[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 250 (Tuesday, December 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79934-79936]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30944]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 03036785]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 29-30984-01, for Unrestricted Release of the Conopco, 
Incorporated's Waste Storage Facility in Trumbull, CT

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: Steven R. Courtemanche, Health 
Physicist, Commercial and Research and Development Branch, Division of 
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of 
Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone (610) 337-5075; fax number (610) 337-
5269; or by e-mail: [email protected].

[[Page 79935]]


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-
30984-01. This license is held by Conopco, Incorporated (the Licensee), 
for its facility located at 40 Merritt Boulevard in Trumbull, 
Connecticut (the Facility). Issuance of the amendment would authorize 
release of the Facility's radioactive waste storage trailer for 
unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated 
April 16, 2008. 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 16, 2008, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility's 
radioactive waste storage trailer for unrestricted use. License No. 29-
30984-01 was issued on March 21, 2005, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30. This 
license authorized the Licensee to use unsealed byproduct material for 
purpose of conducting research and development activities on laboratory 
bench tops and in hoods and sealed sources for the purpose of sample 
analysis in compatible gas chromatography devices.
    The Facility is situated on approximately 4.4 acres of land and 
consists of office space, laboratories, warehouse areas, and a 
manufacturing area. The Facility is located in a commercial area. 
Within the Facility, the area that the licensee is requesting to be 
released for unrestricted use is a waste storage trailer of 
approximately 225 square feet, one-third of which was used for the 
storage of waste radioactive material.
    On March 28, 2008, the Licensee ceased licensed activities in the 
radioactive waste storage trailer and initiated a survey and 
decontamination of the trailer. Based on the Licensee's historical 
knowledge of the site and the conditions of the trailer, 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 the radioactive waste storage trailer and provided 
information to the NRC to demonstrate that it meets the criteria in 
Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities in the 
radioactive waste storage trailer and seeks the unrestricted use of 
this area.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
radioactive waste storage trailer shows that such activities involved 
use of the following radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 
days: Hydrogen-3 and carbon-14. Prior to performing the final status 
survey, the Licensee conducted decontamination activities, as 
necessary, in the areas of the radioactive waste storage trailer 
affected by these radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey of the radioactive 
waste storage trailer on April 1, 2008. The final status survey report 
was attached to the Licensee's amendment request dated April 16, 2008. 
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, and in 
soils, 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 waste storage trailer. 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 radioactive waste storage trailer. 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 NRC staff finds that the proposed release of the radioactive 
waste storage trailer 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 radioactive waste storage trailer 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 radioactive waste storage 
trailer meets 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

[[Page 79936]]

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 State 
of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's Division of 
Radiation for review on September 16, 2008. On October 7, 2008, the 
State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's Division 
of Radiation responded by e-mail. 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 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]. Licensee's letter dated April 16, 2008 (ML081150270);
    [2]. Licensee's letter dated May 15, 2008 (ML081480490);
    [3]. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    [4]. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    [5]. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, 
``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 
Related Regulatory Functions;'' and
    [6]. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in 
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination 
of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities.''
    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 [email protected]. 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 NRC Region I at 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA 
this 18th day of December.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E8-30944 Filed 12-29-08; 8:45 am]
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