[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 82 (Thursday, April 30, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20002-20003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9946]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-32694; NRC-2009-0183]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for Amendment of Byproduct Materials License No. 
24-00513-38, for Unrestricted Release of Facilities at University of 
Missouri in St. Louis, MO

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Issuance of environmental assessment and finding of no 
significant impact for license amendment.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter J. Lee, PhD, CHP, Health 
Physicist, Materials Control, ISFSI, and Decommissioning Branch, 
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, 2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; 
telephone: (630) 829-9870; fax number: (630) 515-1259; or by e-mail at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#dc8cb9a8b9aef290b9b99cb2aebff2bbb3aa"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c797a2b3a2b5e98ba2a287a9b5a4e9a0a8b1">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend 
Byproduct Materials License No. 24-00513-38. This license is held by 
the Curators of the University of Missouri (the Licensee) for its 
facilities located at 8001 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, Missouri. 
Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of certain 
laboratories, designated by the licensee as R-109, R-201, R-411, R-412, 
R-417, R-433, R-435, R-439, and S-466 (collectively, the ``Facility''), 
for unrestricted use. The Facility is located at the above address. The 
Licensee requested this action in letter dated February 10, 2009 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML090480210). The NRC has prepared an Environmental 
Assessment (EA) in support of this proposed action in accordance with 
the requirements of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 
51 (10 CFR part 51). Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate with respect to 
the proposed action. The amendment will be issued to the Licensee 
following the publication of this FONSI and EA in the Federal Register.

II. Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would approve the Licensee's February 10, 2009, 
license amendment request, resulting in the release of the Facility for 
unrestricted use (the criteria for unrestricted use is set forth in 10 
CFR 20.1402). The applicable NRC decommissioning regulation, under 
which this proposed action would be carried out, is 10 CFR 30.36. 
License No. 24-00513-38 was issued on August 21, 1992, pursuant to 10 
CFR part 30, and has been amended periodically since that time. The 
license authorizes the use of by-product materials for laboratory 
research and development, including metabolic labeling and in-vitro 
experiments. The licensee ceased using licensed materials in the 
Facility in 2008. The Licensee has conducted radiological surveys of 
the Facility (the licensee conducted surveys for laboratories R-109 and 
R-201 in 2007, and conducted surveys for the remainder of the 
laboratories in 2008). The results of these surveys were provided to 
the NRC to demonstrate that the criteria in 10 FR 20.1402 for 
unrestricted release have been met.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the 
Facility and seeks the unrestricted use of its Facility.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facility shows that such activities involved use of hydrogen-3, carbon-
14, phosphorus-32, phosphorus-33, sulfur-35, molybdenum-99, iodine-125, 
and cesium-137. Prior to performing the radiological surveys, the 
Licensee conducted decontamination activities, as necessary, in the 
areas of the Facility affected by these radionuclides.
    Three radiological survey reports, together covering all areas of 
the facility, were attached to the licensee's amendment request dated 
February 10,

[[Page 20003]]

2009. The Licensee elected to demonstrate compliance with the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 
20.1402 by using the screening values described in NUREG-1757, 
``Consolidated Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 1 (ML020380209) as 
the radionuclide-specific derived concentration guideline levels 
(DCGLs) \1\. These values provide acceptable levels of surface 
contamination to demonstrate compliance with the NRC requirements in 10 
CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. The Licensee's survey results 
were below these values and are in compliance with the As Low As 
Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The NRC 
thus finds that the Licensee's survey results are acceptable.
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    \1\ The survey for laboratories R-109 and R-201 relied upon the 
screening values set forth in NRC Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.86, 
``Termination of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Reactor,'' (June 
1974). The RG 1.86 screening values are more conservative than, and 
as such are bound by, the screening values in NUREG-1757.
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    Based on its review, the staff has determined that the affected 
environment and any environmental impacts associated with the proposed 
action 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 Nuclear Facilities'' 
(NUREG-1496) Volumes 1-3 (ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385).
    The staff finds there were no significant environmental impacts 
from the use of radioactive material at the Facility. The NRC staff 
reviewed available docket file records and the survey results to 
identify any non-radiological hazards that may have impacted the 
environment surrounding the Facility. No such hazards or impacts to the 
environment were identified. The NRC has identified no other 
radiological or non-radiological activities in the area that could 
result in cumulative environmental impacts.
    The NRC staff finds that issuance of the proposed amendment 
authorizing release of the Facility for unrestricted use is in 
compliance with applicable NRC regulations. Based on its review, the 
staff considered the impact of the residual radioactivity at the 
Facility and concluded that the proposed action will not have a 
significant effect on the quality of the human environment.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action, 
its environmental impacts are small. Therefore, the only alternative 
the staff considered is the no-action alternative, under which the 
staff would deny the amendment request. This no-action alternative is 
not feasible because it conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d), requiring that 
decommissioning of byproduct material facilities be completed and 
approved by the NRC after licensed activities cease. The NRC's analysis 
of the Licensee's survey data confirmed that the Facility meets the 
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. Additionally, 
denying the amendment request would result in no change in current 
environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action 
and the no-action alternative are therefore similar, and the no-action 
alternative is accordingly not further considered.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action is consistent 
with the NRC's unrestricted release criteria specified in 10 CFR 
20.1402. Because the proposed action will not significantly impact the 
quality of the human environment, the NRC staff concludes that the 
proposed action is the preferred alternative.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the 
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services for review on March 
31, 2009. By response dated April 1, 2009, the State agreed with the 
conclusions of the EA, and otherwise provided no comments.
    The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a 
procedural nature, and will not affect any listed species or critical 
habitat. Therefore, no consultation is required under Section 7 of the 
Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff has also determined that the 
proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential to 
cause effects on historic properties. Therefore, no consultation is 
required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has prepared this EA in support of the proposed 
action. On the basis of this EA, the NRC finds that there are no 
significant environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that 
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted. 
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant 
Impact is appropriate.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
license 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 Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which 
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The documents 
related to this action are listed below, along with their ADAMS 
accession numbers.
    1. Steven D. Struck, Curators of the University of Missouri, letter 
dated February 10, 2009 (ADAMS Accession No. ML091120616);
    2. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    3. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;''
    4. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support 
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' (ML042310492, ML042320379, and 
ML042330385);
    5. NUREG-1757, AConsolidated Decommissioning Guidance@ 
(ML020380209).
    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, 301-415-4737, or 
by e-mail to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#aedecadceec0dccd80c9c1d8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d1a1b5a391bfa3b2ffb6bea7">[email protected]</span></a>. These documents may also be viewed 
electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 
F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. 
The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 23rd day of April 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William G. Snell,
Acting Branch Chief, Materials Control, ISFSI, and Decommissioning 
Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III.
[FR Doc. E9-9946 Filed 4-29-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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