[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 184 (Thursday, September 24, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48786-48787]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23039]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-04192; NRC-2009-0420]


Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Issuance of a 
License Amendment to Byproduct Material License No. 12-10243-01, for 
Unrestricted Use of Environmental Protection Agency Facilities in 
Chicago, IL

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for License Termination.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katie Streit, Health Physicist, 
Materials Control, ISFSI, and Decommissioning Branch, Division of 
Nuclear Materials and Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, 2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; Telephone: 
(630) 829-9621; fax number: (630) 515-1259; or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of an amendment to terminate NRC Byproduct materials License 
No. 12-10243-01, which is held by the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency (licensee). The issuance of the amendment would authorize the 
unrestricted use of the licensee's laboratory facilities located at 536 
South Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois, and similar facilities onboard 
the Research Vessel (R.V.) Lake Guardian (collectively, the 
Facilities).
    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 amendment request 
dated October 9, 2008 (ML082890377), and approve release of the 
Facilities for unrestricted use in accordance with 10 CFR Part 20, 
Subpart E. License No. 12-10243-01 was issued on August 20, 1964, 
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30, and has been amended periodically since 
that time. The licensee used unsealed Carbon-14 for primary 
productivity analyses in laboratories located on the seventh and tenth 
floor of 536 South Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois from November 1977. 
Unsealed Carbon-14 was also used onboard the R.V. Lake Guardian from 
August 1992. Nickel-63 sealed sources were used for gas chromatography 
at the 536 South Clark Street laboratories. Other authorized locations 
for use of licensed materials under License No. 12-10243-01 were 
released for unrestricted use pursuant to previous license amendments. 
The licensee ceased licensed activities in the mid-1990s and disposed 
of all material licensed under License No. 12.10243-01 by 2005, and has 
thus requested that its license be terminated.
    Based on the licensee's historical knowledge of the site and the 
conditions of the Facilities, the licensee determined that only routine 
decontamination activities, in accordance with its NRC approved, 
operating radiation safety procedures, were required. The licensee was 
not required to submit a decommissioning plan to NRC because worker 
cleanup activities and surveys are consistent with those approved for 
routine operations. The licensee submitted a Historical Site Assessment 
and Final Status survey report to the

[[Page 48787]]

NRC on July 8, 2009 (ML091940165) which demonstrated that the 
Facilities meet the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for 
unrestricted use.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the 
Facilities and seeks their unrestricted use.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Actions

    The historical review of the licensed research activities conducted 
at the Facilities indicates that Carbon-14 was the only radionuclide 
used that had a half-life greater than 120 days in unsealed form. The 
historical review also indicates that Nickel-63 sealed sources were 
possessed under the license at the Facilities.
    The NRC evaluated the licensee's 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 
Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 1. The NRC NUREG specifies 
radionuclide-specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGLs), 
developed by the NRC, which comply with the dose criterion in 10 CFR 
20.1402. The DCGLs define the maximum amount of residual radioactivity 
on surfaces that will satisfy the NRC requirements in Subpart E of 10 
CFR Part 20 for unrestricted use. The Licensee's final status survey 
results were well 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 Facilities. 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 Facilities. No such hazards or impacts to 
the environment were identified. The NRC has identified no other 
radiological or non-radiological activities in the area surrounding the 
Facilities that could result in cumulative environmental impacts.
    The NRC staff finds that the proposed release of the Facilities for 
unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its 
review, the staff considered the impact of the residual radioactivity 
from the Facilities and concluded that the proposed action will not 
have a significant effect on the quality of the 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 Facilities meet the 
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted use. 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.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the 
Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) for review on August 21, 
2009. On August 28, 2009, IEMA responded that it had no comments.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action is consistent 
with the NRC's unrestricted use 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.

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 image files of NRC's public documents. 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]. The 
documents related to this action are listed below, along with their 
ADAMS accession numbers.
    1. Environmental Protection Agency Responses to September 30, 2008 
Requests for Additional Information, dated October 9, 2008 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML082890377).
    2. Trip Report for March 6, 2009 License Termination Final Status 
Survey Meeting and Site Tour, dated April 3, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML090930490).
    3. Cover Letter to Issuance of U.S. EPA License 12-10243-01 
Amendment Number 27, dated September 30, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML082840095).
    4. EPA Responses to Request for Additional Information from March 
6, 2009 NRC Site Tour, dated July 8, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML091940165).
    5. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination.''
    6. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic licensing and Related Regulatory 
Function.''
    7. NUREG-1757, Consolidated Decommissioning Guidance, Volume 1.
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor 
will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 16th day of September 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Christine A. Lipa,
Branch Chief, Materials Control, ISFSI, and Decommissioning Branch, 
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III.
[FR Doc. E9-23039 Filed 9-23-09; 8:45 am]
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