[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 49 (Monday, March 16, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11136-11137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-5601]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-08940; NRC-2009-0113]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Source Materials License 
No. STB-1504, for Termination of the License and Unrestricted Release 
of the Alpha Q, Incorporated Facility in Colchester, CT

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: Todd Jackson, CHP, Commercial and R & 
D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale 
Road, King of Prussia, PA, 19406; telephone (610) 337-5308; 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. STB-
1504. This license is held by Alpha Q, Inc. (the Licensee) for its 
facility located at Colchester Industrial Park, 87 Upton Road, 
Colchester, Connecticut (the Facility). Issuance of the amendment would 
authorize release of the facility for unrestricted use and termination 
of the NRC license. The Licensee requested this action in a letter 
dated November 20, 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 November 20, 2008, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility for 
unrestricted use and the termination of its NRC materials license. 
License No. STB-1504 was issued on April 21, 1987, pursuant to 10 CFR 
Part 40, and has been amended periodically since that time. This 
license authorized the Licensee to possess, store, and use thorium in 
precision machining of magnesium-thorium castings, and chemical 
treatment of filings.
    The Facility is comprised of a building approximately 35,000 square 
feet in size, consisting of office space and machine shops situated on 
approximately 10 acres of land. The Facility is located in a commercial 
area within the town of Colchester, New London County, Connecticut. 
Within the Facility, use of licensed materials was confined to 
machining areas of approximately 28,500 square feet.
    In August 2001, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and 
subsequently initiated a survey of the Facility. A final survey, 
designed using the guidance contained in the Multi-Agency Radiation 
Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM), was conducted on August 
26 and 29, 2008. Based on the Licensee's historical knowledge of the 
site and the conditions of the Facility, the Licensee determined that 
only routine decontamination activities, in accordance with their NRC-
approved operating radiation safety procedures, were required after 
licensed activities were stopped. The Licensee was not required to 
submit a decommissioning plan to the NRC because cleanup activities and 
procedures are consistent with those approved for routine operations. 
The Licensee conducted surveys of the Facility and provided information 
in a letter to the NRC, dated November 20, 2008, to demonstrate that it 
meets the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted 
release and for license termination.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the 
Facility and seeks the unrestricted use of its Facility and the 
termination of its NRC materials license. Termination of its license 
would end the Licensee's obligation to pay annual license fees to the 
NRC.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facility shows that such activities involved machining of castings made 
of thorium-magnesium metal, as well as activities related to handling 
of the turnings (waste fragments) from machining. Thorium is a 
radioactive material with half-life greater than 120 days. Prior to 
performing the final status survey, the Licensee conducted 
decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of the Facility 
affected by this radionuclide.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey on August 26 and 29, 
2008. The NRC inspected the Facility on August 26, 2008, and observed 
portions of the final status survey while in progress (ML090200015). 
The final status survey covered the 28,500 square feet of machining 
areas in the building where licensed materials may have been used. In 
addition, the licensee surveyed outside waste storage areas of the 
facility where containers that may have held licensed materials were 
temporarily stored. Waste materials generated from licensed activities 
had previously been disposed of by the Licensee. No airborne or liquid 
effluents containing licensed materials were expected to have occurred 
from the Facility and review of records did not identify any such 
releases. The final status survey report was submitted to the NRC along 
with the Licensee's amendment request dated November 20, 2008 
(ML083330496).
    The Licensee elected to demonstrate compliance with the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 
20.1402 by using a modified version of the screening approach described 
in NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 
2. The Licensee modified the radionuclide-specific derived 
concentration guideline levels (DCGLs), which comply with the dose 
criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. The sole modification to these screening 
criteria for thorium-232 plus progeny in equilibrium consisted of a 
change to the resuspension factor (RFo*) in the DandD computer code to 
a value of 1.00E-6, which was approved in advance by NRC as an 
acceptable change to the default screening approach (ML081710745). The 
thorium-232 DCGL defines the maximum amount of residual radioactivity 
on building surfaces, equipment, and materials 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 less than the 
DCGL and are in compliance with the As Low As Reasonably Achievable 
(ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402.
    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,

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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 and the termination of the NRC materials license 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. The NRC thus finds that the 
Licensee's final status survey results are acceptable to support free 
release of the Facility for unrestricted use and for termination of the 
NRC license.

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 40.42(d), requiring that decommissioning of 
source 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 and for license termination. 
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

    NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the 
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for review on 
January 22, 2009. On February 17, 2009, the Connecticut Department of 
Environmental Protection responded. The Connecticut Department of 
Environmental Protection 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 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. Letter from Alpha Q to NRC dated April 21, 2008, submitting a 
proposed final site status survey plan (ML081350674);
    2. Letter from NRC to Alpha Q dated June 19, 2008, approving a 
modification to the default DCGLs and requesting additional information 
regarding the proposed final survey plan (ML081710745);
    3. Letter from Alpha Q to NRC dated June 30, 2008, providing 
additional information regarding the proposed final status survey plan 
(ML082000589);
    4. Letter from NRC to Alpha Q approving final survey plan, dated 
July 11, 2008 (ML081960062);
    5. Letter from Alpha Q to NRC submitting final survey results and 
requesting license termination, dated November 20, 2008 (ML083330496);
    6. NRC Inspection Record dated January 9, 2009 (ML090200015);
    7. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    8. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    9. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;'' and
    10. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support 
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities.''
    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 
6th day of March 2009.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
 [FR Doc. E9-5601 Filed 3-13-09; 8:45 am]
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