[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 90 (Monday, May 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25934-25935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-10517]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Number 030-34325]
Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of
No Significant Impact for Release of Facility for Unrestricted Use for
the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bath, NY
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
of No Significant Impact.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Snell, Division of Nuclear
Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region III, 2443
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; telephone (630) 829-9871; or
by e-mail at wgs@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 25935]]
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the
release of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Medical Center in
Bath, New York, for unrestricted use.
The NRC staff has prepared this environmental assessment (EA) to
support this licensing action 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
The purpose of the proposed action is to release the DVA Medical
Center in Bath, New York, for unrestricted use. Although the Bath, New
York facility is not a permittee under the DVA NRC Master Material
License (MML) Number 03-23853-01VA, the DVA requested the NRC review
and approve the facility for unrestricted release because radioactive
byproduct material was identified at the facility. The approval is
consistent with a March 17, 2003, Letter of Understanding (LOU) between
the NRC and DVA for DVA permittees. The LOU requires the DVA to submit
for NRC review, permittee requests for the release of buildings for
unrestricted use where radioactive materials with a half-life greater
than 120 days were used. During a special inspection at the Medical
Center in Bath, the DVA discovered radioactive materials in the form of
five old stock vials of carbon-14, four carbon-14 standards, and four
hydrogen-3 standards, which have half-lives greater than 120 days. On
November 20, 2003, the DVA submitted a request to the NRC, consistent
with the LOU, to release the Medical Center in Bath, New York, for
unrestricted use. The DVA Medical Center provided survey results which
demonstrated that the facilities were in compliance with Title 10, Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) 20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria for
Unrestricted Use.'' No radiological remediation activities are required
to complete the proposed action. The NRC staff has reviewed the
information provided and surveys performed by the DVA to demonstrate
compliance with the license termination criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR
20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use,'' to ensure the
NRC's decision is protective of public health and safety and the
environment.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The staff has prepared the EA (summarized above) in support of the
DVA's request to release the DVA Medical Center in Bath, New York, for
unrestricted use. Based on its review, the staff has determined that
the affected environment and the environmental impacts associated with
the decommissioning of the DVA's facilities 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). Additionally, no non-
radiological impacts were identified. The staff also finds that the
proposed release for unrestricted use of the DVA's facilities is in
compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402, and finds no other activities in the
area that could result in cumulative impacts. On the basis of the EA,
the staff has concluded that the environmental impacts from the
proposed action would not be significant. Accordingly, the staff has
determined that a FONSI is appropriate, and has determined that the
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted.
IV. Further Information
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's ``Rules of Practice,''
the DVA's request, the EA summarized above, and the documents related
to this proposed action are available electronically for public
inspection and copying from the Publicly Available Records (PARS)
component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from
the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. These
documents include DVA's letter dated November 20, 2003, with enclosures
(Accession No. ML033280739); and the EA summarized above (Accession No.
ML041210173). 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. Persons
who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing
the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR reference
staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to
pdr@nrc.gov.
Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 30th day of April 2004.
George M. McCann,
Acting Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials
Safety, RIII.
[FR Doc. 04-10517 Filed 5-7-04; 8:45 am]
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