Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 49 / Thursday, March 13, 1997 / Notices 11935

Street, Suite 1300, Portland, Oregon

97204.

For further details with respect to this

Order, see PGE’s application dated

August 20, 1996, and supplemental

letters dated October 16, 1996, and

October 30, 1996, which are available

for public inspection at the

Commission’s Public Document Room,

Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C., and at the TNP local

public document room located at the

Branford Price Millar Library, Portland

State University, Portland, Oregon

97207.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day

of March 1997.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 97–6344 Filed 3–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

[Docket NO. 50–72]

Environmental Assessment and

Finding of No Significant Impact

Regarding Termination of Amended

Facility Operating License No. R–25

University of Utah AGN–201 Research

Reactor

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is considering

issuance of an Order terminating

Amended Facility Operating License

No. R–25 for the University of Utah (the

licensee) AGN–201 Research Reactor

(AGN–201) located on the licensee’s

campus in Salt Lake City, Utah, in

accordance with the application dated

July 17, 1990, as supplemented on July

18, 1990, June 12, 1991, April 13, 1994,

and March 17 and 22, 1995, and

February 6, 1996.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

By application dated July 17, 1990, as

supplemented on July 18, 1990, and

June 12, 1991, the licensee requested

authorization to dismantle the AGN–201

and dispose of its component parts in

accordance with the proposed

decommissioning plan. The application

of July 17, 1990, also requested

authorization to terminate Amended

Facility Operating License No. R–25.

Following an ‘‘Order Authorizing

Dismantling of Facility and Disposition

of Component Parts,’’ dated August 1,

1991, (56 FR 37733), the licensee

completed the dismantlement and

submitted a final survey report dated

April 13, 1994, as supplemented on

March 17 and 22, 1995, and February 6,

1996. Representatives of the Oak Ridge

Institute for Science and Education

(ORISE), under contract to NRC,

conducted a survey of the reactor on

April 9, 1996. The survey is

documented in an ORISE report,

‘‘Radiological Survey of the University

of Utah AGN–201M Research Reactor,

Salt Lake City, Utah,’’ dated June 1996.

In a memorandum dated July 15, 1996,

NRC Region IV found that the ORISE

report findings support the data

developed in the licensee’s final survey

report.

Because the AGN–201 is in the same

room as the TRIGA Research Reactor

(Docket No. 50–407, Facility Operating

License No. R–126) that the University

continues to operate, the Reactor Room

of the Merrill Engineering Building will

continue to be subject to the terms of the

TRIGA license. There is no site being

released for unrestricted use by this

action. Only the remaining reactor

component parts possessed under

Amended Facility Operating License

No. R–25 are being released for

unrestricted use by this license

termination. The Reactor Room will be

considered for release by NRC as part of

the request to terminate the TRIGA

license at some time in the future.

Because the site will continue to be

used under a NRC license and will be

surveyed in the future, and because

application of the regulation is not

necessary to achieve the underlying

purpose of the rule, the NRC, in a

separate action, is considering granting,

upon its own initiative, a specific

exemption in accordance with 10 CFR

50.12 to the part of the requirements of

10 CFR 50.82(b)(6)(ii) that requires a

terminal radiation survey and associated

documentation to demonstrate that the

site is suitable for release as a condition

for license termination.

The Need for Proposed Action

In order to release the remaining

reactor components for unrestricted use,

Amended Facility Operating License

No. R–25 must be terminated.

Environmental Impact of License

Termination

The licensee indicates that the

residual contamination and dose

exposures comply with the criteria of

Regulatory Guide 1.86, Table 1, which

establish acceptable residual surface

contamination levels, and the exposure

limit, established by the NRC staff, of

less than 5 micro rem/hr above

background at 1 meter. These

measurements have been verified by the

NRC staff. The NRC finds that since

these criteria have been met, there is no

significant impact on the environment

and the reactor components can be

released for unrestricted use and the

license terminated. Because the site will

continue to be subject to an NRC

license, terminating Operating License

No. R–25 will have no effect on the

status of the site and thus, has no

significant impact on the environment.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

As an alternative to the proposed

action, the staff considered denying the

proposed action. Denying the

application for license termination

would result in no change in current

environmental impacts and would deny

release of the remaining reactor

components for unrestricted use and

require continuance of the facility

license. The environmental impacts of

the proposed action and of the

alternative action are similar. Since the

contaminated and activated reactor and

component parts have been dismantled

and disposed of in accordance with

NRC regulations and guidelines, there is

no alternative with less environmental

impact than the termination of

Amended Facility Operating License

No. R–25.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

The staff consulted with personnel

from ORISE (an NRC contractor), who

conducted the confirmatory survey for

the AGN–201. The staff also consulted

with the Utah State official regarding

the environmental impact of the

proposed action. The State official had

no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

The NRC has determined not to

prepare an environmental impact

statement for the proposed action. On

the basis of the foregoing environmental

assessment, the NRC has concluded that

the issuance of the Order will have no

significant effect on the quality of the

human environment.

For further details with respect to this

proposed action, see the application for

termination of Amended Facility

Operating License No. R–25, dated July

17, 1990, as supplemented. These

documents are available for public

inspection at the Commission’s Public

Document Room, 2120 L Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20037.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day

of March 1997.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Seymour H. Weiss,

Director, Non-Power Reactors and

Decommissioning Project Directorate,

Division of Reactor Program Management,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 97–6341 Filed 3–12–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P