Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 52-01986-01, for Termination of the License and Unrestricted Release of the University of Puerto Rico's Facility in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, 29360-29362 [E6-7791]
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29360
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 98 / Monday, May 22, 2006 / Notices
any historic sites. It does not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no
other environmental impact. Therefore,
there are no significant non-radiological
environmental impacts associated with
the proposed action.
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that
there are no significant environmental
impacts associated with the proposed
action.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed
action, the NRC staff considered denial
of the proposed action (i.e., the ‘‘noaction’’ alternative). Denial of the
application would result in no change
in current environmental impacts. The
environmental impacts of the proposed
action and the alternative action are the
same.
cchase on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES
Alternative Use of Resources
The proposed action does not involve
the use of any different resources than
those previously considered in the Final
Environmental Statements related to the
ownership or operation of Braidwood
Station, Units 1 and 2, NUREG–1026,
dated June 1984; Byron Station, Units 1
and 2, NUREG–0848, dated April 1982;
Clinton Power Station, Unit 1, NUREG–
0854, dated May 1982; Dresden Nuclear
Power Station, Units 1, 2, and 3, dated
November 1973, and for Dresden
Nuclear Power Station, Units 2 and 3,
NUREG–1437, Supplement 17, dated
June 2004; LaSalle County Station,
Units 1 and 2, NUREG–0486, dated
November 1978; Limerick Generating
Station, Units 1 and 2, dated November
1973; Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating
Station, dated December 1974; Peach
Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 1,
2, and 3, dated April 1973, and for
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station,
Units 2 and 3, NUREG–1437,
Supplement 10, dated January 2003;
Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station,
Units 1 and 2, dated September 1972,
and NUREG–1437, Supplement 16,
dated June 2004; Three Mile Island,
Unit 1, dated December 1972; and Zion
Nuclear Power Station, Units 1 and 2,
dated December 1972.
Dyckman, and Mr. Michael Murphy,
Bureau of Radiation Protection,
Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection, on March 31,
April 3 and 17, 2006, respectively; and
New Jersey State official for Oyster
Creek Station, Mr. Richard Pinney,
Bureau of Nuclear Engineering, New
Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection, on April 3, 2006. The State
officials had no comments.
Finding of No Significant Impact
On the basis of the environmental
assessment, the NRC concludes that the
proposed action will not have a
significant effect on the quality of the
human environment. Accordingly, the
NRC has determined not to prepare an
environmental impact statement for the
proposed action.
For further details with respect to the
proposed action, see the licensee’s letter
dated December 14, 2005. Documents
may be examined, and/or copied for a
fee, at the NRC’s Public Document
Room (PDR), located at One White Flint
North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor),
Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available
records will be accessible electronically
from the Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading
Room on the Internet at the NRC Web
site, https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. Persons who do not have
access to ADAMS or who encounter
problems in accessing the documents
located in ADAMS should contact the
NRC PDR Reference staff at 1–800–397–
4209 or 301–415–4737, or send an email to pdr@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day
of May 2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Kahtan N. Jabbour,
Senior Project Manager, Plant Licensing
Branch III–2, Division of Operating Reactor
Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E6–7786 Filed 5–19–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
Agencies and Persons Consulted
Regarding the environmental impact
of the proposed action, the NRC staff
consulted with the following officials:
Illinois State official for the facilities in
Illinois, Mr. Frank Niziolek, Bureau of
Nuclear Facility Safety, Illinois
Emergency Management Agency, on
March 28, 2006; Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania officials for Limerick,
Peach Bottom, and Three Mile Island
Stations, Mr. David Ney, Mr. Dennis
VerDate Aug<31>2005
20:16 May 19, 2006
Jkt 208001
PO 00000
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030–01182]
Notice of Availability of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License
Amendment to Byproduct Materials
License No. 52–01986–01, for
Termination of the License and
Unrestricted Release of the University
of Puerto Rico’s Facility in Rio Piedras,
Puerto Rico
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License
Amendment.
AGENCY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Marjorie McLaughlin, Project Manager,
Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 475
Allendale Road, King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania, 19406. Telephone: (610)
337–5240; fax number: (610) 337–5269;
or by e-mail: mmm3@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering the
issuance of a license amendment to
Byproduct Materials License No. 52–
01986–01. This license is held by the
University of Puerto Rico (the Licensee),
for its Agricultural Experiment Station
(the Facility) located at 1193 Guayacan
St., Botanical Gardens, Rio Piedras, San
Juan, Puerto Rico. Issuance of the
amendment would authorize release of
the Facility for unrestricted use and
termination of the NRC license. The
Licensee requested this action in a letter
dated September 28, 2004. The NRC has
prepared an Environmental Assessment
(EA) in support of this proposed action
in accordance with the requirements of
Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), part 51 (10 CFR part 51). Based
on the EA, the NRC has concluded that
a Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) is appropriate with respect to
the proposed action. The amendment
will be issued to the Licensee following
the publication of this FONSI and EA in
the Federal Register.
II. Environmental Assessment
Identification of Proposed Action
The proposed action would approve
the Licensee’s September 28, 2004,
license amendment request resulting in
release of the Facility for unresticted use
and the termination of its NRC materials
Frm 00074
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
E:\FR\FM\22MYN1.SGM
22MYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 98 / Monday, May 22, 2006 / Notices
license. License No. 52–01986–01 was
issued on February 13, 1957, pursuant
to 10 CFR part 30, and has been
amended periodically since that time.
The license authorized the Licensee to
use unsealed byproduct material for
conducting research and development
activities on laboratory bench tops and
in hoods. The license also authorized
the use of sealed byproduct material for
sources for gas chromatograph (GC)
detectors and moisture/density gauges.
The Facility is situated on just under
200 acres, and consists of a botanical
garden, conservatories, office space, and
laboratories. The Facility is located on
a university campus within a largely
residential area. Within the Facility, use
of licensed materials was confined to
the Central Analytical Laboratory (21
feet by 13 feet (21′ x 13′)), a sample
processing room (10′ x 20′), and a soil
laboratory (20′ x 40′). The sealed source
gauges were stored in the Old Phytotron
Building (12′ x 24′) and in a storage
room within the soils laboratory (10′ x
10′).
In 1998, the Licensee ceased licensed
activities and initiated transfer of all
radioactive materials and a survey and
decontamination of the Facility. Based
on the Licensee’s historical knowledge
of the site and the conditions of the
Facility, the Licensee determined that
only routine decontamination activities,
in accordance with their NRC-approved,
operating radiation safety procedures,
were required. The Licensee was not
required to submit a decommissioning
plan to the NRC because worker cleanup
activities and procedures are consistent
with those approved for routine
operations. The Licensee conducted
surveys of the Facility and provided
information to the NRC to demonstrate
that it meets the criteria in Subpart E of
10 CFR part 20 for unrestricted release
and for license termination.
cchase on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES
Need for the Proposed Action
The Licensee has ceased conducting
licensed activities at the Facility, and
seeks the unrestricted use of its Facility
and the termination of its NRC materials
license. Termination of its license
would end the Licensee’s obligation to
pay annual license fees to the NRC.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
The historical review of licensed
activities conducted at the Facility
shows that such activities involved use
of the following radionuclides with halflives greater than 120 days: Sealed
tritium and nickel-63 sources for GC
detectors and sealed americium-241 and
cesium-137 in moisture/density gauges.
The only long-lived unsealed
VerDate Aug<31>2005
20:16 May 19, 2006
Jkt 208001
radionuclide authorized by this license
was carbon-14, which was used
infrequently and in small amounts.
Licensed materials were not used in
outdoor areas, although the NRC staff
identified one occurrence in 1964 in
which plants and soil containing a small
amount of carbon-14 may have been
inadvertently discarded or buried at the
site. The NRC staff evaluated the
potential impact of this event by
performing a dose assessment
(described below). Prior to performing
the final status survey, the Licensee
conducted decontamination activities,
as necessary, in the areas of the Facility
affected by these radionuclides.
The Licensee conducted a final status
survey that covered the Central
Analytical Laboratory, sample
processing room, soil laboratory, the
storage room within the soils laboratory,
and the Old Phytotron Building. The
final status survey report was attached
to the Licensee’s amendment request
dated September 28, 2004. The Licensee
elected to demonstrate compliance with
the radiological criteria for unrestricted
release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402
by using the screening approach
described in NUREG–1757,
‘‘Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning
Guidance,’’ Volume 2. The Licensee
used the radionuclide-specific derived
concentration guideline levels (DCGLs)
developed there by the NRC, which
comply with the dose criterion in 10
CFR 20.1402. These DCGLs define the
maximum amount of residual
radioactivity on building surfaces,
equipment, and materials, and in soils,
that will satisfy the NRC requirements
in subpart E of 10 CFR part 20 for
unrestricted release. The Licensee’s
final status survey results were below
these DCGLs and are in compliance
with the As Low As Reasonably
Achievable (ALARA) requirement of 10
CFR 20.1402. The NRC concludes that
the Licensee ’s final status survey
results are thus acceptable.
Based on its review, the staff has
determined that, with one exception,
the affected environment and any
environmental impacts associated with
the proposed action are bounded by the
impacts evaluated by the ‘‘Generic
Environmental Impact Statement in
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological
Criteria for License Termination of NRCLicensed Nuclear Facilities’’ (NUREG–
1496) Volumes 1–3 (ML042310492,
ML042320379, and ML042330385).
The one impact not bounded by the
generic evaluation is the potential
discarding or burial of carbon-14 that
occurred in 1964. NRC staff reviewed
licensee records and conducted
interviews with past and present AES
PO 00000
Frm 00075
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
29361
staff, and determined that a small
amount (0.5 microcuries) of carbon-14
incorporated in soil and plants may
have been discarded inadvertently at the
site. The NRC staff performed a dose
assessment to evaluate the potential
health and safety impact of this event.
The staff determined that the highest
potential dose from the material is less
than 1 millirem/year (mrem/yr), and is
well below the 25 mrem/yr value in 10
CFR 20.1402. No other incidents were
recorded involving spills or releases of
radioactive material at the Facility.
Accordingly, there were no significant
environmental impacts from the use of
radioactive materials at the Facility.
The NRC staff reviewed the docket
file records and the final status survey
report to identify any non-radiological
hazards that may have impacted the
environment surrounding the Facility.
No such hazards or impacts to the
environment were identified. The NRC
has found no other radiological or nonradiological activities in the area that
could result in cumulative impacts. The
NRC staff finds that the proposed
release of the Facility for unrestricted
use and the termination of the NRC
materials license is in compliance with
10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review,
the staff considered the impact of the
residual radioactivity at the Facility and
concluded that the proposed action will
not have a significant effect on the
quality of the human environment.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
Due to the largely administrative
nature of the proposed action, its
environmental impacts are small.
Therefore, the only alternative the staff
considered is the no-action alternative,
under which the staff would leave
things as they are by simply denying the
amendment request. This no-action
alternative is not feasible because it
conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d),
requiring that decommissioning of
byproduct material facilities be
completed and approved by the NRC
after licensed activities cease. The
NRC’s analysis of the Licensee’s final
status survey data confirmed that the
Facility meets the requirements of 10
CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release.
Additionally, this denial of the
application would result in no change
in current environmental impacts. The
environmental impacts of the proposed
action and the no-action alternative are
therefore similar, and the no-action
alternative is accordingly not further
considered.
E:\FR\FM\22MYN1.SGM
22MYN1
29362
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 98 / Monday, May 22, 2006 / Notices
Agencies and Persons Consulted
NRC provided drafts of its
Environmental Assessment and Dose
Assessment to the Department of Health
of Puerto Rico for review on February
21, 2006. On March 29, 2006, the
Department of Health of Puerto Rico
responded by letter. The State agreed
with the conclusions of the EA, and
otherwise had no comments.
The NRC staff has determined that the
proposed action is of a procedural
nature, and will not affect listed species
or critical habitat. Therefore, no further
consultation is required under section 7
of the Endangered Species Act. The
NRC staff has also determined that the
proposed action is not the type of
activity that has the potential to cause
effects on historic properties. Therefore,
no further consultation is required
under section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act.
cchase on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES
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 for license
amendment and supporting
documentation, are available
electronically at the NRC’s Electronic
Reading Room at https://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 with their
ADAMS accession numbers:
1. Final Status Survey Results for the
Rio Piedras Research Center of the
University of Puerto Rico Agricultural
Experiment Station, dated September
28, 2004 [ADAMS Accession No.
ML042780499];
2. Telephone Logs Containing
Additional Site History Information,
dated January 28, 2005 [ADAMS
Accession No. ML050330622], February
10, 2005 [ADAMS Accession No.
ML050430017], April 11, 2005 [ADAMS
Accession No. ML051050036], August
31, 2005 [ADAMS Accession No.
ML052450026], and February 9, 2006
[ADAMS Accession No. ML060400169];
3. Dose Assessment Evaluating
Potential Burial of Carbon-14 at
VerDate Aug<31>2005
20:16 May 19, 2006
Jkt 208001
University of Puerto Rico Agricultural
Experiment Station [ADAMS Accession
No. ML061090546];
4. Federal Register Notice, Volume
65, No. 114, page 37186, dated Tuesday,
June 13, 2000, ‘‘Use of Screening Values
to Demonstrate Compliance With The
Federal Rule on Radiological Criteria for
License Termination’’;
5. Title 10 Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E,
‘‘Radiological Criteria for License
Termination’’;
6. Title 10, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 51, ‘‘Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic
Licensing and Related Regulatory
Functions’’;
7. NUREG–1496, ‘‘Generic
Environmental Impact Statement in
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological
Criteria for License Termination of NRCLicensed Nuclear Facilities’’.
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 pdr@nrc.gov.
These documents may also be viewed
electronically 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 King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, this
12th day of May, 2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Marie Miller,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I.
[FR Doc. E6–7791 Filed 5–19–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030–34325]
Notice of Availability of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for An Amendment
to a Materials Permit in Accordance
With Byproduct Materials License No.
03–23853–01VA, for Unrestricted
Release of a Department of Veterans
Affairs’s Facility In West Haven, CT
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License
Amendment.
AGENCY:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
William Snell, Senior Health Physicist,
PO 00000
Frm 00076
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois
60532; telephone: (630) 829–9871; fax
number: (630) 515–1259; or by e-mail at
wgs@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering
allowing an amendment to a materials
permit in accordance with NRC
Byproduct Materials License No. 03–
23853–01VA issued to the Department
of Veterans Affairs (DVA) (the licensee),
to authorize release of its Connecticut
Health Care System Building 27 in West
Haven, Connecticut for unrestricted use.
The NRC has prepared an
Environmental Assessment (EA) in
support of this proposed action in
accordance with the requirements of
Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), Part 51 (10 CFR part 51). Based
on the EA, the NRC has concluded that
a Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) is appropriate. The approval for
the amendment to the materials permit
will be issued to the DVA following the
publication of this Notice.
II. Environmental Assessment
Identification of Proposed Action
The proposed action would approve
DVA’s request to issue an amendment to
a materials permit in accordance with
NRC Byproduct Materials License No.
03–23853–01VA for the unrestricted
release of Building 27 of the DVA’s
Connecticut Health Care System at 950
Campbell Avenue, West Haven,
Connecticut. The proposed action is in
accordance with the DVA’s request to
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) on February 21,
2006 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML060540225), to approve the release of
the facility for unrestricted use, and is
consistent with the current NRC policy
to review all DVA permittee requests for
the release of buildings for unrestricted
use where radioactive materials with a
half-life greater than 120 days were
used. The DVA identified two isotopes
of concern with half-lives greater than
120 days that it used in Research
Building 27 of the West Haven,
Connecticut facility: hydrogen-3 and
carbon-14. The DVA was authorized by
the NRC to use byproduct material for
medical research at the West Haven
Building 27 facility since it was
renovated in 1973. Licensed materials
were not used in outdoor areas.
The building is 2334 square feet of
space comprised of medical research
E:\FR\FM\22MYN1.SGM
22MYN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 98 (Monday, May 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29360-29362]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-7791]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030-01182]
Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials
License No. 52-01986-01, for Termination of the License and
Unrestricted Release of the University of Puerto Rico's Facility in Rio
Piedras, Puerto Rico
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License Amendment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marjorie McLaughlin, Project Manager,
Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 475 Allendale Road, King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania, 19406. Telephone: (610) 337-5240; fax number:
(610) 337-5269; or by e-mail: mmm3@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the
issuance of a license amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 52-
01986-01. This license is held by the University of Puerto Rico (the
Licensee), for its Agricultural Experiment Station (the Facility)
located at 1193 Guayacan St., Botanical Gardens, Rio Piedras, San Juan,
Puerto Rico. Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of the
Facility for unrestricted use and termination of the NRC license. The
Licensee requested this action in a letter dated September 28, 2004.
The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of
this proposed action in accordance with the requirements of Title 10,
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 51 (10 CFR part 51). Based on
the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) is appropriate with respect to the proposed action. The
amendment will be issued to the Licensee following the publication of
this FONSI and EA in the Federal Register.
II. Environmental Assessment
Identification of Proposed Action
The proposed action would approve the Licensee's September 28,
2004, license amendment request resulting in release of the Facility
for unresticted use and the termination of its NRC materials
[[Page 29361]]
license. License No. 52-01986-01 was issued on February 13, 1957,
pursuant to 10 CFR part 30, and has been amended periodically since
that time. The license authorized the Licensee to use unsealed
byproduct material for conducting research and development activities
on laboratory bench tops and in hoods. The license also authorized the
use of sealed byproduct material for sources for gas chromatograph (GC)
detectors and moisture/density gauges.
The Facility is situated on just under 200 acres, and consists of a
botanical garden, conservatories, office space, and laboratories. The
Facility is located on a university campus within a largely residential
area. Within the Facility, use of licensed materials was confined to
the Central Analytical Laboratory (21 feet by 13 feet (21' x 13')), a
sample processing room (10' x 20'), and a soil laboratory (20' x 40').
The sealed source gauges were stored in the Old Phytotron Building (12'
x 24') and in a storage room within the soils laboratory (10' x 10').
In 1998, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and initiated
transfer of all radioactive materials and a survey and decontamination
of the Facility. Based on the Licensee's historical knowledge of the
site and the conditions of the Facility, the Licensee determined that
only routine decontamination activities, in accordance with their NRC-
approved, operating radiation safety procedures, were required. The
Licensee was not required to submit a decommissioning plan to the NRC
because worker cleanup activities and procedures are consistent with
those approved for routine operations. The Licensee conducted surveys
of the Facility and provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that
it meets the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR part 20 for unrestricted
release and for license termination.
Need for the Proposed Action
The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the
Facility, and seeks the unrestricted use of its Facility and the
termination of its NRC materials license. Termination of its license
would end the Licensee's obligation to pay annual license fees to the
NRC.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the
Facility shows that such activities involved use of the following
radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: Sealed tritium and
nickel-63 sources for GC detectors and sealed americium-241 and cesium-
137 in moisture/density gauges. The only long-lived unsealed
radionuclide authorized by this license was carbon-14, which was used
infrequently and in small amounts. Licensed materials were not used in
outdoor areas, although the NRC staff identified one occurrence in 1964
in which plants and soil containing a small amount of carbon-14 may
have been inadvertently discarded or buried at the site. The NRC staff
evaluated the potential impact of this event by performing a dose
assessment (described below). Prior to performing the final status
survey, the Licensee conducted decontamination activities, as
necessary, in the areas of the Facility affected by these
radionuclides.
The Licensee conducted a final status survey that covered the
Central Analytical Laboratory, sample processing room, soil laboratory,
the storage room within the soils laboratory, and the Old Phytotron
Building. The final status survey report was attached to the Licensee's
amendment request dated September 28, 2004. The Licensee elected to
demonstrate compliance with the radiological criteria for unrestricted
release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by using the screening approach
described in NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning
Guidance,'' Volume 2. The Licensee used the radionuclide-specific
derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs) developed there by the
NRC, which comply with the dose criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. These
DCGLs define the maximum amount of residual radioactivity on building
surfaces, equipment, and materials, and in soils, that will satisfy the
NRC requirements in subpart E of 10 CFR part 20 for unrestricted
release. The Licensee's final status survey results were below these
DCGLs and are in compliance with the As Low As Reasonably Achievable
(ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The NRC concludes that the
Licensee 's final status survey results are thus acceptable.
Based on its review, the staff has determined that, with one
exception, the affected environment and any environmental impacts
associated with the proposed action are bounded by the impacts
evaluated by the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of
Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-1496) Volumes 1-3 (ML042310492,
ML042320379, and ML042330385).
The one impact not bounded by the generic evaluation is the
potential discarding or burial of carbon-14 that occurred in 1964. NRC
staff reviewed licensee records and conducted interviews with past and
present AES staff, and determined that a small amount (0.5 microcuries)
of carbon-14 incorporated in soil and plants may have been discarded
inadvertently at the site. The NRC staff performed a dose assessment to
evaluate the potential health and safety impact of this event. The
staff determined that the highest potential dose from the material is
less than 1 millirem/year (mrem/yr), and is well below the 25 mrem/yr
value in 10 CFR 20.1402. No other incidents were recorded involving
spills or releases of radioactive material at the Facility.
Accordingly, there were no significant environmental impacts from the
use of radioactive materials at the Facility.
The NRC staff reviewed the docket file records and the final status
survey report to identify any non-radiological hazards that may have
impacted the environment surrounding the Facility. No such hazards or
impacts to the environment were identified. The NRC has found no other
radiological or non-radiological activities in the area that could
result in cumulative impacts. The NRC staff finds that the proposed
release of the Facility for unrestricted use and the termination of the
NRC materials license is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on
its review, the staff considered the impact of the residual
radioactivity at the Facility and concluded that the proposed action
will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human
environment.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action,
its environmental impacts are small. Therefore, the only alternative
the staff considered is the no-action alternative, under which the
staff would leave things as they are by simply denying the amendment
request. This no-action alternative is not feasible because it
conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d), requiring that decommissioning of
byproduct material facilities be completed and approved by the NRC
after licensed activities cease. The NRC's analysis of the Licensee's
final status survey data confirmed that the Facility meets the
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. Additionally,
this denial of the application would result in no change in current
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action
and the no-action alternative are therefore similar, and the no-action
alternative is accordingly not further considered.
[[Page 29362]]
Agencies and Persons Consulted
NRC provided drafts of its Environmental Assessment and Dose
Assessment to the Department of Health of Puerto Rico for review on
February 21, 2006. On March 29, 2006, the Department of Health of
Puerto Rico responded by letter. The State agreed with the conclusions
of the EA, and otherwise had no comments.
The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a
procedural nature, and will not affect listed species or critical
habitat. Therefore, no further consultation is required under section 7
of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff has also determined that
the proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential
to cause effects on 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 for
license amendment and supporting documentation, are available
electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at https://
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 with their ADAMS accession
numbers:
1. Final Status Survey Results for the Rio Piedras Research Center
of the University of Puerto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station, dated
September 28, 2004 [ADAMS Accession No. ML042780499];
2. Telephone Logs Containing Additional Site History Information,
dated January 28, 2005 [ADAMS Accession No. ML050330622], February 10,
2005 [ADAMS Accession No. ML050430017], April 11, 2005 [ADAMS Accession
No. ML051050036], August 31, 2005 [ADAMS Accession No. ML052450026],
and February 9, 2006 [ADAMS Accession No. ML060400169];
3. Dose Assessment Evaluating Potential Burial of Carbon-14 at
University of Puerto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station [ADAMS
Accession No. ML061090546];
4. Federal Register Notice, Volume 65, No. 114, page 37186, dated
Tuesday, June 13, 2000, ``Use of Screening Values to Demonstrate
Compliance With The Federal Rule on Radiological Criteria for License
Termination'';
5. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E,
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination'';
6. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory
Functions'';
7. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities''.
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 pdr@nrc.gov. These documents may also be viewed
electronically 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 King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, this 12th day of May,
2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Marie Miller,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety,
Region I.
[FR Doc. E6-7791 Filed 5-19-06; 8:45 am]
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