Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Materials License No. 06-00217-06, for Remediation of Portions of a Site in Windsor, CT, 31770-31772 [E9-15619]
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31770
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 126 / Thursday, July 2, 2009 / Notices
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 25th day
of June 2009.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
Robert E. Einziger,
Acting Chief, Structural Mechanics and
Materials Branch, Division of Spent Fuel
Storage and Transportation, Office of Nuclear
Materials Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E9–15620 Filed 7–1–09; 8:45 am]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2009–0272; Docket No. 03003754]
Notice of Availability of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License
Amendment to Materials License No.
06–00217–06, for Remediation of
Portions of a Site in Windsor, CT
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental
Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License
Amendment.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
James Schmidt, (610) 337–5276; or John
Nicholson, (610) 337–5236; Health
Physicist, Decommissioning Branch,
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety,
Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406; fax
number (610) 337–5269; or by e-mail:
jim.schmidt@nrc.gov;
john.nicholson@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering the
issuance of a license amendment to
Materials License No. 06–00217–06
issued to ABB Inc. (ABB or the
Licensee). ABB submitted the
amendment request by letter dated
December 31, 2008. The proposed
action would authorize ABB to conduct
remediation in place of the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (USACE), at portions
of the ABB site designated as Formally
Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program
(FUSRAP) areas. The ABB site, a 612acre parcel located at 2000 Day Hill
Road, in Windsor, Connecticut (the
Facility), is currently undergoing sitewide decommissioning. The Facility’s
FUSRAP areas will be cleaned up by the
Licensee with NRC oversight, in
accordance with an agreement between
the NRC and USACE dated August 15,
2007. Under this agreement, USACE
will suspend its FUSRAP activities at
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15:35 Jul 01, 2009
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Need for the Proposed Action
II. Environmental Assessment
Identification of Proposed Action
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
the Facility after the Licensee modifies
its previously-approved site
decommissioning plan (DP) by bringing
within its scope cleanup of the FUSRAP
areas. To accomplish this, the Licensee
submitted a revised DP for NRC review
and approval as part of its December 31,
2008, application.
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.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
The proposed action would approve
the Licensee’s December 31, 2008,
license amendment request. The scope
of the DP (initially approved on June 1,
2004) will be expanded to authorize
ABB to conduct remediation activities
for select FUSRAP areas at its Facility.
Changes in the revised DP were
generally limited to an update to reflect
the successful remediation of the nonFUSRAP Facility areas, and a
description of the remaining Facility
areas to be remediated. However, the
revised DP does include new derived
concentration guideline levels (DCGLs)
for uranium and cobalt-60, to be used
for one structure: The south portion of
Building 3, that will remain in place
following completion of the remediation
activities. Areas to be remediated under
the revised DP include all FUSRAP
areas except the Debris Pile area and
Site Brook area. These areas are located
in wetlands and will be the subject of
a future DP amendment. The specific
FUSRAP areas to be remediated
included the removal of part of the five
acre Building 3 Complex; removal of the
one acre Building 6 Complex; removal
of the industrial, waste, and sanitary
lines associated with the Building
Complexes; excavation of the seven acre
Woods Area; and excavation of the one
acre Drum Burial Pit area. Additionally,
the revised DP provided for the
Licensee’s remediation of a two acre
area termed the Burning Grounds which
is contaminated with small quantities of
radium-226 and thorium-232. This area
was previously remediated to existing
NRC standards and approved for
unrestricted use by the NRC on August
10, 1989.
In preparing this EA, the NRC staff
reviewed the 2004 EA issued in
connection with the initial DP; the
Licensee’s Environmental Report
submitted on February 28, 2008; and the
revised DP submitted on December 31,
2008. Additionally, the staff reviewed
the performance of the
decommissioning activities completed
by the Licensee to date. The staff
concluded that the bases for the findings
of the 2004 EA remain valid, and are
applicable to the revised DP. Regarding
remediation of the FUSRAP areas,
decommissioning methodologies are
unchanged from the initial approved DP
and are appropriate for the contaminant
concentrations found in the FUSRAP
area structures and soils. The same
isotopes that were present in the
Facility’s non-FUSRAP areas (namely,
those associated with enriched uranium
and cobalt-60) exist in the FUSRAP
areas as well. The FUSRAP buildings
and areas requiring remediation are
similar to those already successfully
remediated and decommissioned at the
Facility. The amount of waste in
FUSRAP areas which will need to be
packaged and shipped to a licensed
disposal facility is similar to the
amounts evaluated in the 2004 EA, and
this waste will be packaged and
transported to the same disposal facility
previously used for non-FUSRAP area
remediation activities.
As stated above, the revised DP
includes a new site specific building
DCGL, to support the unrestricted
release of the southern portion, or High
Bay, of Building 3. The staff’s technical
review confirmed that the licensee’s
requested site specific total uranium
and cobalt-60 building DCGLs of 20,148,
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
The proposed action would allow
ABB to complete the remaining Facility
remediation and decommissioning
activities, thereby reducing residual
radioactivity at the Facility to a level
that permits release of the entire
property for unrestricted use and
termination of the license. The Licensee
has been successfully remediating and
decommissioning the Facility since
2004 under the previously-approved DP.
In order to complete remediation of the
entire Facility, the FUSRAP areas must
be remediated. NRC is fulfilling its
responsibilities under the Atomic
Energy Act to make a decision on a
proposed license amendment for
decommissioning that ensures safety
and protection of the public and the
environment.
E:\FR\FM\02JYN1.SGM
02JYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 126 / Thursday, July 2, 2009 / Notices
and 6,980 disintegrations per 100 square
centimeters, respectively, would result
in a maximum annual dose of less than
19 millirem of total effective dose
equivalent to an average member of a
critical group occupying the remaining
structure. Since this dose is less than 25
millrem per year, use of these DCGLs
will meet the radiological criteria for
unrestricted release specified in 10 CFR
20.1402. The conclusions of the 2004
EA thus remain valid here for the
proposed action.
The revised decommissioning plan
included additional remediation for the
Burning Grounds which was previously
cleaned up to NRC standards and
approved for unrestricted use in 1989.
The licensee is performing this
additional remediation because the
existing contaminates remaining in this
area are slightly above decommissioning
screening values presently being used
by the NRC staff. The staff reviewed the
licensee’s proposal to use postremediation soil DCGLs of 1.1 and 0.6
picocuries per gram of soil for the
isotopes of thorium-232 and radium226, respectively, which are the
screening values listed in Table B.2 of
NUREG 1757, ‘‘Consolidated NMSS
Decommissioning Guidance,’’ Volume
1, Revision 2. These values correspond
to surface soil concentrations that the
NRC staff has deemed are in compliance
with the unrestricted release
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402, and are
thus consistent with the 2004 EA
findings.
In summary, NRC staff has reviewed
the revised decommissioning plan for
the Facility, and examined the impact of
the proposed additional
decommissioning activities. Based upon
its review, the staff has determined that
environmental impacts associated with
the proposed action are no greater than
the impacts found in the 2004 EA, and
are bounded by the impacts discussed
in NUREG 1496, ‘‘Generic
Environmental Impact Statement in
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological
Criteria for License Termination of NRCLicensed Nuclear Facilities,’’ Volumes
1–3. The staff finds there have been no
significant environmental impacts to
date from the use and cleanup of
radioactive material at the Facility. The
NRC staff reviewed the docket file
records to identify any non-radiological
hazards that may impact 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.
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15:35 Jul 01, 2009
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The staff has considered the impact of
the proposed FUSRAP area remediation
at the Facility, and finds that the
proposed action will not have a
significant impact on the quality of the
human environment.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
The Facility is in the process of being
decommissioned under an approved DP,
and the NRC has agreed to allow ABB
to conduct the remediation of the
FUSRAP areas as part of a formal
agreement with the USACE. Therefore,
the only alternative to the proposed
action to continue the decommissioning
process at the Facility is no action. The
no-action alternative is not acceptable
because it is inconsistent with NRC’s
Timeliness Rule (10 CFR 30.36), which
requires licensees to decommission
their facilities when licensed activities
cease and to request termination of their
radioactive materials license. Although
termination of the NRC and USACE
agreement would result in unnecessary
remediation and decommissioning
delay, the environmental impacts
created by the action would be
unchanged. 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 reviewed the
environmental impacts of the proposed
action in accordance with the
requirements of 10 CFR 51 and NRC’s
unrestricted release criteria specified in
10 CFR 20.1402. The NRC staff has
determined that incorporating the
Facility’s FUSRAP areas into the sitewide DP would not significantly affect
the quality of the human environment.
Therefore, an environmental impact
statement is not warranted for the
proposed action, and pursuant to 10
CFR 51.32, a FONSI is appropriate.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
This EA was prepared by NRC staff
and coordinated with the following
agencies: Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Services. NRC
provided a draft of this EA to the
Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection for review on
May 20, 2009. On June 19, 2009,
Michael Firsick of the Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection
responded by e-mail. The State agreed
with the conclusions of the EA,
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31771
however, they included a letter dated
June 19, 2009, indicating that ABB had
not submitted the requested surveys to
indicate the presence of two State
species of special concern occurring in
the project vicinity: Eastern box turtle
(Terrapene carolina) and Eastern
hognose snake (Heterodon platirhinos).
On June 24, 2009, Mr. Firsick reported
by e-mail that the issues identified in
the June 19, 2009, letter had been
appropriately resolved with ABB.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
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 FONSI 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
Documents 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. NUREG–1757, ‘‘Consolidated
NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;’’
2. Title 10 Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E,
‘‘Radiological Criteria for License
Termination;’’
3. Title 10, Code of Federal
Regulations, Part 51, ‘‘Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic
Licensing and Related Regulatory
Functions;’’
4. NUREG–1496, ‘‘Generic
Environmental Impact Statement in
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological
Criteria for License Termination of
NRC–Licensed Nuclear Facilities’’
(ML042310492, ML042320379, and
ML042330385);
5. NRC letter and safety evaluation
report to Combustion Engineering, Inc.
authorizing unrestricted release of the
woods area (Burning Grounds) dated
August 10, 1989 (ML091400662);
6. ABB letter to NRC dated October
15, 2003, ‘‘Application for Amendment
of Materials License 06–00217–06’’
dated October 15, 2003 (ML033080245,
ML033080248, and ML033080252);
7. Enclosure II to ABB letter dated
October 15, 2003 ‘‘CE Windsor Site
Decommissioning Plan, October 15,
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 126 / Thursday, July 2, 2009 / Notices
2003’’ (ML033080254, ML033080258,
ML033080273, ML033080279,
ML033080310, and ML033080313);
8. Enclosure III to ABB letter dated
October 15, 2003 ‘‘CE Windsor Site
Derivation of Site-Specific DCGLs,
September 2003’’ (ML033080318,
ML033080320, ML033080327,
ML033080334, ML033080341,
ML033080346, ML033080352,
ML033080356, and ML033080366);
9. ‘‘Environmental Assessment of the
Proposed Decommissioning Plan for the
ABB Prospects, Inc. Windsor,
Connecticut Facility’’ dated May 20,
2004 (ML041400413);
10. NRC letter to the USACE dated
August 15, 2007, ‘‘Proposed Process To
Decommission and Cleanup the ABB
Windsor Site’’ (ML072210979);
11. ABB letter to NRC dated February
28, 2008, ‘‘Subject: Environmental
Information Report’’ (ML080850764,
ML080850789);
12. ABB letter to the NRC dated
December 31, 2008, ‘‘Application for
Amendment of Materials License 06–
00217–06’’ (ML090160123,
ML090160128, ML090160370, and
ML090160378);
13. Attachment 4 to ABB letter dated
December 31, 2008, ‘‘CE Windsor Site
Decommissioning Plan, Revision 1,
December 2008’’ (ML090160381,
ML090160388, and ML090160396);
14. Attachment 5 to ABB letter dated
December 31, 2008. ‘‘CE Windsor Site
Development of Building DCGLs,
Revision 0, December 2008’’
(ML090160458, ML090160469,
ML090160478, and ML090160487); and
15. State of Connecticut Department
of Environmental Protection e-mail
regarding actions to be taken for two
State species of special concern
occurring in the CE Windsor Site
vicinity dated June 19, 2009
(ML091730286).
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 Region I, 475 Allendale Road,
King of Prussia, PA, this 25th day of June
2009.
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15:35 Jul 01, 2009
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For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Judith Joustra,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I.
[FR Doc. E9–15619 Filed 7–1–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2009–0267; Docket No. 50–289]
Exelon Generation Company, LLC;
Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit
1; Notice of Availability of the Final
Supplement 37 to the Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,
Regarding the License Renewal of
Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit
1
Notice is hereby given that the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC
or Commission) has published a final
plant-specific supplement to the
‘‘Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for License Renewal of
Nuclear Plants’’ (GEIS), NUREG–1437,
regarding the renewal of operating
license DPR–50 for an additional 20
years of operation for Three Mile Island
Nuclear Station, Unit 1 (TMI–1). TMI–
1 is located in Londonderry Township
in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on
the northern end of Three Mile Island
near the eastern shore of the
Susquehanna River. Possible
alternatives to the proposed action
(license renewal) include no action and
reasonable alternative energy sources.
As discussed in Section 9.4 of the
final Supplement 37, based on: (1) The
analysis and findings in the GEIS; (2)
the Environmental Report submitted by
Exelon Generation Company, LLC; (3)
consultation with Federal, State, and
local agencies; (4) the NRC staff’s own
independent review; and (5) the NRC
staff’s consideration of public
comments, the NRC determined that the
adverse environmental impacts of
license renewal for TMI–1 are not so
great that preserving the option of
license renewal for energy-planning
decisionmakers would be unreasonable.
The final Supplement 37 to the GEIS
is publicly available at the NRC Public
Document Room (PDR), located at One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or
from the NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS). The ADAMS Public
Electronic Reading Room is accessible at
https://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/
dologin.htm. The accession number for
the final Supplement 37 to the GEIS is
ML091751063. Persons who do not have
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access to ADAMS, or who encounter
problems in accessing the documents
located in ADAMS, should contact the
NRC’s PDR reference staff by telephone
at 1–800–397–4209, or 301–415–4737,
or by e-mail at pdr.resource@nrc.gov. In
addition, the following three locations
have agreed to make the final
supplement to the GEIS available for
public inspection: Londonderry
Township Municipal Building, 783
South Geyers Church Road,
Middletown, PA 17057; Middletown
Public Library, 20 North Catherine
Street, Middletown, PA 17057; and
Penn State Harrisburg Library, 351
Olmsted Drive, Middletown, PA 17057.
For Further Information Contact:Ms.
Sarah Lopas, Projects Branch 1, Division
of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop O–
11F1, Washington, DC 20555–0001. Ms.
Lopas may be contacted by telephone at
1–800–368–5642, extension 1147 or via
e-mail at Sarah.Lopas@nrc.gov.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day
of June 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David L. Pelton,
Chief, Projects Branch 1, Division of License
Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9–15637 Filed 7–1–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Advisory Committee on Reactor
Safeguards; Meeting of the Plant
Operations and Fire Protection
Subcommittee; Notice of Meeting
The ACRS Subcommittee on Plant
Operations & Fire Protection will hold
a meeting on July 30, 2009, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission Region II, Sam
Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, 23 T85, 61
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, GA 30303–
8931.
This meeting will be open to public
attendance.
The agenda for the subject meeting
shall be as follows:
July 30, 2009—8 a.m.–3 p.m.
The Subcommittee will meet with the
Administrator and Region II staff on
items of mutual interest. The
Subcommittee will gather information,
analyze relevant issues and facts, and
formulate proposed positions and
actions, as appropriate, for deliberation
by the Full Committee at a later date.
Members of the public desiring to
observe the meeting, provide oral
statements and/or written comments
E:\FR\FM\02JYN1.SGM
02JYN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 126 (Thursday, July 2, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31770-31772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15619]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2009-0272; Docket No. 03003754]
Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Materials License No.
06-00217-06, for Remediation of Portions of a Site in Windsor, CT
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact for License Amendment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Schmidt, (610) 337-5276; or John
Nicholson, (610) 337-5236; Health Physicist, Decommissioning Branch,
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road,
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406; fax number (610) 337-5269; or by
e-mail: jim.schmidt@nrc.gov; john.nicholson@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the
issuance of a license amendment to Materials License No. 06-00217-06
issued to ABB Inc. (ABB or the Licensee). ABB submitted the amendment
request by letter dated December 31, 2008. The proposed action would
authorize ABB to conduct remediation in place of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE), at portions of the ABB site designated as Formally
Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) areas. The ABB site, a
612-acre parcel located at 2000 Day Hill Road, in Windsor, Connecticut
(the Facility), is currently undergoing site-wide decommissioning. The
Facility's FUSRAP areas will be cleaned up by the Licensee with NRC
oversight, in accordance with an agreement between the NRC and USACE
dated August 15, 2007. Under this agreement, USACE will suspend its
FUSRAP activities at the Facility after the Licensee modifies its
previously-approved site decommissioning plan (DP) by bringing within
its scope cleanup of the FUSRAP areas. To accomplish this, the Licensee
submitted a revised DP for NRC review and approval as part of its
December 31, 2008, application.
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 December 31, 2008,
license amendment request. The scope of the DP (initially approved on
June 1, 2004) will be expanded to authorize ABB to conduct remediation
activities for select FUSRAP areas at its Facility.
Changes in the revised DP were generally limited to an update to
reflect the successful remediation of the non-FUSRAP Facility areas,
and a description of the remaining Facility areas to be remediated.
However, the revised DP does include new derived concentration
guideline levels (DCGLs) for uranium and cobalt-60, to be used for one
structure: The south portion of Building 3, that will remain in place
following completion of the remediation activities. Areas to be
remediated under the revised DP include all FUSRAP areas except the
Debris Pile area and Site Brook area. These areas are located in
wetlands and will be the subject of a future DP amendment. The specific
FUSRAP areas to be remediated included the removal of part of the five
acre Building 3 Complex; removal of the one acre Building 6 Complex;
removal of the industrial, waste, and sanitary lines associated with
the Building Complexes; excavation of the seven acre Woods Area; and
excavation of the one acre Drum Burial Pit area. Additionally, the
revised DP provided for the Licensee's remediation of a two acre area
termed the Burning Grounds which is contaminated with small quantities
of radium-226 and thorium-232. This area was previously remediated to
existing NRC standards and approved for unrestricted use by the NRC on
August 10, 1989.
Need for the Proposed Action
The proposed action would allow ABB to complete the remaining
Facility remediation and decommissioning activities, thereby reducing
residual radioactivity at the Facility to a level that permits release
of the entire property for unrestricted use and termination of the
license. The Licensee has been successfully remediating and
decommissioning the Facility since 2004 under the previously-approved
DP. In order to complete remediation of the entire Facility, the FUSRAP
areas must be remediated. NRC is fulfilling its responsibilities under
the Atomic Energy Act to make a decision on a proposed license
amendment for decommissioning that ensures safety and protection of the
public and the environment.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
In preparing this EA, the NRC staff reviewed the 2004 EA issued in
connection with the initial DP; the Licensee's Environmental Report
submitted on February 28, 2008; and the revised DP submitted on
December 31, 2008. Additionally, the staff reviewed the performance of
the decommissioning activities completed by the Licensee to date. The
staff concluded that the bases for the findings of the 2004 EA remain
valid, and are applicable to the revised DP. Regarding remediation of
the FUSRAP areas, decommissioning methodologies are unchanged from the
initial approved DP and are appropriate for the contaminant
concentrations found in the FUSRAP area structures and soils. The same
isotopes that were present in the Facility's non-FUSRAP areas (namely,
those associated with enriched uranium and cobalt-60) exist in the
FUSRAP areas as well. The FUSRAP buildings and areas requiring
remediation are similar to those already successfully remediated and
decommissioned at the Facility. The amount of waste in FUSRAP areas
which will need to be packaged and shipped to a licensed disposal
facility is similar to the amounts evaluated in the 2004 EA, and this
waste will be packaged and transported to the same disposal facility
previously used for non-FUSRAP area remediation activities.
As stated above, the revised DP includes a new site specific
building DCGL, to support the unrestricted release of the southern
portion, or High Bay, of Building 3. The staff's technical review
confirmed that the licensee's requested site specific total uranium and
cobalt-60 building DCGLs of 20,148,
[[Page 31771]]
and 6,980 disintegrations per 100 square centimeters, respectively,
would result in a maximum annual dose of less than 19 millirem of total
effective dose equivalent to an average member of a critical group
occupying the remaining structure. Since this dose is less than 25
millrem per year, use of these DCGLs will meet the radiological
criteria for unrestricted release specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. The
conclusions of the 2004 EA thus remain valid here for the proposed
action.
The revised decommissioning plan included additional remediation
for the Burning Grounds which was previously cleaned up to NRC
standards and approved for unrestricted use in 1989. The licensee is
performing this additional remediation because the existing
contaminates remaining in this area are slightly above decommissioning
screening values presently being used by the NRC staff. The staff
reviewed the licensee's proposal to use post-remediation soil DCGLs of
1.1 and 0.6 picocuries per gram of soil for the isotopes of thorium-232
and radium-226, respectively, which are the screening values listed in
Table B.2 of NUREG 1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning
Guidance,'' Volume 1, Revision 2. These values correspond to surface
soil concentrations that the NRC staff has deemed are in compliance
with the unrestricted release requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402, and are
thus consistent with the 2004 EA findings.
In summary, NRC staff has reviewed the revised decommissioning plan
for the Facility, and examined the impact of the proposed additional
decommissioning activities. Based upon its review, the staff has
determined that environmental impacts associated with the proposed
action are no greater than the impacts found in the 2004 EA, and are
bounded by the impacts discussed in NUREG 1496, ``Generic Environmental
Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for
License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities,'' Volumes 1-3.
The staff finds there have been no significant environmental impacts to
date from the use and cleanup of radioactive material at the Facility.
The NRC staff reviewed the docket file records to identify any non-
radiological hazards that may impact 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 staff has considered the impact of the proposed FUSRAP area
remediation at the Facility, and finds that the proposed action will
not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
The Facility is in the process of being decommissioned under an
approved DP, and the NRC has agreed to allow ABB to conduct the
remediation of the FUSRAP areas as part of a formal agreement with the
USACE. Therefore, the only alternative to the proposed action to
continue the decommissioning process at the Facility is no action. The
no-action alternative is not acceptable because it is inconsistent with
NRC's Timeliness Rule (10 CFR 30.36), which requires licensees to
decommission their facilities when licensed activities cease and to
request termination of their radioactive materials license. Although
termination of the NRC and USACE agreement would result in unnecessary
remediation and decommissioning delay, the environmental impacts
created by the action would be unchanged. 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 reviewed the environmental impacts of the proposed
action in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 51 and NRC's
unrestricted release criteria specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. The NRC
staff has determined that incorporating the Facility's FUSRAP areas
into the site-wide DP would not significantly affect the quality of the
human environment. Therefore, an environmental impact statement is not
warranted for the proposed action, and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, a
FONSI is appropriate.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
This EA was prepared by NRC staff and coordinated with the
following agencies: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. NRC provided a draft of this
EA to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for review
on May 20, 2009. On June 19, 2009, Michael Firsick of the Connecticut
Department of Environmental Protection responded by e-mail. The State
agreed with the conclusions of the EA, however, they included a letter
dated June 19, 2009, indicating that ABB had not submitted the
requested surveys to indicate the presence of two State species of
special concern occurring in the project vicinity: Eastern box turtle
(Terrapene carolina) and Eastern hognose snake (Heterodon platirhinos).
On June 24, 2009, Mr. Firsick reported by e-mail that the issues
identified in the June 19, 2009, letter had been appropriately resolved
with ABB.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
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 FONSI 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 Documents 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. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
2. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E,
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
3. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory
Functions;''
4. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' (ML042310492, ML042320379, and
ML042330385);
5. NRC letter and safety evaluation report to Combustion
Engineering, Inc. authorizing unrestricted release of the woods area
(Burning Grounds) dated August 10, 1989 (ML091400662);
6. ABB letter to NRC dated October 15, 2003, ``Application for
Amendment of Materials License 06-00217-06'' dated October 15, 2003
(ML033080245, ML033080248, and ML033080252);
7. Enclosure II to ABB letter dated October 15, 2003 ``CE Windsor
Site Decommissioning Plan, October 15,
[[Page 31772]]
2003'' (ML033080254, ML033080258, ML033080273, ML033080279,
ML033080310, and ML033080313);
8. Enclosure III to ABB letter dated October 15, 2003 ``CE Windsor
Site Derivation of Site-Specific DCGLs, September 2003'' (ML033080318,
ML033080320, ML033080327, ML033080334, ML033080341, ML033080346,
ML033080352, ML033080356, and ML033080366);
9. ``Environmental Assessment of the Proposed Decommissioning Plan
for the ABB Prospects, Inc. Windsor, Connecticut Facility'' dated May
20, 2004 (ML041400413);
10. NRC letter to the USACE dated August 15, 2007, ``Proposed
Process To Decommission and Cleanup the ABB Windsor Site''
(ML072210979);
11. ABB letter to NRC dated February 28, 2008, ``Subject:
Environmental Information Report'' (ML080850764, ML080850789);
12. ABB letter to the NRC dated December 31, 2008, ``Application
for Amendment of Materials License 06-00217-06'' (ML090160123,
ML090160128, ML090160370, and ML090160378);
13. Attachment 4 to ABB letter dated December 31, 2008, ``CE
Windsor Site Decommissioning Plan, Revision 1, December 2008''
(ML090160381, ML090160388, and ML090160396);
14. Attachment 5 to ABB letter dated December 31, 2008. ``CE
Windsor Site Development of Building DCGLs, Revision 0, December 2008''
(ML090160458, ML090160469, ML090160478, and ML090160487); and
15. State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection e-
mail regarding actions to be taken for two State species of special
concern occurring in the CE Windsor Site vicinity dated June 19, 2009
(ML091730286).
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 Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA, this
25th day of June 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Judith Joustra,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety,
Region I.
[FR Doc. E9-15619 Filed 7-1-09; 8:45 am]
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