[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 133 (Thursday, July 10, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39732-39734]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15675]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-19324]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 25-19852-01 for Unrestricted Release of Building 11 of the 
GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals-Hamilton Facility in Hamilton, MT

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: Rachel S. Browder, Health Physicist, 
Nuclear Materials Safety Branch B, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region IV, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 612 Lamar Drive, 
Suite 400, Arlington, Texas 76011; telephone: (817) 276-6552; 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 a license amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 25-
19852-01. The license is held by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals-Hamilton 
(the Licensee), for its Hamilton facility (the Facility), located at 
553 Old Corvallis Road in Hamilton, Montana. Issuance of the amendment 
would authorize release of Building 11 of the Facility for unrestricted 
use. The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated December 21, 
2007. 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

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would approve the Licensee's December 21, 2007 
license amendment request, resulting in the release of the stand-alone 
Building 11 at the Facility for unrestricted use. NRC License No. 25-
19852-01 was

[[Page 39733]]

issued on June 24, 1988, pursuant to 10 CFR part 30, and has been 
amended periodically since that time. This license authorizes the 
Licensee to possess and use small quantities of byproduct material, in 
both sealed and unsealed form, for laboratory research in immunological 
and biochemical studies. Additionally, the license authorizes the 
Licensee to possess and use a self-shielded irradiator device and to 
possess and use sealed sources for the purposes of performing 
instrument calibration.
    The Facility is situated on 35 acres (14 hectares) and consists of 
a main building comprised of office space and laboratories as well as 
several smaller buildings used for various purposes. The Facility is 
located in a mixed residential/commercial area. The Licensee's December 
21, 2007, license amendment request specifically addressed the release 
of Building 11 at the Facility for unrestricted use. Building 11 was 
used as a storage building to store equipment, wood shavings (animal 
bedding for a vivarium), biomedical waste materials and low level 
radioactive waste. The building was originally designed as an overhead 
shelter. In 2004 walls were added to divide a potion of the structure 
into four rooms. The building was constructed with a concrete slab 
floor, wood framing and walls, and a sheet metal roof. There are no 
floor drains or other fixtures such as sinks with plumbing inside 
Building 11. The center east room within Building 11 is the only area 
licensed for storage and decay of low level radioactive materials. The 
floor dimensions of the center east room are approximately 8 feet (2.4 
meters) by 20 feet (6.1 meters).
    The Licensee removed the low-level radioactive materials from 
Building 11 and initiated a final status survey for the stand-alone 
building. The Licensee was not required to submit a decommissioning 
plan to the NRC. The Licensee conducted surveys of the center east room 
of Building 11 and provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that 
it meets the criteria in subpart E of 10 CFR part 20 for unrestricted 
release.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities in the 
stand-alone Building 11 of the Facility and seeks the unrestricted use 
of Building 11.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The low level wastes generated as a result of the licensed 
activities at the Facility consisted of the following radionuclides 
with half-lives greater than 120 days: hydrogen-3 (tritium), carbon-14, 
and calcium-45. The radioactive materials were in the form of dry-
solids, sharps, scintillation vials, and bulk liquid in polypropylene 
carboys. The licensee stored the low level radioactive wastes in 
plastic lined UN 55 gallon steel drums and stored the drums in the 
center east room of Building 11. The drums were never opened while 
stored in Building 11. Prior to performing the final status survey, the 
Licensee removed the low level radioactive drums from Building 11.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey during November and 
December 2007. This survey covered the center east room of Building 11. 
The final status survey report was attached to the Licensee's amendment 
request dated December 21, 2007. NRC regulation 10 CFR 20.1402, 
Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use, states in part that a site 
will be considered acceptable for unrestricted use if the residual 
radioactivity that is distinguishable from background radiation results 
in a total effective dose equivalent not to exceed 25 millirems per 
year (0.25 milliSeiverts per year) to an average member of the critical 
group (the group of individuals reasonably expected to receive the 
greatest exposure to residual radioactivity for any applicable set of 
circumstances). The Licensee elected to demonstrate compliance with the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted use as specified in 10 CFR 
20.1402 by comparing the final status survey results to background 
radiation levels for the area. Since the Licensee's survey results did 
not identify any radioactive contamination in excess of background 
radiation levels for the area, then the results adequately met the 
criteria for unrestricted use. Accordingly, the Licensee's final status 
survey results were 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). 
Further, no incidents were recorded involving spills or releases of 
radioactive material in Building 11 of the Facility. Accordingly, there 
were no significant environmental impacts from the use of radioactive 
material at the Facility.
    The NRC staff finds that the proposed release of the portion of the 
Facility described above for unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 
CFR 20.1402. The NRC has found no other activities in the area that 
could result in cumulative environmental impacts. Based on its review, 
the staff considered the impact of the residual radioactivity at 
Building 11 of 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 simply deny 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. 
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 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 Consulted

    NRC provided a draft of this EA to the State of Montana Department 
of Public Health and Human Services for review on April 25, 2008. The 
State of Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services did not 
have any comments to the draft 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 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 consultation is 
required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

[[Page 39734]]

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, if applicable.
    1. Federal Register Notice, Volume 65, No. 114, page 37186, dated 
Tuesday, June 13, 2000, ``Use of Screening Values to Demonstrate 
Compliance With The Federal Rule on Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination;''
    2. 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);
    3. NRC, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' NUREG-1757, 
Volume 1, Revision 1, September 2003 (ML053260027);
    4. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    5. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;''
    6. Poletti, Brian, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals--Hamilton, License 
Amendment Request dated December 21, 2007 (ML080380101).
    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 Arlington, Texas this 27th day of June 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack E. Whitten,
Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch B, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region IV.
[FR Doc. E8-15675 Filed 7-9-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P