[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 190 (Tuesday, September 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56867-56868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-22908]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-3400, License No. P-4001 (Expired), R-230 (Expired)]


Salmon River Uranium Development Site; Notice of Completion of 
Remediation at Salmon River Uranium Development Site, Near North Fork, 
ID

ACTION: Notice of completion of remediation at the Salmon River Uranium 
Development Site, near North Fork, Idaho.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is noticing the 
completion of remediation activities at the Salmon River Uranium 
Development Site, near North Fork, Idaho.
    Background: The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) issued Source 
Material License P-4001 to Salmon River Uranium Development, Inc. 
(SRUD) on October 10, 1958. This license authorized SRUD to possess and 
transfer source material. On March 30, 1959, the AEC issued Source 
Material License No. R-0230 to SRUD. This license authorized the 
receipt and possession of source material for processing. Source 
Material License No. R-0230 expired on June 30, 1959 and Source 
Material License No. P-4001 expired on October 31, 1959.
    Both uranium and thorium ores were processed at the site. 
Processing of source material occurred at two separate times, the late-
1950s and the late-1970s. Processing operations were conducted in the 
late-1950s in accordance with the AEC licenses. During the late-1970s, 
pilot plant operations were conducted at the site to determine the 
viability of experimental ore processing techniques.
    The SRUD site was placed on the NRC's Site Decommissioning 
Management Plan (SDMP) list in 1994. In May 2001, NRC staff visited the 
SRUD site and identified thorium contamination in the form of partially 
processed ore. In 2003, the NRC and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science 
and Education conducted scoping surveys of the site. During 2004 and 
2005, NRC staff worked with the Idaho Department of Environmental 
Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish 
an approach for remediation of the site.
    EPA agreed to perform remediation activities at the SRUD site in 
accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation 
and Liability Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 9601(14) and (33). A Removal 
Action Work Plan (ADAMS No. ML072880344), which specified its step-by-
step process for conducting cleanup activities at the SRUD site, was 
developed by the EPA and approved by the NRC.
    The EPA's Removal Action Work Plan included the removal and 
disposal of hazardous chemical and radiological contaminants that may 
pose a threat to workers, public health and welfare, and the 
environment. EPA's radiological release criteria was based on a 
recreational use scenario for the site.
    Implementation of the EPA's work plan began on October 23, 2007, 
and was completed on June 3, 2008. Contaminated waste material above 
the unrestricted release criteria was shipped to licensed disposal 
sites. EPA's work activities summary report is documented in the Final 
Removal Action Report, dated September 12, 2008 (ADAMS No. 
ML082590288).
    The NRC staff conducted confirmatory radiological surveys of site 
structures and land areas and collected soil samples for analysis by 
the NRC's independent laboratory contractor to verify results obtained 
by EPA. Confirmatory surveys consisted of surface scans for alpha, beta 
and gamma radiation, direct measurements for total alpha and beta 
activity, collection and analysis of soil samples for thorium and 
uranium, and collection of smear samples for determining removable 
radioactivity levels. The survey information and sample results are 
documented in Inspection Reports 040-03400/07-01 (ADAMS No. 
ML080320117) and 040-03400/08-01 (ADAMS No. ML082180190). The NRC 
performed an independent dose assessment using the recreational 
scenario employed by the EPA to evaluate the EPA's cleanup criteria and 
evaluate the condition of the SRUD site.
    Based on the considerations discussed above, the Commission has 
concluded that: (1) Radioactive material above release limits has been 
properly disposed; (2) reasonable effort has been made to eliminate 
residual radioactive contamination; and (3) FSSs and associated 
documentation demonstrate that the site is suitable for unrestricted 
release in accordance with the criteria in 10 CFR Part 20, Subpart E. 
Therefore,

[[Page 56868]]

the Salmon River site near North Fork, Idaho is suitable for 
unrestricted use.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional relevant information is 
available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document 
Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 
11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly 
available records will be accessible electronically from the Agency-
wide Documents Access and Management System's (ADAMS) Public Electronic 
Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who 
encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should 
contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 
301-415-4737 or by e-mail to [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 19th day of September 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Keith I. McConnell,
Deputy Director, Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
[FR Doc. E8-22908 Filed 9-29-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P