Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 29-28005-01 Partial Unrestricted Release of the Sarnoff Corporation's Facility in Princeton, NJ, 49901-49902 [E9-23456]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49901-49902]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-23456]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0428; Docket No. 030-29879]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 29-28005-01 Partial Unrestricted Release of the Sarnoff 
Corporation's Facility in Princeton, NJ

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for license amendment.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Lawyer, Health Physicist, 
Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 
I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone 610-
337-5366; fax number 610-337-5269 or by e-mail: dennis.lawyer@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. 29-
28005-01. This license is held by The Sarnoff Corporation (the 
Licensee), for its facility located at 201 Washington Road in 
Princeton, New Jersey (the Facility). Issuance of the amendment would 
authorize release of Rooms EN-302, EN-307, and the Pond Building for 
unrestricted use. The amendment would also remove tritium from the 
materials authorized on the license as the licensee has provided 
surveys for the one laboratory which used tritium and will be used for 
other materials in the future. The Licensee requested this action in a 
letter dated April 14, 2009 and clarified its request in the additional 
information letter dated June 25, 2009. 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 April 14, 2009, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of Rooms EN-302, EN-
307, and the Pond Building for unrestricted use and removal of tritium 
from the material authorization. License No. 29-28005-01 was issued on 
June 16, 1987, 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 254 acres in a 600,000 square foot 
building, and consists of office space and laboratories. The Facility 
is located in a residential area. The use of unsealed radioactive 
materials with a half life of greater than 120 days was confined to 
1,413 square feet within the Facility.
    The Licensee ceased licensed activities in Room EN-307 about July 
1, 1998; Room EN-302 on February 6, 1996; and the Pond Building in 2001 
and initiated a survey and decontamination of the respective rooms. 
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 Rooms EN-302, 
EN-307, and the Pond Building and provided information to the NRC to 
demonstrate that it meets the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 
for unrestricted release. The licensee also conducted a survey on July 
7, 2009, of the laboratory that had used hydrogen 3 and will be used 
for other materials in the future but the survey demonstrates that it 
could meet the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted 
release if it were being released at this time.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities in Rooms EN-
302, EN-307, and the Pond Building at the Facility, and seeks the 
unrestricted use of these areas. The licensee seeks the removal of 
hydrogen 3 material from their license.

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. 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 on February 8, 1996, for Room EN-302; July 15, 1998, for EN-307; 
and April 16, 2002, for the Pond Building. The final status survey 
report was attached to the Licensee's additional information letter 
dated July 16, 2009. 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 
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 
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

[[Page 49902]]

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 portion of the 
Facility described above for unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 
CFR 20.1402. Although the Licensee will continue to perform licensed 
activities at other parts of the Facility, the Licensee must ensure 
that this decommissioned area does not become recontaminated. Before 
the license can be terminated, the Licensee will be required to show 
that the entire Facility, including previously-released areas, complies 
with the radiological criteria in 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 Rooms EN-302, EN-307, and 
the Pond Building meet the requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for 
unrestricted release. 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 New 
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for review on August 11, 
2009. On September 10, 2009, New Jersey Bureau of Environmental 
Radiation 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 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;''
    5. The Sarnoff Corporation Amendment requested dated April 14, 2009 
[ML091110218];
    6. The Sarnoff Corporation additional information letter dated June 
25, 2009 [ML092010369];
    7. The Sarnoff Corporation additional information letter dated July 
16, 2009 [ML092010261]; and
    8. The Sarnoff Corporation additional Information letter dated July 
17, 2009 [ML092080374].
    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.Resource@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 
23rd day of September 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E9-23456 Filed 9-28-09; 8:45 am]
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