[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 188 (Friday, September 26, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55874-55876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22687]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-11789]


Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Issuance of a 
License Amendment to Byproduct Material License No. 24-00196-07, for 
Unrestricted Release of a Facility for Saint Louis University, St. 
Louis, MO

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: George M. McCann, Senior Health 
Physicist, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2443 
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; telephone: (630) 829-9856; fax 
number: (630) 515-1259; or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of an amendment to terminate NRC Byproduct Materials License 
No. 24-00196-07, which is held by Saint Louis University (licensee). 
The issuance of the amendment would authorize the unrestricted release 
of the licensee's Institute for Molecular Virology (the facility), 
which consists of a 25,000 square foot building located on the 
licensee's campus at 3681 Park Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri.
    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 request to release 
the facility for unrestricted use in accordance with 10 CFR Part 20, 
Subpart E. The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated July 9, 
2008 (ADAMS Accession Number ML081930612). The license was issued on 
January 16, 1976, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30, and has been amended 
periodically since that time. This license authorized the Licensee to 
use unsealed byproduct materials for conducting research and 
development activities involving medical research, diagnostic and 
therapy medical procedures, laboratory studies and educational programs 
in the areas of molecular virology, viral oncology, and cancer biology.
    The licensee performed a Historical Site Assessment (HSA) in May 
and June of 2008. The purpose of the HSA was to determine the current 
status of the facility including potential, likely, or known sources of 
radioactive contamination by gathering data from

[[Page 55875]]

various sources. This data included physical characteristics and 
location of the site as well as information gathered from personnel 
interviews and inspection of site operating records, and from 
radiological surveys. Records reviewed included: radioactive materials 
licenses, license applications, amendment requests, meeting minutes, 
radiological surveys, radionuclide receipt and distribution records, 
incident reports, facility renovation records, blueprints, plans and 
design specifications. Personnel interviews included radiation safety, 
research, maintenance, operations, and facilities personnel. Current 
employees having knowledge of facility historical operations were 
interviewed.
    The licensee did not dispose of radioactive waste via on-site 
burial. All waste containing long lived radioisotopes was shipped 
offsite to a licensed landfill, approved to receive and dispose of 
radioactive materials. No waste-related environmental concerns were 
identified during the record search or interviews of the radiation 
safety staff. There were no recorded spills or loss of control that 
required additional investigation.
    Decontamination of the facility was completed on June 20, 2008. The 
licensee's ``SLU IMV Final Status Report, Rev 4.pdf Institute for 
Molecular Virology Decommissioning Final Status Report,'' dated June 
24, 2008 (ML081930612), was submitted to the NRC on July 9, 2008.
    Based on the Licensee's survey results it was determined that only 
routine decontamination activities, in accordance with the licensee's 
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 the facility 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 at its 
facility and seeks the termination of its NRC license.

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: Hydrogen-3 and 
carbon-14. Prior to performing the final status survey, the Licensee 
conducted radiation surveys and decontamination activities, as 
necessary, in the areas of the Facility affected by these 
radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey between June 17 and 
June 20, 2008, in the facility. The licensee's surveys included the 
liquid drain, ventilation exhaust and vacuum systems. No areas were 
considered to have a potential for delivering a dose to the public 
above the release criteria.
    The Licensee elected to demonstrate compliance with the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 
20.1402 by using the screening approach described in NUREG-1757, 
``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 2. The Licensee 
used the radionuclide-specific derived concentration guideline levels 
(DCGLs), developed there by the NRC, which comply with the dose 
criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. These DCGLs define the maximum amount of 
residual radioactivity on building surfaces, equipment, and materials, 
and in soils, that will satisfy the NRC requirements in Subpart E of 10 
CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release. The Licensee's final status 
survey results were below these DCGLs and are in compliance with the As 
Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The 
NRC thus finds that the Licensee's final status survey results are 
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 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 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 the Facility for 
unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. 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.

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 30.36(d) requiring that decommissioning of 
byproduct 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. 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 
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

    The NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the 
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Waste, Division of 
Community and Public Health, Office of Emergency Coordination on 
September 3, 2008. On September 4, 2008, the State responded by 
telephone to the NRC indicating that the State did not have any 
comments or concerns regarding the release of the licensee's facility.
    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

[[Page 55876]]

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. Mark Haenschen, M.S., J.D., letter to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Region III, dated July 9, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML081930612).
    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;'' NUREG-1757, Consolidated Decommissioning 
Guidance.
    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 Lisle, Illinois, this 16th day of September 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Christine A. Lipa,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region III.
 [FR Doc. E8-22687 Filed 9-25-08; 8:45 am]
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