[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 189 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57576-57577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16014]



[[Page 57576]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 070-00784 and 040-07044]


Notice of Determination That No Further Action Is Required Under 
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Authority at the Union Carbide 
Corporation Facility in Lawrenceburg, TN

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Notice of Determination that no further remedial action is 
required.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth Kalman, Materials 
Decommissioning Section, Division of Waste Management and Environmental 
Protection, NRC, Washington, DC 20555; telephone: (301) 415-6664; fax: 
(301) 415-5398; or e-mail at: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is providing notice that it has determined that no further 
remedial action under the NRC's authority is required at the Union 
Carbide Corporation (UCAR) site located at Highway 43 South, in 
Lawrenceburg, Tennessee (the Site).
    UCAR was issued Special Nuclear Materials License No. SNM-724 (SNM-
724), on August 26, 1963, for testing equipment and nuclear fuels 
development. UCAR also held License No. SMB-720 (SMB-720), which 
authorized the possession of source material at the Site. SNM-724 was 
terminated on June 4, 1974, and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) 
released the site for unrestricted use. SMB-720 was superceded by the 
State of Tennessee License No. S-5002-H8 and was terminated on August 
28, 1975.
    SNM-724 authorized possession of up to 500 grams (g) of fully-
enriched (<94 percent) uranium for testing of equipment and processes 
in the Lawrenceburg Fuel Development Facility located at the Site. On 
May 22, 1964, the license was amended to authorize possession of 150 
kilograms (kg) of U-235 to make graphite-coated uranium-thorium carbide 
particles and graphite-matrix fuel elements. The possession limit was 
increased to 475 kg on June 12, 1964.
    By letter dated February 4, 1974, UCAR submitted ``closeout'' 
survey information and requested that SNM-724 be terminated and the 
facility be released for unrestricted use. On April 5, 1974, AEC staff 
performed a closeout inspection which was documented in Inspection 
Report 70-784/74-1. The staff recommended that the license be 
terminated, and the facility be released for unrestricted use. By AEC 
letter dated June 4, 1974, SNM-724 was terminated and the UCAR facility 
released for unrestricted use.
    In 1991, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory was contracted by NRC to 
review and evaluate all nuclear materials licenses terminated by NRC or 
its predecessor agencies, since inception of materials regulation in 
the late 1940s. One of the objectives of this review was to identify 
sites with the potential for residual contamination, based on 
information in the license documentation. NRC evaluated the available 
survey data to determine if the information was sufficient to conclude 
that the site meets the existing guidelines for unrestricted use.
    Radiological assessments performed at the UCAR facility and its 
immediate vicinity identified the presence of enriched and depleted 
uranium on building surfaces and in soil in excess of applicable 
radiological release criteria. Sampling identified contamination in 
three buildings on the UCAR site: Building 10, Building 5 Annex, and 
the Metallurgy Laboratory. Surface contamination in Building 10, 
Building 5 Annex, and in the Metallurgy Laboratory was primarily 
present as fixed contamination. Contamination in soils/sediments in 
small areas was also present.
    Surface contamination above the release guidelines was identified 
in 11 rooms in Building 10 (Rooms 106-2, 120, 121, 122, 124, 126, 128-
1, 129, 132, 133, and 134) ranging from background to 106,469 
disintegrations per minute/100 square centimeter (dpm/100 
cm2) direct beta/gamma. Volumetric contamination in other 
areas of the site was found to be above the release criteria: (1) Soil 
surrounding the incinerator pad; (2) sediment in the manholes and 
cooling water tanks; (3) laundry sump tank; and (4) the surface layer 
of concrete flooring. A core sample was taken near the incinerator pad. 
The range for total uranium concentration was 1.33 to 3,655 picocuries 
per gram (pCi/g). The estimated average depth of the soil contamination 
was one foot resulting in a contaminated soil volume estimate of 500 
cubic feet.
    Uranium was also the primary contaminant in Building 5 Annex. 
Surface contamination was found in four rooms in Building 5 (Rooms 106, 
107, 108, 110), ranging from background to 428,698 dpm/100 
cm2 direct beta/gamma. Volumetric contamination above the 
release criteria was found in three areas in and around Building 5: (1) 
Sink trap; (2) concrete flooring; and (3) asphalt outside exit.
    Contamination in the Metallurgy Laboratory consisted of localized 
surface contamination on the tops of cabinets. There was no indication 
of radioactive material above the release criteria beyond the former 
restricted area boundary in the ground water, settling basins, or 
former sanitary sewer system.
    UCAR voluntarily conducted remediation activities without a 
license, as its license was terminated in 1974. Although UCAR was not a 
licensee, NRC staff conducted periodic inspections to ensure that 
remediation was performed in accordance with current regulations and 
release limits.
    As part of its remediation activities, UCAR amassed fifteen (15) 
24-yard3 intermodal containers of solid low-level 
radiological waste. UCAR reported concentrations in the intermodal 
containers averaging approximately 25 pCi/g of U-235 and 1,082 pCi/g of 
total uranium.
    On February 15 and 16, 2006, NRC staff conducted an inspection of 
the UCAR site that included Building 10, Building 5 Annex, the 
Metallurgy Lab, the incinerator pad and other areas, as well as the 
intermodal containers (Inspection Report 07000784/2005001). This 
inspection found that residual uranium contamination on surfaces and 
soil met the criteria in the remediation plan for unrestricted use. The 
remediation activities in Building 10 and the incinerator pad resulted 
in complete removal of the structures and the concrete floor pads so 
that no surfaces were available for surface contamination measurements. 
Gamma scans of areas where an incinerator pad, drain lines, and a 
buried water cooling tank had been located, as well as scans of various 
non-remediated areas found no areas of elevated gamma exposure rates. 
Direct alpha measurement of the Building 5 Annex and the Metallurgy Lab 
were all less than 2000 dpm/100cm2. The inspector found no 
areas of elevated gamma exposure rates in the scanned areas.
    Soil samples were taken from Site areas based on operational 
history and remediation activities and were analyzed by the Oak Ridge 
Institute for Science and Education for isotopic concentrations of U-
234, U-235, and U-238. All samples were surface soil, collected within 
the top four inches of the soil surface. One sample from the Building 5 
Annex showed elevated concentrations of U-234, but when averaged over 
the survey unit was found to be within the derived concentration 
guidelines for soils at the site.

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    The NRC inspector examined the intermodal containers while they 
were stored at the site. The amount of U-235 in the intermodals ranged 
from 75 to 206 grams per intermodal. One of the intermodals contained a 
sump from Building 10 and had a contact exposure rate of 65 
microroentgens/hour. Measurements of the other containers were not 
significantly above background. On August 14, 2006, UCAR provided 
copies of the shipping manifests demonstrating that the 15 intermodal 
containers had been accepted for disposal by EnergySolutions in Utah.
    UCAR provided a final radiological status survey and the NRC staff 
performed an independent dose assessment to demonstrate the site meets 
the license termination criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20. Based 
on its reviews of UCAR submittals and its own analyses and assessments, 
the NRC staff has determined that the site meets the unrestricted 
release dose criteria in 10 CFR Part 20.1402 and that no further 
remedial action under the NRC's authority is required at the UCAR site. 
The staff prepared a Safety Evaluation Report (SER) (ML062580415) to 
support its determination.

II. Further Information

    In accordance with 10 CFR Part 2.790 of the NRC's ``Rules of 
Practice,'' details with respect to this action, including the SER, 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 termination letter and SER, ``Safety 
Evaluation Report to Support the Determination that No Further Action 
is Required under the Authority of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at the Union Carbide Corporation Facility in Lawrenceburg, 
TN'' (Docket Nos. 070-00784 and 040-07044) is ADAMS No. ML062620512. If 
you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing a 
document located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room 
Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to: 
[email protected].
    This document 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 NRC, Rockville, MD, this 22nd day of September, 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Keith I. McConnell,
Deputy Director, Decommissioning Directorate, Division of Waste 
Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards.
 [FR Doc. E6-16014 Filed 9-28-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P