[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47688-47689]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19280]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-28641; NRC-2014-0160]


Department of the Air Force, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an 
amendment to License No. 42-23539-01AF (Docket No. 030-28641) which 
authorizes the unrestricted release of Radioactive Waste Site RW-06 at 
Kirtland Air Force Base. The NRC has reviewed the Department of the Air 
Force's final status survey report and conducted an independent 
confirmatory survey of the site. The NRC concludes that the site meets 
the radiological criteria established in regulations for unrestricted 
use. The NRC plans to approve the final status survey report and issue 
an amendment to the license which allows Site RW-06 to be released for 
unrestricted use.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0160 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0160. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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]. For 
the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS accession numbers are provided 
in a table in the ``Availability of Documents'' section of this 
document.
     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: Ray L. Kellar, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, Region IV, telephone: 817-200-1191, email: 
[email protected]; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Arlington, 
Texas, 76011.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is issuing a license amendment to Material License No. 42-
23539-01AF, issued to the Department of the Air Force (the licensee), 
to authorize release of Radioactive Waste Site RW-06 at Kirtland Air 
Force Base, New Mexico, for unrestricted use, and has prepared an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this amendment in 
accordance with the requirements of Part 51 of Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The license 
amendment will be issued following the publication of this Notice.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of the proposed license amendment is to authorize the 
release of the licensee's Radioactive Waste Site RW-06 for unrestricted 
use and to allow the licensee to remove this site from its license. The 
licensee was previously authorized by the NRC to possess radioactive 
materials at the RW-06 site. These radioactive materials include buried 
wastes from previous laboratory operations. The licensee remediated the 
site in 2009. On November 3, 2011, the licensee requested that NRC 
release the site for unrestricted use. In response, the NRC proceeded 
to confirm if the licensee conducted surveys of the facility and 
provided sufficient information to the NRC to demonstrate that the site 
meets the license termination criteria in Subpart E of Part 20 of Title 
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) for unrestricted 
release.
    The NRC conducted an environmental assessment of this 
decommissioning project as required by 10 CFR 51.21. The staff has 
prepared this EA and associated Technical Evaluation Report in support 
of the proposed license amendment. In summary, the NRC staff concluded 
that the licensee designed and implemented the final status survey plan 
using the guidance provided in NUREG-1575, ``Multi-Agency Radiation 
Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM).'' The NRC staff 
confirmed that the licensee implemented the final status survey as 
stipulated in the survey plan, and the licensee submitted a final 
status survey report to the NRC as required by 10 CFR 30.36(j). The 
results of the amended final status survey report indicate that 
Radioactive Waste Site RW-06 meets the derived concentration guideline 
level criteria specified in MARSSIM and NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated 
Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 1. The NRC staff conducted a 
confirmatory survey during March 2011, confirming that the licensee had 
effectively remediated the site.
    Section 20.1402 states that a site will be considered acceptable 
for unrestricted use if the residual radioactivity that is 
distinguishable from background radiation results in a total effective 
dose equivalent to an average member of the critical group that does 
not exceed 25 millirems (0.25 milliSieverts) per year. The licensee's 
final status survey report documents that Radioactive Waste Site RW-06 
meets the criteria established in 10 CFR 20.1402. The NRC has reviewed 
and approved the final status survey report, and the NRC has conducted 
a

[[Page 47689]]

confirmatory survey to confirm the licensee's survey results. 
Therefore, Radioactive Waste Site RW-06 can be released by the licensee 
for unrestricted use.
    The State of New Mexico was offered an opportunity to review and 
comment on the draft EA, FONSI, and Technical Evaluation Report used to 
support the licensing action. The State provided the NRC with comments 
by letter dated January 30, 2014. The State had questions and comments 
on the radioactive contaminants as they relate to the release of Site 
RW-06 for unrestricted use based on dose. The Department of the Air 
Force responded to the State's comments by Memorandum dated April 8, 
2014. The State had no further comments on this EA and FONSI.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    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. Availability of Documents

    The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related to this 
notice are:

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                 Document                       ADAMS  accession No.
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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NUREG-  ML082310759
 1575, Revision 1, ``Multi-Agency
 Radiation Survey and Site Investigation
 Manual (MARSSIM),'' August 2000.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NUREG-  ML063000243
 1757, Volume 1, Revision 2,
 ``Consolidated Decommissioning
 Guidance,'' September 2006.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC     ML111801367
 Inspection Report 030-28641/11-002, June
 29, 2011.
Department of the Air Force, Final Status   ML11363A116
 Survey Report, Site RW-06, Kirtland Air
 Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico,
 November 3, 2011.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,         ML12208A175
 Request for Additional Information About
 the Department of Air Force's Final
 Status Survey Report for Site RW-06 at
 Kirtland Air Force Base, July 26, 2012.
Department of the Air Force, Additional     ML13186A161
 Information to Support Final Status
 Survey for Site RW-06, Kirtland Air Force
 Base, New Mexico, October 11, 2012.
New Mexico Environment Department, Request  ML14064A359
 for Comment on Draft Environmental
 Assessment for Decommissioning at
 Kirtland Air Force Base, January 30, 2014.
Department of the Air Force, Response to    ML14120A421
 Request for Comments on Draft
 Environmental Assessment for
 Decommissioning Kirtland Air Force Base,
 April 8, 2014.
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    Dated at Arlington, Texas this 01st day of August 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ray L. Kellar,
Chief, Repository and Spent Fuel Safety Branch, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, Region IV.
[FR Doc. 2014-19280 Filed 8-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P