[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 237 (Monday, December 11, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71591-71593]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20955]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-12998]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 37-07438-15, for the Unrestricted Release of the 
Philadelphia Health & Education Corporation's Facility in Doylestown, 
PA

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: Dennis Lawyer, Health Physicist, 
Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 
1, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone (610) 
337-5366; fax number (610) 337-5393; 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. 37-
07438-15. This license is held by Philadelphia Health & Education 
Corporation, d/b/a/ Drexel University College of Medicine (the 
Licensee), for the area leased to the Licensee within the Delaware 
Valley College of Agriculture and Science's Mandrell Science Building 
(the Facility), located at 700 E. Butler Avenue in Doylestown, 
Pennsylvania. Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of the 
Facility for unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this action in a 
letter dated August 28, 2006. 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 August 28, 2006, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility for 
unrestricted use. License No. 37-07438-15 was issued on July 17, 1977, 
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30 and has been amended periodically since that 
time. This license authorized the Licensee to use unsealed byproduct 
material for purposes of conducting research and development activities 
on laboratory bench tops and in hoods.
    The Facility is a 15,000 square foot leased area, within the 66,300 
square foot Mandrell Science Building, located on the 80 acre Delaware 
Valley College of Agriculture and Science Campus. The Facility consists 
of office space and laboratories. Within the Facility, use of licensed 
materials was confined to laboratories totaling 2,680 square feet.
    On July 26, 2006, 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 their NRC-approved, operating radiation 
safety procedures, were required. The Licensee was not required to 
submit a decommissioning plan to the NRC because worker cleanup 
activities and procedures are consistent with those approved for 
routine operations. 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 release of the Facility for unrestricted use.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facility shows that such activities involved use of hydrogen-3, which 
has a half-life greater than 120 days. Prior to

[[Page 71592]]

performing the final status survey, the Licensee conducted 
decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of the Facility 
affected by these radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey on August 15, 2006. 
This survey covered areas of material use within the Facility. The 
final status survey report was attached to the Licensee's amendment 
request dated August 28, 2006. A previous survey was performed on July 
30, 2004, after the use of hydrogen-3 had been completed at the 
Facility. 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. The Licensee's final status 
survey results were below these DCGLs and are in compliance with the As 
Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The 
NRC thus finds that the Licensee's final status survey results are 
acceptable. Based on its review, the 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). 
The staff finds 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 identified 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 Facility for 
unrestricted use and the termination of the NRC materials license 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 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, 
Bureau of Radiation Protection, for review on November 13, 2006. On 
November 14, 2006, the Commonwealth responded by e-mail. The 
Commonwealth 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.
    1. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    2. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    3. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;''
    4. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support 
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities;''
    5. Philadelphia Health & Education Corp. d/b/a/ Drexel University 
College of Medicine, Amendment Request Letter dated August 28, 2006. 
(ML062550419)
    6. Philadelphia Health & Education Corp. d/b/a/ Drexel University 
College of Medicine, Deficiency Response Letter dated October 10, 2006. 
(ML062960347)
    7. Philadelphia Health and Education Corporation d/b/a/ Drexel 
University College of Medicine, RAI, Previous Transfer of Location of 
Use of the Mandell Science Building located in Doylestown, PA, 
telephone log dated October 30, 2006. (ML063060010)
    8. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, additional information 
facsimile dated July 30, 2004. (ML042190441)
    If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact

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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 Region 1, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, 
Pennsylvania, this 4th day of December 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region 1.
 [FR Doc. E6-20955 Filed 12-8-06; 8:45 am]
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