[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71842-71844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29221]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-133; NRC-2010-0291]


Exemption of Material for Proposed Disposal Procedures at the US 
Ecology Idaho Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Subtitle C 
Hazardous Disposal Facility Located Near Grand View, Idaho for Material 
from the Humboldt Bay Power Plant, Unit 3, License DPR-007, Eureka, CA

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Hickman, Division of Waste 
Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State 
Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-00001; telephone 301-415-
3017, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff is considering a 
request dated May 2, 2012, (ML12135A295) as supplemented by email dated 
July 16, 2012, (ML123200007) by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E, 
the licensee) for alternate disposal of approximately 100,000 ft\3\ of 
hazardous waste, soil, and debris and 50,000 ft\3\ of water solidified 
with clay containing low-activity radioactive material, at the US 
Ecology Idaho (USEI) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 
Subtitle C hazardous disposal facility located near Grand View, Idaho. 
Additionally, PG&E requested exemptions on behalf of USEI pursuant to 
Sec.  30.11 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) and 
10 CFR 70.17 to allow USEI to receive and possess radioactive materials 
without an NRC license. These requests were made under the alternate 
disposal provision contained in 10 CFR 20.2002 and the exemption 
provisions in 10 CFR 30.11 and 10 CFR 70.17.

[[Page 71843]]

    This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been developed in accordance 
with the requirements of 10 CFR 51.21.

II. Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    On July 2, 1976, Humboldt Bay Power Plant (HBPP) Unit 3 was shut 
down for annual refueling and to conduct seismic modifications. In 
1983, updated economic analyses indicated that restarting Unit 3 would 
probably not be cost-effective, and in June 1983, PG&E announced its 
intention to decommission the unit. On July 16, 1985, the NRC issued 
Amendment No. 19 to the HBPP Unit 3 Operating License to change the 
status to possess-but-not-operate. In December 2008, PG&E completed the 
transfer of spent fuel from the fuel storage pool to the dry-cask 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation and the decontamination and 
dismantlement phase of HBPP Unit 3 decommissioning commenced.
    PG&E requested NRC authorization for the disposal of waste from the 
decommissioning of HBPP Unit 3 at the USEI facility in accordance with 
10 CFR 20.2002. This waste consists of approximately 100,000 ft\3\ of 
hazardous waste, soil, and debris and 50,000 ft\3\ of water solidified 
with clay containing low-activity radioactive material generated during 
the demolition of structures and remediation activities at Unit 3.
    The waste would be transported by truck from HBPP in Eureka, 
California to the USEI facility, Grand View, Idaho in the Owyhee 
Desert. The USEI facility is a RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste disposal 
facility permitted by the State of Idaho. The USEI site has both 
natural and engineered features that limit the transport of radioactive 
material. The natural features include the low precipitation rate 
[i.e., 18.4 cm/year (7.4 in./year)] and the long vertical distance to 
groundwater (i.e., 61-meter (203-ft) thick on average unsaturated zone 
below the disposal zone). The engineered features include an engineered 
cover, liners, and leachate monitoring systems. Because the USEI 
facility is not licensed by the NRC, this proposed action would require 
the NRC to exempt USEI from Atomic Energy Act of 1954, (AEA) and NRC 
licensing requirements with respect to the low-contaminated material 
authorized for disposal.

Need for Proposed Action

    The subject waste material consists of hazardous waste, soil, and 
debris containing low-activity radioactive debris generated during the 
demolition of structures and remediation activities at Unit 3. This 
proposed alternate disposal would conserve low-level radioactive waste 
disposal capacity at licensed low-level radioactive waste disposal 
sites.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff has reviewed the evaluation performed by the licensee 
to demonstrate compliance with the 10 CFR 20.2002 alternate disposal 
criteria. Under these criteria, a licensee may seek NRC authorization 
to dispose of licensed material using procedures not otherwise 
authorized by the NRC's regulations. A licensee's supporting analysis 
must show that the radiological doses arising from the proposed 10 CFR 
20.2002 disposal will be as low as reasonably achievable and within the 
10 CFR Part 20 dose limits.
    PG&E performed a radiological assessment in consultation with USEI. 
Based on this assessment, PG&E concludes that potential doses to 
members of the public, including workers involved in the transportation 
and placement of this waste will be approximately one millirem total 
effective dose equivalent in one calendar year for this project, and 
well within the ``few millirem'' criteria that the NRC has established 
(see NUREG-1757).
    The staff evaluated activities and potential doses associated with 
transportation, waste handling and disposal as part of the review of 
this 10 CFR 20.2002 application. The projected doses to individual 
transportation and USEI workers have been appropriately estimated and 
are demonstrated to meet the NRC's alternate disposal requirement of 
not more than ``a few millirem per year'' to any member of the public. 
Independent review of the post-closure and intruder scenarios confirmed 
that the maximum projected dose over a period of 1,000 years is also 
within ``a few millirem per year.'' Additionally, the proposed action 
will not significantly increase the probability or consequences of 
accidents and there is no significant increase in occupational or 
public radiation exposures.
    With regard to potential non-radiological impacts, the proposed 
action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites. The 
proposed action does not affect non-radiological plant effluents, air 
quality, or noise.
    The proposed action and attendant exemption of the material from 
further AEA and NRC licensing requirements will not significantly 
increase the probability or consequences of accidents, no changes are 
being made in the types of any effluents that may be released off site, 
and there is no significant increase in occupational or public 
radiation exposure.
    Due to the very small amounts of radioactive material involved, the 
environmental impacts of the proposed action are not significant.
    Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action:
    Since the proposed action will cause no significant environmental 
impacts, the only alternative the staff considered is the no-action 
alternative, under which the staff would deny the disposal request. 
This denial of the request would only change the location of the 
disposal site to be used for the material. All other factors would 
remain the same or similar. Therefore, the environmental impacts of the 
proposed action and the no-action alternative are similar and the no-
action alternative is accordingly not further considered.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action will not 
significantly impact the quality of the human environment and that the 
proposed action is the preferred alternative.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    NRC provided a draft of this EA to the State of Idaho Department of 
Environmental Quality for review on August 28, 2012. The State had no 
comments.
    The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a 
procedural nature and will not affect Endangered Species Act (ESA) 
listed species or their critical habitat. Therefore, no further 
consultation is required under Section 7 of the ESA. The NRC staff has 
also determined that the proposed action is not the type of activity 
that has the potential to affect 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 and

[[Page 71844]]

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 Document 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 May 2, 2012, ``Humboldt Bay Power Plant Unit 3 
Request for 10 CFR 20.2002 Alternate Disposal Approval, and 10 CFR 
30.11 and 10 CFR 70.17 Exemption of Humboldt Bay Power Plant Waste For 
Disposal at US Ecology, Inc'' [ADAMS Accession Number ML121350326]
    (2) Email dated July 16, 2012, providing responses to a request for 
additional information. [ML12241A273]
    (3) NRC letter dated November 2, 2010, approving prior request from 
Humboldt Bay for 10 CFR 20.2002 alternate disposal and 10 CFR 30.11 
exemption. [ML102870344]
    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 email to [email protected]. These documents may also be viewed 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 Rockville, Maryland, this 23 day of November, 2012.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrew Persinko,
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. 2012-29221 Filed 12-3-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P