[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49896-49897]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23455]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0427; Docket No. 030-10491]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 29-16145-01, for Unrestricted Release of Robert Wood 
Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton's Clinical Pharmacology Unit 
Located at 3 Hamilton Health Place, Hamilton, NJ

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: H[eacute]ctor Berm[uacute]dez, Sr. 
Health Physicist, Medical Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406; 
telephone (404) 562-4734; 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. 29-
16145-01. This license is held by Robert Wood Johnson University 
Hospital at Hamilton (the Licensee), for one of its facilities located 
at 3 Hamilton Health Place (the Facility). Issuance of the 
amendment would authorize release of the Facility for unrestricted use. 
The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated December 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 December 18, 2008, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility for 
unrestricted use. License No. 29-16145-01 was issued on September 19, 
1974, to Hamilton Hospital (now Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital 
at Hamilton) pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30, and has been amended 
periodically since that time. This license authorizes the Licensee to 
use unsealed byproduct materials for the purposes of medical diagnosis 
and treatment of humans.
    The building that houses the Facility is a single story building 
located in a mixed residential/commercial area. The licensee occupied 
approximately 12,000 square feet of space in part of the building, 
consisting of office space and laboratories. Within the Facility, use 
of licensed materials was confined to Rooms 102, 103, 104, 126, 154, 
180, 195C, 216, 217, 220, 221, and 242.
    Routine licensed activities ceased in 2008 and the licensee 
initiated a survey 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 the NRC-approved operating radiation safety procedures, would be 
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.

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 
radionuclide with a half-life greater than 120 days in unsealed form: 
Carbon-14. The Licensee conducted a final status survey in April 2009. 
This survey covered all the areas of use at the Facility. The final 
status survey report was attached to the Licensee's letter dated April 
30, 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

[[Page 49897]]

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 State 
of New Jersey, Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of 
Radiological Health for review on August 18, 2009. The State of New 
Jersey responded by e-mail on September 11, 2009. 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. Amendment request dated December 10, 2008 (ML083640174);
    2. Additional information on amendment request dated April 30, 2009 
(ML091240536);
    3. Additional information on amendment request dated June 29, 2009 
(ML091820556);
    4. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;'' 
Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    5. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;'' and
    6. 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 
23rd day of September 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial & R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E9-23455 Filed 9-28-09; 8:45 am]
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