[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1032-1033]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-73]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-2377, License No. Stb-472 (Terminated)


Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation; Notice of Completion of 
Decommissioning of Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation Site, Tulsa, 
OK

ACTION: Notice of Completion of Decommissioning of the Kaiser Aluminum 
& Chemical Corporation (Kaiser) Tulsa Site.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is noticing the 
completion of decommissioning activities at the Kaiser Tulsa Site 
located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Background

    The Kaiser plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was built by the Standard 
Magnesium Corporation (SMC) in the early to mid-1950s to manufacture 
magnesium products. SMC received a source materials license from the 
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in March 1958, authorizing possession 
and title to magnesium-thorium alloy with up to 4 percent thorium 
content for processing. Scrap magnesium-thorium alloy was smelted along 
with other magnesium materials to recover the magnesium. Thorium alloy 
material comprised a small fraction of the total magnesium refined on 
site. Kaiser purchased the facility in 1964. Kaiser's license was 
terminated in 1971, by the AEC at Kaiser's request.
    The Kaiser facility was placed on the Site Decommissioning 
Management Plan (SDMP) list in 1994, after the NRC detected surface 
contamination on, and adjacent to, the Kaiser property in 1993. Kaiser 
elected to remediate the site in two phases.
    In Phase 1, Kaiser remediated the land adjacent to the Kaiser 
property. In Phase 2, Kaiser remediated the Kaiser property itself.
    Kaiser conducted off-site remediation activities from October 2000, 
through May 2001. Remediation activities primarily involved excavating 
affected soil and moving it onto Kaiser's property. A final status 
survey (FSS) was performed following completion of remediation/
excavation in each survey unit to demonstrate that post-remediation 
radiological conditions satisfied the SDMP Action Plan criteria for 
unrestricted release as specified in the Phase 1 Decommissioning Plan 
(DP). Following successful remediation, excavations were backfilled. In 
March 2002, NRC informed Kaiser that the adjacent land areas met NRC's 
criteria for unrestricted release.
    Kaiser submitted the Phase 2 DP on May 25, 2001, [with revisions on 
May 31, 2003, October 6, 2003, May 5, 2005, September 8, 2005 and March 
21, 2006] and DP Addendum on May 9, 2002, with a revision on May 31, 
2003. NRC approved these documents on June 8, 2003, January 7, 2004, 
June 22, 2005, and October 3, 2005.
    Although Kaiser is not a licensee, it agreed to perform remediation 
activities in accordance with 10 CFR Part 40. Kaiser conducted 
decommissioning activities at the site in accordance with its approved 
DP from June 2003 to June 2006. In accordance with the DP, Kaiser 
conducted FSSs to demonstrate that the facility and site meet the 
criteria for unrestricted release as defined it its DP. Details of the 
FSS results were submitted to the NRC in six separate FSS reports 
(FSSRs). On September 14, 2006, Kaiser notified NRC that it had 
completed decommissioning and FSSs of the Tulsa, Oklahoma site, and 
that the FSSs demonstrate that the site meets the criteria for 
decommissioning and release for unrestricted use.
    NRC conducted a number of independent confirmatory surveys to 
verify FSS results obtained by Kaiser. Confirmatory surveys consisted 
of surface scans for beta and gamma radiation, direct measurements for 
total beta activity, collection and analysis of soil samples for 
thorium, and collection of smear samples for determining removable 
radioactivity levels.
    The Commission has concluded, based on the considerations discussed 
above, that: (1) Radioactive material above release limits has been 
properly disposed; (2) reasonable effort has been made to eliminate 
residual radioactive contamination; (3) submitted FSSRs and associated 
documentation, demonstrate that the facility and site are suitable for 
release in accordance with the criteria for decommissioning in 10 CFR 
Part 20, Subpart E; and (4) records required by 10 CFR 40.61(d) and (f) 
have been received. Therefore, the Kaiser Tulsa Site is suitable for 
unrestricted release.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: See the letter dated September 14, 
2006, and the Safety Evaluation Report dated December 29, 2006, 
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document 
Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 
11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly 
available records will be accessible electronically from the Agency-
wide Documents Access and Management System's (ADAMS) Public Electronic 
Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML062700322, and 
ML062360251).
    Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems 
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR 
Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-
mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of December, 2006.


[[Page 1033]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Keith I. McConnell,
Deputy Director, Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
 [FR Doc. E7-73 Filed 1-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P