[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 195 (Wednesday, October 10, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57602-57604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-19948]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-06377]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Source Materials License 
No. Sub-348, for the Unrestricted Release of the Department of the 
Army, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Armament 
Research, Development and Engineering Center, Building 318 Facility in 
Picatinny, NJ

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, 475 Allendale 
Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406; telephone (610) 337-5040; fax number 
(610) 337-5269; 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 Source Materials License No. SUB-
348. This license is held by the Department of the Army, U. S. Army 
Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDEC), Armament 
Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) (the Licensee), 
for its activities at the Picatinny Arsenal, located in Picatinny, New 
Jersey. Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of Building 
318 for unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this action in a 
letter dated March 26, 2007. The NRC has prepared an Environmental 
Assessment

[[Page 57603]]

(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 March 26, 2007, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of Building 318 for 
unrestricted use. License No. SUB-348 was issued on July 13, 1961, 
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 40, and has been amended periodically since 
that time. This license authorized the Licensee to use uranium and 
thorium in any form for purposes of conducting research and development 
activities.
    The Picatinny Arsenal is situated on 6,500 acres, and consists of 
residential, industrial, office space, laboratories, and specialized 
facilities. The Picatinny Arsenal is located in a mixed residential and 
commercial area. Building 318 was one of several buildings where use of 
licensed materials was performed under the authority of RDEC/ARDEC, one 
of the military tenants at Picatinny Arsenal. Building 318 is a single-
story, brick, high-bay structure covering approximately 3,900 square-
feet in area, of which an office occupies about 90 square-feet. The 
remaining area was used for storage of equipment that was contaminated 
with depleted uranium.
    In the summer of 2002, the Licensee ceased licensed activities 
within Building 318 and initiated a survey and decontamination of 
Building 318. Based on the Licensee's historical knowledge of the site 
and the conditions of Building 318, 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 Building 318 in August 2002 and initially requested approval for its 
unrestricted release in a letter dated October 8, 2002. However, NRC 
staff noted in a letter dated December 18, 2002, that the Licensee used 
outdated release criteria and did not approve release of Building 318 
at that time. In March, 2007, the Licensee provided information to the 
NRC to demonstrate that it meets the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR 
Part 20 for unrestricted release, based on the development of a site-
specific criteria.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities in Building 
318, and seeks the unrestricted use of Building 318.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted in Building 
318 shows that such activities involved use only of depleted uranium, a 
radionuclide with a half-life greater than 120 days. Prior to 
performing the final status survey, the Licensee conducted 
decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of Building 318 
affected by this radionuclide.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey on August 10-11, 2002, 
of Building 318. The final status survey report was attached to the 
Licensee's amendment request dated March 26, 2007. The Licensee elected 
to demonstrate compliance with the radiological criteria for 
unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by developing a 
derived concentration guideline level (DCGL) for Building 318. The 
Licensee conducted site-specific dose modeling using input parameters 
specific to Building 318 and assumed the light industrial building 
could be converted to a military residence. The Licensee used RESRAD-
BUILD, Version 3.22, using all default parameters except: The removable 
fraction of surface contamination was set to 0.1; the source type 
selected was ``area source''; and doses were evaluated at times of 0, 
1, 2, 5, 10, 100, and 1,000 years. The Licensee thus determined the 
maximum amount of residual radioactivity on building surfaces that will 
satisfy the NRC requirements in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for 
unrestricted release would be 2,413 disintegrations per minute (dpm) 
per 100-square-centimeters area (100 cm\2\). The NRC reviewed the 
Licensee's methodology and proposed DCGL when they were submitted with 
the March 26, 2007, request for release of Building 318 for 
unrestricted use. The NRC staff finds the licensee's proposed DCGL of 
2,413 dpm/100 cm\2\ to be acceptable. The Licensee's final status 
survey results were below this DCGL, and are thus 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 in Building 318. 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 Building 318. 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 Building 318 for 
unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Although the 
Licensee will continue to perform licensed activities at other parts of 
the Picatinny Arsenal, the Licensee must ensure that this 
decommissioned area does not become recontaminated. Before the license 
can be terminated, the Licensee will be required to show that the 
entire facility, including previously-released areas, complies with the 
radiological criteria in 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, the staff 
considered the impact of the residual radioactivity in Building 318 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 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 Building 318 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

[[Page 57604]]

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 State 
of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for review 
on August 29, 2007. On September 4, 2007, NJDEP responded by letter. 
The State agreed with the conclusions of the EA.
    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.] Letter dated March 26, 2007 with ``Derivation of a Site 
Specific DCGL for the Remediation of TACOM-ARDEC Picatinny Arsenal 
Building 318 and Evaluation of Final Survey Results, October 2004'' 
(ML070940607)
    [2]. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    [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]. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in 
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination 
of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities.''
    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, Pennsylvania this 2nd day of October 
2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
 [FR Doc. E7-19948 Filed 10-9-07; 8:45 am]
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