Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 246 / Friday, December 21, 2001 / Notices 65999

All existing delegations of authority to

the General Counsel and to staff in effect

prior to the date of this order remain in

full force and effect. For the reasons

stated above, the Board finds good cause

to make this order effective immediately

in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(d).

By direction of the Board.

Dated: Washington, DC, December 18,

2001.

John J. Toner,

Executive Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–31534 Filed 12–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7545–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Alaron Corp.; Finding of No Significant

Impact

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Notice of finding of no

significant impact.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has

made a Finding of No Significant Impact

(FONSI) with respect to the potential

environmental impact related to the

request by Alaron Corporation to utilize

a wet waste processing system to dry

high-solids wet wastes and aqueous

liquid wastes in their Wampum,

Pennsylvania facility.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

R. McGrath, Senior Health Physicist,

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety,

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of

Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406. Telephone

610–337–5069.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Alaron Corporation of Wampum,

Pennsylvania holds a license issued by

the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) for performing

decontamination of equipment

contaminated with radioactive material.

Alaron has requested authority to add a

system for the treatment of wet wastes

by installing a system which includes a

concentrate dryer, ultra-filtration,

reverse-osmosis, demineralizers and

steam generator on its site in Wampum.

Alaron estimates that approximately

214 curies of radioactive materials

would be processed per year.

Environmental radiation safety concerns

include exposure due to airborne

releases. To evaluate airborne releases,

the licensee utilized a computer code

(COMPLY, an EPA computer code for

calculating the dose to individuals due

to airborne releases) to assess dose from

radionuclide emissions. The code

assumed that an activity of 740

millicuries would be released in

effluents to the air and projected a

effective dose equivalent of 0.03

millirem/year to an individual at the

nearest site boundary.

NRC has reviewed the assumptions

used in the above described codes and

concurs with the reported results. The

maximum annual dose of 0.03 millirem

is well below the regulatory limit of 100

millirem per year.

Copies of the EA and FONSI as well

as supporting documentation are

available for review at the NRC offices

located at 475 Allendale Road, King of

Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406, telephone

number (610) 337–5000, during normal

business hours.

John D. Kinneman,

Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch 2,

Division of Nuclear Material Safety, U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region I.

Environmental Assessment of Proposal

by Alaron Corporation To Perform

Processing of Wet Wastes Utilizing a

Multi-Methodology Treatment System

1. The Need for the Proposed Action

The Alaron Corporation of Wampum,

Pennsylvania holds a license issued by

the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) for performing

decontamination of equipment

contaminated with radioactive material.

Alaron uses a variety of techniques to

perform the decontamination. In a letter

dated May 31, 2001, Alaron requested

an amendment to their license to

authorize a wet waste processing system

to dry high-solids wet wastes and

aqueous liquid wastes in their Wampum

facility. The system will be supplied by

NUKEM Nuclear Technologies and

includes a concentrate dryer, ultrafiltration units, reverse-osmosis units,

demineralizers, steam generator and

holding tanks. The purpose of this

Environmental Assessment is to

determine whether or not the proposed

action could contribute to significant

impacts on the human environment.

2. Alternatives to the Proposed Action

The only credible alternative is to not

allow Alaron to install and use the

treatment system. Relocation of the unit

to another part of the site would not

alter the environment impact of the

operation of the unit. To allow the use

of some components of the system and

not others could actually result in an

increase in the amount of activity

released to the environment.

3. The Environmental Impacts of the

Proposed Action

Alaron is located on a 24 acre site in

the Point Industrial Park, Wampum,

Pennsylvania. Building F1 is a 67,800

ft 2 steel frame and steel wall building

with a flat synthetic membrane type

roof. The proposed wet waste

processing system would be located

inside a curbed area at the east end of

the F1 Annex. The F1 Annex is located

on the east side of the F1 Building and

is a steel frame, steel walled building 32

feet wide and 88 feet long. The curbed

area in the F1 Annex is capable of

holding all of the contaminated liquid

in the wet waste system. The NUKEM

system consists of a number of water

treatment components, including a

concentrate dryer (CD), an ultrafiltration (UF) unit, a reverse osmosis

(RO) unit, two demineralizers, and a

steam generator. Wet waste will arrive

by truck and will transferred to one of

two 1400 gallon sludge tanks inside the

curbed area of the F1 Annex using a

pneumatic pump through a double

containment transfer hose.

Alaron’s License No. 37–20826–01

was last renewed in its entirety on

December 3, 1998. As part of that

renewal, NRC issued an Environmental

Assessment (NUREG/CR–5549) and

published a Finding of No Significant

Impact in the Federal Register on

December 2, 1998. The Environmental

Assessment found that no atmospheric

emissions containing radioactive

contaminants were expected to be

released from the operation as then

licensed. This was based on the fact that

potentially contaminated air within

work areas in cycled through HEPA

filters and exhausted back into the

building. Alaron recognized, though,

that fugitive emission, through doors,

vents, etc. exist and a conservative

estimate of an annual dose to the nearest

residence was calculated to be 0.26

millirem. 10 CFR 20.1301 requires that

each licensee conduct operations so that

the total effective dose equivalent to

individual members of the public from

the licensed operation does not exceed

0.1 rem (100 millirem) in a year.

The installation of this waste

treatment system would add an airborne

release point at the Alaron facility.

Stream from the steam generator will be

vented through an exhaust stack on the

roof of the F1 Building. Most of the

radioactivity in the wet waste to be

processed will be removed by the

various treatment methods in the system

and will be disposed of as solid waste.

After being cleaned by passing through

the system, the cleaned or polished

water feeds the steam generator. Steam

66000 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 246 / Friday, December 21, 2001 / Notices

from the steam generator is exhausted

through the stack.

Alaron estimates that the wet waste

processing system will process liquid,

sludge and/or resin waste whose

isotopic distribution is typical of waste

currently being disposed from nuclear

power facilities. Based on the estimated

waste throughput, approximately 214

curies of radioactive material will be

processed per year. Assuming that all of

the H–3 activity will become airborne,

that the polished water feed to the steam

generator contains other isotopes at 10

CFR Part 20 effluent limits, and that all

of the radioactivity in the feed is

released, the total activity emitted per

year would be about 740 millicuries.

The licensee performed dose

calculations using the computer code

COMPLY (an EPA computer code for

calculating the dose to individuals due

to airborne releases) which projects an

effective dose equivalent of 0.03

millirem/year to an individual at the

nearest site boundary as a result of the

estimated release. NRC has performed a

dose assessment of the proposal and

agrees with the basic assumptions and

results of the licensee’s analysis.

With regard to direct radiation

exposure, the licensee plans to conduct

cleaning and back flush evolutions that

will assure that accumulation of

radioactive material on filter media will

not result in high radiation levels

around the unit. In addition, there will

be shielding in place to avoid creation

of high radiation levels. The maximum

radiation levels is expected to be 50

millirem per hour one foot from the

Concentration Dyer, i.e. within the

restricted area. Radiation levels at the

closest unrestricted area, including the

contribution from existing operations,

will be about 10 microrem per hour.

4. Conclusion

In view of the fact that the additional

dose of 0.03 millirem/year to an

individual at the nearest site boundary

as a result of the proposed amendment

is a small fraction of the dose attributed

to fugitive emissions to an individual at

the nearest residence as a result of

existing operations, the staff concludes

that the proposed action will have a

negligible impact on the environment.

[FR Doc. 01–31471 Filed 12–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50–361 and 50–362]

Southern California Edison Company;

San Onofre Nuclear Generating

Station, Units 2 and 3 Environmental

Assessment and Finding of No

Significant Impact

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (the Commission, or NRC)

is considering issuance of an exemption

from Title 10 of the Code of Federal

Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, Appendix

E, sections IV.F.2.b and c to Facility

Operating License Nos. NPF–10 and

NPF–15, issued to Southern California

Edison Company (the licensee), for

operation of the San Onofre Nuclear

Generating Station, Units 2 and 3,

(SONGS), located in San Diego County,

California. Therefore, as required by 10

CFR 51.21, the NRC is issuing this

environmental assessment and finding

of no significant impact.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

The proposed action is a one time

exemption from the requirements of

Appendix E, sections IV.F.2.b and c

regarding conduct of a full participation

exercise of the onsite and offsite

emergency plans every 2 years. Under

the proposed exemption, as modified by

the staff (which is discussed below), the

licensee would reschedule the exercise

originally scheduled for September 12,

2001, and complete the exercise

requirements by December 31, 2002.

The proposed action is in accordance

with the licensee’s application for an

exemption dated September 18, 2001.

The licensee requested a one-time

exemption, in accordance with 10 CFR

50.12, ‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ from the

requirements in 10 CFR part 50,

Appendix E, sections IV.F.2.b and c to

perform a biennial exercise of the onsite

and offsite emergency plans (EPs) with

full participation of each offsite

authority having a role under the offsite

plan (i.e., a full participation exercise),

for SONGS. A full participation exercise

had been scheduled for SONGS for

September 12, 2001; however, as a

result of the national security events

occurring in the United States on

September 11, 2001, this exercise was

canceled. The licensee requested that

the biennial exercise for 2001 not be

conducted as required by Appendix E,

and the next full participation exercise

be conducted in 2003 and every two

years thereafter.

Because the NRC’s staff has

concluded that it cannot grant the

licensee’s request to cancel the full

participation exercise for 2001, and

because the scheduled 2001 full

participation exercise to meet the

regulations was canceled for good cause,

there is insufficient time before January

1, 2002, when the licensee would be in

violation of the regulations, to prepare

and conduct the exercise and the

licensee has provided sufficient

information to provide a basis for a oneyear schedular extension to the

requirements in the regulations, the

NRC has concluded that such a one-year

schedular exemption to the biennial

exercise requirements in Appendix E to

10 CFR part 50 can be granted SONGS.

The full participation exercise for

SONGS scheduled for 2001 would be

conducted by December 31, 2002.

Future exercises, however, will be

performed as previously scheduled (i.e.,

granting of a schedular exemption for

the current exercise does not reset the

2-year clock and the licensee will be

expected to complete the next

scheduled exercise in 2003).

The Need for the Proposed Action

Sections IV.F.2.b and c, of Appendix

E to 10 CFR part 50, require each

licensee at each site to conduct an

exercise of its onsite and offsite EPs

every 2 years. Federal agencies (the NRC

for the onsite exercise portion and the

Federal Emergency Management Agency

for the offsite exercise portion) observe

these exercises and evaluate the

performance of the licensee, State and

local authorities having a role under the

emergency plan.

The licensee had initially planned to

conduct an exercise of its onsite and

offsite EPs on September 12, 2001,

within the required 2-year interval.

However, as a result of the national

security events occurring in the United

States on September 11, 2001, this

exercise was canceled.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed

Action

The NRC has completed its evaluation

of the revised proposed action to grant

a one-year schedular extension

exemption to SONGS for the biennial

exercise requirements in Appendix E to

10 CFR part 50 and concludes that it

involves an administrative activity (a

schedular change in conducting an

exercise) unrelated to plant operations.

The revised proposed action will not

significantly increase the probability or

consequences of accidents, no changes

are being made in the types of any

effluents that may be released offsite,

and there is no significant increase in

occupational or public radiation

exposure. Therefore, there are no