[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 220 (Thursday, November 13, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67213-67214]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-26982]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 04000341]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Source Materials License 
No. Stc-133 Authorizing the Use of Site-Specific Derived Concentration 
Guideline Levels When Determining if Unrestricted Release Criteria Has 
Been Met for the Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Nuclear Supply 
Center Depot in New Haven, IN

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: Dennis Lawyer, Health Physicist, 
Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 
I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone 610-
337-5366; 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. STC-
133. This license is held by Defense Logistics Agency (DLA or the 
Licensee) at multiple sites. The site at issue is its Defense National 
Stockpile Center located at U.S. Highway 469, in New Haven, Indiana 
(the Facility). Issuance of the amendment would authorize the licensee 
to use site-specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGLs) in 
a survey of the Facility to determine if the Facility can be released 
for unrestricted use under the criteria in 10 CFR 20.1402. The Licensee 
requested this action in a letter dated February 27, 2008. 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 February 27, 2008, 
license amendment request to use site-specific DCGLs as part of a later 
request (not yet submitted) to release the Facility for unrestricted 
use under the criteria in 10 CFR 20.1402. License No. STC-133 was 
issued on July 23, 1983, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 40, and has been 
amended periodically since that time. This license authorized the 
Licensee to use unsealed source material for purposes of storage, 
sampling, repackaging, and transfer.
    Based on the approved DCGLs, the Licensee will conduct surveys of 
the Facility and provide information to the NRC to demonstrate that the 
Facility 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 the 
Facility, and seeks the approval of site-specific DCGLs. The licensee 
needs these site specific DCGL values for determining if the Facility 
meets the criteria for unrestricted use. NRC is fulfilling its 
responsibilities under the Atomic Energy Act to make a timely decision 
on a proposed license amendment that ensures protection of public 
health and safety and the environment.

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: natural uranium 
and thorium mixtures.
    An amendment specifying the site specific DCGLs is required before 
the Licensee can use such DCGL values to later demonstrate compliance 
with unrestricted release criteria. The Licensee conducted site-
specific dose modeling using input parameters specific to the Facility 
and a conservative assumption that all residual radioactivity is in 
equilibrium. The Licensee has selected a resident farmer to be a 
reasonable conservative scenario to bound the doses to future 
individuals. The Licensee utilized the RESRAD Version 6.3 computer code 
to calculate the resulting dose. The Licensee modified a number of 
parameters based on site-specific information and provided 
documentation of the hierarchy of informational sources used to derive 
data values consistent with the site-specific information from general 
literature values. The Licensee's report provides justification for the 
selection of each of its parameters. The NRC has reviewed the 
Licensee's methodology and proposed DCGLs and finds that the proposed 
DCGLs are acceptable for use at the Facility.
    Based on its review, the staff has 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. Denying the amendment request would result in no change in 
current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the 
proposed action and the alternative are therefore similar, and the no-
action alternative is accordingly not further considered.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff has concluded that the site specific DCGLs identified 
by the Licensee are acceptable for use at its Facility. 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 Indiana's Department of Health for review on October 2, 2008. On 
October 16, 2008, the State of Indiana's Department of Health responded 
by electronic mail. The State agreed with the conclusions of the EA, 
and otherwise had no comments.
    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

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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. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    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. Defense Logistics Agency letter dated February 27, 2008 
(ML080860268);
    5. Site-Specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels for Soils, 
Defense National Stockpile Center, New Haven Depot, New Haven, Indiana 
(ML082630683); and
    6. Appendix A & B for Site-Specific Derived Concentration Guideline 
Levels for Soils, Defense National Stockpile Center, New Haven Depot, 
New Haven, Indiana (ML082390288).
    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. PA this 
4th day of November 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
 [FR Doc. E8-26982 Filed 11-12-08; 8:45 am]
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