[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 115 (Friday, June 15, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33252-33255]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-11570]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-08526]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. SUC-1275, for Termination of the NRC License and 
Unrestricted Release of the Seneca Army Depot Activity Facility in 
Romulus, New York

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: Betsy Ullrich, Commercial and R&D 
Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, 
Pennsylvania 19406. Telephone: (610) 337-5040; fax number: (610) 337-
5269; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 33253]]

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of a license amendment to Source Materials License No. SUC-
1275. This license is held by the Department of the Army, Seneca Army 
Depot Activity (the Licensee) for its Seneca Army Depot located in 
Romulus, New York (the Facility). Issuance of this amendment would 
authorize release of the Facility for unrestricted use and termination 
of the NRC license. The licensee requested this action in a letter 
dated June 15, 2004.
    The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of 
this 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 June 15, 2004, 
license amendment request, resulting in the termination of its NRC 
materials license and release of the Facility for unrestricted use. 
License No. SUC-1275 was issued on September 3, 1976, pursuant to 10 
CFR Part 40, and has been amended periodically since that time. This 
license authorized the Licensee to use depleted uranium (DU) for 
purposes of handling, on-site transportation, inspection, storage and 
demilitarization of DU cartridges. As a Depot, this facility also 
stored military commodities authorized under License Nos. SUC-1380, 
SUB-834, and 45-16023-01NA, most of which was in the form DU 
commodities. One location was used for storage of uranium and thorium 
ores authorized by License No. STC-133, and that location was 
decommissioned in 1993. Records also indicate that promethium-147 
microspheres in military equipment, authorized by License No. 12-00722-
07, were also stored in one location at the Facility.
    The Facility is situated on 10,587 acres and consists of ammunition 
bunkers called ``igloos'', warehouses, and support buildings located in 
a sparsely populated farmland area. Within the Facility, use of 
licensed materials was confined to five buildings, one warehouse, and 
121 ammunition bunkers.
    In September 1999, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and 
initiated preliminary decommissioning activities. 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. However, because the possession and 
use of DU had been authorized by its license, the Licensee elected to 
demonstrate compliance with the radiological criteria for unrestricted 
release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by developing derived 
concentration guideline levels (DCGLs) for its Facility. The proposed 
DCGLs were submitted in their License Termination Plan dated February 
11, 2003. After the NRC approved the License Termination Plan in 2003, 
the license was amended to authorize decommissioning activities only. 
The Licensee conducted surveys of the Facility and provided information 
to the NRC to demonstrate that it met the criteria in Subpart E of 10 
CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release and for license termination in a 
Termination Report dated June 15, 2004. A confirmatory survey was 
performed by Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) in 
October 2006, to verify the radiological status of the Facility.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee ceased conducting licensed activities at the Facility, 
and seeks the unrestricted use of its Facility and the termination of 
its NRC materials license. Termination of its license would end the 
Licensee's obligation to pay annual license fees to the NRC.

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: Depleted uranium 
(DU) and promethium-147 (Pr-147). 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 final status surveys from July through 
September 2002. The final status survey report was attached to the 
Licensee's amendment request dated June 15, 2004. The Licensee 
developed site-specific DCGL's to demonstrate compliance with the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted release, using a release 
criteria of 10 millirem per year, which is below the 25 millirem per 
year limit in 10 CFR 20.1402. The Licensee conducted site-specific dose 
modeling using input parameters specific to the Facility, using the 
RESRAD code resident farmer scenario and the RESRAD-Build building 
occupancy scenario. The Licensee thus determined the maximum amount of 
residual radioactivity on building surfaces, equipment, materials, and 
soils that will satisfy the NRC requirements in subpart E of 10 CFR 
Part 20 for unrestricted release. The NRC previously reviewed the 
Licensee's methodology and proposed DCGLs, and concluded that the 
proposed DCGLs were acceptable for use as release criteria at the 
Facility. The Licensee's final status survey results were below these 
DCGLs, and are thus acceptable.
    The NRC contracted with ORISE which conducted confirmatory scanning 
and dose rate surveys from October 30 to November 2, 2006. None of the 
confirmatory survey results exceeded the DCGLs established for the 
Facility. 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 Licensee also considered and appropriately accounted for the dose 
contribution from previous site releases. Accordingly, 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 
found 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, including the impact of residual 
radioactivity at previously-released site locations of use. 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.

[[Page 33254]]

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 40.42(d), requiring that decommissioning of 
source 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 and for license termination. 
Additionally, this denial of the application 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 complies 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 New 
York State Department of Environmental Conservation for review on April 
3, 2007. On May 2, 2007, New York State Department of Environmental 
Conservation responded by e-mail. The State 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. Inspection records and Licensing documentation for License SUC-
1275 with amendments;
    6. Letter dated February 11, 2003, with the Seneca Army Depot 
Activity License Termination and License Release Plan dated February 
11, 2003 [ML030450373];
    7. Letters dated April 3, 2003 [ML031010534], September 2, 2004 
[ML042540117] and January 28, 2005 [ML050320064];
    8. Letter dated June 15, 2004, requesting termination [ML041810284] 
with NRC License Termination Report for Seneca Army Depot Activity, 
Romulus, New York, dated June 30, 2004 [ML041810290 and ML041810294];
    9. Letter dated February 28, 2005 [ML050970152] with Summary Tables 
[ML051050173], Retrospective Power Curves [ML051050181, ML051050183, 
ML051050184, ML051050185, ML051050188, ML051050191, ML051050195, 
ML051050197, ML051050203, and ML051050205], and Supplementary 
Information Spreadsheets [ML051050208, ML051050215, ML051050217, 
ML051050218, ML051050219, ML051050220, ML051050231, ML051050253, 
ML051050255, ML051050305, ML051050307, ML051050313, ML051050315, 
ML051050317, ML051050318, ML051050320, ML051050321, ML051050322, 
ML051050324, ML051050325, ML051050327, ML051050329, ML051050331, 
ML051050332, ML051050334, ML051050335, ML051050339, ML051050343, 
ML051050344, ML051050346, ML051050347, ML051050360, ML051050362, 
ML051050363, ML051050364, ML051050366, ML051050367, ML051050370, 
ML051050373, ML051050375, ML051050376, ML051050378, ML051050379, 
ML051050381, ML051050382, ML051050386, ML051050388, ML051050391, 
ML051050394, ML051050396, ML051050398, ML051050399, ML051050401, 
ML051050402, ML051050405, ML051050407, ML051050408, ML051050409, 
ML051050410, ML051050439, ML051050443, ML051050445, ML051050446, 
ML051050451, ML051050452, ML051050453, ML051050454, ML051050457, 
ML051050459, ML051050460, ML051050462, ML051050464, ML051050465, 
ML051050466, ML051050468, ML051050478, ML051050479, ML051050511, 
ML051050512, ML051050513, ML051050516, ML051050517, ML051050519, 
ML051050537, ML051050541, ML051050542, ML051050544, ML051050545, 
ML051050546, ML051050547, ML051050551, ML051050553, ML051050555, 
ML051050557, ML051050559, ML051050561, ML051050563, ML051050564, 
ML051050565, ML051080165, ML051080166, ML051080171, ML051080175, 
ML051080177, ML051080179, ML051080181, ML051080196, ML051080197, 
ML051080198, ML051080212, ML051080227, ML051080229, ML051080230, 
ML051080239, ML051080240, ML051080242, ML051080243, ML051080244, 
ML051080245, ML051080247, ML051080248, ML051080249, ML051080252, 
ML051080253, ML051080254, ML051080255, ML051080256, ML051080257, 
ML051080259, ML051080260, ML051080261, ML051080263, ML051080265, 
ML051080268, ML051080271, ML051080273, ML051080278, ML051080280, 
ML051080282,

[[Page 33255]]

ML051080284, ML051080286, ML051080287, ML051080290, ML051080293, 
ML051080296, ML051080297, ML051080299, ML051080300, ML051080301, 
ML051080303, ML051080305, ML051080306, ML051080309, ML051080319, 
ML051080321, ML051080323, ML051080325, ML051080327, ML051080332, 
ML051080335, ML051080337, ML051080338, ML051080342, ML051080343, 
ML051080345, ML051080346, ML051080350, ML051080352, ML051080355, 
ML051080356, ML051080358, ML051080359, ML051080360, ML051080361, 
ML051080363, ML051080365, ML051080367, ML051080369, ML051080370, 
ML051080372, ML051080374, ML051080394, ML051080403, ML051080404, 
ML051080405, and ML051080408];
    10. Letter dated October 5, 2005 [ML070300192];
    11. Letter dated November 29, 2005 [ML053470250] with Addendum A, 
Data Evaluation Using the Scenario A Null Hypothesis, dated November 
30, 2005 [ML053470337];
    12. Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Proposed 
Confirmatory Survey Plan for the Seneca Army Depot Activity (SEDA), 
Romulus, New York, dated October 27, 2006 [ML070300233]; and
    13. ORISE letter dated March 13, 2007 [ML070790088] with ORISE 
Confirmatory Survey Results for the Seneca Army Depot Activity (SEDA), 
Romulus, New York, Final Report, February 2007 [ML070790054];
    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 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 King of Prussia, PA, this day of June 8th, 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region 1.
 [FR Doc. E7-11570 Filed 6-14-07; 8:45 am]
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