30140 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 10, 2000 / Notices

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No: 040–8794]

Finding of No Significant Impact

Related to Approval of

Decommissioning Plan for the

Molycorp, Inc. Facility York,

Pennsylvania, License No. SMB–1408

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is considering

issuing an amendment to Source

Materials License No. SMB–1408, held

by Molycorp, Inc. (Molycorp or

licensee), to authorize decommissioning

of its facility in York, Pennsylvania. The

objective of the decommissioning is to

remediate the areas contaminated with

thorium, uranium, and their daughter

products, to allow the NRC to release

Molycorp’s York property for

unrestricted use and to terminate the

NRC radioactive materials license.

Environmental Assessment Summary

Proposed Action

In connection with the

decontamination and decommissioning

of its York facility, the licensee

proposed the following activities:

Decontamination and removal of

buildings and other above-grade

structures, with the exception of an

office building and a warehouse,

removal of concrete slabs and associated

drains and sumps, excavation of the

contaminated material exceeding the

Site Decommissioning Management

Plan (SDMP) Action Plan unrestricted

use criteria (46 FR 52061), restoration of

excavated areas with clean overburden,

and transportation of the radioactively

contaminated materials to an NRC

approved interim storage or disposal

facility. Further details are provided in

the Environmental Assessment (EA).

Based on the NRC staff evaluation of

the Molycorp’s final Decommissioning

Plan (DP), it was determined that the

proposed decommissioning can be

accomplished in compliance with the

NRC public and occupational dose

limits, effluent release limits, and

residual radioactive material limits. In

addition, the approval of the proposed

action (i.e., decommissioning of

Molycorp’s, York, Pennsylvania, facility

in accordance with the commitments in

the NRC license SMB–1408 and the

final DP) will not result in a significant

adverse impact on the environment.

Need for Proposed Action

The proposed action is necessary to

remove the radioactive material

attributable to licensed operations at the

site to levels that permit unrestricted

use of the site and termination of the

radioactive source materials license

SMB–1408.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed

Action

NRC staff reviewed the levels of

contamination, the proposed

remediation and decommissioning

methods, and the radiological release

criteria that will be used during the

remediation and decommissioning. The

radiological criteria are specified so that

decommissioning activities will meet

the 10 CFR part 20 radiation protection

requirements. Worker and public doses

will be limited so that exposures will

not exceed Part 20 requirements and are

as low as is reasonably achievable

(ALARA).

The licensee will perform remediation

in accordance with NRC’s Action Plan

to ensure timely cleanup of SDMP sites

(57 FR 13385) and transportation of the

excavated materials to an NRC approved

interim storage or disposal facility.

The information for the York DP

includes additional analyses of worker

exposures from normal operations and

an assessment of the potential for

accidents. Because of the limited nature

of activities planned for the York

facility, potential worker exposures will

most likely result from inhalation of

airborne dust and shine from direct

radiation. Potential public exposures are

limited to inhalation of contaminated

airborne dusts.

Information provided by the licensee

indicates that past activities resulted in

no measurable internal or external dose

to any workers. The past activities

included radiological characterization

and building decontamination similar to

the proposed activities. Therefore,

radiation doses to workers from these

activities are expected to be well within

the limits of Part 20. Separate dose

calculations to assess the impacts

indicated that the excavator at the York

site will receive an estimated maximum

annual dose of 10.6 millirem (mrem)

(predominantly from external exposure).

The Part 20 annual worker dose limit is

5 rem (5000 mrem). As the estimated

dose is well below the limit, no adverse

impacts are expected based on the

exposure calculations.

NRC staff analyzed the radiological

impacts to the public from the planned

decommissioning activities. Potential

radiological impacts to the public from

the decommissioning operations at the

York facility are limited to similar

release mechanisms pertaining to

worker exposures (decontamination and

excavation dusts), but require transport

over greater distances to reach potential

receptors. Therefore, much lower

concentrations and doses are expected

for members of the public in

comparison to workers. The licensee

estimated the public exposure at the

York site boundary due to excavation to

be about 0.059 mrem/yr. This dose is

well below the NRC public dose limit

(Part 20) of 100 mrem/yr, providing

confidence that the potential for adverse

environmental impacts is low. The

licensee has included in its DP, further

groundwater sampling and

characterization to reduce uncertainty

in current estimates and to assure that

mitigative measures are not warranted.

Therefore, NRC staff concludes that the

licensee has provided adequate plans to

ensure that potential radiological

impacts to members of the public from

the proposed decommissioning

activities will not exceed NRC limits

and are unlikely to result in adverse

environmental impacts.

NRC staff also assessed the

radiological impacts from transportation

of contaminated soil and other wastes

from the York site to an NRC approved

interim storage or disposal facility. The

most significant exposure pathway for

the truck driver was estimated to be

from direct exposure. The total radiation

dose to the truck driver was estimated

to be from direct exposure. The total

radiation dose to the truck driver was

estimated at 5.42 mrem for all

shipments and 3.33 mrem during

transport only (for comparison, the Part

20 occupational dose limit is 5000

mrem/yr). Other scenarios, such as

transporting the wastes to another

storage facility (example: Envirocare

waste facility in Clive, Utah), were also

considered and the resulting dose to the

worker was found to be well below the

NRC occupational dose limit. Also, the

public dose from transport would be far

less than that for the driver. NRC staff

reviewed the calculations and found the

doses and intakes are well within Part

20 limits.

NRC staff evaluated the radiological

impacts from potential accidents. The

information in the York facility DP

states that potential site accident

scenarios are unlikely to lead to doses

that exceed 1 percent of the Part 20 dose

limits. Potential accident scenarios

considered include fire and loading or

transfer mishaps. Considering the low

potential for fire or explosion in existing

building structures, the low quantities

of material used during transfer

operations, and the lack of highly

concentrated radioactive materials at the

site, NRC staff concludes that accidental

releases of radioactive materials in

quantities that could affect public health

and safety are unlikely. The licensee has

a procedure in place for emergency

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 10, 2000 / Notices 30141

response and notifications that provides

additional safety assurance and,

therefore, NRC staff concludes that the

licensee has adequately addressed the

potential for radiological accidents.

NRC staff also considered

nonradiological impacts, such as

transportation accidents, air quality and

noise, chemicals and hazardous

materials, and concluded that such

impacts are negligible and will not

result in adverse impacts. NRC staff also

concludes that there are no

environmental justice issues associated

with the decommissioning of the York

site, because there are no

disproportionately high minority or

low-income populations near the site.

The licensee contacted the Pennsylvania

Field Office of the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service and determined that

there are no endangered species on the

York site.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

The following alternatives, and the

associated impacts and conclusions are

described in the EA.

—No Action

—Cleanup for Unrestricted Use and

Shipment to an Approved Disposal Site;

—On-Site Storage at the York site;

and,

—On-Site Disposal at the York site.

Conclusions

Based on NRC staff evaluation of the

final DP for the York site, it was

determined that the proposed

decommissioning can be accomplished

in compliance with NRC’s public and

occupational dose limits, effluent

release limits, and residual radioactive

material limits. In addition, the

approval of the proposed

decommissioning of the York site will

not result in a significant adverse

impact on the public health and the

environment.

NRC staff concludes that there are no

reasonably available alternatives to the

licensee’s preferred action that are

obviously superior.

Agencies and Individuals Consulted

NRC staff consulted with the

Pennsylvania Department of

Environmental Protection (PADEP) in

the preparation of this EA. PADEP

provided comments and questions on

the draft EA. Appropriate comments

and responses to the questions were

incorporated into the final EA.

Finding of No Significant Impact

Based upon the EA, the Commission

concludes that the proposed action will

not have a significant impact on the

quality of the human environment.

Accordingly, the Commission has

determined not to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement for the

proposed action.

Additional Information

For further details with respect to the

proposed action, see: (1) Molycorp’s

license amendment application dated

August 14, 1995, and Molycorp’s

supplemental information and

responses to NRC comments dated

November 24, 1999; and (2) the

complete EA. These documents are

available for public inspection at web

site http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/

index.html.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day

of May 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Larry W. Camper,

Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of

Waste Management, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 00–11663 Filed 5–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Public Workshop To Discuss the

Technical Basis Document for Dose

Modeling To Support

Decommissioning

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Workshop.

SUMMARY: This notice announces a

public workshop to discuss a Technical

Basis Document for dose modeling to

support the decommissioning of nuclear

facilities. The purpose of this workshop

is to provide a forum for the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff, the

nuclear industry, other regulatory

agencies, and interested stakeholders to

discuss the Technical Basis Document

developed by the NRC to support the

decommissioning of nuclear facilities.

DATES: June 7 and 8, 2000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

October 21, 1998, (63 FR 56237) NRC

announced that it was sponsoring a

series of public workshops to support

that staff’s development of a Standard

Review Plan (SRP) and other guidance

for the decommissioning of nuclear

facilities. NRC staff held a series of

workshops on dose modeling, surveys,

demonstrating ALARA, and restricted

use/alternate criteria on December 1–2,

1998, January 21–22, 1999, March 18–

19, 1999, June 16–17, 1999, August 18–

19, 1999 and February 17–18, 2000. In

addition, as draft SRP modules were

completed, they were posted on the

NRC website, for review and comment

by interested individuals.

ADDRESSES: An agenda for the workshop

will be posted on the NRC’s website at:

http://www.nrc.gov/NMSS/DWM/

DECOM/decomm.htm. The workshop

will be held at the NRC Headquarters,

in the Auditorium of Two White Flint

North Building, 11545 Rockville Pike,

Rockville, Maryland. NRC staff strongly

encourages interested stakeholders to

attend and participate in this workshop,

as it will offer a unique opportunity to

provide the staff with insights,

perspectives, and information that

stakeholders feel is important for the

NRC staff to consider as it finalizes the

Technical Basis Document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dominick A. Orlando, Decommissioning

Branch, Division of Waste Management,

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and

Safeguards (DWM/NMSS), at (301) 415–

6749, or Rateb (Boby) Abu-Eid, HighLevel Waste and Performance

Assessment Branch, DWM/NMSS, at

(301) 415–5811.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 3rd day

of May, 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Robert A. Nelson,

Acting Chief, Decommissioning Branch,

Division of Waste Management, Office of

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 00–11664 Filed 5–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. IC–24441; 812–11842]

Warburg, Pincus Balanced Fund, Inc.,

et al.; Notice of Application

May 4, 2000.

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘Commission’’).

ACTION: Notice of application for an

order under section 17(d) of the

Investment Company Act of 1940

(‘‘Act’’) and rule 17d–1 under the Act.

APPLICANTS: Warburg, Pincus Balanced

Fund, Inc., Warburg, Pincus Capital

Appreciation Fund, Warburg, Pincus

Cash Reserve Fund, Inc., Warburg,

Pincus Central & Eastern Europe Fund,

Inc., Warburg, Pincus Emerging Growth

Fund, Inc., Warburg, Pincus Emerging

Markets II Fund, Inc., Warburg, Pincus

European Equity Fund, Inc., Warburg,

Pincus Fixed Income Fund, Warburg,

Pincus Focus Fund, Inc., Warburg,

Pincus Global Fixed Income Fund, Inc.,

Warburg, Pincus Global Post-Venture

Capital Fund, Inc., Warburg, Pincus,