Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for ABB, Inc., Windsor, CT, 31379-31381 [2011-13362]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 31, 2011 / Notices For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Joseph G. Giitter, Director, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. Commission. Telephone: 301–415–2963; e-mail: Eric.Bowman@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: [FR Doc. 2011–13211 Filed 5–27–11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC–2011–0120] Notice of Issuance of Bulletin 2011–01, Mitigating Strategies U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of Issuance. AGENCY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued Bulletin 2011–01 to all holders of operating licenses for nuclear power reactors, except those who have permanently ceased operation and have certified that fuel has been removed from the reactor vessel. The NRC has issued this Bulletin to obtain a comprehensive verification of compliance with the regulatory requirements regarding the conditions of licenses. DATES: The Bulletin was issued on May 11, 2011. ADDRESSES: NRC Bulletin 2011–01: ‘‘Mitigating Strategies’’ is available through the NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under Accession Number: ML111250360. • NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have copied, for a fee, publicly available documents at the NRC’s PDR, O1–F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. • NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are available online in the NRC Library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ adams.html. From this page, the public can gain entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of the NRC’s public documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC’s PDR reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: Eric Bowman, Senior Project Manager, Generic Communications and Power Uprate Branch, Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:27 May 27, 2011 Jkt 223001 The NRC Has Issued This Bulletin for Three Purposes 1. To require that addressees provide a comprehensive verification of their compliance with the regulatory requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.54(hh)(2), 2. To notify addressees about the NRC staff’s need for information associated with licensee mitigating strategies under 10 CFR 50.54(hh)(2) in light of the recent events at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi facility in order to determine if (1) Additional assessment of program implementation is needed, (2) the current inspection program should be enhanced, or (3) further regulatory action is warranted, and 3. To require that addressees provide a written response to the NRC in accordance with 10 CFR 50.54(f). Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of May 2011. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Stacey Rosenberg, Chief, Generic Communications and Power Uprate Branch, Division of Policy and Rulemaking, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 2011–13355 Filed 5–27–11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 030–03754; NRC–2011–0033] Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for ABB, Inc., Windsor, CT U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability. AGENCY: John Nicholson, Project Manager, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, 19406. Telephone: 610–337–5236; fax number: 610–337–5269; e-mail: John.Nicholson@nrc.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a license amendment to Material License No. 06– 00217–06 issued to ABB, Inc. (ABB or, ‘‘the licensee’’), to authorize a revision to PO 00000 Frm 00085 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 31379 the previously approved (June 1, 2004) Decommissioning Plan (DP) for its CE Windsor Site (Facility) located at 2000 Day Hill Road, Windsor, Connecticut. The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this amendment in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The amendment will be issued following the publication of this Notice. II. EA Summary Identification of Proposed Action The purpose of the proposed amendment is to approve a revision, Decommissioning Plan Revision (DP) 2, to the previously approved site DP for the licensee’s facility. The original DP was approved on June 1, 2004, and revision 1 was approved on July 8, 2009. Specifically, this Revision 2 to the approved DP expands the scope of the DP and provides the radiological status and remediation plans for select Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) areas, including the Site Brook and the adjacent Debris Pile. In addition, sitespecific derived concentration guideline limits (DCGLs) for thorium-232 (Th-232) and radium-226 (Ra-226) are provided in the revised DP. Small quantities of Th-232 and Ra-226 were identified during investigational sampling of the Burning Grounds area, and DCGLs have been developed and submitted for approval as an addendum to the DP, Revision 2 (Derivation of the SiteSpecific Soil DCGLs Addendum Soil DCGLs for Thorium and Radium). The revised DP does not change any previously approved remediation activities or DCGLs for uranium or cobalt-60 (Co-60) at the site. On February 26, 2010, and as supplemented on August 6, 2010, ABB, Inc. requested that NRC approve the proposed amendment. The licensee’s request for the proposed change, including an opportunity to request a hearing or provide comments, was previously noticed in the Federal Register on February 15, 2011 (76FR8785). The staff has prepared the EA in support of the proposed license amendment. The proposed actions will allow the licensee to continue to remediate the remainder of the site for eventual unrestricted use pending final status survey results. The licensee has obtained the proper permits from the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection for the planned remediation activities E:\FR\FM\31MYN1.SGM 31MYN1 31380 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 31, 2011 / Notices impacting the Site Brook. The DCGLs established in the DP Revision 2 for Ra226 and Th-232 do not exceed the trigger levels requiring consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Memorandum of Understanding between the EPA and the NRC. mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 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 of 1954, as amended, 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 2009 EA issued in conjunction with the DP Revision 1; the licensee’s Environmental Report submitted on February 28, 2010; and the revised DP submitted in February 2010 and supplemented in August 2010. Additionally, the staff has continuously reviewed the performance of the decommissioning activities conducted by the licensee and their contractors through periodic inspections. The staff concluded that the bases for the findings of the 2004 and 2009 EAs 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 remain appropriate for the contaminant concentrations found in the FUSRAP area 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 areas requiring remediation are similar to those already successfully remediated and decommissioned at the Facility. The amount of waste in FUSRAP areas that will need to be packaged and shipped to a licensed disposal facility is similar to the amounts evaluated in the 2004 and 2009 EAs, and this waste will VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:27 May 27, 2011 Jkt 223001 be packaged and transported to the same disposal facility previously used for non-FUSRAP area remediation activities. The revised DP includes new sitespecific soil DCGLs for Ra-226 and Th232, to support the unrestricted release of the impacted areas of the Burning Grounds. The staff’s technical review confirmed that the licensee’s requested site specific Ra-226 and Th-232 soil DCGLs of 4.5 and 4.0 picocuries/gram, respectively, would result in a maximum annual dose of less than 19 millirem of total effective dose equivalent, considering a resident farmer scenario and using the RESRAD 6.4 computer code to model the input parameters of the scenario and compute the dose to an individual. Because 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 and 2009 EAs thus remain valid for the proposed action. 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 not greater than the impacts found in the 2004 and 2009 EAs, and are bounded by the impacts discussed in NUREG–1496, ‘‘A 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 that 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 nonradiological hazards that may impact the environment surrounding the Facility, and 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. Although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has responsibility PO 00000 Frm 00086 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 for coordinating the radiological clean up in the FUSRAP areas, ABB entered into a formal agreement with the USACE and the NRC to conduct the clean up due to extensive comingling of FUSRAP and NRC licensed materials from past commercial operations in order to facilitate the efficient and effective decommissioning and clean up of the Facility. Therefore, the only alternative to the proposed action to continue the decommissioning process at the Facility is no action. The noaction 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 considered further. 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 remaining FUSRAP areas into the site-wide DP would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment, and a FONSI is appropriate. Therefore, an environmental impact statement is not warranted for the proposed action, and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32. 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 April 29, 2011. On May 16, 2011, Michael Firsick of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection responded by e-mail. The State agreed with the conclusions of the EA. III. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the EA, NRC has concluded that there are no significant E:\FR\FM\31MYN1.SGM 31MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 104 / Tuesday, May 31, 2011 / Notices environmental impacts from the proposed amendment and has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement. amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically through the NRC Library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC’s Agencywide Document Access and Management IV. Further Information Documents related to this action, including the application for 31381 System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC’s public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related to this notice are: Document PDR Web ADAMS NRC staff ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE Windsor Site (Previously Identified FUSRAP Areas Including Debris Piles & Site Brook). August 2010. ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE Windsor Site—Figures. August 2010. ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE Windsor Site—Tables. August 2010. ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE Windsor Site—Appendix A: RESRAD Reports—Resident Farmer Thorium and Radium. August 2010. ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE Windsor Site—Appendix B: Probabilistic Evaluation Graphical Summary. August 2010. ABB, Inc. Derivation of the Site Specific Soil DCGLs, Addendum, Soil DCGLs for thorium and radium. August 2010. Memorandum of Understanding Between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Consultation and Finality on Decommissioning and Decontamination of Contaminated Sites. October 2002. Letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Proposed Process to Decommission and Clean Up the ABB Windsor Site. August 15, 2007. X X ML102310473 ..................... X X X ML102310512 ..................... X X X ML102310479 ..................... X X X ML102310548 ..................... X X X ML102310553 ..................... X X X ML102310539 ..................... X X X ML022830208 ..................... X X X ML072210979 ..................... X 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 Public Document Room (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 18th day of May 2011. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Judith A. Joustra, Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I. [FR Doc. 2011–13362 Filed 5–27–11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES [NRC–2011–0119] Office Of New Reactors; Proposed Revision 4 to Standard Review Plan; Section 8.1 on Electric Power— Introduction U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Solicitation of public comment. AGENCY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:27 May 27, 2011 Jkt 223001 The NRC is soliciting public comment on NUREG–0800, ‘‘Standard Review Plan for the Review of Safety Analysis Reports for Nuclear Power Plants,’’ on a proposed Revision 4 to Standard Review Plan (SRP), Section 8.1 on ‘‘Electric Power—Introduction,’’ (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML111180542). The previous version of this SRP section was published in March, 2007 as proposed Revision 3 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070550067). The current revision issues a new Branch Technical Position (BTP) 8–8 on ‘‘Onsite (Emergency Diesel Generators) and Offsite Power Sources Allowed Outage Time Extensions.’’ (ADAMS Accession No. ML111180521). The new BTP will be added to Chapter 8 of the SRP and Table 8–1 is updated to include the BTP 8–8. The NRC staff issues notices to facilitate timely implementation of the current staff guidance and to facilitate activities associated with the review of amendment applications and review of design certification and combined license applications for NRO. The NRC staff intends to incorporate the final approved guidance into the next revision of NUREG–0800, SRP Section 8.1, Revision 4 and Regulatory Guide 1.206, ‘‘Combined License Applications for Nuclear Power Plants (LWR Edition),’’ June 2007. DATES: Comments must be filed no later than June 30, 2011. Comments received after this date will be considered, if it SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00087 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. Please include Docket ID NRC–2011– 0119 in the subject line of your comments. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will be posted on the NRC Web site and on the Federal rulemaking Web site at https:// www.regulations.gov. Because your comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against including any information in your submission that you do not want to be publicly disclosed. The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not include any information in their comments that they do not want publicly disclosed. Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC–2011–0119. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher at 301–492–3668; e-mail at Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. Mail comments to: Cindy K. Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Division of E:\FR\FM\31MYN1.SGM 31MYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 104 (Tuesday, May 31, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31379-31381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13362]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-03754; NRC-2011-0033]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment for ABB, Inc., Windsor, CT

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Nicholson, Project Manager, 
Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, 
19406. Telephone: 610-337-5236; fax number: 610-337-5269; e-mail: 
John.Nicholson@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a license 
amendment to Material License No. 06-00217-06 issued to ABB, Inc. (ABB 
or, ``the licensee''), to authorize a revision to the previously 
approved (June 1, 2004) Decommissioning Plan (DP) for its CE Windsor 
Site (Facility) located at 2000 Day Hill Road, Windsor, Connecticut. 
The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of 
this amendment in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. 
Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant 
Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The amendment will be issued following 
the publication of this Notice.

II. EA Summary

Identification of Proposed Action

    The purpose of the proposed amendment is to approve a revision, 
Decommissioning Plan Revision (DP) 2, to the previously approved site 
DP for the licensee's facility. The original DP was approved on June 1, 
2004, and revision 1 was approved on July 8, 2009. Specifically, this 
Revision 2 to the approved DP expands the scope of the DP and provides 
the radiological status and remediation plans for select Formerly 
Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) areas, including the 
Site Brook and the adjacent Debris Pile. In addition, site-specific 
derived concentration guideline limits (DCGLs) for thorium-232 (Th-232) 
and radium-226 (Ra-226) are provided in the revised DP. Small 
quantities of Th-232 and Ra-226 were identified during investigational 
sampling of the Burning Grounds area, and DCGLs have been developed and 
submitted for approval as an addendum to the DP, Revision 2 (Derivation 
of the Site-Specific Soil DCGLs Addendum Soil DCGLs for Thorium and 
Radium). The revised DP does not change any previously approved 
remediation activities or DCGLs for uranium or cobalt-60 (Co-60) at the 
site. On February 26, 2010, and as supplemented on August 6, 2010, ABB, 
Inc. requested that NRC approve the proposed amendment. The licensee's 
request for the proposed change, including an opportunity to request a 
hearing or provide comments, was previously noticed in the Federal 
Register on February 15, 2011 (76FR8785).
    The staff has prepared the EA in support of the proposed license 
amendment. The proposed actions will allow the licensee to continue to 
remediate the remainder of the site for eventual unrestricted use 
pending final status survey results. The licensee has obtained the 
proper permits from the State of Connecticut Department of 
Environmental Protection for the planned remediation activities

[[Page 31380]]

impacting the Site Brook. The DCGLs established in the DP Revision 2 
for Ra-226 and Th-232 do not exceed the trigger levels requiring 
consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under 
the Memorandum of Understanding between the EPA and the NRC.

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 of 1954, as amended, 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 2009 EA issued in conjunction with 
the DP Revision 1; the licensee's Environmental Report submitted on 
February 28, 2010; and the revised DP submitted in February 2010 and 
supplemented in August 2010. Additionally, the staff has continuously 
reviewed the performance of the decommissioning activities conducted by 
the licensee and their contractors through periodic inspections. The 
staff concluded that the bases for the findings of the 2004 and 2009 
EAs 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 remain appropriate for the 
contaminant concentrations found in the FUSRAP area 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 areas requiring remediation are 
similar to those already successfully remediated and decommissioned at 
the Facility. The amount of waste in FUSRAP areas that will need to be 
packaged and shipped to a licensed disposal facility is similar to the 
amounts evaluated in the 2004 and 2009 EAs, and this waste will be 
packaged and transported to the same disposal facility previously used 
for non-FUSRAP area remediation activities.
    The revised DP includes new site-specific soil DCGLs for Ra-226 and 
Th-232, to support the unrestricted release of the impacted areas of 
the Burning Grounds. The staff's technical review confirmed that the 
licensee's requested site specific Ra-226 and Th-232 soil DCGLs of 4.5 
and 4.0 picocuries/gram, respectively, would result in a maximum annual 
dose of less than 19 millirem of total effective dose equivalent, 
considering a resident farmer scenario and using the RESRAD 6.4 
computer code to model the input parameters of the scenario and compute 
the dose to an individual. Because 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 and 2009 EAs thus remain valid for the proposed action.
    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 not greater than the impacts found in the 2004 and 2009 EAs, 
and are bounded by the impacts discussed in NUREG-1496, ``A 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 that 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, and 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. Although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has 
responsibility for coordinating the radiological clean up in the FUSRAP 
areas, ABB entered into a formal agreement with the USACE and the NRC 
to conduct the clean up due to extensive comingling of FUSRAP and NRC 
licensed materials from past commercial operations in order to 
facilitate the efficient and effective decommissioning and clean up of 
the Facility. 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 considered further.

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 remaining FUSRAP 
areas into the site-wide DP would not significantly affect the quality 
of the human environment, and a FONSI is appropriate. Therefore, an 
environmental impact statement is not warranted for the proposed 
action, and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32.

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 April 29, 2011. On May 16, 2011, Michael Firsick of the Connecticut 
Department of Environmental Protection responded by e-mail. The State 
agreed with the conclusions of the EA.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA, NRC has concluded that there are no 
significant

[[Page 31381]]

environmental impacts from the proposed amendment and has determined 
not to prepare an environmental impact statement.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically 
through the NRC Library 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 ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related to this 
notice are:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Document                        PDR     Web                 ADAMS                 NRC staff
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE        X       X   ML102310473......................           X
 Windsor Site (Previously Identified FUSRAP
 Areas Including Debris Piles & Site Brook).
 August 2010.
ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE        X       X   ML102310512......................           X
 Windsor Site--Figures. August 2010.
ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE        X       X   ML102310479......................           X
 Windsor Site--Tables. August 2010.
ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE        X       X   ML102310548......................           X
 Windsor Site--Appendix A: RESRAD Reports--
 Resident Farmer Thorium and Radium. August
 2010.
ABB, Inc. Decommissioning Plan, Revision 2, CE        X       X   ML102310553......................           X
 Windsor Site--Appendix B: Probabilistic
 Evaluation Graphical Summary. August 2010.
ABB, Inc. Derivation of the Site Specific Soil        X       X   ML102310539......................           X
 DCGLs, Addendum, Soil DCGLs for thorium and
 radium. August 2010.
Memorandum of Understanding Between the               X       X   ML022830208......................           X
 Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear
 Regulatory Commission, Consultation and
 Finality on Decommissioning and Decontamination
 of Contaminated Sites. October 2002.
Letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from U.S.      X       X   ML072210979......................           X
 Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Proposed
 Process to Decommission and Clean Up the ABB
 Windsor Site. August 15, 2007.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 Public Document Room (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 18th day of May 
2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Judith A. Joustra,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. 2011-13362 Filed 5-27-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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