[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 178 (Friday, September 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56753-56756]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22316]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-09415; NRC-2013-0006]


License Amendment for Aptuit, LLC, Kansas City, Missouri

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact; 
availability.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering 
the issuance of a license amendment to amend NRC Byproduct Materials 
License No. 24-15595-01 issued to Aptuit, LLC (the licensee).

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0006 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0006. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this document (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. In addition, for the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS 
accession numbers are provided in a table in Section IV of this 
document entitled, Availability of Documents.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael LaFranzo, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2443 
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois, 60532. Telephone: 630-829-9865; fax 
number: 630-515-1259; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The issuance of the amendment would approve the licensee's

[[Page 56754]]

decommissioning plan (DP) (ADAMS Accession No. ML13053A398), which 
describes the decommissioning activities that will be performed at the 
licensee's facility located at 10245 Hickman Mills Drive, Kansas City, 
Missouri to make it suitable for unrestricted use in accordance with 
the NRC requirements. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment 
(EA) in support of this amendment in accordance with the requirements 
in Part 51 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. Environmental Assessment

    The NRC approved the licensee's Kansas City, Missouri facility as a 
location of use for radioactive byproduct materials on May 23, 1973. 
The NRC issued License No. 24-15595-01 to Marion Laboratories, Inc., 
which initially authorized the use of sealed sources and later expanded 
authorized activities to include research and development. Since the 
original license was issued, the named license holder for the Kansas 
City facility has been changed five times to the following: (1) Marion 
Merrell Dow, Inc. via Amendment No. 13, (2) Hoechst Marion Roussel via 
Amendment No. 19, (3) Quintiles, Inc. via Amendment No. 21, (4) Aptuit, 
Inc. via Amendment No. 24, and (5) Aptuit, LLC via Amendment No. 33. 
The primary radioactive materials that have been historically used in 
the Kansas City facility are hydrogen-3 and carbon-14. In 2008, 
Amendment No. 27 to the license was issued which substantially 
increased the license limits for hydrogen-3 and carbon-14 and 
authorized the synthesis of radiolabeled organic compounds in addition 
to research and development. The licensee is currently operating under 
Radioactive Materials License Amendment No. 34, with an expiration date 
of September 30, 2014.
    The Aptuit facility occupies 7 of 13 primary buildings in an 
industrial complex adjacent to, and just east of, Interstate 435 in 
Kansas City, Missouri, Jackson County. The site is situated in a 
campus-type setting which includes offices, warehouse space, 
manufacturing space, and laboratory space and is located on 
approximately 45.5 acres of land. The Aptuit buildings total 
approximately 417,000 square feet (ft\2\) or 38,740 square meters 
(m\2\). The areas surrounding the Aptuit facility are also primarily 
industrial. There is commercial development to the North, South, and 
West of the facility and there is a residential area to the East. The 
nearest residence is approximately 0.25 miles to the east of the Aptuit 
facility. Land use is not expected to change. The licensee did 
discharge licensed material out of an exhaust stack in compliance with 
NRC regulations.

The Proposed Action

    The NRC received, by letter dated August 30, 2012 (ADAMS Accession 
No. ML12248A095), a proposed DP and license amendment request from 
Aptuit, LLC requesting approval of the DP for its facility located in 
Kansas City, Missouri. The DP was submitted to the NRC for approval to 
authorize decommissioning activities in accordance with the 
requirements of 10 CFR 30.36(g). An NRC administrative review, 
documented in a letter to the licensee dated November 8, 2012 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML12314A055), found the DP acceptable to begin a 
technical review. Subsequently, the NRC issued a Federal Register 
notice (FRN) on January 16, 2013 (78 FR 3470), that announced Aptuit, 
LLC's license amendment request, solicited public and other stakeholder 
comments, and provided an opportunity to request a hearing and to 
petition for leave to intervene. No comments were received and no 
hearing requests or petitions for leave to intervene were submitted.
    On February 7, 2013, and April 28, 2013, the NRC staff requested 
additional information (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML13038A630 and 
ML13109A304, respectively) to complete the technical review of the DP. 
On February 20, 2013, the licensee provided responses to the February 
7, 2013, request (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML13052A443 and ML13053A402) and 
a revised DP (ADAMS Accession No. ML13053A398). On May 16, 2013, the 
licensee provided responses to the April 28, 2013, request (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML13137A522). The licensee also submitted a written 
response, dated July 19, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13204A418 
providing additional information), in response to a telephonic 
conversation with the NRC held on July 18, 2013. The NRC developed a 
Safety Evaluation Report dated August 27, 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML13247A779). The licensee proposes to decommission the Kansas City, 
Missouri facility to permit the release of the site for unrestricted 
use, as governed by the License Termination Rule, subpart E, 10 CFR 
part 20, ``Radiological Criteria for License Termination.''
    The licensee's DP proposes the clean-up of the Aptuit facility by 
implementing decontamination techniques to remove contamination and/or 
by removing impacted structures, systems, and equipment. The removed 
structures, systems, and equipment would then be disposed of in 
accordance with regulatory requirements. The DP characterized 
environmental media at the Aptuit facility (soil, surface water, and 
groundwater) as not impacted by site operations, and therefore, not a 
part of the clean-up activities proposed by the DP. The DP proposes the 
decommissioning work to be performed by a decontamination and 
decommissioning (D&D) contractor under the oversight and responsibility 
of the licensee. The licensee expects the decommissioning work to take 
approximately 8 months, after the proposed approval of the DP by the 
NRC.
    The licensee's objective for the decommissioning project, as 
described in the DP, is to clean the site sufficiently to meet the NRC 
unrestricted use criteria in support of license termination. The NRC 
unrestricted use criteria requires, as described in 10 CFR 20.1402, 
``Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use,'' that residual 
radioactivity that is distinguishable from background radiation result 
in a Total Effective Dose Equivalent to an average member of the 
critical group not to exceed 25 millirem per year (mrem/yr). In 
addition, the residual radioactivity is required to be reduced to 
levels that are as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA). The 
licensee identified carbon-14 and hydrogen-3 as the only contaminants 
of concern at the Aptuit facility where decommissioning activities will 
be performed under the proposed DP. Upon completion of the 
decommissioning activities, areas being released under the scope of the 
DP will be surveyed in accordance with the guidance contained in NUREG-
1575, ``Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual 
(MARSSIM),'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML082470583).
    To meet the NRC unrestricted use criteria, the DP established 
Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGLs) that are based on the 
screening values developed by the NRC (65 FR 37186; June 13, 2000) 
which can be found in NUREG-1757, Volume 2, appendix H, ``Consolidated 
Decommissioning Guidance: Characterization, Survey, and Determination 
of Radiological Criteria--Criteria for Conducting Screening Dose 
Modeling Evaluations'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML053260027). The NRC 
screening values for carbon-14 and hydrogen-3 are 3.7E+6 and 1.2E+8 
disintegrations per minute per 100 centimeters squared (dpm/100 cm\2\),

[[Page 56755]]

respectively. The NRC screening values are for single radionuclides, 
and a ``sum of fractions'' rule should be used for radionuclides in 
mixtures. The DP therefore proposes to use the most conservative 
screening value for the contaminants of concern, 3.7E+6 dpm/100 cm\2\ 
(screening value for carbon-14), as the basis for DCGL determination 
due to the difficulty in detecting hydrogen-3 when performing surveys. 
To meet the ALARA requirement of the NRC unrestricted use criteria, the 
DP proposes to use ten percent of the selected screening value as the 
DCGL for total activity, which is 3.7E+5 dpm/100 cm\2\.

The Need for the Proposed Action

    The purpose of the proposed action is to reduce residual 
radioactivity at the Aptuit Kansas City, Missouri facility to a level 
that permits release of the property for unrestricted use and 
termination of the license. The NRC is fulfilling its responsibility 
under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, to make a decision on 
a proposed action for decommissioning that ensures protection of the 
public health and safety and the environment. The application for 
license amendment and NRC approval is necessary for the licensee to 
proceed with the decommissioning activities as required by the 
timeliness requirements of 10 CFR 30.36(g). A change to the current 
license is necessary since decommissioning procedures required for the 
planned decommissioning activities are not authorized in the current 
license. The final step in the decommissioning process is license 
termination.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff has reviewed the DP for the Aptuit, LLC Kansas City, 
Missouri facility and examined the impacts of decommissioning. Based on 
its review, the staff has determined that the affected environment and 
the environmental impacts associated with this decommissioning action 
are bounded by the impacts evaluated by NUREG-1496, ``Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological 
Criteria for License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' 
(ADAMS Accession Nos. ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385). The 
staff also finds the proposed decommissioning of the Aptuit, LLC Kansas 
City, Missouri site is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402, the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted use.
    Since ceasing operations, the Aptuit, LLC site has been stabilized 
to prevent contamination from spreading beyond its current locations. 
Access to the contaminated areas is controlled to assure the health and 
safety of workers and the public. No ongoing licensed activities, other 
than limited decommissioning activities, are occurring in the 
facilities.
    Contamination controls will be implemented during decommissioning 
to prevent airborne and surface contamination from escaping the 
remediation work areas, and therefore no release of airborne 
contamination is anticipated. However, the potential will exist for 
generating airborne radioactive material during decontamination, 
removal and handling of contaminated materials. If produced, any 
effluent from the proposed decommissioning activities will be limited 
in accordance with NRC requirements in 10 CFR part 20 or contained 
onsite or treated to reduce contamination to acceptable levels before 
release, and shall be maintained ALARA. Radioactive waste (e.g., HEPA 
filters, metals, bench tops, etc.) will be containerized onsite pending 
shipment to a licensed radioactive waste treatment or disposal 
facility. No liquid effluents are expected to be generated during 
decommissioning.
    Aptuit, LLC and subcontractors will perform the remediation under 
the Aptuit, LLC license. Therefore, Aptuit, LLC will oversee the 
activities and will maintain primary responsibility for the 
decommissioning activities at the site. The Aptuit, LLC facility has 
adequate radiation protection procedures and capabilities, and will 
implement an acceptable program to keep exposure to radioactive 
materials ALARA. As noted above, Aptuit, LLC, has prepared a DP 
describing the work to be performed, and work activities are not 
anticipated to result in a dose to workers or the public in excess of 
the 10 CFR part 20 limits. Past experiences with decommissioning 
activities at sites similar to the Aptuit, LLC facility indicate that 
public worker exposure will be far below the limits found in 10 CFR 
part 20, ``Standards for Protection Against Radiation.''

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The only alternative to the proposed action of allowing 
decommissioning of the site is no action. The no-action alternative 
would leave the site in its existing condition, which would keep 
licensed, radioactive material above the NRC's unrestricted release 
criteria of 25 mrem onsite. This alternative would increase the 
radiological risk to the local community and the environment. The no-
action alternative is not acceptable because it will result in 
violation of NRC's Timeliness Rule (10 CFR 30.36), which requires 
licensees to remove licensed materials onsite during decommissioning of 
their facilities when licensed activities cease, and to request 
termination of their radioactive materials license.

Agencies and Person Consulted

    The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action will not 
affect listed species or critical habitats. Therefore, no further 
consultation is required under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. 
Likewise, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is not 
the type of activity that has potential to cause effects on historic 
properties. Therefore, consultation under Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act is not required.
    The NRC staff consulted with the Missouri Department of Health and 
Senior Services on March 8, 2013, regarding this Environmental 
Assessment (EA) for the license amendment to authorize decommissioning 
activities. The State Department of Health and Senior Services is the 
State's Radiation Protection Agency, and has been informed of NRC's 
intention to approve the completion of decommissioning at the Aptuit, 
LLC site. The State informed the NRC on March 19, 2013, that they had 
no comments on the EA.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action complies with 
10 CFR part 20, ``Standards for Protection Against Radiation.'' 
Decommissioning of the Aptuit, LLC site to the DCGLs proposed for this 
action will result in reduced residual contamination levels at the 
site, enabling release of the site for unrestricted use and will allow 
the termination of the radioactive materials license. No radiologically 
contaminated effluents are expected during the decommissioning. 
Occupational doses to decommissioning workers are expected to be low 
and well within the limits of 10 CFR part 20. No radiation exposure to 
any member of the public is expected, and public exposure will 
therefore also be less than the applicable public exposure limits of 10 
CFR part 20.
    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.

[[Page 56756]]

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC has prepared this EA in support of the proposed license 
amendment to incorporate appropriate and acceptable DCGLs and to use 
the proposed DCGLs for the planned decommissioning by the licensee at 
the Aptuit, LLC facility. The NRC staff has found that the radiological 
and non-radiological environmental impacts from the proposed amendment 
are bounded by the impacts evaluated in NUREG-1496. On the basis of the 
EA, the NRC has concluded that the environmental impacts from the 
proposed action are expected to be insignificant and has determined not 
to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed action.

IV. Availability of Documents

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at 
the NRC Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this 
site, you can access ADAMS, which provides text and image files of 
NRC's public documents. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public 
Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' The ADAMS 
accession numbers for the documents related to this notice are:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Reference                Title of document            ML No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1........................  NUREG-1496, Vol. 1, ``Generic     ML042310492
                            Environmental Impact
                            Statement in Support of
                            Rulemaking on Radiological
                            Criteria for License
                            Termination of NRC-Licensed
                            Nuclear Facilities, Main
                            Report''.
2........................  NUREG-1496, Vol. 2, ``Generic     ML042320379
                            Environmental Impact
                            Statement in Support of
                            Rulemaking on Radiological
                            Criteria for License
                            Termination of NRC-Licensed
                            Nuclear Facilities,
                            Appendices A and B, Final
                            Report''.
3........................  NUREG-1496, Vol. 3, ``Generic     ML042330385
                            Environmental Impact
                            Statement in Support of
                            Rulemaking on Radiological
                            Criteria for License
                            Termination of NRC-Licensed
                            Nuclear Facilities,
                            Appendices C-H''.
4........................  NUREG-1757, Vol. 1, Rev. 2,       ML063000243
                            ``Consolidated
                            Decommissioning Guidance:
                            Decommissioning Process for
                            Material Licensees''.
5........................  NUREG-1757, Vol. 2,               ML053260027
                            ``Consolidated
                            Decommissioning Guidance:
                            Characterization, Survey,
                            and Determination of
                            Radiological Criteria''.
6........................  NUREG-1757, Vol. 3,               ML032471471
                            ``Consolidated
                            Decommissioning Guidance:
                            Financial Assurance,
                            Recordkeeping, and
                            Timeliness''.
7........................  NUREG-1575, Rev. 1, ``Multi-      ML082470583
                            Agency Radiation Survey and
                            Site Investigation Manual
                            (MARSSIM)''.
8........................  Aptuit Scientific Operations,     ML12248A095
                            LLC, Decommissioning Plan
                            (MC 579062).
9........................  LTR-Aptuit, LLC Acceptance of     ML12314A055
                            Decommissioning Plan for
                            Technical Review (Mail
                            Control No. (MC) 579062).
10.......................  Letter to Aptuit re: Request      ML13038A630
                            for Additional Information
                            to Support Decommissioning
                            Plan Approval (MC 579062).
11.......................  Letter from Aptuit, LLC RAI       ML13052A443
                            Response Package dated
                            February 20, 2013 (MC
                            579062).
12.......................  Letter from Aptuit, LLC in        ML13053A402
                            response to NRC RAI Package
                            dated February 20, 2013 (MC
                            579062).
13.......................  Decommissioning Plan Aptuit       ML13053A398
                            Scientific Operations,
                            Revision 1 dated February
                            2013 (MC 579062).
14.......................  Letter to Aptuit, LLC RAI         ML13109A304
                            Package dated April 28, 2013
                            (MC 579062).
15.......................  Letter from Aptuit, LLC in        ML13137A522
                            response to NRC RAI Package
                            dated May 16, 2013 (MC
                            579062).
16.......................  Letter from Aptuit, LLC RAI       ML13204A418
                            Response Package dated July
                            19, 2013 (MC 579062).
17.......................  Safety Evaluation Report.....     ML13247A779
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Dated at Lisle, Illinois this 5th day of September, 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert J. Orlikowski,
Chief, Materials Control, ISFSI and Decommissioning Branch, Division of 
Nuclear Materials and Safety, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2013-22316 Filed 9-12-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P