[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 194 (Wednesday, October 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60719-60720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25532]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-00235; NRC-2015-0216]


AAR Site, Livonia, Michigan

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of completion of remediation; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is noticing the 
completion of remediation activities at the Brooks and Perkins Site at 
12633 Inkster Road, in Livonia, Michigan.

DATES: This notice is effective as of September 23, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0216 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-2015-0216. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if that document 
is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced.
     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: Theodore Smith, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6721, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) 
issued License STB-0362 to Brooks and Perkins on January 17, 1957, and 
the license was terminated by the AEC on May 17, 1971. This license 
authorized Brooks and Perkins to conduct licensed activities at the 
site using thorium master alloy and thorium magnesium alloy.
    In 1981, the AAR Corporation (AAR) purchased Brooks and Perkins and 
obtained ownership of the land. On February 23, 1994, an NRC inspector 
conducted an inspection of the AAR site, and subsequently notified AAR 
by letter dated March 29, 1994, that the NRC had ``concluded that 
thorium was improperly disposed of at the site and certain areas of the 
building and grounds were in excess of the NRC

[[Page 60720]]

release criteria for release of the facility for unrestricted use.'' 
The AAR Corporation was directed to schedule and plan to characterize 
the extent of the contamination and to decontaminate the area to 
current NRC release criteria (ADAMS Accession No. ML110670259).
    The AAR site was subsequently legally divided into the Eastern and 
Western Parcels. The NRC staff had previously evaluated the Eastern 
Parcel of the AAR site, and in December 2009, determined that the 
potential dose from the Eastern Parcel was in conformance with the dose 
criteria for unrestricted use (ADAMS Accession No. ML093490979).
    In 2013, the NRC approved a plan to remediate the Western Parcel of 
the site in accordance with an AAR proposed Site Remedial Action Work 
Plan (Work Plan) as amended (letters dated August 7, 2013, and October 
30, 2013; ADAMS Accession Nos. ML13220A447 and ML13308A323, 
respectively). The Work Plan proposed that soil within 32 specified 
grids containing thorium be excavated to a depth of 1 meter (m) and 
transported offsite for disposal at a facility in Belleville, Michigan, 
known as the Wayne Disposal Facility. The excavated areas were to be 
backfilled with clean fill.
    As part of the review of the Work Plan, the NRC staff independently 
evaluated the dose using a dose assessment that staff performed in 2009 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML093490979), as a basis for determining dose for 
the expected concentrations that would remain at the AAR site. The 
maximum dose determined by the NRC staff for these expected 
concentrations is 14 mrem/yr, projected to occur at time around 600 
years.
    From April to July 2014, AAR conducted remediation of the 32 grids 
at the site. On May 21, 2015 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML15148A656), 
AAR submitted a ``Project Completion Report and Request for Approval of 
Unrestricted Use Designation, AAR Corporation, 12633 Inkster Road, 
Livonia, Michigan, 48150, Western Parcel, Strategic Waste Excavation 
and Site Restoration Project'' (Completion Report). The Completion 
Report states that the grids specified in the Work Plan were excavated.
    The NRC staff and its contractor observed and inspected work at the 
AAR site several times during the remediation. During the final NRC 
staff's visit in July 2014, the NRC staff walked the site with a survey 
instrument and confirmed that the 32 specified grids were excavated per 
the Work Plan commitment.
    The NRC Region III Inspectors performed an inspection at the AAR 
facility during part of the remediation activities. Results of the 
inspection are documented in NRC Inspection Report 040-00235/2013-001 
(DNMS), dated February 24, 2015, (ADAMS Accession No. ML15056A162). The 
report concluded that AAR conducted the remediation in accordance with 
the Work Plan. The report also concluded that the licensee (Solutient, 
AAR's contractor) had complied with NRC and Department of 
Transportation regulations for shipments of radioactive waste.
    The NRC staff concludes that AAR met the commitments to excavate 
the 32 specified grids and to dispose the excavated material offsite at 
an appropriate facility.
    Based on the considerations discussed above, the NRC staff 
concluded that: (1) Radioactive material above release limits has been 
properly disposed for both Eastern and Western Parcels of the site; (2) 
reasonable effort has been made to eliminate residual radioactive 
contamination; and (3) final site surveys and associated documentation 
demonstrate that the entire site is suitable for unrestricted release 
in accordance with the criteria in 10 CFR part 20, subpart E.
    Therefore, the AAR site at 12633 Inkster Road, Livonia, Michigan, 
is suitable for unrestricted use.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of September, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Larry W. Camper,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste 
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2015-25532 Filed 10-6-15; 8:45 am]
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