[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2021-2022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-507]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-07517]


Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for Amendment to Byproduct Materials License 53-
00017-23 for the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, HI

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, PhD., Chief, Fuel 
Cycle and Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region IV, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Arlington, Texas 76011. 
Telephone: (817) 860-8191; fax number: (817) 860-8188; or by 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. 53-00017-23. This 
license is held by the University of Hawaii (the Licensee), School of 
Medicine, located at Queen's Medical Center, University Towers in 
Honolulu, Hawaii (the Facility). Issuance of the amendment would 
authorize release of the Facility's 7th floor for unrestricted use. The 
Licensee requested this action in a letter dated January 19, 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 (EA)

    Identification of Proposed Action: The proposed action is to 
approve the Licensee's January 19, 2006, license amendment request, 
resulting in release of the Facility's 7th floor, for unrestricted use. 
License No. 53-00017-23 was issued on July 29, 1991, pursuant to 10 CFR 
Part 30, and has been amended periodically since that time. This 
license authorized the Licensee to use byproduct material for purposes 
of research and development, calibration of instruments, instructional 
purposes, and for use in portable gauges.
    The Facility is situated in three laboratory rooms (717, 720, and 
722) of the University Towers. The Facility is located in a commercial 
area of Honolulu. Within the Facility, use of licensed material was 
confined to these three rooms.
    During December 2002, the Licensee ceased licensed activities. The 
Licensee initiated a survey of the Facility during June-July 2004. 
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.
    The Need for the Proposed Action: The Licensee has ceased 
conducting licensed activities at this Facility and seeks its 
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 the following radionuclides with half-lives 
greater than 120 days: hydrogen-3 and carbon-14. Prior to 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 during June-July 2004. 
This survey covered Rooms 717, 720, and 722 in the University Towers. 
The final status survey report was attached to the Licensee's amendment 
request dated January 19, 2006. 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 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. Although the Licensee will continue to 
perform licensed activities at other locations specified in the 
license, the Licensee must ensure that the Facility does not become 
recontaminated. Before the license can be terminated, the Licensee will 
be required to show that all areas in which licensed activities took 
place, including previously-released areas, comply with the 
radiological criteria in 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, the staff

[[Page 2022]]

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 Contacted: NRC provided a draft of this EA to 
the State of Hawaii for review on October 23, 2006. On November 6, 
2006, the State of Hawaii responded by letter. The State had no 
additional 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 
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. 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).
    2. NRC, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' NUREG-1757, 
Volume 1, Revision 1, September 2003 (ML053260027).
    3. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination.''
    4. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions.''
    5. Miyake, Nancy, University of Hawaii, Queen's Tower 
Decommissioning Report, January 19, 2006 (ML0604106581).
    6. Whitten, Jack E., Acknowledgment of Receipt of Final Status 
Survey, June 21, 2006 (ML061740111).
    7. Whitten, Jack E., Request for Comments on Draft Environmental 
Assessment for Decommissioning of the University of Hawaii, School of 
Medicine, Queen's Medical Center, University Towers, October 23, 2006 
(ML0629803480).
    8. Takata, Russell S., Concerning the Request for Comments on Draft 
Environmental Assessment, November 6, 2006 (ML063340094).
    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 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 8th day of January, 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
D. Blair Spitzberg,
Chief, Fuel Cycle & Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, Region IV.
[FR Doc. E7-507 Filed 1-16-07; 8:45 am]
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