[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 28 (Thursday, February 10, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-3059]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: February 10, 1994]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030-01176]
Environmental Assessment: Finding of No Significant Impact and
Notice of Opportunity for Hearing Related to Amendment of Material
License 49-09955-10, University of Wyoming
AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment.
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SUMMARY: NRC plans to issue an amendment to NRC License No. 49-09955-
10, authorizing the University of Wyoming to use hydrogen-3 (tritium)
for in-vivo studies on captive pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra
americana) living in fenced pastures at Sybille Wildlife Research and
Conservation Education Unit, Albany County, Wyoming.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Donna-Beth Howe, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555, Telephone: (301) 504-2636.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action is to amend NRC Byproduct Material License No.
49-09955-10, issued to the University of Wyoming and renewed on June
22, 1993. The license currently authorizes personnel from the
University of Wyoming to use byproduct material at the University of
Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming. It does not authorize use of radioactive
materials at Sybille Wildlife Research and Conservation Education Unit
(Sybille Unit) and prohibits the release of radioactive materials for
field studies. The proposed amendment would authorize University of
Wyoming personnel to use hydrogen-3 labeled water (tritiated water) in
studies on approximately six lactating pronghorn antelopes (Antilocapra
americana) and their respective fawns.
The tritiated water portion of the proposed study is part of a
larger scientific study of pronghorn antelope. The larger study focuses
on lactation (the most demanding activity of the female pronghorn
antelope's energy cycle) and examines the factors of female body
condition, milk output, fawn birth weights, and fawn growth rates. The
study will compare fawn milk intake, body-water turnover, and growth
with observed behavioral activities for both mothers and fawns and
physical measurements of the mother's weight, body-water turnover, and
milk composition. This scientific information will also be used in a
comparison with information from similar studies with other native
North American ungulates (hoofed mammals).
The female pronghorn antelopes and their fawns will be located in
two fenced outdoor enclosures at the Sybille Unit, a facility in Albany
County, Wyoming, operated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The
study involves the injection of tritiated water into the lactating
female pronghorn antelopes, the females' production of tritiated milk,
the ingestion of tritiated milk by their fawns, and the release of
tritiated water, water vapor, and feces directly into the environment,
by both the mothers and the fawns. Accordingly, pursuant to 10 CFR
51.21, NRC has prepared this assessment of the resulting environmental
impact.
The non-site-specific aspects of the pronghorn antelope tritiated
water studies (i.e., possession of the preinjection tritiated water,
use and subsequent laboratory analysis of tritiated biological samples,
analysis of wipe test samples for removable contamination, waste
disposal, and health and safety aspects of tritium use at the
University) are performed under the University of Wyoming's current
authority in License No. 49-09955-10.
Background
By letter dated April 7, 1993 (and attachments), the University of
Wyoming, (applicant) Safety Office requested an NRC amendment to
perform hydrogen-3 labeled water (tritiated water) field studies on
lactating pronghorn antelopes at the Sybille Unit. The Wyoming Game and
Fish Department conditionally authorized the performance of the studies
at the Sybille Unit, pending NRC approval of the amendment request. The
tritiated studies cannot begin until NRC amends the University of
Wyoming's license to authorize the studies.
As the name ``Sybille Wildlife Research and Conservation Education
Unit'' indicates, the Sybille Unit has two missions. The first is to
provide facilities and services for research on hoofed big-game species
and other exotic species considered for reintroduction into the wild.
Pronghorn antelope, elk (Cervus canadensis), white tailed deer
(Odocoileus virginianus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), bighorn
sheep (Ovis canadensis), and other wild animals are maintained at the
facility. Two exotic species (the blackfooted ferret (Mustela nigripes)
and Wyoming toad (Bufo hemiophrys baxteri)) being considered for
reintroduction into the wild are quartered at Sybille Unit and included
in the Federal list of endangered species. Research at the Sybille
research facilities supplements and enhances field work done by Wyoming
Game and Fish personnel and laboratory work done at the Game and Fish
Research Laboratory in Laramie. The research facility is capable of
supporting parasite, disease, nutrition, anatomy, physiology, ecology,
management, research technique, and toxicology projects. All of these
areas are important in managing Wyoming's wildlife.
The second mission is to provide conservation education to
individuals, groups, and the general public. This mission is considered
just as important as the first and is why most of the facilities at the
Sybille Unit are open to the public. The visitors center alone receives
4000 to 6000 visitors, from May to September, when it is open. The
education activities include lectures, tours for individuals and
groups, training professional wildlife personnel in handling captive
wild animals, and providing public recreational activities. Public
hunting, fishing, camping, and sight-seeing are permitted at the
Sybille Unit when they do not jeopardize the wildlife research mission.
The Sybille Unit, itself, is 12.5 square kilometers (3100 acres) of
land operated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The Sybille Unit
was formed in 1948 to protect an important winter grazing range for
wild deer. The area had historically been range land for white tailed
deer, mule deer, bighorn sheep, elk, and pronghorn antelope. When the
Sybille Unit was established, this winter range was threatened by
cattle overgrazing and ranchers' fences. It physically consists of two
adjacent areas with different primary missions. These areas are
referred to as the 1.2-square-kilometer (300-acre) Sybille Area and the
larger 11.3-square-kilometer (2800-acre) Johnson Creek Area.
The Sybille Area is located in a 3.2-kilometer (2-mile) section of
the open-ended North Sybille Canyon, about 72 kilometers (45 miles)
northeast of Laramie and 55 kilometers (34 miles) southwest of
Wheatland, Wyoming, in Southeastern Wyoming. The Sybille Unit personnel
live at the Sybille Area. The research animals are also quartered
there. The tritiated pronghorn antelope studies will be done at the
Sybille Area. The larger Johnson Creek Area, located north of the
Sybille Area, includes the Johnson Creek and a 26,700-square-meter
(6.6-acre) reservoir on the creek.
The Johnson Creek Area is used for public water recreation,
fishing, camping, and elk and deer hunting. In the Sybille Area,
hunting is not permitted where the research animals are quartered, and
fishing is prohibited. The public has free access to certain areas of
the Sybille Area and may be given guided tours to the normally
restricted areas where the research animals are quartered. It is
estimated that from 1300 to 2000 individuals take guided tours through
the restricted area each year. In the restricted areas, the visitors
may observe, but not come into contact with, research animals or their
quarters.
The pronghorn antelope, a native North American ungulate, is
physically 1- to 1.5-meters (3- to 5-feet) long, 0.8- to 1-meter (2.5-
to 3-feet) high at the shoulder, and weighs from 36 to 70 kilograms (79
to 155 pounds). The females are usually 10 percent smaller than the
males. Their native habitats include grasslands and deserts ranging in
altitude from sea level to 3.3 kilometers (2 miles). They browse and
graze on a wide variety of shrubs, forbs, grasses, cacti, and other
plants. In desert areas, pronghorn antelopes survive not only by
drinking available water, but also by conserving water and getting most
of their water from the plants they eat. They are the fastest
terrestrial mammals in the New World, with a maximum speed, on hard
ground, of 86 kilometers (53 miles) per hour and a cruising speed of 48
kilometers (30 miles) per hour. They have very little body fat and
obtain their speed from their muscular front legs and shoulders that
can produce leaps from 3.5 to 6 meters (12 to 20 feet).
All animals used in the studies are already living in captivity and
no new animals will be taken from the wild for the study. The six
pregnant females for the 1994 study will be selected from surplus
pronghorn antelopes obtained from a group of captive pronghorn
antelopes at the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Foothills Wildlife
Research Facility, Fort Collins, Colorado. The same six adult females
will be bred for the proposed 1995 studies. Each study animal will be
marked with either a color-coded neck collar or fluorescent paint. For
ease of identification, each mother and her fawns will be marked with
the same color. The six pronghorn antelopes from Colorado may either
become part of the Sybille Unit's permanent pronghorn antelope research
herd or be returned to Colorado. Their fawns will probably continue to
live at the Sybille Unit. Any animals that die in the study will be
sent to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory for necropsy and
incineration. No animals in the study will be used for human
consumption.
The animals in the study will be kept in two 4047-square-meter (1-
acre) pastures at the Sybille Area. These pastures will be formed by
extending the 1014-square-meter (0.25-acre) paddock previously
designated for the pronghorn antelope. The field studies are expected
to extend over 4 months (June-October) in both 1994 and 1995. As many
as six pregnant pronghorn antelopes are expected to be available for
the studies each year.
Periodically, during the course of the study, the lactating females
will be injected with tritiated water; tritiated milk samples will be
collected from the mothers; and tritiated urine samples will be
collected from both the mothers and their fawns. The milk and urine
samples are taken to measure milk intake and body-water turnover during
milk production and infant growth. All biological samples will be
returned to the University of Wyoming, for analysis.
Need for the Proposed Action
A number of researchers are studying the effects of observable
physical, behavioral, and environmental parameters on the balance
between neonatal survival and maternal body condition for survival and
future reproductive success in different native North American
ungulates. This will be one of the first studies on the pronghorn
antelope. The study is designed to be comprehensive and include many
interrelated parameters obtained from different scientific approaches
(i.e., observation of nursing behavior, chemical analysis of the milk,
physical measurement of weight gain, and quantitative measurement of
milk intake and body-water turnover).
The pronghorn antelope is unique among the native North American
ungulates for the following reasons: It is the fastest North American
mammal; both males and females are subjected to extremely high energy
demand (e.g., locomotory costs, climatic extremes, and thermal stress)
with minimal body reserves (i.e., body fat); the female has the highest
known relative reproductive effort among ungulates (e.g., the highest
ratio of offspring birth weight to maternal body weight); and the
female may be able to sequentially abort embryos under severe
nutritional conditions. In the wild, the pronghorn antelope continues
to forage during the winter, moving as far as 160 kilometers (100
miles) from summering areas. During winter snow conditions in their
native habitat, they experience high energy expenditures at a time when
available foraging is reduced.
Mature females, weighing approximately 50 kilograms (110 pounds),
breed in the fall (October), deliver in early summer (June), and
usually have twins. The fawns have approximately 4 months to grow large
enough and strong enough to survive predatory threats and the rigors of
winter foraging. At the same time that the mother is expending large
amounts of energy to ensure the survival of her current offspring, she
must also replenish her reserves, and expend energy to ensure her own
survival and that of future offspring. The tritiated water studies are
intended to quantify the body-water turnover of the mother during milk
production, quantify the milk transfer from the mother to the fawns,
and quantify the fawns' body-water turnover during a period of rapid
growth and development. The tritiated water injections will be repeated
every 2 weeks, to quantify changes in body-water turnover, with time
and development.
The study is expected to enable researchers to identify critical
physiological compromises in the balance between maximizing neonatal
survival and maintaining good maternal body condition in pronghorn
antelopes. Information from this study can be compared with similar
information obtained from research on other native North American
ungulates (e.g., mule deer, red deer (cervus elaphus), muskoxen (ovibos
moschatus), caribou (rangifer tarandus), and reindeer (rangifer
tarandus)) to identify important factors in their management and
survival.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The Affected Environment
In general the Sybille Unit terrain is described as rugged and
rocky, with narrow rock-crowned ridges and numerous deep draws. Some
sections have fairly level ridge tops and swales. There are level
stretches of bottom land of various sizes along Johnson Creek and North
Sybille Creek. The soils are young, shallow, rocky, and well-drained.
When the Sybille Unit was started, in 1948, the area was overgrazed and
cattle were removed from the area. The range vegetation consists of
primarily big mountain sage brush and mid-range grasses. Sage brush
provides 20 to 30 percent of the ground cover. The area is considered
semiarid, with moderate to cool summers, and moderate to severe
winters. Precipitation in the area averages between 38 and 50
centimeters (15 and 20 inches) per year. Snowfall can be heavy, but the
spatial distribution ranges from bare to deep drifts.
Wheatland, Wyoming, 55 kilometers (34 miles) away, with a
population of approximately 5000 people, is the nearest community. The
Johnson Creek Area forms the northern boundary of the Sybille Area.
Private cattle ranches form the western, southern, and eastern
boundaries. The 1.2-square-kilometer (300-acre) Sybille Area stretches
for 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) along the North Sybille Creek and Wyoming
State Route 34, near the bottom of the open-ended North Sybille Canyon.
The canyon is 0.4-kilometers (0.25-miles) wide at the widest point,
with steep sides on both the northern and southern boundaries of the
Sybille Area. North Sybille Creek and State Route 34 run roughly
parallel to each other and the sides of the southwest- to northwest-
oriented canyon.
North Sybille Creek flows in a northeast direction toward
Wheatland. Natural drainage areas for the Johnson Creek and the Sybille
areas are physically separated until Johnson Creek flows into the North
Sybille Creek just east of the Sybille Unit boundary on private ranch
land downstream from the Sybille Area. The natural drainage from the
canyon sides along the southern boundary is from the private ranches
onto the Sybille Area. The lowest expected water flow within the
Sybille Area during the summer studies is 167 liters (5.93 cubic feet)
per second. This estimate is based on the 1974 to 1992 monthly
summaries reported for the nearby US Geological Survey Station.
Most of the land immediately south of the Sybille Area drains into
the Middle Sybille Creek, which eventually flows into the North Sybille
Creek farther downstream than Johnson Creek. North Sybille Creek flows
through private cattle ranch land east of the Sybille Area and
eventually flows into the Laramie River, which flows into the Platt
River. Therefore, tritium released into the North Sybille Creek will
not affect either the private ranch lands west and south of the Sybille
Area or the public-use areas in the Johnson Creek Area, but would be
carried through private lands downstream, after it leaves the Sybille
Area.
The Sybille Area, used primarily for big-game research, is
physically divided into eight fenced areas containing pastures,
permanent residences, and wildlife research buildings and shelters.
Currently 11 people (9 adults and 2 children approximately 3 years old)
live in the four permanent residences at the Sybille Area. The
visitor's center and three houses are located on the same side of State
Route 34 as the research animal quarters that include the pronghorn
antelope pastures, but are physically separated from the animal areas
by at least one locked 2.1-meter (7-foot) game fence (i.e., a 2.3-meter
(7.5-foot) woven-wire fence topped with barb wire).
The three houses are the Headquarters building, with attached staff
living quarters, the blackfooted ferret biologist's residence near the
blackfooted ferret facility, and the third house, which is the closest
residence to the tritiated pronghorn antelope quarters. Permanent
buildings on the animal quarter side of the fence include the Wyoming
toad facility, the blackfooted ferret facility, numerous animal
shelters, hay barns, a veterinary lab, and offices. The blackfooted
ferret facility is approximately 460 to 550 meters (500 to 600 yards)
away and on the other side of a hill from the tritiated pronghorn
antelope quarters. The closest residence is 137 to 183 (150 to 200
yards) and downhill from the tritiated pronghorn antelope quarters. The
majority of the buildings and pastures are downstream from the
tritiated antelopes. The fourth residence, some animal shelters, and
hay barns are located on the other side of Wyoming State Route 34.
The research animal quarter area consists of a series of large
semi-enclosed animal shelter structures, fenced pens, paddocks, and
corrals. All of these are linked together with both covered and open
lanes. The lanes can be used as temporary holding areas for animals;
confined routes to move animals between buildings, corrals, and
pastures; and pedestrian walkways for the general public on guided
tours, or for Sybille Area workers. The tritiated pronghorn antelopes'
two 4047-square-meter (one-acre) pastures are attached to a 61-meter-
(200-foot-) long semi-enclosed structure. The structure has a center
corridor and four isolation or holding pens on each side of the
corridor. The north half of each pen is roofed with metal sheathing and
galvanized metal and walled with metal. All the floors are concrete and
drain into a waste water disposal system by concrete gutters. The
animals are free to move between the pastures and the shelter. Their
water, feed troughs, and weight scale are located in the shelter.
The Pronghorn antelope shelter is between the office-veterinary
laboratory building on the east and an equally large semi-enclosed
sheep building on the west. The sheep building is north of the elk
corrals and separated from them by a concrete lane that continues
through the pronghorn antelope shelter to the office building. A gravel
lane separates the elk corrals behind the sheep building from the
pronghorn antelope paddocks. The veterinary laboratory office building
is to the east of the corridor. The central corridor serves as the main
walking lane connecting the pens to each other, as well as connecting
the veterinary building and all other corrals in the Headquarters area.
The waste water disposal system consists of the open concrete floor
gutters passing through the animal shelters and veterinary laboratory,
an underground holding tank, and drain tile field. The tile field is
located just north of the veterinary building. This waste water
disposal system was developed as part of the Sybille Unit's animal
quarantine system, to prevent the spread of disease from quarantined
animals to other animals in the area. The pronghorn antelope paddocks
and pastures have the same game-proof fencing found elsewhere at
Sybille Area.
The southern fence of the pronghorn antelope pastures is on the
southern boundary of the Sybille Area. Cattle on the private cattle
ranch south of the Sybille area may graze on the other side of the
fence. Although the cattle could come in nose-to-nose contact with the
pronghorn antelopes, the size of the cattle grazing range makes this
unlikely.
Water for Human and Animal Use
Although animals in pastures with the North Sybille Creek flowing
through them have access to the creek for drinking, the majority of the
animals at the Sybille Area receive all their water from wells. None of
the water used by the residents and visitors at Sybille Area comes from
surface water in the North Sybille Creek. The primary water source for
visitors and residents and animals south of the road are three shallow
wells 7.8- to 9.6-meters (26- to 32-feet) deep, located at the
Headquarters building, at the residence closest to the tritiated
pronghorn antelopes, and at the bighorn sheep corral. The closest well
is approximately 135 to 180 meters (150 to 200 yards) from the proposed
paddock. Water for the supervisor's residence and for animals north of
the road comes from a spring located north of the supervisor's
residence, which is much farther away from the proposed pastures. The
boundaries of the Sybille Area have game-proof fences.
Study Subjects
The Pronghorn antelopes included in the tritiated water studies
will be adult females that have recently given birth and the young they
are nursing. Females that did not give birth or lost their young
shortly after birth will not be used in the study. The study animals
will be free to move in the pasture. Although this is not the same as
free-ranging, the pronghorn antelopes' basic movements and behaviors
should be sufficiently similar to free-ranging animals to provide
scientific data. The mothers and their offspring will be similarly
marked by color-coded neck collars or fluorescent paint, for easy
visual identification. The mothers are expected to be captured every 2
weeks for new tritiated water injections and milk-sample collections.
When the mother receives her tritium injection, the fawns will be given
deuterated water to drink. The biological half-life of tritium in the
pronghorn antelope is expected to be similar to the 2.7-day biological
half-life of tritium in caribou (another North American ungulate living
in arid areas). Both the mothers and the fawns will be weighed
periodically on animal scales. Routine tritiated milk and urine samples
will be collected during the study.
Endangered or Threatened Species
There are two endangered species living in captivity at the Sybille
Area of the Sybille Unit (i. e., the blackfooted ferret (Mustela
nigripes) and Wyoming toad (Bufo hemiophrys baxteri)). Black-footed
ferrets can weigh up to 1.3 kilograms (2.5 pounds), are 50- to 63-
centimeters (20- to 25-inches) long (including their 13- to 15-
centimeters (5- to 6-inch) tail), and have black face mask, black feet,
and black tip to their tails. The blackfooted ferret was officially
placed on the Federal list of endangered species in 1967 and thought to
be extinct in the 1970's, until a group was found in Wyoming. All known
wild blackfooted ferrets were taken into captivity between 1985 and
1987, when canine distemper reduced their numbers to 18. The Sybille
Unit is one of three locations with active breeding programs. The goal
is to reintroduce the animals born in these facilities into the wild.
The blackfooted ferret is a member of the weasel family that preys
primarily on prairie-dogs and in the wild lives in prairie-dog burrows.
Their natural predators are owls, hawks, eagles, coyotes, badgers, and
bobcats. With conversion of the prairies into farmland, prairie-dog
habitats were eliminated and blackfooted ferrets almost disappeared.
The Wyoming toad is a glacial relic known to live only in Albany
County, Wyoming. The adult is about 5.6-centimeters (2.2-inches) long.
The female is slightly larger than the male. The toads' back is a dark
brown, gray, or greenish color, with small dark blotches, an indistinct
median strip, and rounded warts. The cranial crest is fused. Individual
toads can be identified by the variations in their skin color and wart
patterns, and the Wyoming toad can be distinguished from other species
by the small adult size and the fused cranial crest. The Wyoming toad
was first discovered in 1946 and placed on the Federal list of
endangered species in 1984. Its historical distribution was restricted
to within 48 kilometers (30 miles) of Laramie, Wyoming. It inhabited
floodplain, ponds, and small seepage lakes in the shortgrass
communities of the Laramie Basin. Recent reproduction has been low, and
red-leg bacteria, discovered in 1990, caused a further reduction in the
adult population.
At the Sybille Unit, the toads are kept in hibernation in the
Wyoming toad building and brought out of hibernation in late spring
(May), to be carried to breeding ponds in the Laramie Basin about 97
kilometers (60 miles) southwest of the Sybille Unit, for breeding and
introduction of the tadpoles into the wild. The adults are then
returned to the Sybille Unit. The breeding ponds located at Lake
George, Hutton National Wildlife Refuge in the Laramie Basin (about 16
to 24 kilometers (10 to 15 miles) southwest of Laramie), are not
located in the North Sybille drainage area. They eat ants, beetles, and
other arthropods. Spraying insecticides to control mosquitoes, changes
in agricultural practices, increased predation, diseases, and climatic
changes may have contributed to their declining numbers.
Both endangered species are physically isolated from the other
animals at Sybille Area and neither receives any of its water from the
North Sybille Creek. They are located inside their own adjacent
buildings and not permitted outside unless being reintroduced to areas
away from the Sybille Area.
Study Protocol
The tritiated water will be injected into the adult females.
Routine tritiated milk and urine samples will be collected for
analysis. Tritium concentration in the milk and urine will provide
information on the body-water turnover of the mother and the ingestion
of tritiated milk by the fawn. However, quantitative data on the fawns'
own body-water turnover cannot be determined unless the fawns' body
water is labeled with a different isotope. Therefore, the fawns are
given deuterated water (1 gram of deuterated water per kilogram of body
weight) by mouth tube, each time the mother is injected with tritiated
water. Deuterium is a naturally occurring non-radioactive isotope of
hydrogen. The deuterium concentrations are measured by infrared
spectrophotometry. Because it is not radioactive, the deuterated water
neither involves byproduct material nor results in radioactive releases
at the study site.
The study protocol calls for the initial collection of a body water
sample (urine or milk) from the adult, injection of tritiated water
intramuscularly into each adult, and administration of deuterated water
to each fawn by mouth tube. The following day, and every 2 to 3 days,
for 10 days, urine samples are collected from each animal, using a
small vial on a pole. Most of the tritiated urine will fall to the
ground. The samples are frozen and analyzed later. The process is
repeated at 2 week intervals (approximately 5 effective half-lives),
for up to 4 months. The tritium injections will be stopped once the
fawns are weaned. The researchers expect them to be weaned in less than
4 months.
Each 50 kilogram (110 pound) adult female is expected to receive a
maximum of 8 injections with 11 megabecquerels (300 microcuries) of
tritium in each injection. Six adult females are expected to be in the
tritiated water phase of the study each year. The maximum amount of
tritium in a pronghorn antelope mother and her fawns at any one time is
11 megabecquerels (300 microcuries). The maximum amount of tritium
expected to be released by an adult in a single day is 2.5
megabecquerels (66 microcuries). The maximum amount of tritium released
in 4 months by one mother and her fawns is expected to be 89
megabecquerels (2.4 millicuries).
At any one time, the maximum amount of tritium in all the study
animals is expected to be 67 megabecquerels (1.8 millicuries). This
assumes six mothers are in the study and all deliver healthy fawns. The
maximum amount of tritium expected to be released by all six mothers in
one day is 15 megabecquerels (396 microcuries). The maximum amount of
tritium expected to be released in 4 months by six mothers and their
fawns is 533 megabecquerels (14.4 millicuries).
Pathways to the Environment
The adult lactating pronghorn antelope will lose tritiated water by
respiration (exhaled water vapors), direct losses in urine, milk, and
feces. Some tritium may be lost in saliva during grooming. The
tritiated milk will be ingested by the fawns, who will in turn lose
tritium through respiration, urine, and feces.
In the Sybille Area's semiarid environment, most of the tritiated
water released by feces and urine is expected to evaporate into water
vapor. The dynamic environment in which the tritium is released is
expected to distribute the tritium in water vapor, soil, water, and
plants, within the pronghorn antelope's shelter and pasture, and not
reconcentrate it. Sun, wind, and rain would be expected to disperse the
tritium in and beyond these enclosures. The expected pathway is for
tritium to be released primarily into the air and secondarily into the
North Sybille Creek.
The open waste water gutter in the pronghorn antelope shelters will
be covered and sealed during the study. Therefore, tritium in surface
run off or deposited on the concrete, or in the soil, will not enter
the waste water holding tank and drain tile system. The effective half-
life of tritium within any particular part of the environment will be
on the order of 3 days, as it moves through biological systems at
Sybille Area and beyond. If it were trapped in the holding tank, the
expected half-life of tritium would be the same as its 12-year physical
half-life. In the drain field, the effective half-life would have
depended on the molecular and biological stability of the molecules
containing the tritium.
Pathway to Humans
Several factors, such as the exclusion of visitors and guided
tours, in the restricted areas, from the pronghorn antelope shelters,
pastures, and corridor for the pronghorn antelope shelter, make it
unlikely that the tritium and tritiated animals will come in direct
contact with the general public.
In the semiarid environment of the Sybille Unit, most of the
tritiated water vapor and tritiated water released is expected to
evaporate. Tritium left in the ground is expected to commingle with
surface water run-off with very little, if any, migration into the
aquifer. Well water provides all the drinking water at the Sybille
area. Well water calculations, for the worst case scenario assuming one
percent of the tritium entered the aquifer and migrated to a single
well with an average water usage of (50 gallons) per day (very
conservative and unlikely assumptions), resulted in a concentration of
74 becquerels (2,000 picocuries) per liter. This concentration is an
order of magnitude less than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
drinking water standard 740 becquerels (20,000 picocuries) per liter.
This concentration would be minuscule if more realistic assumptions
were made for the probability of tritium penetrating the aquifer, its
dispersion in the aquifer, and total water usage from the well.
Therefore, neither the general public nor the Sybille residents are
expected to ingest tritiated water.
Surface water calculations, for the worst case scenario assuming
all the tritium injected from June to September went into the North
Sybille Creek and the flow rate for the creek was only half its lowest
flow rate (very conservative and unlikely assumptions), resulted in a
concentration of 0.6 becquerel (17 picocuries) per liter. This
concentration is three orders of magnitude less than the EPA's drinking
water standard. This concentration becomes even smaller when water
flowing through the Sybille Area is further diluted with water from
Johnson Creek, Middle Sybille Creek, and other tributaries.
No one is expected to eat tritiated meat from the study pronghorn
antelopes. The licensee has prohibited the use of the study animals for
human consumption; hunters are not permitted to hunt where the animals
are quartered; and the animals are not able to jump the fences and
escape into areas where hunting is permitted.
The animals are permitted to move freely between their roofed
shelter and the open pasture. Since the roofed shelter is not air-
tight, the tritium released in exhaled water vapor or evaporating
tritium in urine of feces deposited within the shelter is expected to
disperse into the atmosphere and not concentrate in the shelter. Air
inhalation calculations, for the worst case scenario assuming all the
tritium injected between June and September was inhaled by a single
individual standing one meter above and downwind of the tritium with an
average wind velocity of 0.25 meters per second (very conservative and
extremely unlikely assumptions), resulted in a total dose equivalent to
the individual for the year of 0.027 millisievert (2.7 millirem). This
is ten percent of the total dose equivalent permitted for the general
public (10 CFR 20.1301). When realistic occupancy factors, distances,
and wind velocities are used the total effective dose equivalent to any
one individual becomes minuscule.
The tritium released as tritiated water is expected to evaporate
and mix with water and water vapor present in the semiarid environment.
Therefore, concentration in any particular water, plant, or animal
segment of the environment is unlikely. Tritium may enter the food
chain in minute amounts, through commercially grown food crops or
domestic live stock animals downwind or downstream from the site. If
this occurred, the total dose equivalent for a member of the general
public would be significantly less than the worst-case calculations
discussed above. They would be insignificant.
University of Wyoming personnel who handle the tritiated water,
collect samples, and inject the pronghorn antelopes have procedures and
equipment to minimize their exposure to tritium and to ensure exposures
are below the 10 CFR part 20 limits. Instruction and written procedures
address proper receipt, survey, transportation, and handling of tritium
and tritium-contaminated waste, and how to handle spills and other
emergency situations. Further, these individuals are subject to the
University of Wyoming's bioassay program, to monitor their tritium
uptake from all sources.
Dose and Effect on the Pronghorn Antelopes
The adult pronghorn antelope will receive injections of 11
megabecquerels (300 microcuries) of tritiated water. The initial
concentration of tritiated water is expected to be 0.2 megabecquerels
(6 microcuries) per milliliter of body water. The biological half-life
of tritium for the adult pronghorn antelope is estimated to be 2.7
days, and the estimated maximum radiation dose to a single adult is
approximately 0.56 millisieverts (56 millirem). The dose to an
individual fawn is dependent upon the tritium concentration in the
mother's milk, amount of milk ingested, tritium retention in the fawn,
and the weight of the fawn. With all these factors taken into
consideration, the dose to the fawn is probably between 0.1 and 10
times the dose to the mother.
Although most reported radiation biology studies used external
gamma radiation and small mammals, some studies on larger mammals such
as burros, pigs and sheep were done. No specific information is
currently available for pronghorn antelopes. The internal beta dose
from the tritiated water to each pronghorn antelope is well below the
7.7 millicoulombs per kilogram (30 roentgens) (gamma) that may cause
reduced reproductive potential in mammals (which varies with age,
species, and sex) and the 1.5 to 2.5 sieverts (150-to 250-rads) (gamma)
radiation dose expected to kill 50 percent of a burro, pig, or sheep
population, the LD-50 (lethal dose-50). The radiation doses to the
pronghorn antelopes and their fawns are not expected to cause either
acute or latent effects.
Effects on Endangered Species
The tritiated mothers and fawns are not expected to come in direct
contact with the two endangered species (the blackfooted ferret and the
Wyoming toad) because both of these species are kept in buildings
isolated from the other animals at the Unit. If any tritium is released
into North Sybille Creek, it is not expected to come into contact with
these endangered species, because they receive their water from wells.
They also have very different biological life cycles and habitats.
Effects on Other Species
Other plant and animal species in the area should not be adversely
affected by the release of tritiated water into the environment. The
pronghorn antelopes are kept in a fenced area that will keep out most
predators. Although coyotes have attacked and killed adult pronghorn
antelopes in their pastures, coyotes are not hunted for food and the
tritium ingested by the coyote is not expected to enter the human food
chain. Eagles may attempt to take young fawns in the wild, but the
fenced areas are not expected to provide the birds enough open space to
attempt a landing and escape. Pronghorn antelopes that die during the
study will be sent to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory for
necropsy and incineration and would not be available for scavengers.
The pronghorn antelopes are expected to be free of tritium within 4 to
8 weeks of the end of the last tritium injection, because of the 2.7-
day biological half-life of tritium in the animals.
Since the tritium exposure levels in the pronghorn antelopes are
not high enough to cause either short- or long-term effects in the
pronghorn antelopes, the even lower levels of tritium dispersed in the
environment are not expected to have acute or long-term effects on
other species in the area.
Conclusions
Based on the foregoing assessment, the NRC staff concludes that the
environmental effects of using tritium for the in-vivo studies of the
nursing pronghorn antelope and her fawns are expected to be extremely
small. The concentrations of tritium released by the pronghorn antelope
into the unrestricted areas will be well below the limits specified in
10 CFR part 20. Thus, the estimated doses to residents, other members
of the general public, and the University of Wyoming personnel at the
Sybille Wildlife Research Center are insignificant. Based on these
considerations, this action will not result in significant effects on
the quality of the human environment.
The estimated doses to the pronghorn antelope are too low to result
in acute effects in the animals and are not expected to cause long-term
effects. Additionally, dispersion in the environment would expose other
species to even lower levels of tritium.
Neither of the two endangered species (i.e., the blackfooted ferret
and the Wyoming Toad) living at the Sybille Area are expected to come
in direct contact with the tritiated pronghorn antelopes, tritium-
contaminated soil in the pronghorn antelope pastures, or tritiated
water in North Sybille Creek. Further, the probability of them coming
into contact with tritium-contaminated food products, soil, water, or
air is quite small.
Therefore, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.31, a Finding of No
Significant Impact is considered appropriate for this proposed action.
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As required by section 102(2)E of the National Environmental
Protection Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4322 (2) E),
possible alternatives to the proposed action have been considered. The
first alternative is to confine the animals to an indoor laboratory or
environmental chamber to quantify the metabolic and energy
expenditures. These experiments, however, cannot duplicate the
metabolic rates and energy expenditures of the pronghorn antelopes when
they are grazing and involved in other natural behaviors in the wild.
Because they are not easily restrained and their movement would be
restricted in laboratory conditions, data obtained under these
conditions would not be meaningful. Although the 4046-square-meter (1-
acre) pastures cannot replicate free-ranging conditions, the pronghorn
antelopes' diet of sagebrush and grasses is the same, the animals
appear to move normally, and the mother-fawn interactions are not
expected to be adversely affected by the confinement of the pasture.
Therefore, this alternative cannot be used in this study to quantify
milk production and body-water turnover in both the mothers and the
fawns.
A second alternative is to use only deuterium in either the mother
or the fawns. In the mothers, it would provide data on milk uptake in
the fawn and body-water turnover in the mother, but without the second
isotope, the body-water turnover in the fawns could not be determined,
and this is an critical parameter in the study. In the fawns, it would
provide body-water turnover data, but not quantify milk uptake. If the
six mother-fawn sets were divided evenly into 2 groups of either just
mothers or just fawns receiving the deuterium, data could be collected
for all the mother-fawn parameters. This is not an acceptable
alternative because there may not be enough measurements for each data
point to overcome individual mother-fawn dynamic differences,
especially, if one or more groups are not able to complete the study.
A third alternative is to collect milk-production data and fawn
body-growth data from carefully weighing the mother and fawns before
and after feeding. The scales that would be used are not located in the
Pronghorn antelope paddock and pastures. The animals would have to be
captured after each feeding session and moved to the scales. This
activity is considered to be too disruptive to the mothers and their
fawns to result in meaningful data. Therefore, this alternative cannot
be used in this study.
The last alternative to the proposed action is the denial of the
license amendment request. This would result in the University of
Wyoming having to abandon its attempt to study body-water turnover and
milk production in the Pronghorn antelope, which, in turn, provides
quantitative data on the role of adult body condition and neonatal
survival. Although some of this information may be available for other
ungulates, it is not available for the Pronghorn antelope, and the
uniqueness of the Pronghorn antelope makes it important to
scientifically understand its survival strategies.
The Pronghorn antelope is the only member of its family and genus,
and it may have survival strategies that have not been measured in
other species. Data on lactation strategies of the adult female and the
growth rate of the fawns will increase the scientific understanding of
herd recruitment and contribute to effective management of the species.
There are no currently available alternatives to quantifying the
milk production and body-water turnover data determinations for the
mothers and fawns, obtained from the study. The applicant will do
double-labeled studies, using tritium in the mother and deuterium in
the fawns, measuring the amount of tritium in the milk and urine of the
mother, and measuring the amount of tritium and deuterium in the fawns'
urine. The deuterium portion of the study does not involve byproduct
material. Both the tritium and the deuterium data are needed to
interpret the milk production and body-water data.
The benefit of denying the license amendment request would be no
excess radiation exposure above normal background at Sybille Area to
the individual Pronghorn antelope mothers and their fawns involved in
the study. The benefit and the risk, to the Pronghorn antelopes, from
the additional radiation exposure, have to be weighed against the
scientific information, needed to manage and protect the species, that
is to be obtained from this study (i.e., quantitative milk production
and body-water turnover information for the Pronghorn antelope during
lactation and nursing). Further, this benefit has to be weighed against
the scientific information obtained clarifying the physiological
compromises between maximizing neonatal survival and maintaining good
maternal body condition for survival of future reproductive success in
Pronghorn antelopes and other ungulates.
The benefits to be gained from denial would be no release of
radioactive material to the environment. This is not a significant
benefit, because the estimated concentrations in unrestricted areas and
resulting doses to humans from the studies will be insignificant.
Agencies and Persons Contacted
In performing this assessment, the staff contacted the University
of Wyoming and the Sybille Wildlife Research and Conservation Education
Unit.
Finding of No Significant Impact
The Commission has determined, under NEPA and the Commission's
regulations in 10 CFR part 51, that this proposed amendment to
Byproduct Material License No. 49-09955-10 to permit the injection of
tritiated water into six nursing Pronghorn antelopes, if granted, would
not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment
or the tritiated Pronghorn antelopes, and that an environmental impact
statement is not required. This determination is based on the foregoing
environmental assessment performed in accordance with the procedures
and criteria in 10 CFR Part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations
for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions.''
For further details of this action, see the license application
dated April 7, 1992, and other related correspondence. The documents
(in Docket No. 030-01176) may be examined or copied, for a fee, in the
Commission's Region IV Public Document Room, 611 Ryan Plaza Drive,
suite 400, Arlington, Texas 76011-8064.
Notice of Opportunity for a Hearing
Any person whose interest may be affected by the issuance of this
amendment 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 publication of this
notice in the Federal Register and must be served on the NRC staff by
mail addressed to the Executive Director for Operations, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555 or by delivery to the
Executive Director for Operations, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852; and must be served on the
applicant by mail or delivery to the University of Wyoming, Safety
Office, P. O. Box 3413, room 312, Merica Hall, Laramie, Wyoming 82071-
3413. The request for a hearing must comply with the requirements set
forth in the Commission's regulations, 10 CFR part 2, subpart L,
``Informal Hearing Procedures for Adjudications in Material Licensing
Proceedings.'' Subpart L of 10 CFR part 2 may be examined or copied for
a fee in the Commission's Region IV Public Document Room, 611 Ryan
Plaza Drive, suite 400, Arlington, Texas 76011-8064, or in the
Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20555.
As required by 10 CFR part 2, subpart L (10 CFR 2.1205), the
request for hearing 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 proceedings, including the reasons why the requestor
should be permitted a hearing, with particular reference to the factors
set out in paragraph (g) of 10 CFR 2.1205; (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
a hearing is timely in accordance with paragraph (c) of 10 CFR 2.1205.
The factors in 10 CFR 2.1205(g) that must be addressed in the
request for hearing include: (1) The nature of the requestor's right
under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to be made a party to the
proceeding; (2) the nature and extent of the requestor's property,
financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (3) the possible
effect of any order that may be entered in the proceeding upon the
requestor's interest.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 7th day of February 1994.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John E. Glenn,
Chief, Medical, Academic, and Commercial Use Safety Branch, Division of
Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, NMSS.
[FR Doc. 94-3059 Filed 2-9-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
