19794 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 68 / Friday, April 8, 2011 / Notices 

activities on the polar research community, 

to provide advice to the Director of OPP on 

issues related to long-range planning. 

Agenda: Staff presentations and discussion 

on opportunities and challenges for polar 

research, education and infrastructure; 

discussion of OPP Strategic Vision 

development; transformative research, ad hoc 

proposals & program solicitations. 

Dated: April 5, 2011. 

Susanne Bolton, 

Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2011–8380 Filed 4–7–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 030–01179; NRC–2011–0078] 

Notice of Availability of Environmental 

Assessment and Finding of No 

Significant Impact for License 

Amendment for the University of 

Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack 

E. Whitten, Chief, Nuclear Materials 

Safety Branch B, Division of Nuclear 

Materials Safety, Region IV Office, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Arlington, Texas, 76011. Telephone: 

817–860–8197; fax number: 817–860– 

8188; e-mail: Jack.Whitten@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

(NRC) is considering the issuance of a 

license amendment to Material License 

No. 50–02430–07, issued to the 

University of Alaska-Fairbanks (the 

licensee), to authorize the release of an 

incinerator previously used at the Arctic 

Health Research Building for 

unrestricted use and for removal from 

the license. The NRC has prepared an 

Environmental Assessment (EA) in 

support of this amendment 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 

amendment is to allow for the release of 

an incinerator previously used at the 

Arctic Health Research Building, 

University of Alaska-Fairbanks, 

Fairbanks, Alaska, for unrestricted use 

and removal from the license. The 

licensee was authorized by the NRC on 

June 28, 1982, to begin using an 

incinerator to dispose of radioactive 

wastes. The licensee has used this 

incinerator to dispose of biologically 

hazardous wastes containing low-level 

radioactive materials. On July 30, 2008, 

the licensee requested authorization to 

decommission this incinerator. The 

licensee stated that it had disposed of 

wastes containing low levels of 

hydrogen-3 (tritium) and carbon-14 by 

incineration. The licensee also disposed 

of wastes containing phosphorus-32, 

sulfur-35, and iodine-125 via incinerator 

after the radioisotopes were allowed to 

decay in storage. The licensee’s 

submittal included radiological survey 

results for the incinerator, the area 

around the incinerator, and accessible 

areas of the discharge stack. The NRC 

staff reviewed the licensee’s submittal 

and requested additional information 

about the proposed decommissioning 

plan. The licensee responded with 

additional information by letter dated 

July 12, 2009. The licensee conducted 

an historical assessment and concluded 

that the incinerator had been used for 17 

years. The licensee estimated that it had 

disposed of wastes containing about 19 

millicuries (0.7 gigabecquerels) of 

hydrogen-3 (tritium) and about 13 

millicuries (0.47 gigabecquerels) of 

carbon-14. All other radionuclides that 

were incinerated had short half-lives 

(less than 88 days) and were allowed to 

decay in storage prior to incineration. 

The licensee included additional survey 

measurements of the accessible areas of 

the incinerator in its second submittal. 

The NRC subsequently approved the 

decommissioning plan by license 

amendment dated August 12, 2009. The 

licensee completed decommissioning 

and submitted a final status survey 

report to the NRC by letter dated 

November 16, 2009. The final status 

survey report included survey data for 

the discharge stack, data collected from 

areas that were inaccessible during 

previous surveys. 

The NRC staff conducted a technical 

review of the licensee’s radiological 

survey data. The licensee’s final status 

survey results were well below the 

NRC’s screening values for hydrogen-3 

and carbon-14 as presented in NUREG– 

1757, Volume 1, Revision 2, 

‘‘Consolidated Decommissioning 

Guidance: Decommissioning Process for 

Materials Licensees,’’ Table B.1, 

Acceptable License Termination 

Screening Values of Common 

Radionuclides for Building-Surface 

Contamination.’’ The NRC staff also 

compared the final status survey results 

to the equipment release criteria 

provided in Regulatory Guide 1.86, 

‘‘Termination of Operating Licenses for 

Nuclear Reactors,’’ Table 1, Acceptable 

Surface Contamination Levels. In 

summary, the licensee conducted 

radiological surveys of the incinerator 

and provided sufficient information to 

the NRC demonstrating that the 

incinerator meets the license 

termination criteria specified in Subpart 

E to 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted 

release of the incinerator. The staff has 

prepared this EA in support of the 

proposed license amendment. 

This proposed license amendment 

will allow the licensee to free-release 

the decommissioned incinerator 

without any radiological restrictions. In 

accordance with the current license, the 

licensee will continue to be authorized 

to dispose of biologically hazardous 

wastes containing limited quantities of 

licensed radioactive material using a 

different incinerator. 

The staff has prepared this EA in 

support of the proposed license 

amendment to release the incinerator for 

unrestricted use. The staff has found 

that the radiological environmental 

impacts from the proposed amendment 

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 Facilities’’ 

(NUREG–1496). The staff has also found 

that the non-radiological impacts are not 

significant. The staff consulted with the 

State of Alaska, and the State had no 

comments on the proposed action. 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

On the basis of this EA, NRC has 

concluded that there are no significant 

environmental impacts from the 

proposed amendment and has 

determined not to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

IV. Further Information 

Documents related to this action, 

including the application for 

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 Agency Wide 

Document Access and Management 

System (ADAMS), which provides text 

and image files of NRC’s public 

documents. The ADAMS accession 

numbers for the documents related to 

this notice are: 

1. NRC, ‘‘Generic Environmental Impact 

Statement in Support of 

Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria 

for License Termination of NRCLicensed Nuclear Facilities,’’ 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 68 / Friday, April 8, 2011 / Notices 19795 

NUREG–1496, July 1997 

(ML042310492, ML042320379, and 

ML042330385). 

2. Martinson, Tracey A., University of 

Alaska-Fairbanks, Licensee letter 

requesting release of incinerator, 

July 30, 2008 (ML082420967). 

3. NRC, Request for additional 

information, June 4, 2009 

(ML091560189). 

4. Martinson, Tracey A., University of 

Alaska-Fairbanks, Proposed 

decommissioning plan, July 12, 

2009 (ML110310647). 

5. NRC, License amendment, August 12, 

2009 (ML092240357). 

6. Martinson, Tracey A., University of 

Alaska-Fairbanks, Final status 

survey report, November 16, 2009 

(ML093641107). 

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 or 

301–415–4737 or by e-mail to 

pdr.resource@nrc.gov. 

These documents may also be viewed 

electronically on the public computers 

located at the NRC’s Public Document 

Room (PDR), O–1F21, One White Flint 

North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 

contractor will copy documents for a 

fee. 

Dated at Arlington, Texas this 31st day of 

March 2011. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Jack E. Whitten, 

Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch B, 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 

IV. 

[FR Doc. 2011–8419 Filed 4–7–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–219; NRC–2010–0320] 

Exelon Generation Company, LLC; 

Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating 

Station; Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Exelon Generation Company, LLC 

(Exelon or the licensee) is the holder of 

Facility Operating License No. DPR–16 

that authorizes operation of the Oyster 

Creek Nuclear Generating Station 

(Oyster Creek). The license provides, 

among other things, that the facility is 

subject to all rules, regulations, and 

orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC or the Commission) 

now or hereafter in effect. 

The facility consists of a boiling-water 

reactor located in Ocean County, New 

Jersey. 

2.0 Request/Action 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR), part 50, Section 

50.48 requires that nuclear power plants 

that were licensed before January 1, 

1979, must satisfy the requirements of 

10 CFR part 50, Appendix R, Section 

III.G, ‘‘Fire protection of safe shutdown 

capability.’’ Oyster Creek was licensed 

to operate prior to January 1, 1979. As 

such, the licensee’s Fire Protection 

Program (FPP) must provide the 

established level of protection as 

intended by Section III.G of 10 CFR part 

50, Appendix R. 

By letter dated March 3, 2009, 

‘‘Request for Exemption from 10 CFR 50, 

Appendix R, Section III.G, ‘Fire 

Protection of Safe Shutdown Capability 

(Phase 1)’ ’’ available at Agencywide 

Documents Access and Management 

System (ADAMS), Accession No. 

ML090630132, and supplemented by 

letter dated April 2, 2010, ‘‘Response to 

Request for Additional Information 

Request for Exemption from 10 CFR 50, 

Appendix R, Section III.G, ‘Fire 

Protection of Safe Shutdown 

Capability’ ’’ (ML100920370), the 

licensee requested an exemption for 

Oyster Creek from certain technical 

requirements of 10 CFR part 50, 

Appendix R, Section III.G.2 (III.G.2) for 

the use of operator manual actions 

(OMAs) in lieu of meeting the circuit 

separation and protection requirements 

contained in III.G.2 for the following 21 

plant Fire Areas: CW–FA–14, OB–FA–9, 

OB–FZ–6A, OB–FZ–6B, OB–FZ–8A, 

OB–FZ–8B, OB–FZ–8C, OB–FZ–10A, 

RB–FZ–1D, RB–FZ–1E, RB–FZ–1F3, 

RB–FZ–1F5, RB–FZ–1G, TB–FA–3A, 

TB–FA–26, TB–FZ–11B, TB–FZ–11C, 

TB–FZ–11D, TB–FZ–11E, TB–FZ–11F, 

and TB–FZ–11H. These 21 plant areas 

are the subject of this exemption. 

3.0 Discussion 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the 

Commission may, upon application by 

any interested person or upon its own 

initiative, grant exemptions from the 

requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when: 

(1) The exemptions are authorized by 

law, will not present an undue risk to 

public health or safety, and are 

consistent with the common defense 

and security; and (2) when special 

circumstances are present. The licensee 

has stated that special circumstances are 

present in that the application of the 

regulation in this particular 

circumstance is not necessary to achieve 

the underlying purpose of the rule, 

which is consistent with the language 

included in 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii). 

In their March 3, 2009, and April 2, 

2010, letters, the licensee discussed 

financial implications associated with 

plant modifications that may be 

necessary to comply with the regulation. 

10 CFR 50.12(a)2(iii) states that if such 

costs have been shown to be 

significantly in excess of those 

contemplated at the time the regulation 

was adopted, or are significantly in 

excess of those incurred by others 

similarly situated, this may be 

considered a basis for considering an 

exemption request. However, financial 

implications were not considered in the 

regulatory review of their request since 

no substantiation was provided 

regarding such financial implications. 

Even though no financial substantiation 

was provided, the licensee did submit 

sufficient regulatory basis to support a 

technical review of their exemption 

request in that the application of the 

regulation in this particular 

circumstance is not necessary to achieve 

the underlying purpose of the rule. 

In accordance with 10 CFR 50.48(b), 

nuclear power plants licensed before 

January 1, 1979, are required to meet 

Section III.G of 10 CFR part 50, 

Appendix R. The underlying purpose of 

Section III.G of 10 CFR part 50, 

Appendix R, is to ensure that the ability 

to achieve and maintain safe shutdown 

is preserved following a fire event. The 

regulation intends for licensees to 

accomplish this by extending the 

concept of defense-in-depth to: 

(1) Prevent fires from starting; 

(2) Rapidly detect, control, and 

extinguish promptly those fires that do 

occur; 

(3) Provide protection for structures, 

systems, and components important to 

safety so that a fire that is not promptly 

extinguished by the fire suppression 

activities will not prevent the safe 

shutdown of the plant. 

The stated purpose of 10 CFR part 50, 

Appendix R, Section III.G.2 (III.G.2) is to 

ensure that one of the redundant trains 

necessary to achieve and maintain hot 

shutdown conditions remains free of 

fire damage in the event of a fire. III.G.2 

requires one of the following means to 

ensure that a redundant train of safe 

shutdown cables and equipment is free 

of fire damage, where redundant trains 

are located in the same fire area outside 

of primary containment: 

a. Separation of cables and equipment 

by a fire barrier having a 3-hour rating; 

b. Separation of cables and equipment 

by a horizontal distance of more than 20 

feet with no intervening combustibles or 

fire hazards and with fire detectors and 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES