Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 06-28473-01, for Termination of the License and Unrestricted Release of the Neurogen Corporation's Facility in Branford, CT, 74763-74764 [E8-29083]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 9, 2008 / Notices
74763
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[FR Doc. E8–28949 Filed 12–8–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[DOCKET NO. 030–31474]
Notice of Availability of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License
Amendment to Byproduct Materials
License No. 06–28473–01, for
Termination of the License and
Unrestricted Release of the Neurogen
Corporation’s Facility in Branford, CT
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License
Amendment.
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Betsy Ullrich, Senior Health Physicist,
Commercial and R&D Branch, Division
of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I,
475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania 19406; telephone (610)
337–5040; fax number (610) 337–5268;
or by e-mail: Elizabeth.Ullrich@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. 06–
28473–01. This license is held by
Neurogen Corporation (the Licensee),
for its Neurogen Branford facility (the
Facility), located on Northeast Industrial
Road in Branford, Connecticut. 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 1, 2008. 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
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:00 Dec 08, 2008
Jkt 217001
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.
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.
II. Environmental Assessment
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.
Identification of Proposed Action
The proposed action would approve
the Licensee’s September 1, 2008,
license amendment request, resulting in
release of the Facility for unrestricted
use and the termination of its NRC
materials license. License No. 06–
28473–01 was issued on May 8, 1990,
pursuant to 10 CFR part 30, and has
been amended periodically since that
time. This license authorized the
Licensee to use unsealed byproduct
material for purposes of conducting
research and development activities on
laboratory bench tops and in hoods.
The Facility is situated on 8.8 acres,
and consists of four one- and two-story
buildings located at 15, 35, and 45
Northeast Industrial Road. The
buildings contain approximately
132,200 square feet of office space and
laboratories. The Facility is located in a
mixed industrial/commercial area.
Within the Facility, use of licensed
materials was confined to 15 areas:
Laboratories 055, 071, 073, 215, 313,
314, 315, 316, 320, 335, 362, and 662,
used for research activities; and Rooms
134 and 361, used for low-level
radioactive waste storage.
In March 2008, the Licensee ceased
licensed activities and initiated 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 NRCapproved, operating radiation safety
procedures, were required. The Licensee
was not required to submit a
decommissioning plan to the NRC
because worker cleanup activities and
PO 00000
Frm 00081
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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: Hydrogen3 and carbon-14. 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
between March 28 and August 11, 2008.
This survey covered the 15 areas where
licensed materials were used or stored.
The final status survey report was
attached to the Licensee’s amendment
request dated September 1, 2008. 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 radionuclidespecific 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
E:\FR\FM\09DEN1.SGM
09DEN1
74764
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 237 / Tuesday, December 9, 2008 / Notices
pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
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 thus finds that the Licensee’s final
status survey results are acceptable.
Based on its review, the staff has
determined that 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
staff finds there were no significant
environmental impacts from the use of
radioactive material 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 identified no other radiological or
non-radiological activities in the area
that could result in cumulative
environmental 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 and
for license termination. Additionally,
denying the amendment request would
result in no change in current
environmental impacts. The
VerDate Aug<31>2005
17:00 Dec 08, 2008
Jkt 217001
environmental impacts of the proposed
action and the no-action alternative are
therefore similar, and the no-action
alternative is accordingly not further
considered.
Conclusion
The NRC staff has concluded that the
proposed action is consistent with the
NRC’s unrestricted release criteria
specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. 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.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
NRC provided a draft of this
Environmental Assessment to the State
of Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) for
review on October 9, 2008. On
November 6, 2008, DEP responded by email. 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, along with
their ADAMS accession numbers.
PO 00000
Frm 00082
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
1. Letter dated September 1, 2008,
with ‘‘Radiological Assessment Report,
Neurogen Corporation, Northeast
Industrial Road, Branford, CT 06504,’’
dated August 26, 2008;
2. NUREG–1757, ‘‘Consolidated
NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;’’
3. Title 10, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E,
‘‘Radiological Criteria for License
Termination;’’
4. Title 10, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 51, ‘‘Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic
Licensing and Related Regulatory
Functions;’’ and
5. 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 475 Allendale Road, King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania this 2nd day of
December 2008.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division
of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I.
[FR Doc. E8–29083 Filed 12–8–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Draft Regulatory Guide: Issuance,
Availability
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Issuance and
Availability of Draft Regulatory Guide,
DG–1203.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Syed K. Shaukat, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001, Telephone: (301) 251–
7646; e-mail to Syed.Shaukat@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) has issued for public
comment a draft guide in the agency’s
‘‘Regulatory Guide’’ series. This series
E:\FR\FM\09DEN1.SGM
09DEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 9, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74763-74764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-29083]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[DOCKET NO. 030-31474]
Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials
License No. 06-28473-01, for Termination of the License and
Unrestricted Release of the Neurogen Corporation's Facility in
Branford, CT
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License Amendment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betsy Ullrich, Senior Health
Physicist, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials
Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
19406; telephone (610) 337-5040; fax number (610) 337-5268; or by e-
mail: Elizabeth.Ullrich@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. 06-
28473-01. This license is held by Neurogen Corporation (the Licensee),
for its Neurogen Branford facility (the Facility), located on Northeast
Industrial Road in Branford, Connecticut. 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 1, 2008. 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 1, 2008,
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility for
unrestricted use and the termination of its NRC materials license.
License No. 06-28473-01 was issued on May 8, 1990, pursuant to 10 CFR
part 30, and has been amended periodically since that time. This
license authorized the Licensee to use unsealed byproduct material for
purposes of conducting research and development activities on
laboratory bench tops and in hoods.
The Facility is situated on 8.8 acres, and consists of four one-
and two-story buildings located at 15, 35, and 45 Northeast Industrial
Road. The buildings contain approximately 132,200 square feet of office
space and laboratories. The Facility is located in a mixed industrial/
commercial area. Within the Facility, use of licensed materials was
confined to 15 areas: Laboratories 055, 071, 073, 215, 313, 314, 315,
316, 320, 335, 362, and 662, used for research activities; and Rooms
134 and 361, used for low-level radioactive waste storage.
In March 2008, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and
initiated 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: Hydrogen-3 and
carbon-14. 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 between March 28 and August 11, 2008. This survey
covered the 15 areas where licensed materials were used or stored. The
final status survey report was attached to the Licensee's amendment
request dated September 1, 2008. 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
[[Page 74764]]
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
thus finds that the Licensee's final status survey results are
acceptable.
Based on its review, the staff has determined that 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 staff finds there were no significant environmental impacts from
the use of radioactive material 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 identified no other radiological or non-
radiological activities in the area that could result in cumulative
environmental 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 and for license
termination. Additionally, denying the amendment request 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.
Conclusion
The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action is consistent
with the NRC's unrestricted release criteria specified in 10 CFR
20.1402. 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.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the State
of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for review
on October 9, 2008. On November 6, 2008, DEP responded by e-mail. 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, along with their ADAMS
accession numbers.
1. Letter dated September 1, 2008, with ``Radiological Assessment
Report, Neurogen Corporation, Northeast Industrial Road, Branford, CT
06504,'' dated August 26, 2008;
2. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
3. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E,
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
4. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory
Functions;'' and
5. 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 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania this
2nd day of December 2008.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety,
Region I.
[FR Doc. E8-29083 Filed 12-8-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
