Federal Register, Volume 74 Issue 234 (Tuesday, December 8, 2009)

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 8, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64762-64764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-29197]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0539; 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, for Unrestricted Release of the Defense Logistics Agency, 
Defense National Stockpile Center, Hammond Depot Facility In Hammond, 
IN

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

[[Page 64763]]


ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for License Amendment.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betsy Ullrich, Senior Health 
Physicist, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 
19406; telephone (610) 337-5040; fax number (610) 337-5269; or by e-
mail: [email protected].

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 the Defense Logistics Agency, Defense 
National Stockpile Center (DLA/DNSC) (the Licensee), for its Hammond 
Depot (the Facility), located at 3200 Sheffield Avenue in Hammond, 
Indiana. Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of the 
Facility for unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this action in a 
letter dated February 3, 2006. 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 February 3, 2006, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility for 
unrestricted use. License No. STC-133 as 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 use natural uranium 
and thorium in the form of ores, concentrations and solids for the 
purpose of storage, sampling, repackaging and transfer for the 
activities of the Defense National Stockpile.
    The Hammond Depot was originally sited on approximately 130 acres. 
During the 1970's, a large portion of the site was sold, including 
Warehouse 2 in which thorium nitrate had been stored. Warehouse 2 was 
remediated and released for unrestricted use prior to that sale. 
Because Warehouse 2 is separated from the current facilities, and 
because it was released for unrestricted use in the 1970's, Warehouse 2 
is not part of this assessment. The current Facility is situated on 67 
acres located in an industrial/commercial area, and consists of 
warehouse and outdoor storage areas. Within the Facility, use of 
licensed materials was confined to Buildings 100W, 100E, and 200E. 
These warehouse buildings each contain approximately 4,640 square 
meters (m\2\) of storage space, although licensed materials were stored 
only in portions of each warehouse. Some soil contamination was 
identified in the former Burn Cage area (1,050 m\2\) and Ferrochrome 
Pile 6 (2,800 m\2\), as well as five smaller areas elsewhere 
on the site (10 m\2\, 250 m\2\, 10 m\2\, 2 m\2\ and 2 m\2\), which may 
have resulted from transfer activities or from radioactive materials 
that were not required to be licensed by the Commission.
    In 2005, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and initiated a 
survey and decontamination of the Facility. The Licensee conducted 
surveys of the Facility 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 at the 
Facility, and seeks its unrestricted use.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facility shows that such activities involved use of the following 
radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: natural uranium 
and/or thorium in the forms of monazite sand, thorium nitrate, sodium 
sulfate, tantalum pentoxide, and columbium tantalum minerals, contained 
in fiber or steel drums. Prior to performing the final status survey, 
the Licensee conducted decontamination activities, as necessary, in the 
areas of the Facility affected by these radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey during 2006 and 2007. 
This survey covered the three warehouses (Buildings 100W, 100E, and 
200E) where licensed materials were stored as well as 7 outdoor areas 
(the Burn Cage area, the Ferrochrome Pile 6 area, and five 
additional small areas) where contaminated soil was identified. The 
final status survey report was attached to the Licensee's letter dated 
April 21, 2008. The Licensee elected to demonstrate compliance with the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 
20.1402 by developing derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs) 
for its Facility.
    The Licensee conducted site-specific dose modeling using input 
parameters specific to the Facility that adequately bounded the 
potential dose. This included dose modeling for two scenarios: Building 
surfaces and soil. The building surfaces dose model was based on the 
warehouse worker scenario. The soil dose model was based on a resident 
farmer scenario. The Licensee thus determined the maximum amount of 
residual radioactivity on building surfaces, equipment, materials and 
soils that will satisfy the NRC requirements in Subpart E of 10 CFR 
Part 20 for unrestricted release. The NRC previously reviewed the 
Licensee's methodology and proposed DCGLs, and concluded that the 
proposed DCGLs are acceptable for use as release criteria at the 
Facility. The NRC's approval of the Licensee's proposed DCGLs was 
published in the Federal Register on November 30, 2007 (72 FR 67761). 
The Licensee's final status survey results are below these DCGLs, and 
are thus acceptable.
    The NRC staff conducted a confirmatory survey during 2007. None of 
the confirmatory sample results exceeded the DCGLs established for the 
Facility. 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 Facility. 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 Facility. 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 Facility for 
unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its 
review, the staff considered the impact of the residual radioactivity 
at the Facility and concluded that the proposed action will

[[Page 64764]]

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 the requirement in 10 CFR 40.42(d), that decommissioning 
of source 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 Facility 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 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 EA to the Indiana State Department of 
Health, Indoor Air & Radiological Health Division for review on October 
21, 2009. On November 2, 2009, the Indiana State Department of Health, 
Indoor Air & Radiological Health Division responded by electronic 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 Documents 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, where available.
    1. Letter dated February 3, 2006 (ML060580094) with attachments 
``Historical Site Assessment * * *,'' August 2005 (ML060580605); 
``Radiological Scoping Survey * * *,'' December 2005 (ML060580608); 
``Preliminary Site-Specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels * * 
*,'' January 2006 (ML060580629); and ``Environmental Assessment, 
Disposition of Thorium Nitrate'' October 2003 (ML060580592);
    2. Letters dated July 5, 2006 (ML061870578), July 19, 2006 
(ML062070231), September 19, 2006 (ML062710160) and September 29, 2006 
(ML062760618);
    3. Letter dated September 29, 2006, with the Decommissioning Plan 
dated September 2006 (ML062710179);
    4. Letter dated January 12, 2007 (ML070160372);
    5. Letter dated July 19, 2007 with the Final Status Survey Plan 
dated July 2007 (ML072010230);
    6. Test America Lab Sample Survey Results received January 24, 2008 
(ML080240408);
    7. Letter dated April 21, 2008 [ML081200814] with the Final Status 
Survey Report dated April 2008 (ML081210688);
    8. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance'';
    9. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination'';
    10. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions''; and
    11. 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 Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, this 
30th day of November 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E9-29197 Filed 12-7-09; 8:45 am]
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