[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 21 (Thursday, February 1, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4731-4732]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1633]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-186]


In the Matter of the Curators of the University of Missouri, The 
University of Missouri Research Reactor; Order Modifying Emergency Plan 
Requirements

I

    The Curators of the University of Missouri (the Licensee) hold 
Amended Facility License No. R-103 issued by the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) pursuant to Title 10, 
Part 50, ``Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization 
Facilities'' (10 CFR part 50), and Broad Scope Materials License No. 
24-00513-39 issued by the NRC pursuant to 10 CFR part 30, ``Rules of 
General Applicability to Domestic Licensing of Byproduct Material.'' 
Amended Facility License No. R-103 authorizes the operation of the 
University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR or the facility) in 
accordance with conditions specified therein. Broad Scope Materials 
License No. 24-00513-39 authorizes the possession and use of various 
byproduct, special nuclear, and source material at the Licensee's 
facility. The facility is located on the Licensee's campus in Columbia, 
Missouri.

II

    On March 19 and April 5, 1990, the NRC staff issued two license 
amendments applicable to the Licensee's Special Nuclear Material and 
Source Material License No. SNM-247. At the request of the Licensee, 
the NRC terminated Special Nuclear Material and Source Material License 
No. SNM-247 on July 7, 1993. On that day, the Commission included the 
special nuclear materials that were listed on Special Nuclear Material 
and Source Material License No. SNM-247 in the University's newly 
issued Broad Scope Materials License No. 24-00513-39. The amendments 
collectively authorized the Licensee to possess and use certain 
specified quantities of uranium (depleted in U-235), neptunium-237, 
americium-241, plutonium-239, and plutonium-240. The Licensee's purpose 
in requesting the amendments was to conduct research related to the 
Transuranic Management by Pyropartitioning Separation (TRUMP-S) 
Research Project. The Licensee carried out this research in the Alpha 
laboratory at the MURR.
    Three organizations and 10 individuals filed motions to intervene 
and requests for hearing on the license amendments. In response to the 
intervenors' filings, the Commission appointed a Presiding Officer to 
conduct an informal hearing pursuant to Subpart L, ``Informal Hearing 
Procedures for NRC Adjudications'' of the Commission's procedural 
regulations in 10 CFR part 2, ``Rules of Practice for Domestic 
Licensing Proceedings and Issuance of Orders.'' The Presiding Officer 
issued a First Initial Decision on April 5, 1991, followed by a Final 
Initial Decision on July 10, 1991.
    The Licensee and the intervenors appealed various aspects of the 
proceeding and decisions of the Presiding Officer and the Commission to 
the Commission. In response, the Commission issued Memorandum and 
Order, CLI-95-01, dated February 28, 1995; Memorandum and Order, CLI-
95-08, (Petitions for Reconsideration), dated June 22, 1995; Memorandum 
and Order, CLI-95-11, (Petition for Partial Reconsideration), dated 
August 22, 1995; and Memorandum and Order, CLI-95-17, (Petition for 
Reconsideration), dated December 14, 1995. The first three of these 
memoranda and orders required the Licensee to make changes to the MURR 
Emergency Plan (EP). The MURR EP was changed because the material, 
while under a NRC broad scope materials license, was being used in the 
Alpha Laboratory at MURR. In response to the memoranda and orders, the 
Licensee submitted proposed changes to the EP on December 20, 1995, as 
supplemented on May 1, 1996. The NRC staff reviewed the Licensee's 
proposed changes to the EP and, in a letter to the Licensee dated June 
20, 1996, concluded that the proposed changes to the EP met the intent 
of the Commission's memoranda and orders and were acceptable as 
written.

III

    By letter dated March 31, 2004, the Licensee requested changes to 
the EP to remove the requirements added to it by the Commission's 
memoranda and orders related to the TRUMP-S Research Project. The 
Licensee also requested the recision of the Commission's memoranda and 
orders requiring changes to the EP. The Licensee completed experiments 
at the MURR related to the TRUMP-S Research Project on September 30, 
1997. By July 20, 1998, the Licensee had shipped all low-level waste 
from the project and completed final verification surveys documenting 
the decommissioning of the Alpha Laboratory. All transuranic waste 
(americium, neptunium, and plutonium) was shipped from the MURR to the 
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant on May 15, 2003. The NRC renewed Broad 
Scope Materials License No. 24-00513-39, effective December 22, 2003, 
with reduced possession limits for the radioisotope types associated 
with the TRUMP-S Research Project. The renewed license possession 
limits allow no radioisotope quantities in excess of the quantities 
listed in 10 CFR 30.72 Schedule C, ``Quantities of Radioactive 
Materials Requiring Consideration of the Need for an Emergency Plan for 
Responding to a Release.'' The NRC staff reviewed the Licensee's 
proposed changes to the EP and concluded that they will not decrease 
the effectiveness of the EP and are therefore acceptable.

IV

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 104c, 161b and 161i of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's regulations in 10 
CFR part 50, it is hereby ordered that:
    The changes to the University of Missouri Research Reactor 
Emergency Plan imposed by Commission-issued Memoranda and Orders CLI-
95-01 dated February 28, 1995; CLI-95-08 dated June 22, 1995; and CLI-
95-11 dated August 22, 1995, are hereby deleted and the changes to the 
Emergency Plan for the University of Missouri Research Reactor in the 
Licensee's letter of March 31, 2004, are approved.

V

    Pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the licensee 
or any other person adversely affected by this Order may request a 
hearing within 30 days of the date of publication of this Order in the 
Federal Register. A request for a hearing or a petition for leave to 
intervene must be filed (1) By first class mail addressed to the Office 
of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff, or (2) by 
courier, express mail, or expedited delivery services to the Office of 
the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications 
Staff. Because of continuing disruptions in delivery of mail to U.S. 
Government offices, it is requested that requests for hearing

[[Page 4732]]

should also be transmitted to the Secretary of the Commission either by 
e-mail addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, [email protected], or by facsimile 
transmission addressed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, Attention: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff at 301-415-1101 (the verification number is 301-
415-1966).
    A copy of the request for hearing and petition for leave to 
intervene must also be sent to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation and to the Assistant General Counsel for Operating Reactors 
and High Level Waste Programs, Office of the General Counsel, with both 
copies addressed to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001. The NRC further requests that copies be transmitted 
either by facsimile transmission to 301-415-3725 or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    If a person other than the Licensee requests a hearing, he or she 
shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his or her 
interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the 
criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309, ``Hearing Requests, Petitions to 
Intervene, Requirements for Standing, and Contentions.''
    If a hearing is requested by the Licensee or a person whose 
interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an order 
designating the time and place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, 
the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order 
should be sustained.
    In the absence of any request for a hearing or written approval of 
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions 
specified in Section IV above shall be effective and final 30 days from 
the date of publication of this Order in the Federal Register without 
further order or proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a 
hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in Section IV shall 
be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been 
received.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.10(d), this Order is not subject to 
Section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended. 
The NRC staff notes, however, that with respect to environmental 
impacts associated with the changes imposed by this Order as described 
in the safety evaluation, the changes would, if imposed by other than 
an Order, meet the definition of a categorical exclusion in accordance 
with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(v). Thus, pursuant to either 10 CFR 51.10(d) 
or 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(v), neither an environmental assessment nor an 
environmental impact statement is required.
    For further information, see the application from the Licensee 
dated March 31, 2004 (Agencywide Documents Access Management System 
(ADAMS) Accession No. ML041040772), 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, MD. Publicly available records will be accessible 
electronically from the ADAMS Public Electronic Reading Room on the 
Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.thml. 
Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who have problems in 
accessing the documents in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR reference 
staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to 
[email protected].

    Dated this 26th day of January 2007.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael J. Case,
Director, Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulations.
[FR Doc. E7-1633 Filed 1-31-07; 8:45 am]
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