[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 88 (Friday, May 8, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21727-21728]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10718]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 03005594;NRC-2009-0199]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 32-00426-02, for Termination of the License and 
Unrestricted Release of the United States Department of Commerce's 
Facility in Beaufort, NC

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 Byproduct Materials License No. 32-
00426-02. This license is held by the United States Department of 
Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National 
Ocean Service (the Licensee), for its Center for Coastal Fisheries and 
Habitat Research Facility, located at 101 Pivers Island Road, Beaufort, 
North Carolina (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 September 10, 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 September 10, 
2008, license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility 
for unrestricted use and the termination of its NRC materials license. 
License No. 32-00426-02 was issued on October 29, 1958, pursuant to 10 
CFR Part 30, and has been amended periodically since that time. This 
license authorized the Licensee to use unsealed byproduct material for 
purposes of conducting research and development activities as defined 
in 10 CFR 30.4 on laboratory bench tops and in hoods.
    The Licensee, in their renewal application dated May 17, 2004, 
mistakenly requested the addition of 26 grams of uranyl acetate and 
uranyl nitrate to the license when these materials were possessed under 
the general license described in 10 CFR 40.22. These materials were 
appropriately removed from the license with Amendment No. 51 of the 
license issued on April 3, 2009.
    The Facility is located in a two-story building consisting of 
50,000 square feet of office space and laboratories. The Facility is 
located on 13 acres of land in a mixed residential/commercial area. 
Within the Facility, use of licensed materials was confined to 14,583 
square feet of space within the 50,000 square foot building.
    In July 2007, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and initiated 
a survey and decontamination of the Facility. 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. 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 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 use of the following 
radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: hydrogen 3 and 
mixed beta gamma isotopes of atomic number 3 through 83 (primarily 
carbon 14). Prior to performing the final status survey, the Licensee 
conducted decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of the 
Facility affected by these radionuclides. The Licensee conducted a 
final status survey on October 5, 2008. This survey covered the 
affected areas: Rooms 2-107; 2-112; 2-202; 2-204; 2-205; 2-208; and 9-
902. The final status survey report was attached to the Licensee's 
letter dated December 5, 2008. Additional survey information was 
attached to the Licensee's letters dated December 16 and 30, 2008, 
January 22, and February 20, 2009. 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 that will

[[Page 21728]]

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 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.

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 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 State 
of North Carolina's Division of Environmental Health for review on 
March 9, 2009. On March 9, 2009, the State of North Carolina's Division 
of Environmental 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 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 Documents 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. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support 
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities'';
    5. Department of Commerce, Renewal Application Letter dated May 17, 
2004 (ML041560224);
    6. Department of Commerce, Termination Request Letter dated 
September 10, 2008 (ML082630844);
    7. Department of Commerce, Additional Information Letter dated 
December 5, 2008 (ML083450114);
    8. Department of Commerce, Additional Information Letter dated 
December 16, 2008 (ML090020482);
    9. Department of Commerce, Additional Information Letter dated 
December 30, 2008 (ML090130188);
    10. Department of Commerce, Additional Information Letter dated 
January 22, 2009 (ML090300317);
    11. Department of Commerce, Additional Information Letter dated 
February 20, 2009 (ML090620298); and
    12. License No. 32-00426-02, Amendment No 51 dated April 3, 2009 
(ML090960698).
    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 this 30th 
day of April 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E9-10718 Filed 5-7-09; 8:45 am]
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