[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 189 (Thursday, September 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60557-60559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25063]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-0036; NRC-2009-0278]


Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for 
a License Amendment to Materials License No. SNM-33; Westinghouse 
Electric Company, LLC, Hematite Decommissioning Project, Hematite, MO

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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[[Page 60558]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John J. Hayes, Senior Project Manager, 
Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing Directorate, Division of 
Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and 
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, telephone: 301-415-5928; 
fax number: 301-415-5369; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of a license amendment to Special Nuclear Material (SNM) 
License number SNM-33, issued to Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC 
(WEC) to authorize decommissioning of the former Hematite Fuel Cycle 
Facility in Hematite, Missouri for unrestricted use and termination of 
this license. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in 
support of this amendment in accordance with the requirements of Title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 51. Based on the 
EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI) is appropriate. The amendment will be issued following the 
publication of this Notice.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of the proposed amendment is to authorize the 
decommissioning of the licensee's Hematite, Missouri facility for 
unrestricted use to allow for license termination. The original special 
nuclear material license for the Hematite facility was issued to 
Mallinckrodt Chemical Works (MCW) on June 18, 1956. In April 2000, the 
Hematite facility was purchased by British Nuclear Fuels Limited 
(BNFL). At the time of the purchase, BNFL was the parent corporation to 
WEC and the Hematite operations were consolidated into the WEC nuclear 
operations. On August 12, 2009, WEC requested that NRC approve the 
decommissioning plan for the facility which, when completed, would 
permit the site to be released for unrestricted use. Final approval for 
release of the site for unrestricted use and license termination would 
be contingent upon the NRC staff's approval of the licensee's final 
status survey report and making the findings required by the 
Commission's regulations following completion of the licensee's 
decommissioning activate. The WEC's request for the proposed amendment 
was previously noticed in the Federal Register on December 8, 2009 with 
a notice of an opportunity to request a hearing.
    The NRC staff has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) (Agency 
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) ML111020620) in support 
of this amendment. The NRC evaluated whether there are significant 
environment impacts related to the proposed action and considered 
whether the impacts were adverse or positive and evaluated the 
cumulative impacts. The proposed action is to excavate and remove an 
estimated 23,000 m\3\ (30,000 yd\3\) of contaminated waste and soil 
from known and suspected burial sites as well as contamination beneath 
building floor slabs and the site's evaporation pond. The waste will be 
shipped out of the state by train for disposal at an approved facility.
    The EA evaluated the environmental impact that would result from 
the removal of concrete building slabs that remained from the 
previously approved building demolition phase of the site's 
decommissioning, the removal of buried waste, the removal of surface, 
subsurface soil and contaminated sediments. The primary areas of 
concern expressed by members of the public were the potential for 
ground and surface water contamination, the potential for exposure to 
members of the public to contamination and local impacts on 
transportation and traffic congestion. Other areas evaluated included 
impacts to ecological resources, air quality, socioeconomic, noise, 
historical and cultural sites and visual and scenic areas.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The regulatory basis for the unrestricted use is found in 10 CFR 
20.1402 and is based on the total exposure to the average member of the 
most critical group. For the WEC site the most critical group is that 
of a resident farmer who lives on the site and obtains his food and 
drinking water from the site and inhales potentially contaminated air. 
The specific release criteria for all environmental pathways at the 
site is 25 mrem/yr expressed as the total effective dose equivalent 
(TEDE). The NRC has independently confirmed the WEC calculations 
contained in the site's DP demonstrate that the release criteria have 
been met and have documented in the NRC SER that the actions associated 
with the decommissioning can be done safely. The offsite transport of 
radioactively contaminated material by rail car to an offsite facility 
located in Idaho was also confirmed in the NRC evaluations and is of 
such low activity that it meets the NRC criteria for disposal at a non-
NRC or Agreement State LLRM licensed disposal facility.
    The results of these calculations confirm that the radiological 
environmental impacts from the proposed amendment are bounded by the 
impacts evaluated in NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact 
Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination of NRC-Licensed Facilities,'' Vols. 1, 2, and 3, dated July 
1997 (ADAMS ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385) and NUREG-0170, 
``Final Environmental Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive 
Materials by Air and Other Modes,'' Vols. 1 and 2, dated December 1977 
(ADAMS ML022590355 and ML022590511). The staff has also found that the 
non-radiological impacts associated with the proposed amendment are not 
significant. On the basis of the EA, the NRC has concluded that there 
are no significant environmental impacts from the proposed amendment 
and has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
amendment and supporting documentation, are available online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, 
the public can gain entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image 
files of the NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for 
the documents related to this notice are:

[[Page 60559]]



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                  Document                                                 ADAMS No.
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Decommissioning Plan........................  ML092330123,
                                              ML092330125,
                                              ML092330127,
                                              ML092330129,
                                              ML092330131,
                                              and ML092330132.
Environmental Report........................  ML092870403
                                              and ML092870405.
Radiological Characterization Report........  ML092870496
                                              and ML092870506.
Supplemental Characterization Report........  ML093430818,
                                              ML093430819,
                                              ML093430821,
                                              and ML093430822.
Historical Site Assessment..................  ML092870417,
                                              and ML092870418.
Site Specific Soil Parameters...............  ML093430808.
Determination of Distribution Coefficients    ML093430811.
 for Radionuclides of Concern at the
 Westinghouse Hematite Facility.
Supplemental Analysis of Hydrogeologic        ML093430807.
 Conditions in Overburden at Westinghouse
 Hematite Facility, Hematite, Missouri.
NRC Staff Environmental Assessment..........  ML111020620.
NUREG-0170, ``Final Environmental Statement   ML022590355
 on the Transportation of Radioactive         and ML022590511.
 Materials by Air and Other Modes,'' Vols. 1
 and 2, dated December 1977.
NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact    ML042310492,
 Statement in Support of Rulemaking on        ML042320379,
 Radiological Criteria for License            and ML042330385.
 Termination of NRC-Licensed Facilities,''
 Vols. 1, 2, and 3, dated July 1997.
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    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 Public Document Room (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 Rockville, Maryland this 23rd day of September, 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Paul Michalak,
Acting Deputy Director, Decommissioning and Uranium Recovery Licensing 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011-25063 Filed 9-28-11; 8:45 am]
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