[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 133 (Thursday, July 10, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39734-39735]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15673]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-33658]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment Request to Byproduct 
Materials License 01-25316-01 for the Department of Defense, Defense 
Intelligence Agency, Redstone Arsenal, AL

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: Thomas Thompson, Senior Health 
Physicist, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406. 
Telephone: (610) 337-5303; fax number: (610) 337-5269; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of a license renewal to Byproduct Materials License No. 01-
25316-01. This license is held by the Department of Defense, Defense 
Intelligence Agency (the Licensee), for activities conducted at the 
Redstone Arsenal facility, located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. As 
part of its license renewal, the Licensee has requested an exemption 
from the requirement in 10 CFR 30.32(g) to list sealed sources by their 
manufacturer and model number as registered under the provisions of 10 
CFR 32.210. The Licensee requested this exemption in a letter received 
on November 1, 2005. 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 license renewal, including the approval of the 
exemption request, 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 renew License No. 01-25316-01, including 
approval of the Licensee's request for exemption received on November 
1, 2005. License No. 01-25316-01 was issued on January 26, 1995, 
pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30 and 70, and has been amended periodically 
since that time. This license authorized the Licensee to receive, 
store, use and/or transfer specified radioactive materials incident to 
research and development as defined in 10 CFR 30.4.
    On December 29, 2004, the Licensee submitted its renewal 
application for License No. 01-25316-01. In a letter received on 
November 1, 2005, submitted in response to an inquiry from the NRC, the 
Licensee requested an exemption from the requirement in 10 CFR 30.32(g) 
to list sealed sources by their manufacturer and model number as 
registered under the provisions of 10 CFR 32.210. In requesting this 
exemption, the Licensee states that the sole purpose of possessing the 
sealed sources on this license ``is to be able to remove and store for 
disposal devices of foreign manufacture which may be contained on, or 
in, foreign military vehicles or conveyances.'' Furthermore, the 
Licensee states that it will not know in advance what sources or 
devices may be received at its facility and that, in the interest of 
national security and Department of Defense policy, the sources or 
origination of foreign equipment cannot be revealed. The Licensee 
states that it immediately surveys all such foreign vehicles for 
radioactive material and places them in storage for future disposal if 
radioactive contamination is found.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee receives and takes possession of sealed sources and 
devices which have not been registered with the NRC under 10 CFR 32.210 
or with an Agreement State. As these sources and devices are of foreign 
manufacture, the Licensee would not be able to continue this activity 
without this exemption.

[[Page 39735]]

Technical Analysis of the Proposed Action

    10 CFR 30.11(a) states that the Commission may grant such 
exemptions from the requirements of the regulations as it determines 
are authorized by law, will not endanger life or property or the common 
defense and security, and are otherwise in the public interest. The NRC 
staff has analyzed the Licensee's request to be authorized to receive 
and take possession of sealed sources and devices which have not been 
registered with the NRC under 10 CFR 32.210 or with an Agreement State. 
The NRC staff considered that the Licensee is qualified by sufficient 
training and experience and has sufficient facilities and equipment to 
handle these sources and devices. Furthermore, NRC inspections have 
evaluated the Licensee's performance and determined that the Licensee 
has safely handled these unregistered sources for many years. 
Accordingly, the NRC staff has concluded that granting this exemption 
is authorized by law, will not endanger life or property or the common 
defense and security, and is in the public interest.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is largely administrative in nature. Approving 
this exemption will have no environmental impact.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action, 
its environmental impacts are small. Additionally, denying the 
exemption 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 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

    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 
exemption 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. Licensee renewal application dated December 29, 2004 
[ML081780249]
    2. Licensee letter received November 1, 2005 [ML081780216]
    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 Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, 
Pennsylvania this 26th day of June 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E8-15673 Filed 7-9-08; 8:45 am]
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