6014 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 27 / Monday, February 10, 1997 / Notices

salaries and personal information concerning

individuals associated with the proposals.

These matters are exempt under 5 U.S.C.

552b. (c) (4) and (6) of the Government in the

Sunshine Act.

Linda Allen-Benton,

Deputy Director, Division of Human Resource

Management, Acting Committee Management

Officer.

[FR Doc. 97–3185 Filed 2–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7555–01–M

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040–08724]

Finding of No Significant Impact

Related to Amendment of Materials

License No. SUB–1357, Chemetron

Corporation, Inc., Newburgh Heights,

OH

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission is considering issuing an

amendment of Materials License No.

SUB–1357, held by Chemetron

Corporation, Inc., to authorize the

remediation of the Bert Avenue site

located on Bert Avenue in Newburgh

Heights, Ohio.

Summary of Environmental Assessment

Background

By the letter of March 24, 1994,

Chemetron Corporation, Inc.,

(Chemetron) requested that NRC amend

its license to authorize it to perform the

remediation of the Harvard Avenue and

Bert Avenue sites in accordance with its

remediation plan entitled, ‘‘Site

Remediation Plan, Chemetron

Remediation Project, Harvard and Bert

Avenue Sites, Chemetron Corporation,

Inc., Newburgh Heights, Ohio,’’

Revision 1, dated February 25, 1995

(Reference 1). This remediation plan

also included Chemetron’s plans for

remediating buildings, adjacent to the

Harvard Avenue site, owned by the

McGean-Rohco, Inc., that are

contaminated with radioactive material.

Following the review of the portions

of the Chemetron Final Remediation

Plan for Harvard Avenue and Bert

Avenue sites that addressed the

McGean-Rohco building remediation,

NRC staff published, in the Federal

Register, on August 5, 1994, a Finding

of No Significant Impact and an

environmental assessment for the

McGean-Rohco complex remediation

(Reference 2). On August 9, 1994, NRC

staff issued Amendment 4 to the

Chemetron license authorizing

Chemetron to conduct the McGeanRohco building remediation. On August

9, 1994, NRC staff also issued a Safety

Evaluation Report for the proposed

remediation of the McGean-Rohco

complex. On June 6, 1996, NRC staff

published in the Federal Register a

Finding of No Significant Impact and an

environmental assessment for the

Harvard Avenue site remediation

(Reference 3). On June 7, 1996, NRC

staff issued Amendment 5 to the

Chemetron license authorizing

Chemetron to remediate the Harvard

Avenue site and a Safety Evaluation

Report for the remediation.

The environmental assessment for the

Bert Avenue remediation is available for

inspection and copying at the NRC

Public Document Room, 2120 L Street,

N.W., Washington, DC, and at the Local

Public Document Room at the Garfield

Heights Branch Library, 5409 Turney

Road, Garfield Heights, Ohio (Docket

Number 040–08724).

Proposed Action

In this action, Chemetron is proposing

to utilize onsite disposal, under 10 CFR

20.2002, at the Bert Avenue facility, for

wastes, from the remediation of the Bert

Avenue site, with concentrations up to

the Option 2 limit in the NRC’s Branch

Technical Position on ‘‘Disposal or

Onsite Storage of Thorium or Uranium

Wastes from Past Operations’’ (1981

BTP) (Reference 4). Wastes, that exceed

the Option 2 concentration limits in the

1981 BTP, will be shipped offsite, to a

licensed low-level waste disposal site.

Need for Proposed Action

The purpose of the proposed action is

to decommission the Bert Avenue site,

by removing depleted uranium

contamination in soils and building

rubble, so that the site can be released

for unrestricted use. Remediating the

site will allow Chemetron to release the

site for unrestricted use and to remove

the site from Chemetron’s NRC license.

Environmental Assessment

The NRC staff reviewed the levels of

contamination, the proposed

remediation methods, and the

radiological and environmental controls

that will be used during the

remediation. These controls include

worker dosimetry, the As Low As Is

Reasonably Achievable (ALARA)

program, air monitoring, routine

surveys, a bioassay program for workers,

and routine monitoring of both airborne

and liquid effluent releases to meet 10

CFR part 20 radiation protection

requirements. Worker and public doses

will be limited so that exposures will

not exceed 10 CFR part 20 requirements.

Chemetron proposed to remediate the

Bert Avenue site in accordance with

‘‘Guidelines for Decontamination of

Facilities and Equipment Prior to

Release for Unrestricted Use or

Termination of Licenses for Byproduct,

Source, and Special Nuclear Materials,’’

dated August 1987 (Reference 5). They

also proposed to dispose of depleted

uranium wastes onsite in accordance

with the 1981 BTP (Reference 4). Based

on uranium solubility testing of the Bert

Avenue wastes, the maximum depleted

uranium concentration that is

acceptable for disposal in the disposal

cell is 5.98 Bq/gm (161 pCi/gm) total

uranium.

The staff also analyzed the

radiological impacts to the public from

the disposal of depleted uranium

contaminated soils and building rubble

in the proposed onsite disposal cell.

Radiological impacts to members of the

public may result from inhalation and

ingestion of releases of radioactivity in

air and in water during the remediation

operations and direct exposure to

radiation from radioactive materials at

the site during remediation operations.

The public may also be exposed to

radiation as a result of the onsite

disposals. Decommissioning workers

may receive doses primarily by

inhalation and direct exposure during

the remediation activities. In addition to

impacts from routine operations, the

potential radiological consequences of

accidents were considered.

The licensee provided an estimate of

the dose to the public from airborne

effluents to be generated during the

excavation activities associated with the

decommissioning of Bert Avenue site.

The maximum public dose from

airborne effluents is 0.04 mSv (4 mrem)

for the Bert Avenue site. The staff

performed a conservative, independent

analysis of the potential for public

exposure from airborne effluents. The

staff estimated the dose to the nearest

resident during excavation of soil at the

Chemetron Bert Avenue site to be

approximately 0.24 mSv (24 mrem).

The NRC staff performed dose

assessments for the Bert Avenue

disposal cell using the RESRAD

computer code, Version 5.61 (Reference

6) and the NEFTRAN II computer code

(Reference 7). The RESRAD code

calculates dose impacts assuming a

resident-farmer scenario, where an

individual would construct a residence,

live there, grow food, and consume all

drinking water from a conservatively

located groundwater well. Over a 1000

year period, the peak radiation doses

were calculated to be 0.28 mSv/yr (28

mrem/yr) at 1000 years after

construction of the disposal cell. These

predicted doses are less than NRC’s

limit of 1 mSv/yr (100 mrem/yr) for

radiation doses to the public in 10 CFR
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 27 / Monday, February 10, 1997 / Notices 6015

Part 20. These doses reflect the worst

case scenario with the proposed cover

over the disposal cell assumed to have

been removed.

NRC staff computed groundwater

doses for time periods after 1000 years

using the NEFTRAN II code. The peak

groundwater dose at a hypothetical well

150 m (500 ft) rom the Bert Avenue site

at a depth of about 8 m (25 ft) below the

base of the disposal cell would be 0.22

mSv/yr (22 mrem/yr) at 8000 years. The

peak groundwater dose at a well 1500 m

(5000 ft) from the Bert Avenue site at a

depth of 76 m (250 ft) below the base

of the disposal cell would be 0.02 mSv/

yr (2 mrem/yr) at 65,000 years. The

latter well location represents a realistic

location for a groundwater well based

on the regional geohydrological

conditions. NRC staff also calculated

groundwater doses assuming the

groundwater table rises to the natural

level of the filled-in ravine. The

resulting dose is 1.0E–5 mSv/yr (0.001

mrem/yr) at 1000 years and 2.0E–4

mSv/yr (0.02 mrem/yr) at 10,000 years.

The above doses estimated for the

public are substantially less than the 1

mSv/yr (100 mrem/yr) limit for

exposures to the public in 10 CFR part

20.

During the remediation of the

contaminated materials, workers will

receive doses from direct exposure and

from the inhalation of dusts containing

depleted uranium. From direct

exposure, assuming the maximum

measured background radiation levels at

the Bert Avenue site of 0.4 mSv/yr (40

mrem/yr) and a 2000 hr exposure,

Chemetron computed the direct

exposure dose to be 0.091 mSv (9.1

mrem). Chemetron computed the

inhalation dose to be 0.12 mSv (12

mrem). The above doses are

substantially below the 10 CFR part 20

limit of 0.05 Sv/yr (5 Rem/yr) for

routine occupational exposure.

Based on the above evaluations,

radiation exposures of persons living or

traveling near the site due to onsite

operations will be well within limits

contained in NRC regulations and will

be small in comparison to natural

background radiation. The licensee has

a radiation protection program that will

maintain radiation exposures and

effluent releases within the limits of 10

CFR part 20 and should maintain

exposures as low as is reasonably

achievable.

Chemetron and the NRC staff also

evaluated the radiological impacts from

hypothetical accidents. The licensee

evaluated two worst case accident

scenarios—a truck tipping over

releasing its contents and a truck fire

causing radioactivity to be dispersed

into the air. The scenarios assumed the

maximum total uranium concentration

of 507 Bq/gm (13,700 pCi/gm) total

uranium found at the Bert Avenue site

in Chemetron’s site characterization.

Receptors 10 m (33 ft) away would

receive a dose of 4.3E–4 mSv (4.3E–2

mrem) from the truck spill accident and

0.04 mSv (4 mrem) from the truck fire

accident. These postulated accidents do

not have the potential for onsite or

offsite radiation doses that exceed the

minimum Protective Action Guide level

of 0.01 Sv (1 Rem), recommended by the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(Reference 8), or above 10 CFR part 20

limit of 0.05 Sv (5 Rem/yr) for routine

occupational exposure.

Chemetron estimated that 15,000 m3

of wastes exceeding the Option 2 limits

in the 1981 BTP are expected at the Bert

Avenue site. These wastes will be

shipped offsite to a licensed low-level

waste disposal site. Wastes will be

packaged and shipped in containers or

covered railcars or trucks in accordance

with NRC and Department of

Transportation requirements. Wastes

will be disposed of in accordance with

disposal site license requirements.

Therefore, there are no significant

impacts from the transportation or

offsite disposal of radioactive materials.

The NRC staff also considered

nonradiological impacts and concluded

that all such impacts are negligible.

Chemetron has identified at the Bert

Avenue site solid wastes, but no

hazardous wastes, as defined under the

Resource, Conservation, and Recovery

Act (RCRA), that will need to be

managed in accordance with the

requirements of the Ohio Environmental

Protection Agency (OEPA). Solid wastes

have been considered in OEPA’s

approval of Chemetron’s ‘‘Final Site

Closure/Post-Closure Plan, Bert

Avenue’’ (Reference 9). If hazardous

wastes are encountered, these wastes

will be managed in accordance with

OEPA requirements. Any impacts for

handling RCRA solid and hazardous

wastes, if identified, are expected to be

small.

Based on the very low minority

populations in Newburgh Heights, Ohio,

and Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio, and

income statistics that show no

significant low-income populations

compared with those in Cuyahoga

County and in the State of Ohio, there

will be no significant impacts to

minorities and low-income households

from the proposed activities in

Newburgh Heights and Cuyahoga

Heights.

Conclusions

The proposed remediation of the Bert

Avenue site will enable Chemetron to

release the site for unrestricted use. On

the basis of the NRC staff’s evaluation of

Chemetron’s proposed remediation

approach for the Bert Avenue site, and

analysis of the environmental impacts of

the proposed action, the staff concludes

that the proposed remediation activities

will not result in any significant

environmental or radiological impact.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

Alternatives analyzed in the EA

included (1) leaving the depleted

uranium in place; (2) delayed

remediation; (3) disposal of

contaminated material at an offsite lowlevel radioactive waste disposal site; (4)

waste processing to reduce the volume

of waste to be disposed at an offsite lowlevel waste disposal site; and (5) onsite

disposal.

Leaving the depleted uranium in

place would result in the necessity of

maintaining radiological controls and

training requirements. Without

remediation of the contamination, the

site could not be released for

unrestricted use.

Delaying remediation would result in

higher costs for site controls and higher

future costs for remediation. Because of

the long half-life of uranium, there will

be no significant decay.

Disposing of wastes at an offsite lowlevel waste disposal site would cost

between $15,000,000 and $20,000,000.

An additional $2,300,000 is estimated to

be required to close the site to meet

OEPA solid waste requirements. No

significant radiological nor nonradiological impacts would be expected

in this alternative.

Treating contaminated soils and

rubble to remove depleted uranium and

reduce the volume of wastes required to

be disposed at an offsite low-level

radioactive waste disposal facility is

estimated to cost between $9,000,000

and $12,000,000. An additional

$2,300,000 is estimated to be required to

close the site to meet OEPA solid waste

requirements. No significant

radiological nor non-radiological

impacts would be expected in this

alternative.

Onsite disposal as proposed by the

licensee would cost approximately

$5,300,000 and would address OEPA

solid waste issues. No significant

radiological nor non-radiological

impacts would be expected in this

alternative.

The NRC staff concludes that there are

no reasonably available alternatives to

the licensee’s proposed plan that are

obviously superior.
6016 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 27 / Monday, February 10, 1997 / Notices

Alternative Use of Resources

The activities leading to the proposed

action would result in the irreversible

use of energy resources in the conduct

of the proposed Bert Avenue

remediation. There are no reasonable

alternatives to these resource uses, and

the proposed activities do not involve

any unresolved conflicts concerning

uses of available resources.

Agencies and Persons Consulted, and

Sources Used

The environmental assessment on

which the finding of no significant

impact is based was prepared by NRC

staff in the Office of Nuclear Material

Safety and Safeguards, Rockville, MD,

and Region III, Lisle, IL. During the

review of Chemetron’s Final Site

Remediation Plan, NRC requested

comments from the Ohio Department of

Health (ODH), OEPA, and the Cuyahoga

County Board of Health (CCBH).

NRC received formal comments from

ODH and CCBH, and informal

comments from OEPA. The principal

comments received from ODH and

OEPA were that NRC should require

post-closure controls and monitoring,

for the radiologic components in the

waste, after completion of the onsite

disposal cells. These controls would be

consistent with the post-closure controls

required by OEPA for solid waste

landfills. NRC staff indicated that under

the conditions of onsite disposal under

the Option 2 limits of the 1981 BTP

(Reference 4) the Bert Avenue site could

be released for unrestricted use, and

doses to hypothetical intruders who

might construct homes and consume

groundwater and foodstuffs grown in

the wastes would be acceptable.

Chemetron has agreed to perform

analyses for gross alpha, gross beta, and

total uranium in the groundwater

sampling program to be conducted as

part of OEPA post-closure monitoring

program.

The principal comments made by

CCBH were technical comments related

to the design of the proposed Bert

Avenue disposal cell.

A draft environmental assessment was

provided to ODH, OEPA, CCBH, and the

Mayor of Newburgh Heights for

comment. Other than ODH, there were

no comments received. The ODH staff

indicated that the State of Ohio does not

wish to have a number of small lowlevel waste sites across the site, and

they suggested that environmental

monitoring be required when the project

is completed. Chemetron has agreed to

perform analyses for gross alpha, gross

beta, and total uranium in the

groundwater sampling program to be

conducted as part of OEPA post-closure

monitoring program.

No other sources of information were

used beyond those which are referenced

in the report.

Finding of No Significant Impact

The NRC staff has prepared an EA

evaluating the environmental impacts

related to the license amendment

requested from Chemetron Corporation,

Inc., to authorize the remediation of the

Bert Avenue site in accordance with

their remediation plan. The EA

examines the radiological impacts

associated with these proposed

activities. As indicated above, the EA

did not identify any significant

environmental impact associated with

these proposed licensed amendment

actions. The NRC staff concluded that a

Finding of No Significant Impact

(FONSI) is justified and appropriate.

Opportunity for a Hearing

On April 11, 1994, the NRC published

in the Federal Register a notice of

Consideration of Amendment to

Chemetron Corporation License and

Opportunity for Hearing. In response to

that notice, the Earth Day Coalition

submitted a petition for hearing. On July

7, 1994, the Presiding Officer granted a

three week period for Earth Day

Coalition to supplement a deficient

hearing request. The Coalition’s petition

failed to demonstrate the NRC’s

standing requirements were met and

that its concerns were germane to the

subject matter of the proceeding.

Because the Coalition did not file the

supplemental information, on

September 1, 1994, the Presiding Officer

dismissed the proceeding.

References

1. Chemetron Corporation, ‘‘Site

Remediation Plan, Chemetron

Remediation Project, Harvard Avenue

and Bert Avenue Sites,’’ Revision 1,

February 28, 1995.

2. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Environmental Assessment Finding of

No Significant Impact Related to

Amendment of Materials License No.

SUB–1357, Chemetron Corporation,

Inc., Cuyahoga Heights, OH, Federal

Register, Vol. 59, No. 150, August 5,

1994, p. 40057.

3. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Environmental Assessment Finding of

No Significant Impact Related to

Amendment of Materials License No.

SUB–1357, Chemetron Corporation,

Inc., Cuyahoga Heights, OH, Federal

Register, Vol. 61, No. 110, June 6, 1996,

p. 28906.

4. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Branch Technical

Position, ‘‘Disposal or Onsite Storage of

Thorium or Uranium Wastes from Past

Operations,’’ Federal Register, Vol 46,

No. 205, October 23, 1981, p. 52061.

5. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, ‘‘Guidelines for

Decontamination of Facilities and

Equipment Prior to Release for

Unrestricted Use or Termination of

License for Byproduct, Source or

Special Nuclear Material,’’ August 1987.

6. Argonne National Laboratory,

‘‘Manual for Implementing Residual

Radioactive Material Guidelines Using

RESRAD, Version 5.0,’’ ANL/EAD/LD–

2, September 1993.

7. Olague, N.E., ‘‘User’s Manual for

the NEFTRAN II Computer Code,’’

NUREG/CR–5618, Sandia National

Laboratories, February 1991.

8. U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, ‘‘Manual of Protective Action

Guides and Protective Actions for

Nuclear Incidents,’’ EPA 400–R–92–001,

Revised 1991.

9. Chemetron Corporation, ‘‘Final Site

Closure/Post-Closure Plan, Bert

Avenue,’’ December 5, 1994.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day

of February 1997.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

John W.N. Hickey,

Chief, Low-Level Waste and Decommissioning

Projects Branch, Division of Waste

Management, Office of Nuclear Material

Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 97–3177 Filed 2–7–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

[Docket Nos. STN 50–454, STN 50–455, STN

50–456 and STN 50–457]

Commonwealth Edison Company;

Notice of Consideration of Issuance of

Amendments to Facility Operating

Licenses and Opportunity for a

Hearing

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (the Commission) is

considering the issuance of amendments

to Facility Operating License Nos. NPF–

37, NPF–66, NPF–72 and NPF–77,

issued to Commonwealth Edison

Company (ComEd, the licensee) for

operation of Byron Station, Units 1 and

2, located in Ogle County, Illinois and

Braidwood Station, Units 1 and 2,

located in Will County, Illinois.

The proposed amendments would

revise the technical specifications (TS)

to allow ComEd to take credit, on a

temporary basis, for soluble boron in the

spent fuel storage water in maintaining

an acceptable margin of subcriticality.

Before issuance of the proposed

license amendments, the Commission

will have made findings required by the