[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 237 (Wednesday, December 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 68956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30588]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-160]


Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology 
Research Reactor; Notice of Approval of Decommissioning Plan and Notice 
of License Termination

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is noticing the 
approval of the decommissioning plan for the Georgia Institute of 
Technology (GT or the licensee) GT Research Reactor (GTRR) and is also 
noticing the termination of Facility Operating License No. R-97 for the 
GTRR.
    The NRC has terminated the license of the decommissioned GTRR, 
which was in the Neely Nuclear Research Center in the north-central 
part of the GT campus in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, and has released 
the site for unrestricted use. The licensee requested termination of 
the license in a letter to NRC dated June 14, 2002. The GTRR was a 5 MW 
thermal, heavy-water-moderated, -cooled, and -reflected reactor that 
was fueled with uranium aluminum alloy plates. It was licensed and 
first operated in 1964 and had a licensed thermal power level of 1 MW, 
which was upgraded to 5000 kW thermal in 1974. The reactor was 
permanently shut down on November 17, 1995. The licensee submitted a 
decommissioning plan to NRC for review and approval in letters dated 
July 1, 1998, and February 8 and May 28, 1999. The decommissioning plan 
was approved by License Amendment No. 14 issued on July 22, 1999.
    A ``Notice and Solicitation of Comments Pursuant to 10 CFR 20.1405 
and 10 CFR 50.82(b)(5) Concerning Proposed Action To Decommission 
Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Tech Research Reactor'' 
appeared in the Federal Register on February 1, 1999 (64 FR 4902). All 
comments received were considered by the staff during the review of the 
GTRR Decommissioning Plan.
    The NRC completed its review of the GTRR Final Status Survey Report 
dated June 2002, which was submitted by the licensee to NRC by letter 
dated June 14, 2002. The report documented the level of residual 
radioactivity remaining at the facility and stated that compliance with 
the criteria as approved in the NRC-approved decommissioning plan had 
been demonstrated.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(b)(6), the NRC staff has concluded that 
the decommissioning has been performed in accordance with the approved 
decommissioning plan and that the terminal radiation survey and 
associated documentation demonstrate that the facility and site are 
suitable for release in accordance with the criteria in the NRC-
approved decommissioning plan. Further, on the basis of the 
decommissioning activities conducted by GT, the NRC's review of the 
licensee's final status survey report, the results of NRC inspections 
conducted at the GTRR, and the results of NRC confirmatory surveys, the 
NRC has concluded that the decommissioning process is complete and the 
facility and site are suitable to be released for unrestricted use. 
Based on the NRC staff's conclusions, Facility Operating License No. R-
97 is terminated.
    For further details see the licensee's application for 
decommissioning dated July 1, 1998, and February 8 and May 28, 1999; 
the July 22, 1999, License Amendment No. 14 to Facility Operating 
License No. R-97; the licensee's request for license termination dated 
June 14, 2002; the GTRR Final Status Survey Report dated June 2002, 
which was submitted to NRC by letter dated June 14, 2002; and NRC 
Inspection Report No. 50-160/2002-20, dated June 24, 2003, and 
corrected July 17, 2003. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a 
fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), at One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly 
available records for GT dated after January 30, 2000, will be 
accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the 
Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. 
Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS should call the NRC PDR 
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737 or e-mail 
[email protected].

    Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December, 2003.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Marvin M. Mendonca,
Acting Section Chief, Research and Test Reactors Section, New, Research 
and Test Reactors Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, 
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 03-30588 Filed 12-9-03; 8:45 am]
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