[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 194 (Wednesday, October 7, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60719-60720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25532]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-00235; NRC-2015-0216]
AAR Site, Livonia, Michigan
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of completion of remediation; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is noticing the
completion of remediation activities at the Brooks and Perkins Site at
12633 Inkster Road, in Livonia, Michigan.
DATES: This notice is effective as of September 23, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2015-0216 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2015-0216. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. The
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if that document
is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theodore Smith, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6721, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
issued License STB-0362 to Brooks and Perkins on January 17, 1957, and
the license was terminated by the AEC on May 17, 1971. This license
authorized Brooks and Perkins to conduct licensed activities at the
site using thorium master alloy and thorium magnesium alloy.
In 1981, the AAR Corporation (AAR) purchased Brooks and Perkins and
obtained ownership of the land. On February 23, 1994, an NRC inspector
conducted an inspection of the AAR site, and subsequently notified AAR
by letter dated March 29, 1994, that the NRC had ``concluded that
thorium was improperly disposed of at the site and certain areas of the
building and grounds were in excess of the NRC
[[Page 60720]]
release criteria for release of the facility for unrestricted use.''
The AAR Corporation was directed to schedule and plan to characterize
the extent of the contamination and to decontaminate the area to
current NRC release criteria (ADAMS Accession No. ML110670259).
The AAR site was subsequently legally divided into the Eastern and
Western Parcels. The NRC staff had previously evaluated the Eastern
Parcel of the AAR site, and in December 2009, determined that the
potential dose from the Eastern Parcel was in conformance with the dose
criteria for unrestricted use (ADAMS Accession No. ML093490979).
In 2013, the NRC approved a plan to remediate the Western Parcel of
the site in accordance with an AAR proposed Site Remedial Action Work
Plan (Work Plan) as amended (letters dated August 7, 2013, and October
30, 2013; ADAMS Accession Nos. ML13220A447 and ML13308A323,
respectively). The Work Plan proposed that soil within 32 specified
grids containing thorium be excavated to a depth of 1 meter (m) and
transported offsite for disposal at a facility in Belleville, Michigan,
known as the Wayne Disposal Facility. The excavated areas were to be
backfilled with clean fill.
As part of the review of the Work Plan, the NRC staff independently
evaluated the dose using a dose assessment that staff performed in 2009
(ADAMS Accession No. ML093490979), as a basis for determining dose for
the expected concentrations that would remain at the AAR site. The
maximum dose determined by the NRC staff for these expected
concentrations is 14 mrem/yr, projected to occur at time around 600
years.
From April to July 2014, AAR conducted remediation of the 32 grids
at the site. On May 21, 2015 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML15148A656),
AAR submitted a ``Project Completion Report and Request for Approval of
Unrestricted Use Designation, AAR Corporation, 12633 Inkster Road,
Livonia, Michigan, 48150, Western Parcel, Strategic Waste Excavation
and Site Restoration Project'' (Completion Report). The Completion
Report states that the grids specified in the Work Plan were excavated.
The NRC staff and its contractor observed and inspected work at the
AAR site several times during the remediation. During the final NRC
staff's visit in July 2014, the NRC staff walked the site with a survey
instrument and confirmed that the 32 specified grids were excavated per
the Work Plan commitment.
The NRC Region III Inspectors performed an inspection at the AAR
facility during part of the remediation activities. Results of the
inspection are documented in NRC Inspection Report 040-00235/2013-001
(DNMS), dated February 24, 2015, (ADAMS Accession No. ML15056A162). The
report concluded that AAR conducted the remediation in accordance with
the Work Plan. The report also concluded that the licensee (Solutient,
AAR's contractor) had complied with NRC and Department of
Transportation regulations for shipments of radioactive waste.
The NRC staff concludes that AAR met the commitments to excavate
the 32 specified grids and to dispose the excavated material offsite at
an appropriate facility.
Based on the considerations discussed above, the NRC staff
concluded that: (1) Radioactive material above release limits has been
properly disposed for both Eastern and Western Parcels of the site; (2)
reasonable effort has been made to eliminate residual radioactive
contamination; and (3) final site surveys and associated documentation
demonstrate that the entire site is suitable for unrestricted release
in accordance with the criteria in 10 CFR part 20, subpart E.
Therefore, the AAR site at 12633 Inkster Road, Livonia, Michigan,
is suitable for unrestricted use.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of September, 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Larry W. Camper,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2015-25532 Filed 10-6-15; 8:45 am]
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