[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 149 (Thursday, August 3, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44046-44048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12513]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 03001125]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 45-10414-01, for Unrestricted Release of the James Madison 
University's Miller Hall Facility in Harrisonburg, VA

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: Thomas K. Thompson, Sr. Health 
Physicist, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region I, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone (610) 337-
5303; fax number (610) 337-5269; or by e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of a license amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 45-
10414-01. This license is held by James Madison University (the 
Licensee), located at Harrisonburg, Virginia. Issuance of the amendment 
would authorize release of Miller Hall, located on the James Madison 
University Campus, for unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this 
action in a letter dated November 28, 2005. 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.

II. Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would approve the Licensee's November 28, 2005, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of Miller Hall for 
unrestricted use. License No. 45-10414-01 was issued in 1964, pursuant 
to 10 CFR Part 30, and has been amended periodically since that time. 
This license authorized the Licensee to use sealed and unsealed 
byproduct materials for purposes of conducting research and development 
activities on laboratory bench tops and in hoods, for teaching and 
training of students, and calibration of instruments.
    Miller Hall is situated on the James Madison University Campus in 
Harrisonburg, Virginia. Miller Hall is a 77,977 square foot building 
containing teaching laboratories and classrooms, research laboratories, 
office/storage areas, a large lecture hall and a planetarium. Miller 
Hall (the Facility) is surrounded on three sides by other James Madison 
University Campus

[[Page 44047]]

academic buildings and on the fourth side by Rockingham Memorial 
Hospital and Cancer Center. Within the Facility, use of licensed 
materials was confined to Rooms G21, G22, G22A, and 110.
    On May 10, 2005, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and 
initiated a survey and decontamination of the Facility. Based on the 
Licensee's historical knowledge of the site and the conditions of the 
Facility, the Licensee determined that only routine decontamination 
activities, in accordance with its NRC-approved, operating radiation 
safety procedures, were required. Therefore, in accordance with 10 CFR 
30.36(g), the Licensee was not required to submit a decommissioning 
plan to the NRC. The Licensee conducted surveys of the Facility and 
provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that it meets the 
criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the 
Facility, and seeks the unrestricted use of Miller Hall.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facility shows that such activities involved use of many radionuclides 
with half-lives greater than 120 days. Prior to performing the final 
status survey, the Licensee conducted a historical site assessment of 
byproduct materials activities in the areas of the Facility affected by 
these radionuclides and determined that residual contamination from 
operations was unlikely.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey on October 18, 2005. 
This survey covered Rooms G21, G22, G22A, 110, and the adjacent 
corridor. The final status survey report was submitted with the 
Licensee's amendment request dated November 28, 2005. The Licensee 
elected to demonstrate compliance with the radiological criteria for 
unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by using the 
screening approach described in NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS 
Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 2. The Licensee used the 
radionuclide-specific derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs), 
developed there by the NRC, which comply with the dose criterion in 10 
CFR 20.1402. These DCGLs define the maximum amount of residual 
radioactivity on building surfaces, equipment, and materials, and in 
soils, that will satisfy the NRC requirements in subpart E of 10 CFR 
part 20 for unrestricted release. NRC considers these DCGLs to 
represent levels that are As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA), and 
in compliance with the ALARA requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The 
Licensee's final status survey results for randomized samples were 
below these DCGLs, and are thus acceptable here for use as release 
criteria.
    Based on its review, the NRC staff has determined that the affected 
environment and any environmental impacts associated with 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 Nuclear Facilities'' 
(NUREG-1496) Volumes 1-3 (ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385). 
Further, no incidents were recorded involving spills or releases of 
radioactive material at the Facility.
    Accordingly, there were no significant environmental impacts from 
the use of radioactive material at the Facility. The NRC staff reviewed 
the docket file records and the final status survey report to identify 
any non-radiological hazards that may have impacted the environment 
surrounding the Facility. No such hazards or impacts to the environment 
were identified. The NRC has found no other radiological or non-
radiological activities in the area that could result in cumulative 
environmental impacts.
    The NRC staff finds that the proposed release of the Miller Hall 
facility described above for unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 
CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, the staff considered the impact of 
the residual radioactivity at the Facility and concluded that the 
proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of 
the human environment.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action, 
its environmental impacts are small. Therefore, the only alternative 
the staff considered is the no-action alternative, under which the 
staff would leave things as they are by simply denying the amendment 
request. This no-action alternative is not feasible because it 
conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d) requiring that decommissioning of 
byproduct material facilities be completed and approved by the NRC 
after licensed activities cease. The NRC's analysis of the Licensee's 
final status survey data confirmed that the Facility meets the 
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. Additionally, 
denying the amendment request would result in no change in current 
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action 
and the no-action alternative are therefore similar, and the no-action 
alternative is accordingly not further considered.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action is consistent 
with the NRC's 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

    NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the 
Virginia Department of Health for review on March 23, 2006. On March 
23, 2006, the Virginia Department of Health responded by email. The 
State agreed with the conclusions of the EA, and otherwise had no 
comments.
    The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a 
procedural nature, and will not affect listed species or critical 
habitat. Therefore, no further consultation is required under Section 7 
of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff has also determined that 
the proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential 
to cause effects on historic properties. Therefore, no further 
consultation is required under Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has prepared this EA in support of the proposed 
action. On the basis of this EA, the NRC finds that there are no 
significant environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that 
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted. 
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant 
Impact is appropriate.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
license 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 documents 
related to this action are listed below, along with their ADAMS 
accession numbers.

[[Page 44048]]

    (1) Amendment request dated November 28, 2005 (ML053430158);
    (2) Additional information provided by the Licensee on January 13, 
2006 (ML060190077);
    (3) Additional information provided by the Licensee on May 8, 2006 
(ML061290167);
    (4) Federal Register Notice, Volume 65, No. 114, page 37186, dated 
Tuesday, June 13, 2000, ``Use of Screening Values to Demonstrate 
Compliance With The Federal Rule on Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination;''
    (5) Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    (6) Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;''
    (7) NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support 
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities''.
    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, O1F21, 
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The 
PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA this 20th day 
of July 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety. 
Region I.
 [FR Doc. E6-12513 Filed 8-2-06; 8:45 am]
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