[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31697-31699]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-14754]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-9027]


License No. SMC-1562 Cabot Corporation's Revere Site; 
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Related 
to Approval of Site Decommissioning Plan

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Finding of No Significant Impact; Notice of Opportunity for 
Hearing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposes to 
approve Cabot Corporation's (Cabot's or the licensee's), 
Decommissioning Plan (DP) for its Revere, Pennsylvania, site and amend 
NRC Source Material License SMC-1562 to remove the Revere site from the 
license. Cabot is authorized to store up to 91,000 kilograms (100 tons) 
of elemental, natural uranium and thorium, in any form, at its Reading 
and Revere, Pennsylvania, sites. This proposed action pertains only to 
the Revere site; the Revere site will be removed, and the Reading site 
will remain on the license. The Revere site (Revere) is located 
approximately 60 kilometers (36 miles) north of Philadelphia and about 
26 kilometers (16 miles) southeast of Allentown, Pennsylvania. The NRC 
staff has evaluated Cabot's request and has developed an Environmental 
Assessment (EA) to support the review of Cabot's proposed DP and 
license amendment request, in accordance with the requirements of 10 
CFR part 51. Based on staff evaluation, the conclusion of the EA is a 
Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on human health nor the 
environment for the proposed licensing action.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Mr. Theodore Smith, Decommissioning 
Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T7-F27, 
Washington, DC 20555. Telephone (301) 415-6721.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Kawecki Chemical Company--Penn Rare Division (Cabot's 
predecessor), was first licensed to store uranium and thorium at the 
Revere site in October 1969, by NRC's predecessor, the Atomic Energy 
Commission. The license was amended in June 1970, authorizing the 
licensee [then known as Kawecki Berylium Industries (KBI)] to process 
up to 1,800 kilograms (4,000 pounds) of ore concentrates containing up 
to 2 percent natural thorium and 1.5 percent natural uranium.
    The uranium and thorium were contained in pyrochlore-bearing ores 
purchased for production of columbium and tantalum. The end product 
from the licensee's process was purified columbium and tantalum used 
for manufacturing high-strength metals and electronic components. At 
the Revere site, columbite and pyrochlore ores were blended with 
aluminum and iron powder. The mixture was ignited in a crucible wherein 
the aluminum reduced the columbium oxide in the ore by a thermite 
process. The iron alloyed to

[[Page 31698]]

form ferrocolumbium, while the spent aluminum and other oxides, and the 
uranium and thorium from the ore, were melted into process slag. The 
thorium-and uranium-bearing slag was stored on site in four different 
locations. Processing of source material-bearing ores ceased in 1978, 
although the license was not changed until December 1983, when it was 
amended to authorize only possession of uranium and thorium at Revere. 
KBI maintained the Revere site for source material possession-only, 
with no activity until 1987, at which time Cabot Corporation became the 
licensee of record through acquisition of KBI.
    In 1988, Cabot began onsite decommissioning activities for Revere, 
including site characterization, determination of slag leach rates, 
surface gamma measurements, and radiological analysis of surface and 
subsurface samples. Contaminated areas were remediated in a series of 
clean-up actions and site surveys in the early 1990s. The first site DP 
submitted to NRC in August 1996, was replaced in November 1997 by a DP 
that analyzed the site in accordance with current license termination 
requirements. This DP was amended in March 2001, in response to 
additional questions from NRC staff.
    In the March 2001 DP, the licensee demonstrated that the Revere 
site is in compliance with requirements for license termination with no 
further remediation. The DP (as amended in April 2001) and accompanying 
Radiological Assessment assert that residual radioactivity 
distinguishable from background at Revere meets the unrestricted 
release criteria established in 10 CFR 20.1402 of the License 
Termination Rule (LTR). The LTR requires that the total effective dose 
equivalent to an average member of the critical group, as determined by 
licensee analysis and NRC review, does not exceed 0.25 millisieverts 
per year (mSv/yr) [25 millirem (mrem/yr)], from all exposure pathways, 
and that the residual radioactivity has been reduced to levels that are 
as low as is reasonably achievable (ALARA). Although Cabot's Revere 
site is a Site Decommissioning Management Plan (SDMP) site, Cabot 
decided to demonstrate compliance with the newer LTR requirements and 
not the SDMP action criteria.
    Site production records, quality assurance documents, and 
inspection reports indicate that a total of about 23,000 kilograms 
(50,000 pounds) of uranium and thorium-bearing ores were stored and 
processed at the Revere site. Subsurface contamination reports and 
remediation reports indicate a total contaminated volume (clean slag, 
soil and building debris intermixed with contaminated slag) of 23,186 
cubic meters (m\3\) [818,700 cubic feet (ft\3\)] at the site. Cabot 
later revised the volume estimate to be 15,180 m\3\ (536,010 ft\3\) by 
using the minimum values for each area in the reports. Cabot estimated 
the average concentration of the contaminated volume to be 0.052 
Becquerels per gram (Bq/g) [picocuries per gram (0.14 pCi/g)] for total 
thorium and 0.013 Bq/g (0.34 pCi/g) for total uranium using a volume of 
23,186 m\3\, although it considered concentrations based on the minimum 
reported volume, which would be approximately 50 percent more.

Summary of the EA

    The NRC staff performed an assessment of the environmental impacts 
associated with implementation of Cabot's DP for the Revere site, in 
accordance with 10 CFR part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations 
for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions.'' In 
conducting its appraisal, the NRC staff considered the following 
information: (1) Cabot's Revere Site DP, as amended; (2) Cabot's Revere 
Site Radiological Assessment, as amended; (3) previous environmental 
evaluations of the Revere site; (4) data contained in environmental 
monitoring and survey reports; (5) the results of NRC staff site visits 
and inspections of the Revere facility; and (6) consultations with the 
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). The 
results of the staff's appraisal, a FONSI, are documented in an EA. The 
safety aspects for the proposed action are discussed separately in a 
Safety Evaluation Report (SER).

Conclusions

    The NRC staff has evaluated the actual and potential impacts 
associated with implementation of the DP and removing Revere from 
Cabot's license and has determined that the amendment to Source 
Material License SMC-1562 will: (1) Be consistent with the requirements 
of the LTR and Part 40, ``Domestic Licensing of Source Material'', (2) 
not be inimical to public health and safety; and (3) not have 
detrimental impacts on the environment. The following statements 
summarize the conclusions of the staff's EA, and support the FONSI:
    1. In the most bounding scenario analyzed by staff, which 
conservatively estimated the potential dose to an average member of the 
critical group within 1000 years after license termination, the largest 
calculated dose was 0.2 mSv/yr (20 mrem/yr), and the dose is ALARA, 
which meets the LTR. (For comparison purposes, under 10 CFR 20.1301(a), 
the NRC's dose limit to any member of the public from licensed 
activities may not exceed 1.0 mSv/yr (100 mrem/yr).
    2. There are no impacts on cultural and historic areas, and further 
evaluation of cultural and historical resource concerns is not 
warranted.
    3. There are no impacts on endangered nor threatened species nor 
habitat, and further evaluation of endangered and threatened species 
concerns is not warranted.
    4. There are no disproportionally high and adverse effects nor 
impacts on minority and low-income populations, and further evaluation 
of environmental justice concerns, as outlined in Executive Order 12898 
and NRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Policy and 
Procedures Letter 1-50, Revision 1, is not warranted.

Proposed Action

    The NRC is proposing to remove the Revere site from Cabot's source 
materials license without further remediation, since it meets the LTR 
unrestricted release requirements of 0.25 mSv/yr (25 mrem/yr) and 
ALARA.

The Need for Proposed Action

    NRC regulation 10 CFR 40.42 (the ``Timeliness Rule'') requires 
licensees to decommission their facilities when licensed activities 
cease, and to request termination of their radioactive materials 
licenses. The purpose of the Timeliness Rule is to reduce the potential 
risk to the public and environment that may result from delayed 
decommissioning of inactive facilities and sites. The purpose of this 
action is to remove Revere from Cabot's source material license, and 
the SDMP list because Cabot no longer uses source materials at the 
site. The site would no longer be subject to NRC regulatory oversight.

Alternatives to Proposed Action

    There are two alternatives to the proposed action of allowing 
unrestricted release of the site and removing it from the license: (1) 
No action; and (2) to excavate and transport the contaminated material 
directly to a licensed disposal facility. The no-action alternative is 
not acceptable because it will result in violation of NRC's Timeliness 
Rule.
    The second alternative is not cost-effective, as demonstrated by 
the licensee's cost estimate, for additional site remediation, of 
approximately 9 million dollars (in 1996 dollars), with no significant 
increase in public health

[[Page 31699]]

or safety or protection of the environment.

Environmental Impacts of Proposed Action

    There are no impacts associated with the proposed action, as no 
further remediation activities will be conducted at the Revere site. 
Based on its review, the NRC staff has concluded that the environmental 
impacts associated with the proposed action do not warrant either 
denial of the licensee's request, or additional site remediation. 
Additionally, in the SER prepared for this action, the staff has 
reviewed the licensee's proposed action with respect to the criteria 
for license termination, specified in 10 CFR part 20, Subpart E, and 
has no basis for denial of the proposed action. Therefore, the staff 
concludes that the proposed alternative is appropriate.

Agencies and Individuals Consulted

    NRC staff prepared the EA. No other sources were used beyond those 
referenced in the EA.
    NRC staff provided a draft of the EA to the PADEP for review. By 
letter dated April 26, 2001, PADEP concurred with NRC's conclusion that 
the requirements for radiological unrestricted release have been met.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has prepared an EA for the proposed amendment to NRC 
Source Material License SMC-1562. On the basis of this assessment, the 
NRC staff has concluded that the environmental impacts that may result 
from the proposed action would not be significant, and therefore, 
preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not warranted.
    The EA and other documents related to this proposed action are 
available for public inspection and copying at the NRC Public Document 
Room in NRC's One White Flint North Headquarters building, located at 
11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland; and in the 
Agency-wide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public 
Electronic Reading Room at Web address http://www.nrc.gov/ADAMS/index.html>.

Notice of Opportunity for Hearing

    The Commission hereby provides notice that this is a proceeding on 
an application for a licensing action falling within the scope of 10 
CFR part 2, subpart L, ``Informal Hearing Procedures for Adjudications 
in Materials and Operator Licensing Proceedings,'' of the Commission's 
Rules of Practice for Domestic Licensing Proceedings and Issuance of 
Orders.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.1205(a), any person whose interest may be 
affected by this proceeding may file a request for a hearing. In 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.1205(d), a request for a hearing must be filed 
within thirty (30) days from the date of publication of the Federal 
Register notice. The request for a hearing must be filed with the 
Office of the Secretary either:
    (1) By delivery to the Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff of the 
Office of the Secretary at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, MD 20852; or
    (2) By mail, telegram, or facsimile addressed to the Secretary, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: 
Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. In accordance with 10 CFR 
2.1205(f), each request for a hearing must also be served, by 
delivering it personally or by mail to:
    (1) The applicant, Cabot Corporation, P.O. Box 1608, County Line 
Road, Boyertown, PA 19512-1608;
    (2) The NRC staff, by delivery to the Office of the General 
Counsel, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 
20852.
    In addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR part 
2 of the Commission's regulations, a request for a hearing filed by a 
person other than an applicant must describe in detail:
    (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, with particular reference to the factors set out in 10 CFR 
2.1205(h);
    (3) The requestor's areas of concern about the licensing activity 
that are the subject matters of the proceeding; and
    (4) The circumstances establishing that the request for a hearing 
is timely in accordance with 10 CFR 2.1205(d).
    Any hearing that is requested and granted will be held in 
accordance with the Commission's ``Informal Hearing Procedures for 
Adjudications in Materials and Operator Licensing Proceedings' in part 
2, subpart L.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of June 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Larry W. Camper,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 01-14754 Filed 6-11-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P