[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 120 (Friday, June 22, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34486-34487]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-12156]
[[Page 34486]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 040-00341]
Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Source Materials License
No. STC-133, Incorporating the Decommissioning Plan for the Defense
Logistics Agency's Curtis Bay Depot Facility in Baltimore, MD
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: Steve Hammann, Health Physicist,
Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region
I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, 19406; telephone
(610) 337-5399; fax number (610) 337-5269; or by e-mail: sth2@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the
issuance of a license amendment to Source Materials License No. STC-
133. This license is held by Defense Logistics Agency (the Licensee),
for its Curtis Bay Depot (the Facility), located at 710 Ordnance Road
in Baltimore, Maryland. Issuance of the amendment would incorporate the
Decommissioning Plan (DP) into the license to allow completion of
decommissioning activities at the site and eventual unrestricted
release of the Facility. The NRC has evaluated and approved the
Licensee's DP. The findings of this evaluation are documented in a
Safety Evaluation Report, which will be issued along with the
amendment. The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated
September 29, 2006. The Licensee's amendment request was noted in the
Federal Register on February 1, 2007 (72 FR 4734). This Federal
Register notice also provided an opportunity for a hearing on this
licensing action. No hearing requests were received. 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 29,
2006, license amendment request to incorporate the DP into the license,
resulting in final decommissioning of the Facility and subsequent
release of the Facility for unrestricted use. License No. STC-133 was
issued on February 14, 1957, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 40, and has been
amended periodically since that time. This license authorized the
Licensee to possess natural uranium and thorium mixtures as ores,
concentrates and solids for the purpose of storage, sampling,
repackaging, and transfer for the activities of the National Defense
Stockpile.
The Facility is situated on approximately 483 acres of grassy open
areas and some lightly wooded areas and consists of various building
pads, buildings and warehouses, some functional and others in a serious
state of disrepair. A number of paved and dirt roads, along with
railroad tracks, traverse the site. The Facility is located in an
industrial area. Within the Facility, use of licensed materials was
confined to buildings 1022, A-921, B-911, B-912, B-913, F-731, F-734,
F-735, F-736, F-737, G-721, H-711, H-712, H-713, H-714, H-715, and the
waste burial pit. Licensed activities ceased in May 2005.
Need for the Proposed Action
The proposed action is to approve the DP so that the Licensee may
complete Facility decommissioning activities. Completion of the
decommissioning activities will reduce residual radioactivity at the
Facility. NRC regulations require licensees to begin timely
decommissioning of their sites, or any separate buildings that contain
residual radioactivity, upon cessation of licensed activities, in
accordance with 10 CFR 40.42(d). The proposed licensing action will
support such a goal. NRC is fulfilling its responsibilities under the
Atomic Energy Act to make a decision on a proposed license amendment
for decommissioning that ensures protection of the public health and
safety.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the
Facility shows that such activities involved the storage, repackaging
and transfer of licensed material in the form of thorium nitrate,
monazite sand, and sodium sulfate. The licensed materials were always
stored inside buildings, but were moved to other buildings which
resulted in some licensed materials being spilled outdoors.
The NRC staff has reviewed the Licensee amendment request for the
Facility and examined the impacts of this license amendment request.
Potential impacts include water resource impact (e.g., water may be
used for dust control), air quality impacts from dust emissions,
temporary local traffic impacts resulting from transporting debris,
human health impacts, noise impacts from equipment operation, scenic
quality impacts, and waste management impacts.
Based on its review, the staff has determined that no surface water
or ground water impacts are expected from the decommissioning
activities. Additionally, the staff has determined that significant air
quality, noise, land use, and off-site radiation exposure impacts are
also not expected. No significant air quality impacts are anticipated
because of the contamination controls that will be implemented by the
Licensee during decommissioning activities. In addition, the
environmental impacts associated with the decommissioning activities
are bounded by impacts evaluated by NUREG-0586, ``Final Generic
Environmental Impact Statement on the Decommissioning of Nuclear
Facilities,'' (GEIS). Generic impacts for this type of decommissioning
process were previously evaluated and described in the GEIS, which
concludes that the environmental consequences are small. The risk to
human health from the transportation of all radioactive material in the
U.S. was evaluated in NUREG-0170, ``Final Environmental Statement on
the Transportation of Radioactive Materials by Air and Other Modes.''
The principal radiological environmental impact during normal
transportation is direct radiation exposure to nearby persons from
radioactive material in the package. The average annual individual dose
from all radioactive material transportation in the U.S. was calculated
to be approximately 0.5 millirem, well below the 10 CFR 20.1301 limit
of 100 millirem for a member of the public. Additionally, the Licensee
estimates that approximately 200 cubic meters of low-contaminated
demolition material waste and 930 cubic meters of low-contaminated
soil, mostly from the excavation of the burial pit, will leave the site
over the course of the decommissioning project. The waste will be
transported from the
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Facility by rail car to its final destination. This proposed action
will not significantly increase the probability or consequences of
accidents, no changes are being made in the types of any effluents that
may be released off site, and there is no significant increase in
occupational or public radiation exposure. Thus, waste management and
transportation impacts from the decommissioning will not be
significant.
Occupational health was also considered in the ``Final
Environmental Impact Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive
Material by Air and Other Modes.'' Shipment of these materials would
not affect the assessment of environmental impacts or the conclusions
in the ``Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Transportation of
Radioactive Material by Air and Other Modes.''
The Staff also finds that the proposed license amendment will meet
the radiological criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10
CFR 20.1402. The Licensee demonstrated this through the development of
derived concentration guideline limits (DCGLs) for its Facility. The
Licensee conducted site-specific dose modeling using parameters
specific to the Facility that adequately bounded the potential dose.
This included dose modeling for two scenarios: building surfaces and
soil. The building surface dose model was based on the warehouse worker
scenario and the soil dose modeling was based on a resident farmer
scenario.
The Licensee will maintain an appropriate level of radiation
protection staff, procedures, and capabilities, and, through its
Radiation Safety Officer, will implement an acceptable program to keep
exposure to radioactive materials as low as reasonably achievable
(ALARA). Work activities are not anticipated to result in radiation
exposures to the public in excess of ten percent of the 10 CFR 20.1301
limits.
The NRC also evaluated whether cumulative environmental impacts
could result from an incremental impact of the proposed action when
added to other past, present, or reasonably foreseeable future actions
in the area. The proposed NRC approval of the license amendment
request, when combined with known effects on resource areas at the
site, including further site remediation, are not anticipated to result
in any cumulative impacts at the site.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
The only alternative to the proposed action of decommissioning the
Facility 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
40.42(d) requiring that decommissioning of source material facilities
be completed and approved by the NRC after licensed activities cease.
The no action alternative would keep radioactive material on-site
without disposal. 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 NRC guidance and regulations. 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
Maryland Department of the Environment for review on April 26, 2007. On
May 30, 2007, Maryland Department of the Environment responded by
email. The State agreed with the conclusions of the Environmental
Assessment and otherwise had no comments.
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 http://
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. 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. Submittal Letter dated February 3, 2006: ML060580094
6. Historical Site Assessment: ML060580564
7. Preliminary Site Specific Derived Concentration Guidelines:
ML060580566
8. Radiological Scoping Survey: ML060580581
9. Environmental Assessment, Disposition of Thorium Nitrate:
ML060580592
10. Request for Additional Information: ML061640494
11. Deficiency Response Letter dated July 5, 2006: ML061870570
12. Deficiency Response Letter dated August 8, 2006: ML062290404
13. Characterization Survey Report: ML062650300
14. Decommissioning/Remediation Plan: ML062760618
15. Receipt of Decommissioning Plan: ML062930051
16. Federal Register Notice of Consideration: ML070230235
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, PA, this 15th day
of June, 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety,
Region I.
[FR Doc. E7-12156 Filed 6-21-07; 8:45 am]
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