[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 125 (Thursday, June 29, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37122-37124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10265]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-06839]


Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, Kunia Substation, Kunia, HI: 
Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant 
Impact for License Amendment

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: D. Blair Spitzberg, Ph.D., Chief, Fuel 
Cycle and Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region IV, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, 
Suite 400, Arlington, TX 76011. Telephone: (817) 860-8100; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of an amendment to Material License No. 53-00515-01, as 
requested by the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center (the Licensee), to 
authorize release of the Kunia Substation at Kunia, Hawaii, for 
unrestricted use. The Licensee is authorized to possess radioactive 
material for conducting tracer studies in plants and soils and for 
laboratory analysis of samples. On December 2, 2005, the Licensee 
requested that NRC release the facility for unrestricted use. The 
Licensee conducted radiological surveys of the facility to demonstrate 
that the site meets the license termination criteria specified in 
Subpart E to 10 CFR part 20 for unrestricted release.
    The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of 
this proposed action in accordance with the requirements of Title 10, 
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 51 (10 CFR part 51). Based on 
the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI) is appropriate with respect to the proposed action. The 
amendment will be issued to the Licensee following the publication of 
this FONSI and EA in the Federal Register.

[[Page 37123]]

II. Environmental Assessment

    Identification of Proposed Action: The proposed action is to remove 
the Kunia Substation from License Condition 10 as a location of use. 
Once the building is removed from the license, the licensee will be 
free to use the building in any manner without NRC restriction.
    The Need for the Proposed Action: The licensee no longer conducts 
licensed activities in this building and desires to release the 
building for unrestricted use. If the site is properly decommissioned, 
the licensee would then be in compliance with the Timeliness Rule 
requirements of 10 CFR 30.36, ``Expiration and Termination of Licenses 
and Decommissioning of Sites and Separate Buildings or Outdoor Areas.''
    Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: The Kunia Substation 
is a 4,000 ft\2\ (372 m\2\) building that housed a 300 ft\2\ (28 m\2\) 
radiologically restricted area. The licensee used carbon-14, a long-
lived low energy beta radiation emitter, at this location between 1975-
1998. The licensee possessed a total of 11.5 millicuries (4.26E+8 
becquerels) of carbon-14 for experiments. At the conclusion of these 
experiments, the contaminated soil and plant material were either 
radiologically sampled and free-released or shipped offsite for 
disposal.
    By letter dated December 2, 2005, the licensee requested amendment 
of its license to remove Kunia Substation as a location of use. 
Attached to the request was a report of a final status survey that was 
conducted during 2005. The survey included scan surveys for fixed/total 
contamination and swipe sampling for removable contamination. The 
response and operability of the instrumentation used were verified 
using carbon-14 check sources. Scan survey results were 
indistinguishable from background levels. Most swipe sample results 
were below the instrument's minimum detectable activity level of 17.3 
disintegrations per minute (0.288 becquerels per minute) per swipe 
sample. The highest sample result was 24 disintegrations per minute per 
swipe (0.4 becquerels per minute per swipe).
    Regulation 10 CFR 20.1402, Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted 
Use, states in part that a site will be considered acceptable for 
unrestricted use if the residual radioactivity that is distinguishable 
from background radiation results in a total effective dose equivalent 
not to exceed 25 millirems (0.25 mSv) per year to an average member of 
the critical group. The NRC's NUREG-1757, Volume 1, Revision 1, 
``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' Table B.1 provides 
screening values for building surface contamination that are equivalent 
to 25 millirems (0.25 mSv) per year. The NRC-approved screening value 
for carbon-14 is 3.7E+6 disintegrations per minute (6.18E+4 
becquerels)/100 cm\2\. Assuming a loose/removable contamination 
fraction of 10-percent, the removable surface contamination screening 
value is 3.7E+5 disintegrations per minute (6.18E+3 becquerels)/100 
cm\2\. In summary, the licensee's final status survey results were well 
below the NRC-approved screening values.
    A second method to demonstrate compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402 is 
the use of dose modeling. The licensee conducted dose modeling to 
estimate potential doses to members of the public from carbon-14 
radioactivity in soil. The licensee conservatively assumed that all 
11.5 millicuries (4.26E+8 becquerels) of carbon-14 were dispersed into 
the area soil resulting in a soil activity of 26 picocuries (57.7 
becquerels) per gram. Using Version 6.3 of the RESRAD modeling code 
with all default parameters, including the default carbon-14 activity 
of 100 picocuries (222 becquerels) per gram, the model calculated a 
peak dose of 132 millirems (1.32 mSv) per year. The peak dose occurs at 
4.28 years. The licensee discontinued use of carbon-14 at Kunia 
Substation in 1998. Dose modeling further demonstrates that by the 
seventh year (2005), the annual dose drops to below 0.03 millirems 
(3E=4 mSV) per year. Through dose modeling of potential soil 
contamination, the licensee conservatively demonstrated that the annual 
total effective dose equivalent is currently less than the 25-millirem 
(0.25 mSv) regulatory limit.
    The NRC staff reviewed docket file records to identify any 
radiological or non-radiological hazards that may have impacted the 
environment. Records indicate that two plots of land located at the 
Kunia Substation were previously used for land application of 
radioactive material. In the first instance, an activity of 
approximately 10 millicuries (3.7E+8 becquerels) of a carbon-14 labeled 
compound was applied to a 3750 ft\2\ (348 m\2\) plot during 1984. This 
plot was decommissioned, and the NRC released the property from the 
license in May 1993. In the second instance, on two occasions (1979 and 
1982), seeds treated with a carbon-14 compound were planted in a 1600 
ft\2\ (149 m\2\) plot. This plot was also decommissioned, and the NRC 
released the property from the license in April 1996. No incidences 
involving spills or releases of radioactive material were documented to 
have occurred at Kunia Substation.
    Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action: 
The licensee seeks NRC approval of the amendment request. The 
alternatives to the proposed action are: (1) The no-action alternative, 
or (2) to deny the amendment request and require the licensee to take 
some alternate action.
    1. No-Action Alternative: One alternative available to the NRC is 
to take no action by denying the amendment request. The no-action 
alternative is not feasible because it conflicts with the NRC's 
Timeliness Rule (10 CFR 30.36) which requires licensees to decommission 
their facilities when licensed activities cease.
    2. Environmental Impacts of Alternative 2: A second alternative is 
to deny the licensee's request in favor of alternate release criteria 
as allowed by Sec.  20.1403 (criteria for restricted use) or Sec.  
20.1404 (alternate release criteria). However, the NRC's analysis of 
the final status survey data confirmed that the survey results and dose 
modeling meet the Sec.  20.1402 radiological criteria for unrestricted 
use, which is the preferred alternative.
    Accordingly, the NRC has determined that the second alternative is 
not reasonable, and this alternative action is eliminated from further 
consideration.
    Conclusion: Based on its review, the NRC staff concludes that the 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action do not 
warrant denial of the license amendment request. The staff finds that 
the proposed action will result in no significant environmental 
impacts. The staff has determined that approval of the license 
amendment is the appropriate alternative for selection.
    Agencies and Persons Contacted: The NRC staff did not consult with 
the Hawaii State Historic Preservation Officer or the local U.S. Fish & 
Wildlife Service because licensed activities being considered by this 
EA occurred only within the confines of the Kunia Substation. Other 
than the two land applications that were previously reviewed and 
released by the NRC, no other use or release of radioactive material 
outside of the building was identified. Accordingly, there were no 
identified impacts to the cultural resources, endangered species, or 
critical habitats. The Hawaii Department of Health was consulted about 
this EA. The State informed the NRC by letter dated May 30, 2006, that 
it had no objections to the draft EA or to the use of the EA for NRC 
decisionmaking.

[[Page 37124]]

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has prepared an EA in support of the proposed license 
amendment to release Kunia Substation for unrestricted use. On the 
basis of this EA, NRC has concluded that no significant environmental 
impacts will result from the proposed action, 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 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 can 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:
    1. Whalen, Stephanie, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, Response 
to NRC Information Notice 96-47, October 31, 1996 (ML060890606).
    2. NRC, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of 
Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities,'' NUREG-1496, July 1997 (ML042310492, 
ML042320379, and ML042330385).
    3. NRC, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' NUREG-1757, 
Volume 1, Revision 1, September 2003 (ML053260027).
    4. Whalen, Stephanie A., Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, 
License Amendment Request, December 2, 2005 (ML060120252).
    5. Takata, Russell, S., Response to Request for Comments on Draft 
Environmental Assessment for Decommissioning of Kunia Substation at 
Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, May 30, 2006 (ML061630274).
    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 16th day of June 2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
D. Blair Spitzberg,
Chief, Fuel Cycle & Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, Region IV.
 [FR Doc. E6-10265 Filed 6-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P