Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 143 / Monday, July 27, 1998 / Notices 40139

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 070–3073]

Finding of No Significant Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Finding of No Significant

Impact Related to Amendment of

Materials License No. SNM–1999, KerrMcGee Corporation, Cushing Refinery

Site, Cushing, Oklahoma.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (hereafter referred to as

NRC) is considering issuing a license

amendment to Materials License No.

SNM–1999, held by the Kerr-McGee

Corporation (Kerr-McGee or the

licensee), to authorize remediation of

Acid Sludge Pit 4 located on its Cushing

refinery site (Cushing site located in

Cushing, Oklahoma), and authorize

placement of radioactive contaminated

material into the radioactive material

storage area (RMSA).

Summary of Environmental Assessment

Background

Kerr-McGee has environmental

responsibility for a former refinery site

near the city of Cushing, Oklahoma. The

refinery opened around 1912 and was

purchased by Kerr-McGee in 1956.

During the early 1960s, in addition to

petroleum processing, Kerr-McGee

processed uranium fuel and thorium

metal in several buildings onsite under

licenses issued by the Atomic Energy

Commission (AEC). The uranium fuel

and thorium processing area was

decommissioned, the property and

facilities were released for unrestricted

use, and the license was terminated by

the AEC. Kerr-McGee continued to

operate the refinery until 1972, at which

time it was torn down. In May 1990

Kerr-McGee entered into a Consent

Order with the Oklahoma State

Department of Health (now referred to

as the Oklahoma Department of

Environmental Quality; ODEQ),

addressing the investigation and

remediation of the Cushing refinery site.

The ODEQ Consent Order divided the

site work into radiological and nonradiological remediation efforts. The

non-radiological remediation is being

performed in a manner similar to the

Federal Superfund Remedial

Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS)

process. On April 6, 1993, NRC issued

Materials License SNM–1999 to KerrMcGee Corporation, for the radiological

decommissioning of its Cushing site.

This license authorized the licensee to

possess radioactive contaminated soil,

sludge, sediment, trash, building rubble,

and any other radioactively

contaminated material, at its Cushing

site.

Proposed Action

One of the refinery acid sludge pits

being remediated under the ODEQ

Consent Order contains thorium

contamination in one corner of the pit.

This affected pit is designated as Acid

Sludge Pit 4. The licensee proposed to

remediate Acid Sludge Pit 4 based on

the experience gained from remediating

non-radiologically contaminated acid

sludge pits. The licensee would

establish a 50-by-50-foot grid system

over the surface of Acid Sludge Pit 4,

referenced to the site-wide grid system.

A layer of reagent (agricultural lime)

would be placed over each grid block.

The acidic sludge in each block would

be neutralized to a pH of approximately

five to six by adding and mixing in the

reagent to depth. The mixing process

should produce a relatively

homogeneous material. The licensee

plans to surface-scan this material in 18-

inch lifts, to determine if material

exceeds NRC’s Branch Technical

Position (BTP) (46 Federal Register

52061) Disposal Option 1 for thorium

concentrations. Material that exceeds

this Option 1 limit would be transported

to the RMSA. Once this material is in

the RMSA the licensee plans to package

and transport this material to a licensed

offsite disposal facility, the Envirocare

Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal

Site in Clive, Utah, for disposal.

Material that meets the Option 1 limit

would be excavated, stabilized by

blending in cement kiln dust or similar

reagent, and transported to the onsite

Other Industrial Waste (OIW) disposal

cell. The licensee plans to perform a

final survey of the material, once it is

placed in the OIW disposal cell, to

confirm that the material meets NRC’s

release criteria, Option 1 limit.

There are five acid sludge pits located

on the Cushing site. These acid sludge

pits contain acidic hydrocarbon sludge

from an earlier lubricating oil

manufacturing operation. The waste is

primarily heavy hydrocarbon containing

sulfuric acid (typically 15 to 20

percent). The northwest corner of Acid

Sludge Pit 4 also contains thoriumcontaminated material in concentrations

that exceed current remediation criteria

and pose a long-term risk to the

environment. The other acid sludge pits

do not contain radiologically

contaminated material. Phase One of the

non-radiological effort is remediation of

the five acid sludge pits. The RI/FS

process was completed and reviewed by

the ODEQ and local citizens. The ODEQ

issued a record of decision for the acidic

sludge pits requiring neutralization,

excavation, and placement in an onsite

engineered disposal cell.

License Condition 11.B.1 authorized

construction of the RMSA but

prohibited use of the RMSA until the

licensee demonstrated that liquid

effluent releases would be in

compliance with the requirements of 10

CFR Part 20. The licensee requested

License Condition 11.B.1 be amended to

allow radioactive contaminated material

to be placed into the RMSA. The

licensee also provided its proposed

RMSA liquid effluent monitoring

program.

In addition to the RMSA the licensee

plans to construct an Acid Sludge Pit 4

storm water retention pond (retention

pond). The purpose of the retention

pond is to collect surface water runoff

caused by rainstorm events that may

occur during the several week period

while the licensee will be performing

Acid Sludge Pit 4 remediation activities

in zones 1 and 2 (known contaminated

or possibly contaminated areas,

respectively). Therefore, surface water

runoff that may contain radiologically

contaminated material from a rainstorm

event would be collected and monitored

prior to release from this area. The

licensee plans to use the same liquid

effluent monitoring procedures prior to

release of liquid from the retention pond

as it plans to use for monitoring RMSA

liquid effluent releases. Finally, both the

RMSA and the retention pond use a

common discharge point in Skull Creek.

The Need for Proposed Action

This proposed action is necessary to

remove radiologically-contaminated

material from Acid Sludge Pit 4. This

action will facilitate compliance with

the Consent Order, and remediation of

Acid Sludge Pit 4 for release for

unrestricted use, a necessary action for

termination of Materials License SNM–

1999.

Alternative to Proposed Action

An alternative to the proposed action

is a no-action alternative. No action

would mean that Acid Sludge Pit 4

would not be remediated now. This

would prevent the licensee from

complying with the ODEQ Consent

Order. Also, this conflicts with NRC’s

requirement, in 10 CFR 40.42, of timely

remediation at sites that have ceased

operation. Although there is no

immediate threat to the public health

and safety from this site, not

undertaking remediation at this time

does not solve the regulatory and

potential long-term health and safety

problems associated with storing this
40140 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 143 / Monday, July 27, 1998 / Notices

1 60 Federal Register 46318 (September 6, 1995).

waste. No action now would delay

remediation until some time in the

future, when costs could be much

higher than they are today. It is even

possible that no disposal option will be

available in the future if the current

low-level radioactive waste disposal

facilities are closed and no new ones are

opened. Therefore, the no-action

alternative is not acceptable.

Environmental Impacts of Proposed

Action

The 10 CFR Part 20 liquid effluent

release limits are based on a total

effective dose equivalent of 50 mrem if

the radionuclide were ingested

continuously over the course of a year.

The licensee has committed to maintain

annual cumulative averaging less than

20 percent of the effluent limits

stipulated in Appendix B of 10 CFR Part

20. The Cushing license SNM–1999 will

be conditioned to reflect this

commitment. The licensee’s analysis

indicates that the actual releases will

likely be less than one percent of the

effluent limits. If the licensee did

release liquid effluents at one percent of

the 10 CFR Part 20 release limits and if

a member of the public were able to

directly consume this contaminated

liquid effluent, that member of the

public would receive a total effective

dose of less than 0.5 mrem/year.

Further, if the licensee released liquid

effluents at 20 percent of the 10 CFR

Part 20 release limits and if a member

of the public were able to directly

consume this contaminated liquid

effluent, that member of the public

would receive a total effective dose of

less than 10 mrem/year. Therefore,

effluent releases from the RMSA will be

limited to an annual average of not more

than 20 percent of the 10 CFR Part 20

limit and, in accordance with ALARA,

any discharge above 20 percent of the

limit will be investigated and corrective

measures will be taken and

documented. This condition will ensure

that the maximum potential dose to a

member of the public is less than 10

mrem/year. Therefore, the impact on the

human environment due to the release

of potentially radioactive contaminated

liquid effluent from either the RMSA or

the retention pond is insignificant.

Further, the low-level waste disposal

facility, Envirocare, eligible to receive

this waste, is regulated under State of

Utah rules for land disposal of

radioactive wastes, which provide for

long-term institutional control and

minimize the potential for human

intrusion and other environmental

impacts. Therefore, NRC staff believes

that disposing of the Acid Sludge Pit 4

radiologically contaminated wastes at

the Envirocare facility will not cause

any significant impacts on the human

environment and is acceptable. The

conditions and restrictions placed on

the Envirocare facility, combined with

the facility design provisions and its

location, provide an acceptable level of

protection of human health and safety

and the environment.

Conclusions

Based on NRC staff’s evaluation of the

licensee’s Acid Sludge Pit 4 remediation

plan and placement of radioactive

contaminated material into the RMSA,

NRC staff has determined that the

proposed plan and use of the RMSA

complies with NRC’s public and

occupational dose and effluent limits,

and that authorizing the proposed

activities by license amendment would

not be a major Federal action

significantly affecting the quality of the

human environment. NRC staff

concludes that a finding of no

significant impact is justified and

appropriate, and that an environmental

impact statement is not required. In

accordance with the requirements of

Subpart L of 10 CFR Part 2, an

Opportunity for a Hearing was offered.1

Finding of No Significant Impact

Pursuant to 10 CFR Part 51, NRC has

prepared an environmental assessment

related to the issuance of a license

amendment to Materials License SNM–

1999, authorizing remediation of Acid

Sludge Pit 4 and placement of

radioactive contaminated material into

the RMSA. On the basis of this

environmental assessment, NRC has

concluded that this licensing action

would not have any significant effect on

the quality of the human environment

and does not warrant the preparation of

an environmental impact statement.

Accordingly, it has been determined

that a Finding of No Significant Impact

is appropriate.

Further Information

For further details with respect to this

action, the Environmental Assessment

and other documents related to this

proposed action are available for public

inspection and copying at NRC’s Public

Document Room at the Gelman

Building, 2120 L Street NW.,

Washington, DC.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day

of July 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Lawrence G. Bell,

Acting Chief, Low-Level Waste and

Decommissioning Projects Branch, Division

of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 98–19972 Filed 7–24–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETING: Nuclear

Regulatory Commission.

DATES: Wednesday, July 29, 1998.

PLACE: NRC Headquarters, 11555

Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.

STATUS: Public.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Week of July 27

Wednesday, July 29

2:00 p.m.

Briefing on Operating Reactors and

Fuel Facilities (Public meeting)

4:00 p.m.

Affirmation Session (Public meeting)

*(Please note: This item will be

affirmed immediately following the

conclusion of the preceding

meeting.)

a: Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C.; Atomic

Safety and Licensing Board

Memorandum and Order, LBP–98–

7 (April 22, 1998)

(Tentative)

*The schedule for Commission

meetings is subject to change on short

notice. To verify the status of meetings

call (recording)—(301) 415–1292.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Bill Hill (301) 415–1661.

The NRC Commission Meeting

Schedule can be found on the Internet

at: http://www.nrc.gov/SECY/smj/

schedule.htm

This notice is distributed by mail to

several hundred subscribers; if you no

longer wish to receive it, or would like

to be added to it, please contact the

Office of the Secretary, Attn: Operations

Branch, Washington, D.C. 20555 (301–

415–1661). In addition, distribution of

this meeting notice over the Internet

system is available. If you are interested

in receiving this Commission meeting

schedule electronically, please send an

electronic message to wmh@nrc.gov or

dkw@nrc.gov.

Annette L. Vietti-Cook,

Acting Secretary, Office of the Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–20102 Filed 7–23–98; 11:30 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–M