Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 16, 2001 / Notices 27167

1‘‘Radiological Safety for the Design and

Construction of Apparatus for Gamma Radiography

(ANSI N432–1980),’’ (published as NBS Handbook

136, issued January 1981).

Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to

the Assistant General Counsel for

Materials Litigation and Enforcement at

the same address, and to the Regional

Administrator, NRC Region II, 61

Forsyth Street, SW., Suite 23T85,

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8931.

If a hearing is requested, the

Commission will issue an Order

designating the time and place of the

hearing. If the Licensee fails to request

a hearing within 30 days of the date of

this Order (or if written approval of an

extension of time in which to request a

hearing has not been granted), the

provisions of this Order shall be

effective without further proceedings. If

payment has not been made by that

time, the matter may be referred to the

Attorney General for collection.

In the event the Licensee requests a

hearing as provided above, the issues to

be considered at such hearing shall be:

(a) Whether the Licensee was in

violation of the Commission’s

requirements as set forth in the Notice

referenced in Section II above, and

(b) Whether, on the basis of such

violation, this Order should be

sustained.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day

of May 2001.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

William F. Kane,

Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory

Programs.

[FR Doc. 01–12340 Filed 5–15–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Louisiana License Nos. LA–0577–L01; LA–

7112–L01; LA–10207–L01]

Request for Exemption From 10 CFR

34.20, Performance Requirements for

Industrial Radiography Equipment;

Environmental Assessment, Finding of

No Significant Impact, and Notice of

Opportunity for a Hearing

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission is considering authorizing

Global X-ray & Testing Corporation,

Bayou Testing Services Inc, Accurate

NDE & Inspection L.L.C., and others an

exemption to use pipeliner style

radiography devices on lay barges in the

Gulf of Mexico.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

Global X-ray & Testing Corporation,

Morgan City, Louisiana; Bayou Testing

Services, Inc, Amelia, Louisiana;

Accurate NDE & Inspection L.L.C.,

Opelousas, Louisiana, (the applicants)

are licensed by the State of Louisiana to

conduct industrial radiography

operations. They have requested, in

letters dated July 11, 2000, August 28,

2000, and September 18, 2000,

respectively, that the United States

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

grant them reciprocity, and an

exemption from 10 CFR 34.20(a)(1), to

use their pipeliner type radiography

cameras (pipeliners) for pipeline

radiography, on lay barges, in areas

under exclusive Federal jurisdiction,

within the Gulf of Mexico. Pipeliners

are older model radiography cameras

that do not meet the requirements of 10

CFR 34.20(a)(1). These regulations

require equipment, used in industrial

radiographic operations, to meet the

requirements in ANSI N432–1980 1.

Each of the applicants are allowed to

conduct similar operations in the State

of Louisiana under an exemption

granted in their state licenses, and they

are requesting NRC exemptions under

10 CFR 150.20 ‘‘Recognition of

Agreement States Licenses’’

(Reciprocity).

Need for the Proposed Action

The exemption is needed so that the

applicants can conduct pipeline

radiography on lay barges. The

applicants contend that due to the

design of the lay barges, and the limited

space available, the pipeliner is the only

device of its kind that will keep up with

production rate on a lay barge, while at

the same time provide a safe working

environment for their radiographers and

barge personnel.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed

Action

There will be no significant

environmental impact from the

proposed action due to the fact that no

radioactive material is being released

into the environment, and all of the

radioactive material is wholly contained

within the radiography camera, which is

only used in an enclosed radiography

stall on a lay barge.

During normal operation the external

radiation dose levels will not be

significantly greater than an approved

radiography camera’s normal operating

external radiation dose levels.

Compensatory safety measures will be

in place at all times during the

operation of the pipeliner device.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

As required by section 102(2)(E) of

NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4322(2)(E)), possible

alternatives to the final action have been

considered. The only alternative is to

deny the exemption. This option was

not considered practical, and there

would be no gain in protecting the

human environment. Denying the

exemption request would force the

applicants to revert to radiography

cameras that are designed to meet ANSI

N432–1980, but, according to the

applicants, these cameras would not be

easily adaptable to lay barge operations.

The newer cameras would be similar to

the pipeliners in that their radioactive

material is housed as a sealed source

and there would be no release of

material to the environment. However,

the newer cameras have associated

equipment, such as a drive cable and

guide tube, that would require

additional space to perform radiography

on pipelines. According to the

applicant, this equipment becomes

cumbersome and may get in the way as

the pipe is moved through the lay barge.

In the newer devices, the sealed source

would have to be cranked out of the

shielded position in the camera housing

through a guide tube to the exposure

head location where the radiograph

takes place. Because this ‘‘crank out’’

action causes the source to be

unshielded while the source is cranked

out to the exposure head, the ‘‘restricted

area’’ boundary must be increased and

could cause a greater potential exposure

to non-radiography personnel on the lay

barge.

Alternative Use of Resources

No alternative use of resources was

considered due to the reasons stated

above.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

The State of Louisiana was contacted

by telephone on 04/18/01 regarding this

proposed action. The State of Louisiana

did not object to the proposed action

and had no additional comments.

Identification of Sources Used

Letters from the applicants to U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region

IV, Re: Global X-ray & Testing

Corporation, Louisiana License No. LA–

0577–L01, July 11, 2000; Bayou Testing

Services Inc., Louisiana License No.

LA–7112–L01, August 28, 2000;

Accurate NDE & Inspection L.L.C.,

Louisiana License No. LA–10207-L01,

September 18, 2000.

Finding of No Signiticant Impact

Based on the above environmental

assessment, the Commission has

concluded that environmental impacts

that would be created by the proposed

action would not have a significant

27168 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 16, 2001 / Notices

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.

The applicants applications are

available for inspection and copying for

a fee in the Region IV Public Document

Room, 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400,

Arlington, TX 76011–8064. The

documents may also be viewed in the

Agency-wide Documents Access and

Management System (ADAMS) located

on the NRC website at www.nrc.gov.

Opportunity for a Hearing

Any person whose interest may be

affected by the issuance of this action

may file a request for a hearing. Any

request for hearing must be filed with

the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555, within 30 days of the

publication of this notice in the Federal

Register; be served on the NRC staff

(Executive Director for Operations, One

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852), and

on the applicants, Global X-ray &

Testing Corporation, PO Box 1536,

Morgan City, Louisiana 70381; Bayou

Testing Services Inc, PO Box 1065,

Amelia, Louisiana 70340; Accurate NDE

& Inspection L.L.C., P.O. Box 1298,

Opelousas, Louisiana 70571–1298 and

must comply with the requirements for

requesting a hearing set forth in the

Commission’s regulations, 10 CFR Part

2, Subpart L, ‘‘Information Hearing

Procedures for Adjudications in

Materials Licensing Proceedings.’’

These requirements, which the

request must address in detail, are:

1. The interest of the requestor in the

proceeding;

2. How that interest may be affected

by the results of the proceeding

(including the reasons why the

requestor should be permitted a

hearing);

3. The requestor’s areas of concern

about the licensing activity that is the

subject matter of the proceeding; and

4. The circumstances establishing that

the request for hearing is timely—that

is, filed within 30 days of the date of

this notice.

In addressing how the requestor’s

interest may be affected by the

proceeding, the request should describe

the nature of the requestor’s right under

the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as

amended, to be made a party to the

proceeding; the nature and extent of the

requestor’s property, financial, or other

(i.e., health, safety) interest in the

proceeding; and the possible effect of

any order that may be entered in the

proceeding upon the requestor’s

interest.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day

of May, 2001.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

John W.N. Hickey,

Chief, Materials Safety and Inspection

Branch, Division of Industrial and Medical

Nuclear Safety, Office of Nuclear Material

Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 01–12339 Filed 5–15–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70–143]

Environmental Assessment and

Finding of No Significant Impact of

License Amendment for Nuclear Fuel

Services, Inc., and Notice of

Opportunity To Request a Hearing

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Amendment of Nuclear Fuel

Services, Inc., Materials License SNM–

124 to Approve Partial Site

Decommissioning Plan.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission is considering the

amendment of Special Nuclear Material

License SNM–124 to approve the North

Site Decommissioning Plan at the

Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., facility

located in Erwin, TN, and has prepared

an Environmental Assessment in

support of this action.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS)

began operations at the Erwin,

Tennessee facility in 1957. From then

until 1981, portions of the North Site

(NS) area were used for disposal of

radioactive waste in accordance with 10

CFR 20.304. Since that time, the area

has not been used for licensed

operations. In 1991, NFS began partial

remediation of the NS. These activities

included removing the sludges from

Ponds 1, 2, and 3, and removal of

accessible waste in the Pond 4 area

under authorization from the US

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Excavation of the (§ 20.304) burial area

began in 1997. All previous work is

authorized by license amendment and is

not the subject of this environmental

assessment. By request for license

amendment dated July 30, 1999 (NFS

North Site Decommissioning Plan, Rev.

1), NFS requested authorization to use

the land use scenarios and residual

radioactive concentrations described

below to meet the requirements of

suitability for release for unrestricted

use as defined in NRC regulations. NFS

has no plans at this time to release the

NS area from their NRC license.

In 1997, NRC issued radiological

criteria for license termination in 10

CFR part 20 subpart E. Section 20.1402

defines the radiological criteria for

suitability for unrestricted use: 25

mrem/yr total effective dose equivalent

from all pathways. As part of the rulemaking to institute this regulation, an

environmental impact statement

determined that there was no significant

impact on human health and safety at

this level of exposure.

1.2 Geographic and Temporal

Boundaries of the Environmental

Assessment (EA)

The geographic scope of this EA is

limited to the NS area of the NFS site,

as defined in NRC license SNM–124. At

the time of license termination for the

entire NFS site, the results of the NS

area final status survey may be

reassessed in order to incude any

possible dose contribution from the NS

area in the dose assessment for the

entire site and any impact from possible

recontamination of the NS area.

Consistent with 10 CFR part 20,

subpart E, the time of compliance for

deriving the proposed cleanup levels is

1,000 years. Evaluation of dose impacts

past this point is not considered to be

necessary. When predicting thousands

of years into the future, uncertainties

become very large because of major

potential changes in the hydrogeologic

regime at the site over such long periods

of time. The consequences of exposure

to residual radioactivity levels such as

those proposed are small and

considering the large uncertainties,

long-term modeling of possible doses

would have little value. In addition,

because of the long half-lives of the

radioactive materials in question, no

significant changes in potential impacts

are anticipated until thousands of years

after release.

2 Purpose and Need for Proposed

Action

The licensee is remediating the North

Site area so that it will be suitable for

unrestricted use in accordance with the

criteria in 10 CFR 20.1402. This action

is required by 10 CFR 70.38 (Timeliness

Rule) and a 1994 NRC Order.

3 Description of Proposed Action

Approval of the license amendment

request will authorize decommissioning

of the North Site by removal of

contaminated soil to levels at or below