[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 53 (Monday, March 20, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14800-14805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6733]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030-01786; License No. 19-00296-10]


The National Institutes of Health Issuance of Director's Decision 
Under 10 C.F.R. 2.206 (DD-95-05)

    Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, United States Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC or Commission) has issued a decision concerning a 
Petition dated December 2, 1993, submitted by the North Bethesda 
Congress of Citizen's Associations regarding the National Institutes of 
Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland.
    The Petition requested that the Commission suspend License 
Condition 24, which authorizes NIH to incinerate radioactive waste on 
the Bethesda campus, pending resolution of several regulatory issues. 
The Petition also requested copies of the environmental assessments 
and/or safety evaluations that form the base for the NRC's 
authorization of License Condition 21, which raised the sewer disposal 
limit for radioactive materials to 8 Ci per year, and License Condition 
28, which authorizes storage of radioactive waste at the NIH 
Poolesville facility. Finally, the Petition requested a copy of future 
correspondence between NRC and NIH regarding these matters.
    After review of the Petition, the Director has determined that 
Petitioner's request to suspend License Condition 24 (License Condition 
27 in the current License) was mooted by the removal of that Condition 
from the License. Petitioner's request for a copy of environmental 
assessments and/or safety evaluations that form the bases for 
authorization of license Conditions 21 and 28 cannot be granted. 
However, certain documents submitted by the Licensee in support of 
license amendment applications in connection with License Conditions 
21, 24, and 28 have been supplied to Petitioner. Petitioner's request 
for a copy of future correspondence between NRC and NIH regarding these 
matters was granted. The reasons for this Decision are explained in a 
``Director's Decision Under 10 C.F.R. 2.206'' (DD-95-05), which is 
available for public inspection in the Commission's Public Document 
Room located at 2120 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20555.
    A copy of this Decision will be filed with the Secretary for the 
Commission's review in accordance with 10 C.F.R. 2.206(c). As provided 
by this regulation, the Decision will constitute the final action of 
the Commission 25 days after the date of issuance of the Decision, 
unless the Commission on its own motion institutes a review of the 
Decision within that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 5th day of March, 1995.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert M. Bernero,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
DIRECTOR'S DECISION UNDER 10 C.F.R. 2.206

I. Introduction

    By letter addressed to the Executive Director for Operations, dated 
December 2, 1993, Arlene S. Allen, on behalf of the North Bethesda 
Congress of Citizen's Associations, Inc. (North Bethesda Congress, or 
Petitioner), requested that NRC take action with respect to the 
National Institutes of Health (NIH, or the Licensee) in Bethesda, 
Maryland.
    Petitioner requests that the NRC: (1) suspend License Condition 24 
of the NIH Materials License No. 19-00296-10 (License), which 
authorizes NIH to dispose of licensed materials by incineration, 
pending resolution of two regulatory issues: (a) no environmental 
report or environmental assessment has been completed regarding the 
incineration of radioactive waste on NIH's Bethesda campus; and (b) 
there may be less than adequate monitoring to ensure that radioactive 
effluents are within regulatory limits; (2) provide copies of the NRC 
environmental assessments and/or safety evaluations that provide the 
bases for (a) an exception from 10 CFR Sec. 20.303(d) limits regarding 
radioactive materials discharges into sanitary sewer systems (License 
Condition 21); and (b) approval of the construction and operation of a 
low level waste storage facility at NIH's Poolesville campus (License 
Condition 28); and (3) forward a copy of future correspondence between 
NRC and NIH regarding these matters to the North Bethesda Congress.
    The Petitioner asserts the following as bases for these requests: 
(1) NIH has not completed or submitted to the NRC an environmental 
report regarding radiological releases from incinerators at the 
Bethesda campus, and the NRC has not issued an environmental assessment 
or impact statement regarding NIH radiological emissions, as required 
by the National Environmental Policy Act and 10 CFR 51.21, 51.45 and 
51.60(b); (2) licensing the disposal of radioactive waste by 
incineration is a federal action subject to the NEPA process; (3) 
because releases from the NIH incinerators are capable of exceeding 
regulatory limits and will increase over the next few years, and 
because total radiological emissions from NIH are sufficient to warrant 
environmental analysis, the continued burning of radioactive waste by 
NIH without an environmental report and environmental assessment are in 
noncompliance with NRC environmental regulations; (4) although NRC 
cited NIH for its failure to adequately monitor radioactive effluents 
and NIH committed to install instrumentation for continuous monitoring 
as a corrective action for [[Page 14801]] having exceeded its yearly 
radioactive effluent release limit to unrestricted areas for 1987, no 
continuous monitoring for radioactive airborne effluents exists for the 
NIH incinerator stacks; (5) it is not clear that the box monitoring 
system installed by NIH adequately detects radioactive waste, and small 
amounts of iodine continue to be identified in the incinerator ash, 
indicating that medical waste still gets into the incinerators; and (6) 
it is unclear that NIH methods to assess radioactive effluent releases 
at the incinerators satisfy regulatory requirements and provide 
assurance that Part 20 limits are being met.
    The NRC staff provided a partial response to North Bethesda 
Congress by letter dated February 24, 1994. The staff acknowledged 
receipt of the Petition, and denied Petitioner's request to suspend 
License Condition 24 pending resolution of the Petition. The denial of 
the request to suspend License Condition 24 was based on findings of 
the then most recent NRC Inspection Report, Inspection Report No. 030-
01786/92-001, which concluded that emissions from the incinerators at 
the NIH Bethesda campus were within regulatory limits and that, despite 
some deficiencies, the incineration operation was under adequate 
control. The NRC staff, therefore, determined that there was no 
immediate risk to public health and safety from continued operation of 
the incinerators. The February 24, 1994, letter granted Petitioner's 
request for copies of environmental assessments and/or safety 
evaluations insofar as such documents exist and could be retrieved. A 
later search of the active and archived NRC files disclosed no such 
documents. The February 24, 1994, letter also granted Petitioner's 
request for copies of all correspondence with the Licensee concerning 
the matters raised by Petitioner.
    As of May 1994, all three incinerators were taken out of service by 
NIH. In a letter dated August 10, 1994, NIH committed to permanently 
stop all incineration of low level radioactive waste at its Bethesda 
campus, and requested a license amendment to delete License Condition 
27 (formerly License Condition 24) from License No. 19-00296-10. This 
application was granted by NRC on November 3, 1994.
    I have completed my evaluation of the matters raised by Petitioner, 
and have determined that, for the reasons stated below, Petitioner's 
request to suspend authority to incinerate pursuant to License 
Condition 24, pending performance of an environmental assessment and an 
environmental report with regard to incineration operations, and 
pending review of incinerator operating procedures, is moot. 
Petitioner's request for environmental assessments and/or safety 
evaluations in connection with License Conditions 21 and 28 cannot be 
granted because the NRC was not required to perform environmental 
assessments or formal safety evaluations in connection with the low 
level radioactivity associated with NIH discharges to the sanitary 
sewer system and with the low level waste storage facility at NIH's 
Poolesville campus, as explained below. Documents constituting the 
informal equivalent of an environmental review or safety evaluation in 
connection with License Conditions 21, 24, and 28, will be supplied to 
Petitioner. Petitioner's request for a copy of all correspondence 
between NRC and NIH regarding these matters was granted by the NRC 
staff letter dated February 24, 1994.

II. Background

    The NIH specific license of broad scope, No. 19-00296-10, was 
issued in December 1956 by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The 
license is due to expire in May 1995. The License replaced a set of 
nine licenses that had been issued to different institutes or 
laboratories of NIH. At the time of issuance of this broad scope 
license, short-lived radioactive waste (half-life under 100 days) was 
allowed to decay in storage and was then disposed of as ordinary waste. 
Long-lived solid and liquid wastes were incorporated into concrete and 
shipped for disposal. There was no license condition permitting 
incineration of licensed material, and sewer disposal of licensed 
material was limited to 1 Ci/yr, provided other conditions, such as 
average concentration limits, were met.
    Soon after the License was issued, NIH requested authorization to 
incinerate dead animals used in experiments, and other combustible 
waste containing tritium (H-3), carbon-14 (C-14), and sulphur-35 (S-35) 
in the two general purpose incinerators then in use on campus. This 
request was granted as License Condition 12 in February 1959. In April 
1968, License Condition 21 was approved to extend the incineration 
authorization to include incineration of any byproduct material, 
provided the effluent concentration limits specified in the regulations 
were met for the air effluents from the incinerators, as well as for 
disposal of the ash resulting from incineration. Byproduct material is 
defined in NRC regulations as ``any radioactive material (except 
special nuclear material) yielded in or made radioactive by exposure to 
radiation incident to the process of producing or utilizing special 
nuclear material''. 10 CFR 20.1003. This, in effect, means any 
radioactive material produced in a nuclear reactor, other than 
plutonium, which is considered special nuclear material. H-3, C-14, and 
S-35 are all byproduct materials. Special nuclear material is any 
material that has the potential for use as fuel in a nuclear reactor, 
including plutonium, uranium-233, and uranium enriched in the isotope 
233 or in the isotope 235.
    In 1961, NIH requested raising the sewer disposal limit from 1 to 
20 Ci/yr. In response to this request, NRC authorized an increase in 
the sewer disposal limit from 1 Ci/yr to 3 Ci/yr in October 1961, as 
reflected in License Condition 21. In April 1968, following another 
request, the sewer disposal limit was raised to 5 Ci/yr, and in April 
1969, the License Condition was amended to raise the sewer disposal 
limit from 5 Ci/yr to its current level of 8 Ci/yr.
    License Condition 24, authorizing incineration of byproduct 
material, and the License Condition 21, authorizing disposal of up to 8 
Ci/yr of radioactive material to the sewer, have not changed materially 
since they were first issued.
    The NRC regulations pertaining to incineration and sewage disposal 
appear in 10 CFR Part 20, ``Standards for Protection Against 
Radiation'', first implemented in 1957. The initial 1957 version of 10 
CFR Part 20 limited the quantity of licensed and other radioactive 
material released into the sewerage system to 1 Ci/yr. Limits were also 
imposed on the average concentrations of radioactive materials in the 
sewer releases. The regulations in 10 CFR Part 20 were revised in 1982 
to raise the disposal limit for discharges to sanitary sewerage systems 
from 1 Ci/yr to a total of 7 Ci/yr, of which up to 5 Ci/yr may be H-3, 
up to 1 Ci/yr C-14, and up to 1 Ci/yr all other isotopes combined. 
Permission to incinerate radioactive waste in the form disposed of at 
NIH was sought through the mechanism then applicable to permit 
licensees to apply for approval of a waste disposal method provided in 
10 CFR 20.302, ``Method of obtaining approval of proposed disposal 
procedures.''
    An application for a license amendment to permit interim storage of 
low-level radioactive waste at the NIH Animal Center in Poolesville, 
Maryland, was submitted to the NRC in October 1992. In the same 
submittal, NIH also requested an increase in its possession limits for 
carbon-14 from 2 to 3 curies, and for phosphorus-32 from 2 to 4 curies. 
The increases in possession limits were requested to provide 
[[Page 14802]] flexibility in waste storage. The stated reason for the 
request to store waste was partly to allow decay of short-lived 
activity before disposal, and partly in anticipation of a reduction or 
elimination of options for permanent disposal of low-level radioactive 
waste, such as the anticipated closure of the Barnwell, South Carolina 
waste disposal facility. In January 1993, the NRC authorized use of the 
Poolesville facility for interim storage of low-level radioactive 
waste, as reflected in License Condition 28.

III. Discussion

A. Petitioner's Request for Suspension of Incineration Operations Was 
Mooted by Amendment of the NIH License

    As explained above, NIH's authority to incinerate radioactive waste 
was terminated by the NRC Staff's November 3, 1994, grant of NIH's 
application for a license amendment to remove License Condition 27. 
Consequently, Petitioner's request for suspension of NIH incineration 
operations is moot. Similarly, any past deficienices in NIH's 
incineration monitoring program<SUP>1 need not be addressed, other than 
to emphasize that if, in the future, NIH were to request authorization 
to resume incineration operations, the NRC staff, as part of its 
evaluation of such a request, would review the incineration program and 
operating procedures and require correction of any deficiencies in the 
monitoring program<SUP>2 before granting such a request.

    \1\NIH incinerator effluents were within the 10 CFR Part 20 
regulatory limits specified by the license, and the incineration 
operation was under adequate control. See NIH Inspection Report No. 
030-01786/92-001 (September 14, 1992) and NRC Inpsection Report No. 
030-01786/94-001 (July 8, 1994). Nonetheless, there were some weak 
areas in the program, as indicated by the the possibility that the 
amount of iodine that was released in effluents may have exceeded 
ALARA goals. See NRC Inspection Report No. 030-01786/94-01. The 
Licensee's As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) commitment, 
incorporated into License Condition 27 by the July 1986 application 
for authority to incinerate radioactive materials, obligates the 
Licensee to have a program with the objective of limiting the 
average annual concentration of radioactive material in the 
incinerator stack effluents to ten per cent of the 10 CFR Part 20, 
Appendix B, Table II, values. The indications that the incineration 
effluents may have exceeded this ten percent limit in 1993 were 
inferential, and could not be verified on the basis of available 
data. The NRC staff determined that the ash residue data collected 
by the Licensee was not specific enough to permit a determination 
whether Iodine-125 releases did in fact violate the License 
Condition 27 requirement to have an ALARA program with the objective 
of limiting the average annual concentration of radioactive material 
in the incinerator stack effluent to 10 per cent of the 10 CFR Part 
20, Appendix B, Table II, values. The available data, however, 
indicates that the annual average concentrations of radioactive 
materials in the incinerator effluents were probably substantially 
below the 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table II, limits for the 1990 
through 1993 time period reviewed in the May 1994 NRC inspection.
    \2\ Petitioner also contends that releases from sources other 
than the incinerators, such as Building 21, did not appear to be 
routinely considered in conjunction with incinerator radionuclide 
releases when computing overall facility release totals to 
unrestricted areas. License Condition 27 imposed limits only upon 
incinerator radionuclide releases. Effluents from Building 21, and 
from other buildings on the NIH campus, are limited separately by 
other license conditions and by the limits imposed by 10 CFR Part 20 
on effluents to unrestricted areas.
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B. Request for Environmental Assessments and Environmental Reports

1. Incineration of Radioactive Waste
    Petitioner contends that incineration of radioactive wastes and 
potentially contaminated medical wastes by NIH, without complete 
environmental reports and environmental assessments, is in violation of 
NRC regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 
Petitioner further states that, in the Statement of Consideration 
accompanying the newly revised 10 CFR Part 20, NRC retained the 
requirement for prior approval of incineration on a site specific basis 
and that NRC rejected the notion that disposal of radioactive waste by 
incineration is simply just another form of general effluent release, 
and thus approval of incineration is subject to the NEPA process. 
Petitioner also claims that because radiological releases from the NIH 
incinerators are capable of exceeding regulatory limits, as discussed 
in the 1988 NRC Inspection Report No. 030-01786/88-001, NIH total 
radiological emissions warrant environmental analyses.
    The initial authorization to incinerate H-3, C-14, and S-35, as 
well as the 1968 license amendment extending this authorization to all 
byproduct materials, predated both the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA) of 1969, and NRC regulations implementing NEPA (10 CFR Part 
51), which became effective in 1974. There was, therefore, no 
requirement at the time of these amendments to conduct an environmental 
assessment. A review of NRC records pertaining to the NIH licenses 
failed to identify any formal environmental assessments or safety 
evaluations in connection with these license amendments. However, 
related correspondence between NRC and NIH indicate that authorization 
to incinerate radioactive wastes was granted on the condition 
operations be conducted within the effluent limits imposed by 10 CFR 
Part 20. The total activity incinerated in any given period was limited 
indirectly by limiting the maximum allowable concentrations of 
radioactive materials in the effluents from the incinerator stacks to 
the levels specified by 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table II.
    The original authorization to incinerate licensed material was 
reevaluated in connection with NIH's 1988 license amendment application 
to add a third incinerator of larger capacity to the two existing 
smaller incinerators previously authorized for operation. The license 
amendment application was accompanied by detailed descriptions of the 
incineration facility and proposed modes of operation and control. The 
record also shows correspondence from NRC requesting clarifications and 
additional information, as well as responses from NIH providing the 
requested information. These documents were incorporated into the 
License as tie-down conditions, which means that the Licensee must 
conduct operations as described in its application documents. However, 
a formal environmental assessment was not prepared. The amendment 
request was granted on the same condition as the original 1959 
amendment authorizing incineration of wastes, which was that effluents 
from the incinerators must remain within the concentration limits 
specified by 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Tables II. Incineration at NIH 
was authorized only after performance of NRC staff reviews of the 
incinerator design and proposed methods of operation and control of 
effluents, including disposal of the ash resulting from incineration, 
and consideration of the public doses expected from the operation.
    The NRC practice in 1988 was, and still is, to determine on a case-
by-case basis whether to perform an environmental assessment in 
connection with applications for incineration of waste containing 
radioactive material, provided that the concentration of radioactive 
materials in the incinerator effluents at the point of release, and in 
the ash residues, do not exceed the limits specified by 10 CFR Part 20, 
Appendix B, Table II, and also provided that the dose to the highest 
exposed member of the public that results from the authorized activity 
is no more than a small fraction of the dose limit for individual 
members of the public (100 millirem per year) specified by 10 CFR 
Sec. 20.1301(a)(1). The radiation dose to a member of the public 
resulting from air effluents depends on the concentration of 
radioactive materials in the air at the location of that person. 
Limiting the concentrations of radioactive materials emitted from the 
stack at the release point to those [[Page 14803]] specified in 10 CFR 
Part 20, Appendix B, Table II, ensures that any dose to members of the 
public will be a small fraction of the applicable public dose limit. 
This is due to the fact that dispersion of the effluent air from the 
stack will reduce the average concentration of radioactive materials in 
the air at the location of an exposed individual to a small fraction of 
the limits for emissions at the release point, causing the delivered 
dose to that individual in turn to be a small fraction of the public 
dose limit. Review of an application to incinerate licensed materials 
involves, in part, verification that dispersion of the released 
material during transit, from the stack to the closest exposed 
individual, will reduce the concentrations sufficiently to ensure a 
very small dose to members of the public, even under the most 
conservative assumptions. Since the NIH application proposed limiting 
airborne incinerator effluents at the release point to 10 CFR Part 20, 
Appendix B, Table II, limits, the dose to the highest exposed member of 
the public would be limited to a small fraction of the dose limit for 
individual members of the public specified by 10 CFR 
Sec. 20.1301(a)(1).
    The NEPA and the Commission's implementing regulations in 10 CFR 
Part 51 do not require the performance of an environmental assessment 
in connection with authorization of incineration of radiological wastes 
at NIH. Under NEPA Sec. 102(2)(c), 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c), and 10 CFR 
51.21, an environmental assessment must be undertaken by the NRC for 
all licensing and regulatory actions except where the Commission's 
regulations, See 10 CFR 51.20(b), require the preparation of an 
environmental impact statement, or the licensing actions are eligible 
for categorical exclusion from these requirements because the actions 
do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the 
human environment. 10 CFR 51.21 and 51.22(a). Any use of source, 
byproduct, or special nuclear material which involves quantities and 
forms of these materials similar to those involved in activities 
eligible for categorical exclusion in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(i)-(xv), is 
also eligible for categorical exclusion. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(xvi). The 
Commission anticipated that the quantities of radioactive material 
associated with the fifteen types of activities eligible for 
categorical exclusion under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(i) -(xv) would involve 
effluent releases of between zero and 12% of the limits of 10 CFR Part 
20. Statement of Consideration, ``Environmental Protection Regulations 
for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions and Related 
Conforming Amendments'', 49 FR 9352, 9376-9379 (March 12, 1984). 
Applicants who propose to limit the concentration of radioactive 
material in the incinerator stack effluents to less than 12 per cent of 
the applicable 10 CFR Part 20 limits, therefore, would be eligible for 
the categorical exclusion pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(xvi). Since 
NIH committed, in its application for authority to incinerate 
radioactive waste, to have a program with the objective of limiting 
average annual concentrations of radioactive material in the 
incinerator stack effluents to 10 percent of the 10 CFR Part 20, 
Appendix B, Table II, limits, the NIH application for authority to 
incinerate was eligible for categorical exclusion pursuant to 10 CFR 
51.22(c)(14)(xvi).
    NIH's authority to dispose of contaminated ash residue from 
incinerator operations was also granted without performance of an 
environmental assessment, pursuant to the categorical exclusion of 10 
CFR 51.22(c)(14)(xvi), for the same reasons as discussed above. The 
concentrations of radioactive materials in the ash residue were 
required by License Condition 24, in the case of NIH, to be below those 
specified by 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table II. Since 10 CFR Part 20 
does not specify concentrations limits for ash, the limits specified 
for water were applied to the incinerator ash.
    When the categorical exclusion provisions of 10 CFR Part 51 exempt 
a license application to incinerate licensed materials from the 
requirements to prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental 
impact statement, such as the NIH incineration operations, the licensee 
is not required to submit an environmental report for such proposed 
activity. Although NIH was not required to submit a formal 
environmental report in connection with its application for 
authorization of its incineration facility, NIH was required to submit, 
and did submit, detailed descriptions of the facility and the proposed 
mode of operation and control to ensure safe operation and compliance 
with NRC requirements.
    In view of the above, the NRC was not required to and did not 
perform environmental assessments, and the Licensee was not required to 
and did not submit environmental reports, in connection with 
authorization of NIH incineration operations or disposal of incinerator 
ash residue. Petitioner has been provided, however, with copies of 
documents submitted by the Licensee in support of License Condition 27 
and documents associated with the grant of License Condition 27.
2. Radioactive Material Discharges Into the Sanitary Sewer Systems 
(License Condition 21)
    Petitioner requests copies of the NRC environmental assessments 
and/or safety evaluations that provide the basis for the NRC's grant of 
an exception from 10 CFR Sec. 20.303(d) limits regarding radioactive 
material discharges into sanitary sewer systems. License Condition 21 
exempts NIH from 10 CFR Sec. 20.303(d), now superseded by 10 CFR 
Sec. 20.2003(a)(4), which limits the quantity of licensed and other 
radioactive material released into the sewerage system to 5 Ci/yr H-3, 
1 Ci/yr C-14, and 1 Ci/yr all other isotopes combined. License 
Condition 21, however, authorizes disposal of up to 8 Ci/yr of all 
licensed and other radioactive material, with no separate limits on the 
activities of individual isotopes, provided the provisions in 10 CFR 
Secs. 20.303 (a), (b), and (c), superseded by 10 CFR Secs. 20.2003 
(a)(1), (a)(2) and (a)(3), are met. These regulations place limits on 
the monthly average concentrations of radioactive materials in sewer 
releases.
    The license amendment which initially authorized a sewer release 
limit of 8 Ci/yr was granted in 1969, and predates NRC's 10 CFR Part 
51, which implements the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969. There was, therefore, no requirement at the time the license 
amendment was granted to conduct an environmental assessment in 
connection with this License Condition 21. No environmental assessments 
or safety evaluations to support the grant of this amendment were found 
in a search of NRC records, nor were any references to such documents 
found.
    A review of NRC records pertaining to the NIH license indicates 
that the grant to NIH of the exemption from 10 CFR 20.303(d), by 
raising the annual release limit from the 10 CFR Part 20 limit of 1 Ci/
yr to 8 Ci/yr in 1969, and from the 10 CFR Part 20 total activity limit 
of 7 Ci/yr to 8 Ci/yr after 1982, without separate limits on H-3 and C-
14, was based on concentrations of radioactive material in the sewer 
releases from the facility. The dose to a member of the public, 
obtaining drinking water from the sewer discharge point for the 
facility, depends on the concentration of activity in the sewer water, 
and not on the total amount released during the year. [[Page 14804]] 
    10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(xvi) provides that any use of source, 
byproduct, or special nuclear material which involves quantities and 
forms of these materials similar to those involved in actions eligible 
for categorical exclusion from environmental assessments is also 
eligible for exclusion, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(i)-(xv). NIH 
releases daily to the sewers a very large amount of water from its 
various buildings and the Clinical Center. This volume of water, which 
substantially exceeds one million gallons per day, provides very large 
dilution factors for radioactive wastes released to the sewers. At the 
level of 8 Ci/year, the resulting average concentrations of 
radioactivity in water leaving the NIH campus are a small fraction of 
the allowable concentrations specified in the 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix 
B, Table 3, and thus NIH sewer disposal activity is eligible for 
categorical exclusion pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(c)(xvi). See Section 
III.B.1, supra. The corresponding doses are, therefore, also small 
fractions of the public dose limits, and are of the same order of 
magnitude, or smaller, than those involved in activities that are 
eligible for categorical exclusion. It was, therefore, concluded that 
grant of the NIH application for an 8 Ci/yr sewer disposal limit was 
eligible for the categorical exclusion. NRC's review of the NIH 
amendment application for License Condition 21 also considered the fact 
that radioactive material in the sewer water released from NIH is 
further diluted at the Blue Plains Sewage Treatment Plant, to which NIH 
discharges its sewer water. Further dilution is provided by the Potomac 
River, to which the effluent from Blue Plains is discharged.
    The 10 CFR Part 20 limit on total activity released to the sewers 
per year from a licensee's facility was imposed to guard against the 
possibility that more than one licensee may discharge radioactive 
material to the same sewer lines, thus raising the overall 
concentrations of radioactive materials in the sewer lines. This was 
not an important consideration in the case of NIH in view of the high 
water discharge volume from the facility, which ensures very low 
concentrations of radioactive materials, even in the presence of 
possible sewer discharges from other licensees discharging to the same 
sewer system. A review of the NIH records for sewer discharges in 
recent years showed that the annual quantities discharged have been 
less than the 7 Ci/yr limit in 10 CFR Part 20. License condition 21 did 
not impose separate limits on H-3 and C-14 discharges.
    In view of the above, Petitioner's request for environmental 
assessments and/or safety evaluations providing the basis for 
authorization of License Condition 21 cannot be granted. Petitioner, 
however, has been provided with documents submitted by NIH to the NRC 
in support of the amendment requests to raise the sewer discharge 
limits.
3. Construction and Operation of the Low Level Waste Storage Facility 
at NIH's Poolesville Campus (License Condition 28)
    Petitioner requests copies of the NRC environmental assessments 
and/or safety evaluations that provide the bases for the NRC grant of 
the Licensee's license amendment application for construction and 
operation of a low level waste storage facility at NIH's Poolesville 
campus. License Condition 28 of the License currently states that 
``Radioactive waste generated under this License shall be stored in 
accordance with the statements, representations, and procedures 
included with the Licensee's waste storage plan described in the 
Licensee's application dated October 13, 1992''. The conditions under 
which radioactive waste is stored at the Poolesville facility are 
described in the Licensee's 1992 application for an amendment to permit 
such storage, and were incorporated into License Condition 28 as tie-
down conditions. They were evaluated by the NRC staff and found to be 
adequate to ensure public health and safety and to minimize adverse 
environmental effects. The Poolesville facility is inspected routinely 
by NRC's Region I to ensure that the conditions described in the bases 
for the license amendment are being observed, in addition to observance 
of good radiological safety practices.
    The application documents for the License Condition 28 provide 
detailed descriptions of the Licensee's Poolesville facility and 
surrounding environment and demography, storage building construction 
details, methods of waste storage, waste form and inventory control, 
and other relevant details. This information was provided in accordance 
with the instructions in NRC Information Notice IN 90-09, ``Extended 
Interim Storage of Low-Level Waste by Fuel Cycle and Materials 
Licensees'', which describes the information required by the NRC for 
its review of license amendment requests to authorize extended interim 
storage of low-level radioactive waste. This review is functionally 
equivalent to an environmental assessment for such facilities.
     In view of the above, Petitioner's request for environmental 
assessments and/or safety evaluations in connection with authorization 
of License Condition 28 cannot be granted. Petitioner, however, has 
been provided with a copy of IN 90-09 and the information submitted by 
the Licensee in support of its application for authority to construct 
and operate the Poolesville low level waste storage facility, which is 
the functional equivalent of a an environmental report and safety 
evaluation.

C. Request to Forward a Copy of Future Correspondence Between NRC and 
NIH to Petitioner

    As requested by Petitioner, North Bethesda Congress of Citizen's 
Associations will be placed on the distribution list for all 
correspondence regarding operation of the NIH incinerators, sewer 
disposal limits, and interim radioactive waste storage license 
amendments at the Poolesville facility.

IV. Conclusion

    For the reasons discussed above, Petitioner's request to suspend 
authority for incineration operations by NIH pursuant to Condition 24 
of the NIH License, pending a review and improvement of operating 
procedures for the incinerators, and pending preparation of an 
environmental assessment and an environmental report, was mooted by 
removal of that authority from NIH License No. 19-00296-10 in November 
1994. Petitioner's request for copies of any NRC environmental 
assessments and/or safety evaluations that provide the bases for 
authorization of License Conditions 21 and 28 cannot be granted, as 
explained in Section III, supra. Certain information submitted by the 
Licensee in connection with its request for authorization of License 
Conditions 21, 24, and 28, and NRC correspondence in response, however, 
was provided to Petitioner. Petitioner's request for a copy of all 
future correspondence between NRC and NIH regarding these matters is 
granted.
    A copy of this Decision will be filed with the Secretary of the 
Commission for the Commission to review in accordance with 10 C.F.R. 
2.206(c). As provided by this regulation, this Decision will constitute 
the final action of the Commission 25 days after issuance, unless the 
Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the decision 
within that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of March, 1995.

    [[Page 14805]] For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert M. Bernero,
Director, Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 95-6733 Filed 3-17-95; 8:45 am]
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