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Finding of No Significant Impact Related to Approval of Decommissioning Plan for the Molycorp, Inc. Facility York, Pennsylvania, License No. SMB-1408

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: May 10, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 91)]
[Notices]
[Page 30140-30141]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10my00-123]

[[Page 30140]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No: 040-8794]


Finding of No Significant Impact Related to Approval of
Decommissioning Plan for the Molycorp, Inc. Facility York,
Pennsylvania, License No. SMB-1408

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuing
an amendment to Source Materials License No. SMB-1408, held by
Molycorp, Inc. (Molycorp or licensee), to authorize decommissioning of
its facility in York, Pennsylvania. The objective of the
decommissioning is to remediate the areas contaminated with thorium,
uranium, and their daughter products, to allow the NRC to release
Molycorp's York property for unrestricted use and to terminate the NRC
radioactive materials license.

Environmental Assessment Summary

Proposed Action

    In connection with the decontamination and decommissioning of its
York facility, the licensee proposed the following activities:
Decontamination and removal of buildings and other above-grade
structures, with the exception of an office building and a warehouse,
removal of concrete slabs and associated drains and sumps, excavation
of the contaminated material exceeding the Site Decommissioning
Management Plan (SDMP) Action Plan unrestricted use criteria (46 FR
52061), restoration of excavated areas with clean overburden, and
transportation of the radioactively contaminated materials to an NRC
approved interim storage or disposal facility. Further details are
provided in the Environmental Assessment (EA).
    Based on the NRC staff evaluation of the Molycorp's final
Decommissioning Plan (DP), it was determined that the proposed
decommissioning can be accomplished in compliance with the NRC public
and occupational dose limits, effluent release limits, and residual
radioactive material limits. In addition, the approval of the proposed
action (i.e., decommissioning of Molycorp's, York, Pennsylvania,
facility in accordance with the commitments in the NRC license SMB-1408
and the final DP) will not result in a significant adverse impact on
the environment.

Need for Proposed Action

    The proposed action is necessary to remove the radioactive material
attributable to licensed operations at the site to levels that permit
unrestricted use of the site and termination of the radioactive source
materials license SMB-1408.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    NRC staff reviewed the levels of contamination, the proposed
remediation and decommissioning methods, and the radiological release
criteria that will be used during the remediation and decommissioning.
The radiological criteria are specified so that decommissioning
activities will meet the 10 CFR part 20 radiation protection
requirements. Worker and public doses will be limited so that exposures
will not exceed Part 20 requirements and are as low as is reasonably
achievable (ALARA).
    The licensee will perform remediation in accordance with NRC's
Action Plan to ensure timely cleanup of SDMP sites (57 FR 13385) and
transportation of the excavated materials to an NRC approved interim
storage or disposal facility.
    The information for the York DP includes additional analyses of
worker exposures from normal operations and an assessment of the
potential for accidents. Because of the limited nature of activities
planned for the York facility, potential worker exposures will most
likely result from inhalation of airborne dust and shine from direct
radiation. Potential public exposures are limited to inhalation of
contaminated airborne dusts.
    Information provided by the licensee indicates that past activities
resulted in no measurable internal or external dose to any workers. The
past activities included radiological characterization and building
decontamination similar to the proposed activities. Therefore,
radiation doses to workers from these activities are expected to be
well within the limits of Part 20. Separate dose calculations to assess
the impacts indicated that the excavator at the York site will receive
an estimated maximum annual dose of 10.6 millirem (mrem) (predominantly
from external exposure). The Part 20 annual worker dose limit is 5 rem
(5000 mrem). As the estimated dose is well below the limit, no adverse
impacts are expected based on the exposure calculations.
    NRC staff analyzed the radiological impacts to the public from the
planned decommissioning activities. Potential radiological impacts to
the public from the decommissioning operations at the York facility are
limited to similar release mechanisms pertaining to worker exposures
(decontamination and excavation dusts), but require transport over
greater distances to reach potential receptors. Therefore, much lower
concentrations and doses are expected for members of the public in
comparison to workers. The licensee estimated the public exposure at
the York site boundary due to excavation to be about 0.059 mrem/yr.
This dose is well below the NRC public dose limit (Part 20) of 100
mrem/yr, providing confidence that the potential for adverse
environmental impacts is low. The licensee has included in its DP,
further groundwater sampling and characterization to reduce uncertainty
in current estimates and to assure that mitigative measures are not
warranted. Therefore, NRC staff concludes that the licensee has
provided adequate plans to ensure that potential radiological impacts
to members of the public from the proposed decommissioning activities
will not exceed NRC limits and are unlikely to result in adverse
environmental impacts.
    NRC staff also assessed the radiological impacts from
transportation of contaminated soil and other wastes from the York site
to an NRC approved interim storage or disposal facility. The most
significant exposure pathway for the truck driver was estimated to be
from direct exposure. The total radiation dose to the truck driver was
estimated to be from direct exposure. The total radiation dose to the
truck driver was estimated at 5.42 mrem for all shipments and 3.33 mrem
during transport only (for comparison, the Part 20 occupational dose
limit is 5000 mrem/yr). Other scenarios, such as transporting the
wastes to another storage facility (example: Envirocare waste facility
in Clive, Utah), were also considered and the resulting dose to the
worker was found to be well below the NRC occupational dose limit.
Also, the public dose from transport would be far less than that for
the driver. NRC staff reviewed the calculations and found the doses and
intakes are well within Part 20 limits.
    NRC staff evaluated the radiological impacts from potential
accidents. The information in the York facility DP states that
potential site accident scenarios are unlikely to lead to doses that
exceed 1 percent of the Part 20 dose limits. Potential accident
scenarios considered include fire and loading or transfer mishaps.
Considering the low potential for fire or explosion in existing
building structures, the low quantities of material used during
transfer operations, and the lack of highly concentrated radioactive
materials at the site, NRC staff concludes that accidental releases of
radioactive materials in quantities that could affect public health and
safety are unlikely. The licensee has a procedure in place for
emergency

[[Page 30141]]

response and notifications that provides additional safety assurance
and, therefore, NRC staff concludes that the licensee has adequately
addressed the potential for radiological accidents.
    NRC staff also considered nonradiological impacts, such as
transportation accidents, air quality and noise, chemicals and
hazardous materials, and concluded that such impacts are negligible and
will not result in adverse impacts. NRC staff also concludes that there
are no environmental justice issues associated with the decommissioning
of the York site, because there are no disproportionately high minority
or low-income populations near the site. The licensee contacted the
Pennsylvania Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
determined that there are no endangered species on the York site.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The following alternatives, and the associated impacts and
conclusions are described in the EA.
    --No Action
    --Cleanup for Unrestricted Use and Shipment to an Approved Disposal
Site;
    --On-Site Storage at the York site; and,
    --On-Site Disposal at the York site.

Conclusions

    Based on NRC staff evaluation of the final DP for the York site, it
was determined that the proposed decommissioning can be accomplished in
compliance with NRC's public and occupational dose limits, effluent
release limits, and residual radioactive material limits. In addition,
the approval of the proposed decommissioning of the York site will not
result in a significant adverse impact on the public health and the
environment.
    NRC staff concludes that there are no reasonably available
alternatives to the licensee's preferred action that are obviously
superior.

Agencies and Individuals Consulted

    NRC staff consulted with the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (PADEP) in the preparation of this EA. PADEP
provided comments and questions on the draft EA. Appropriate comments
and responses to the questions were incorporated into the final EA.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based upon the EA, the Commission concludes that the proposed
action will not have a significant impact on the quality of the human
environment. Accordingly, the Commission has determined not to prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed action.

Additional Information

    For further details with respect to the proposed action, see: (1)
Molycorp's license amendment application dated August 14, 1995, and
Molycorp's supplemental information and responses to NRC comments dated
November 24, 1999; and (2) the complete EA. These documents are
available for public inspection at web site http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/
ADAMS/index.html.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of May 2000.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Larry W. Camper,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 00-11663 Filed 5-9-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
 

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