA's Illiana Health Care System facility at 1900 East Main Street in 
Danville, Illinois, is consistent with the radiological criteria for 
unrestricted use specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, the 
staff determined that there were no radiological impacts associated 
with the proposed action because no radiological remediation activities 
were required to complete the proposed action, and that the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted use in Sec.  20.1402 have been 
met.
    Based on its review, the staff determined that the radiological 
environmental impacts from the proposed action for Building 13 of the 
DVA Illiana Health Care System facility are bounded by the ``Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological 
Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' 
(NUREG-1496). Additionally, no non-radiological or cumulative impacts 
were identified. Therefore, the NRC has determined that the proposed 
action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human 
environment.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The only alternative to the proposed action of releasing Building 
13 of the DVA's Illiana Health Care System facility for unrestricted 
use is to take no action. Under the no-action alternative, Building 13 
of the DVA's Danville, Illinois facility would remain a location of use 
on the Illiana Permit under the DVA's NRC license and would not be 
released for unrestricted use. Denial of the license amendment request 
would result in no change to current conditions at the DVA facility. 
The no-action alternative is not acceptable because it is inconsistent 
with 10 CFR 30.36, which requires licensees who have ceased licensed 
activities to begin decommissioning activities or submit a 
decommissioning plan, which upon approval, will be used to conduct 
decommissioning activities. This alternative also would impose an 
unnecessary regulatory burden and limit potential benefits from the 
future use of Building 13 of the DVA's Illiana Health Care System 
facility.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff concluded that the proposed action is consistent with 
the NRC unrestricted release criteria specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. 
Because the proposed action will not significantly impact the quality 
of the human environment, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed 
action is the preferred alternative.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action will not 
affect listed species or critical habitats. Therefore, no further 
consultation is required under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. 
Likewise, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is not 
a type of activity that has potential to cause effect on historic 
properties. Therefore, consultation under Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act is not required.
    The NRC consulted with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency on 
the action. The Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Division of 
Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Materials Section, was provided the draft 
EA for comment on February 3, 2006. Mr. Daren Perrero, Health 
Physicist, with the Radioactive Materials Section, responded to the NRC 
by e-mail on

[[Page 8624]]

February 8, 2006, indicating that the State had no comments regarding 
the NRC Environmental Assessment for the release of the DVA's Danville, 
Illinois facility.

II. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA in support of the proposal to allow the DVA 
to release the site for unrestricted use, the NRC has determined that 
the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality 
of the human environment. Thus, the NRC has not prepared an 
environmental impact statement for the proposed action.

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 Agencywide 
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. 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]. The documents 
and ADAMS accession numbers related to this notice are:
    1. E. Lynn McGuire, Department of Veterans Affairs, letter to U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, November 18, 2005 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML053260120).
    2. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Environmental Review 
Guidance for Licensing Actions Associated with NMSS Programs,'' NUREG-
1748, August 2003.
    3. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Generic Environmental 
Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for 
License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities,'' NUREG-1496, 
August 1994.
    4. NRC, NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' 
Volumes 1-3, September 2003.
    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 Lisle, Illinois, this 9th day of February, 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jamnes L. Cameron,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region III.
 [FR Doc. E6-2327 Filed 2-16-06; 8:45 am]
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