[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 5, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10093-10094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5385]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Licenses SMB-179 and SUB-1452--Dockets 40-672 and 40-8866]
Nuclear Metals, Inc.--Concord, Massachusetts: Renewal of Source
Material Licenses; Finding of No Significant Impact and Notice of
Opportunity for a Hearing (NUREG/CR-6528)
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the renewal
of Source Material Licenses SMB-179 and SUB-1452 for the continued
operation of Nuclear Metals, Inc. (NMI), located in Concord,
Massachusetts.
Summary of the Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action is the renewal of NMI's Source Material
Licenses SMB-179 and SUB-1452 for at least 5 years. With these
renewals, the NMI facility will continue to conduct ongoing operations
including the development and manufacture of castings, extrusions,
machined parts, and metal powders comprised of depleted uranium and
natural uranium metal. The proposed action would permit NMI to possess,
under License SMB-179, natural uranium metal, alloy, or oxide; depleted
uranium metal, alloy, oxide, or fluoride; natural thorium metal, alloy,
or oxide; and depleted uranium slab. The licensed uranium may be an
element of any compound except uranium hexafluoride (UF6). The
proposed action would also permit NMI to possess, under License SUB-
1452, depleted uranium as contamination in sand; depleted uranium as
contamination on metallic components, packaging materials or equipment,
or as waste solids; and natural thorium as contamination on metallic
components, packaging materials or equipment, or as waste solids.
Prior to September 1985, liquid and sludge wastes from the
processes were stabilized and emptied into an unlined holding basin and
adjacent bog located on site property. The holding basin was covered by
a special membrane in 1986 to reduce infiltration of rain water and
discharge of contaminants to surface and ground waters. Remediation of
the holding basin and contaminated groundwater is being planned as a
separate decommissioning action; therefore, this action and subsequent
environmental impacts are outside the scope of this EA.
The Need for the Proposed Action
The action is to determine if the licenses should be renewed or
denied. NMI manufactures products composed of depleted uranium and
natural uranium that have military, aerospace, industrial, and medical
applications. Depleted uranium metal is processed to form armor
penetrators, aircraft counterweights and radiation shielding devices.
Denial of the license renewals for NMI is an alternative available to
NRC, but since approximately half of the U.S. demand for these products
is being met by operations at NMI facilities, denying the licenses
would not be in the nation's best interest.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
Both radiological and nonradiological atmospheric emissions occur
and were assessed during normal (incident-free) operations at NMI. The
radiological impacts of the continued operation of the NMI facility
were assessed using atmospheric dispersion modeling to estimate ambient
annual dose to the public resulting from emissions at the NMI facility.
To assess the impact of uranium emissions on atmospheric resources, the
COMPLY computer code was used to determine the maximum annual dose
equivalent received from uranium concentrations in the ambient air (at
or beyond the site boundary). These estimated annual doses were
compared to NRC requirements and EPA standards to gauge impacts to
public health and safety.
Ambient air concentrations (at or beyond the site boundary)
resulting from the primary sources of nonradiological air emissions
were estimated using the Industrial Source Complex--Version 2 (ISC2)
air dispersion model (EPA 1992a). Total predicted concentrations were
compared to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in order
to gauge impacts on air quality.
Doses From Routine Airborne Releases
Small amounts of uranium are emitted from 33 stacks at NMI. The
town of Concord permits depleted uranium emissions of up to 280
Ci per calendar quarter for operations associated with License
Nos. SMB-179 and SUB-1452. NRC's regulations (10 CFR 20.1301) require
licensees to limit doses to members of the public to 100mrem per year.
Emission rates of depleted uranium in 1994 were less than 60 percent of
the 280 Ci per calendar quarter limit. For the modeling,
annual emissions were assumed to be at maximum permitted levels (i.e.,
1,120 Ci/y as by the town of Concord). The assumptions are
conservative in that they result in higher predicted doses than are
expected to occur. The maximum annual committed effective dose
equivalent predicted was 2.5 mrem. This dose was estimated to occur to
a person located 150 m (492 ft) from the nearest building. This is
about one-half the distance to the nearest resident. Therefore, 150 m
(492 ft) is considered a sufficiently conservative distance to form an
upper bound of doses that could be received by the public annually. The
predicted annual dose is 2.5 percent of the NRC limit.
The primary sources of nonradiological air emissions at NMI are two
boilers, which burn #4 fuel oil, and which emit the following criteria
pollutants: SO2, NO2, PM-10, and CO. Short-term emission
rates, calculated using the maximum monthly fuel usage rates, were used
in ISC2 for periods of 24 hr or less. Long-term emission rates,
calculated using the maximum annual fuel usage rates, were used in ISC2
for the annual time period. Both site specific data and conservative
assumptions were used in the modeling analysis. Total predicted
concentrations were compared to the NAAQS in order to gauge impacts on
air quality. The results of the analysis show that maximum 3-hr and 24-
hr average SO2 concentrations are about twice their respective
NAAQS. For all other criteria
[[Page 10094]]
pollutants, maximum concentrations are within the NAAQS, and impacts to
local air quality associated with these pollutants would be minor. NMI
is prepared to undertake mitigative action to prevent potential
exceedances of the short-term SO2 NAAQS, and the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection is prepared to resolve the
issue.
Accident Evaluation
The EA evaluated one accident as the bounding accident: the
potential quantities of uranium and nonradiological materials that
might be released to the atmosphere in the unlikely event of a major
fire at the NMI facility. The regulatory analysis documented in NUREG-
1140 (McGuire 1988), which assessed the accident potential for doses
exceeding EPA protective action guides, was used to evaluate potential
impacts. For uranium, NUREG-1140 found that the highest doses come from
the inhalation pathway. The analysis shows a committed effective dose
equivalent of 0.89 rems at 100 m (330 ft) might occur to a nearby
downwind individual that would result from a fire involving the
limiting value quantities agreed to by NMI of 454,000 kg (1,000,000 lb)
of depleted uranium in any one building. This value is less than the
EPA-recommended lower limit for consideration of protective actions
(i.e., a dose of 1 rem). Therefore, radiological impacts resulting from
exposure to natural uranium during a severe fire would not be major.
NMI's operations with licensed material involve use of several
acids. The evaluation of the potential impacts of these nonradiological
materials was based on a release to the atmosphere using the same
accidental fire scenario as for the radiological materials. The results
were compared to the Emergency Response Planning Guidelines (ERPGs)
established by the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the
immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) threshold value,
established by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), and the LC50, the concentration which would result in
fatalities to 50 percent of the exposed population. Of the acids, only
sulfuric (H2SO4) caused concern as the predicted
concentration of H2SO4 is below the LC50 but higher than
the ERPG levels. These results were discussed with Commonwealth of
Massachusetts staff and NMI is prepared to discuss the potential for an
accidental H2SO4 release with local emergency response
officials.
Conclusion
The NRC staff concludes that the environmental impacts associated
with the proposed license renewal for continued operation of the NMI's
Concord, Massachusetts facility are expected to be insignificant.
Finding of No Significant Impact
The Commission has prepared an EA related to the renewal of Special
Nuclear Material Licenses SMB-179 and SUB-1452. On the basis of the
assessment, the Commission has concluded that environmental impacts
that would be created by the proposed action would not be significant
and do not warrant the preparation of an Environmental Impact
Statement. Accordingly, it has been determined that a Finding of No
Significant Impact is appropriate.
The EA is being made available as NUREG/CR-6528. Copies of NUREG/
CR-6528 may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S.
Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 37082, Washington, DC 20402-9328.
Copies are also available from the National Technical Information
Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. A copy is also
available for inspection and copying for a fee in the NRC Public
Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW. (Lower Level), Washington, DC 20555-
0001.
Opportunity for a Hearing
Any person whose interest may be affected by the issuance of this
renewal 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 the publication of
this notice in the Federal Register; be served on the NRC staff
(Executive Director for Operations, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852), and on the licensee
(Nuclear Metals, Inc., 2229 Main Street, Concord, MA 01742); and must
comply with the requirements for requesting a hearing set forth in the
Commission's regulations, 10 CFR Part 2, Subpart L, ``Information
Hearing Procedures for Adjudications in Materials Licensing
Proceedings.''
These requirements, which the request must address in detail, are:
1. The interest of the requestor in the proceeding;
2. How that interest may be affected by the results of the
proceeding (including the reasons why the requestor should be permitted
a hearing);
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 hearing is
timely--that is, filed within 30 days of the date of this notice.
In addressing how the requestor's interest may be affected by the
proceeding, the request should describe the nature of the requestor's
right under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, to be made a
party to the proceeding; the nature and extent of the requestor's
property, financial, or other (i.e., health, safety) interest in the
proceeding; and the possible effect of any order that may be entered in
the proceeding upon the requestor's interest.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of February, 1997.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Larry W. Camper,
Chief, Medical, Academic, and Commercial Use Safety Branch, Division of
Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 97-5385 Filed 3-4-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
