[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 150 (Thursday, August 6, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39344-39346]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-18819]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0343; Docket No. 030-01239]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 06-00253-04 for Amendment of the License and Unrestricted 
Release of the Hartford Hospital's Research Facilities in Hartford, 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: Penny Lanzisera, Senior Health 
Physicist, Medical Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 
I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406; telephone 
(610) 337-5169; 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. 06-
00253-04. This license is held by Hartford Hospital (the Licensee), 
for, in part, Surgical Research on the second floor of the Crane-East 
Building, Medical Research on the third floor of the Crane-East 
Building, Animal Care and Research on the fourth floor of the Crane-
East Building, Immunochemistry Research on the third floor of the Bliss 
Wing, and Special Hematology Research on the third floor of the High 
Building (the Facility), located at 80 Seymour Street in Hartford, 
Connecticut. Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of the 
Facility for unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this action in a 
letter dated March 28, 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 March 28, 2008 
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility for 
unrestricted use. License No. 06-00253-04 was issued on October 11, 
1956, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30, and has been amended periodically 
since that time. This license authorized the Licensee to use, in part, 
unsealed byproduct material for purposes of conducting research and 
development activities on laboratory bench tops and in hoods.
    The Facility consists of office space and laboratories located in 
three buildings. The Facility is located in a commercial area. Within 
the Facility, use of licensed materials was confined to 13,350 square 
feet in the Crane--East Building, 2,400 square feet in the Bliss Wing, 
and 210 square feet in the High Building.
    In July 2002, 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.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the 
Facility, and seeks the unrestricted use of its Facility.

[[Page 39345]]

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 decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of the 
Facility affected by these radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey on March 26, 2000, 
with follow-up surveys conducted on April 9, 2009. This survey covered 
all laboratories, counting rooms, offices, and animal facilities 
located in the three research buildings. The final status survey report 
was attached to the Licensee's amendment request dated March 28, 2008, 
with follow-up surveys provided on April 14, 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, 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

    NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the 
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for review on June 
8, 2009. On July 14, 2009, the Connecticut Department of Environmental 
Protection responded by e-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. Letter dated March 28, 2008 requesting amendment (ML081050466).
    2. Letter dated April 7, 2009 providing additional information 
(ML090980511).
    3. Swipe Survey Analysis information dated April 9, 2009 
(ML091110096).
    4. Letter dated May 28, 2009 providing additional information 
(ML091490256).
    5. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    6. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    7. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;'' and
    8. 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)

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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 
28th day of July 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E9-18819 Filed 8-5-09; 8:45 am]
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