The National Institutes of Health Issuance of Director's Decision Under 10 C.F.R. 2.206 (DD-95-05)

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-01786; License No. 19-00296-10]

The National Institutes of Health Issuance of Director's Decision

Under 10 C.F.R. 2.206 (DD-95-05)

Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards, United States Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC or Commission) has issued a decision concerning a

Petition dated December 2, 1993, submitted by the North Bethesda

Congress of Citizen's Associations regarding the National Institutes of

Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland.

The Petition requested that the Commission suspend License

Condition 24, which authorizes NIH to incinerate radioactive waste on

the Bethesda campus, pending resolution of several regulatory issues.

The Petition also requested copies of the environmental assessments

and/or safety evaluations that form the base for the NRC's

authorization of License Condition 21, which raised the sewer disposal

limit for radioactive materials to 8 Ci per year, and License Condition

28, which authorizes storage of radioactive waste at the NIH

Poolesville facility. Finally, the Petition requested a copy of future

correspondence between NRC and NIH regarding these matters.

After review of the Petition, the Director has determined that

Petitioner's request to suspend License Condition 24 (License Condition

27 in the current License) was mooted by the removal of that Condition

from the License. Petitioner's request for a copy of environmental

assessments and/or safety evaluations that form the bases for

authorization of license Conditions 21 and 28 cannot be granted.

However, certain documents submitted by the Licensee in support of

license amendment applications in connection with License Conditions

21, 24, and 28 have been supplied to Petitioner. Petitioner's request

for a copy of future correspondence between NRC and NIH regarding these

matters was granted. The reasons for this Decision are explained in a

``Director's Decision Under 10 C.F.R. 2.206'' (DD-95-05), which is

available for public inspection in the Commission's Public Document

Room located at 2120 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20555.

A copy of this Decision will be filed with the Secretary for the

Commission's review in accordance with 10 C.F.R. 2.206(c). As provided

by this regulation, the Decision will constitute the final action of

the Commission 25 days after the date of issuance of the Decision,

unless the Commission on its own motion institutes a review of the

Decision within that time.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 5th day of March, 1995.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Robert M. Bernero,

Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

BILLING CODE 7590-01-M

DIRECTOR'S DECISION UNDER 10 C.F.R. 2.206

I. Introduction

By letter addressed to the Executive Director for Operations, dated

December 2, 1993, Arlene S. Allen, on behalf of the North Bethesda

Congress of Citizen's Associations, Inc. (North Bethesda Congress, or

Petitioner), requested that NRC take action with respect to the

National Institutes of Health (NIH, or the Licensee) in Bethesda,

Maryland.

Petitioner requests that the NRC: (1) suspend License Condition 24

of the NIH Materials License No. 19-00296-10 (License), which

authorizes NIH to dispose of licensed materials by incineration,

pending resolution of two regulatory issues: (a) no environmental

report or environmental assessment has been completed regarding the

incineration of radioactive waste on NIH's Bethesda campus; and (b)

there may be less than adequate monitoring to ensure that radioactive

effluents are within regulatory limits; (2) provide copies of the NRC

environmental assessments and/or safety evaluations that provide the

bases for (a) an exception from 10 CFR Sec. 20.303(d) limits regarding

radioactive materials discharges into sanitary sewer systems (License

Condition 21); and (b) approval of the construction and operation of a

low level waste storage facility at NIH's Poolesville campus (License

Condition 28); and (3) forward a copy of future correspondence between

NRC and NIH regarding these matters to the North Bethesda Congress.

The Petitioner asserts the following as bases for these requests:

(1) NIH has not completed or submitted to the NRC an environmental

report regarding radiological releases from incinerators at the

Bethesda campus, and the NRC has not issued an environmental assessment

or impact statement regarding NIH radiological emissions, as required

by the National Environmental Policy Act and 10 CFR 51.21, 51.45 and

51.60(b); (2) licensing the disposal of radioactive waste by

incineration is a federal action subject to the NEPA process; (3)

because releases from the NIH incinerators are capable of exceeding

regulatory limits and will increase over the next few years, and

because total radiological emissions from NIH are sufficient to warrant

environmental analysis, the continued burning of radioactive waste by

NIH without an environmental report and environmental assessment are in

noncompliance with NRC environmental regulations; (4) although NRC

cited NIH for its failure to adequately monitor radioactive effluents

and NIH committed to install instrumentation for continuous monitoring

as a corrective action for [[Page 14801]] having exceeded its yearly

radioactive effluent release limit to unrestricted areas for 1987, no

continuous monitoring for radioactive airborne effluents exists for the

NIH incinerator stacks; (5) it is not clear that the box monitoring

system installed by NIH adequately detects radioactive waste, and small

amounts of iodine continue to be identified in the incinerator ash,

indicating that medical waste still gets into the incinerators; and (6)

it is unclear that NIH methods to assess radioactive effluent releases

at the incinerators satisfy regulatory requirements and provide

assurance that Part 20 limits are being met.

The NRC staff provided a partial response to North Bethesda

Congress by letter dated February 24, 1994. The staff acknowledged

receipt of the Petition, and denied Petitioner's request to suspend

License Condition 24 pending resolution of the Petition. The denial of

the request to suspend License Condition 24 was based on findings of

the then most recent NRC Inspection Report, Inspection Report No. 030-

01786/92-001, which concluded that emissions from the incinerators at

the NIH Bethesda campus were within regulatory limits and that, despite

some deficiencies, the incineration operation was under adequate

control. The NRC staff, therefore, determined that there was no

immediate risk to public health and safety from continued operation of

the incinerators. The February 24, 1994, letter granted Petitioner's

request for copies of environmental assessments and/or safety

evaluations insofar as such documents exist and could be retrieved. A

later search of the active and archived NRC files disclosed no such

documents. The February 24, 1994, letter also granted Petitioner's

request for copies of all correspondence with the Licensee concerning

the matters raised by Petitioner.

As of May 1994, all three incinerators were taken out of service by

NIH. In a letter dated August 10, 1994, NIH committed to permanently

stop all incineration of low level radioactive waste at its Bethesda

campus, and requested a license amendment to delete License Condition

27 (formerly License Condition 24) from License No. 19-00296-10. This

application was granted by NRC on November 3, 1994.

I have completed my evaluation of the matters raised by Petitioner,

and have determined that, for the reasons stated below, Petitioner's

request to suspend authority to incinerate pursuant to License

Condition 24, pending performance of an environmental assessment and an

environmental report with regard to incineration operations, and

pending review of incinerator operating procedures, is moot.

Petitioner's request for environmental assessments and/or safety

evaluations in connection with License Conditions 21 and 28 cannot be

granted because the NRC was not required to perform environmental

assessments or formal safety evaluations in connection with the low

level radioactivity associated with NIH discharges to the sanitary

sewer system and with the low level waste storage facility at NIH's

Poolesville campus, as explained below. Documents constituting the

informal equivalent of an environmental review or safety evaluation in

connection with License Conditions 21, 24, and 28, will be supplied to

Petitioner. Petitioner's request for a copy of all correspondence

between NRC and NIH regarding these matters was granted by the NRC

staff letter dated February 24, 1994.

II. Background

The NIH specific license of broad scope, No. 19-00296-10, was

issued in December 1956 by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The

license is due to expire in May 1995. The License replaced a set of

nine licenses that had been issued to different institutes or

laboratories of NIH. At the time of issuance of this broad scope

license, short-lived radioactive waste (half-life under 100 days) was

allowed to decay in storage and was then disposed of as ordinary waste.

Long-lived solid and liquid wastes were incorporated into concrete and

shipped for disposal. There was no license condition permitting

incineration of licensed material, and sewer disposal of licensed

material was limited to 1 Ci/yr, provided other conditions, such as

average concentration limits, were met.

Soon after the License was issued, NIH requested authorization to

incinerate dead animals used in experiments, and other combustible

waste containing tritium (H-3), carbon-14 (C-14), and sulphur-35 (S-35)

in the two general purpose incinerators then in use on campus. This

request was granted as License Condition 12 in February 1959. In April

1968, License Condition 21 was approved to extend the incineration

authorization to include incineration of any byproduct material,

provided the effluent concentration limits specified in the regulations

were met for the air effluents from the incinerators, as well as for

disposal of the ash resulting from incineration. Byproduct material is

defined in NRC regulations as ``any radioactive material (except

special nuclear material) yielded in or made radioactive by exposure to

radiation incident to the process of producing or utilizing special

nuclear material''. 10 CFR 20.1003. This, in effect, means any

radioactive material produced in a nuclear reactor, other than

plutonium, which is considered special nuclear material. H-3, C-14, and

S-35 are all byproduct materials. Special nuclear material is any

material that has the potential for use as fuel in a nuclear reactor,

including plutonium, uranium-233, and uranium enriched in the isotope

233 or in the isotope 235.

In 1961, NIH requested raising the sewer disposal limit from 1 to

20 Ci/yr. In response to this request, NRC authorized an increase in

the sewer disposal limit from 1 Ci/yr to 3 Ci/yr in October 1961, as

reflected in License Condition 21. In April 1968, following another

request, the sewer disposal limit was raised to 5 Ci/yr, and in April

1969, the License Condition was amended to raise the sewer disposal

limit from 5 Ci/yr to its current level of 8 Ci/yr.

License Condition 24, authorizing incineration of byproduct

material, and the License Condition 21, authorizing disposal of up to 8

Ci/yr of radioactive material to the sewer, have not changed materially

since they were first issued.

The NRC regulations pertaining to incineration and sewage disposal

appear in 10 CFR Part 20, ``Standards for Protection Against

Radiation'', first implemented in 1957. The initial 1957 version of 10

CFR Part 20 limited the quantity of licensed and other radioactive

material released into the sewerage system to 1 Ci/yr. Limits were also

imposed on the average concentrations of radioactive materials in the

sewer releases. The regulations in 10 CFR Part 20 were revised in 1982

to raise the disposal limit for discharges to sanitary sewerage systems

from 1 Ci/yr to a total of 7 Ci/yr, of which up to 5 Ci/yr may be H-3,

up to 1 Ci/yr C-14, and up to 1 Ci/yr all other isotopes combined.

Permission to incinerate radioactive waste in the form disposed of at

NIH was sought through the mechanism then applicable to permit

licensees to apply for approval of a waste disposal method provided in

10 CFR 20.302, ``Method of obtaining approval of proposed disposal

procedures.''

An application for a license amendment to permit interim storage of

low-level radioactive waste at the NIH Animal Center in Poolesville,

Maryland, was submitted to the NRC in October 1992. In the same

submittal, NIH also requested an increase in its possession limits for

carbon-14 from 2 to 3 curies, and for phosphorus-32 from 2 to 4 curies.

The increases in possession limits were requested to provide

[[Page 14802]] flexibility in waste storage. The stated reason for the

request to store waste was partly to allow decay of short-lived

activity before disposal, and partly in anticipation of a reduction or

elimination of options for permanent disposal of low-level radioactive

waste, such as the anticipated closure of the Barnwell, South Carolina

waste disposal facility. In January 1993, the NRC authorized use of the

Poolesville facility for interim storage of low-level radioactive

waste, as reflected in License Condition 28.

III. Discussion

A. Petitioner's Request for Suspension of Incineration Operations Was

Mooted by Amendment of the NIH License

As explained above, NIH's authority to incinerate radioactive waste

was terminated by the NRC Staff's November 3, 1994, grant of NIH's

application for a license amendment to remove License Condition 27.

Consequently, Petitioner's request for suspension of NIH incineration

operations is moot. Similarly, any past deficienices in NIH's

incineration monitoring program1 need not be addressed, other than

to emphasize that if, in the future, NIH were to request authorization

to resume incineration operations, the NRC staff, as part of its

evaluation of such a request, would review the incineration program and

operating procedures and require correction of any deficiencies in the

monitoring program2 before granting such a request.

\1\NIH incinerator effluents were within the 10 CFR Part 20

regulatory limits specified by the license, and the incineration

operation was under adequate control. See NIH Inspection Report No.

030-01786/92-001 (September 14, 1992) and NRC Inpsection Report No.

030-01786/94-001 (July 8, 1994). Nonetheless, there were some weak

areas in the program, as indicated by the the possibility that the

amount of iodine that was released in effluents may have exceeded

ALARA goals. See NRC Inspection Report No. 030-01786/94-01. The

Licensee's As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) commitment,

incorporated into License Condition 27 by the July 1986 application

for authority to incinerate radioactive materials, obligates the

Licensee to have a program with the objective of limiting the

average annual concentration of radioactive material in the

incinerator stack effluents to ten per cent of the 10 CFR Part 20,

Appendix B, Table II, values. The indications that the incineration

effluents may have exceeded this ten percent limit in 1993 were

inferential, and could not be verified on the basis of available

data. The NRC staff determined that the ash residue data collected

by the Licensee was not specific enough to permit a determination

whether Iodine-125 releases did in fact violate the License

Condition 27 requirement to have an ALARA program with the objective

of limiting the average annual concentration of radioactive material

in the incinerator stack effluent to 10 per cent of the 10 CFR Part

20, Appendix B, Table II, values. The available data, however,

indicates that the annual average concentrations of radioactive

materials in the incinerator effluents were probably substantially

below the 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table II, limits for the 1990

through 1993 time period reviewed in the May 1994 NRC inspection.

\2\ Petitioner also contends that releases from sources other

than the incinerators, such as Building 21, did not appear to be

routinely considered in conjunction with incinerator radionuclide

releases when computing overall facility release totals to

unrestricted areas. License Condition 27 imposed limits only upon

incinerator radionuclide releases. Effluents from Building 21, and

from other buildings on the NIH campus, are limited separately by

other license conditions and by the limits imposed by 10 CFR Part 20

on effluents to unrestricted areas.

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B. Request for Environmental Assessments and Environmental Reports

1. Incineration of Radioactive Waste

Petitioner contends that incineration of radioactive wastes and

potentially contaminated medical wastes by NIH, without complete

environmental reports and environmental assessments, is in violation of

NRC regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Petitioner further states that, in the Statement of Consideration

accompanying the newly revised 10 CFR Part 20, NRC retained the

requirement for prior approval of incineration on a site specific basis

and that NRC rejected the notion that disposal of radioactive waste by

incineration is simply just another form of general effluent release,

and thus approval of incineration is subject to the NEPA process.

Petitioner also claims that because radiological releases from the NIH

incinerators are capable of exceeding regulatory limits, as discussed

in the 1988 NRC Inspection Report No. 030-01786/88-001, NIH total

radiological emissions warrant environmental analyses.

The initial authorization to incinerate H-3, C-14, and S-35, as

well as the 1968 license amendment extending this authorization to all

byproduct materials, predated both the National Environmental Policy

Act (NEPA) of 1969, and NRC regulations implementing NEPA (10 CFR Part

51), which became effective in 1974. There was, therefore, no

requirement at the time of these amendments to conduct an environmental

assessment. A review of NRC records pertaining to the NIH licenses

failed to identify any formal environmental assessments or safety

evaluations in connection with these license amendments. However,

related correspondence between NRC and NIH indicate that authorization

to incinerate radioactive wastes was granted on the condition

operations be conducted within the effluent limits imposed by 10 CFR

Part 20. The total activity incinerated in any given period was limited

indirectly by limiting the maximum allowable concentrations of

radioactive materials in the effluents from the incinerator stacks to

the levels specified by 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table II.

The original authorization to incinerate licensed material was

reevaluated in connection with NIH's 1988 license amendment application

to add a third incinerator of larger capacity to the two existing

smaller incinerators previously authorized for operation. The license

amendment application was accompanied by detailed descriptions of the

incineration facility and proposed modes of operation and control. The

record also shows correspondence from NRC requesting clarifications and

additional information, as well as responses from NIH providing the

requested information. These documents were incorporated into the

License as tie-down conditions, which means that the Licensee must

conduct operations as described in its application documents. However,

a formal environmental assessment was not prepared. The amendment

request was granted on the same condition as the original 1959

amendment authorizing incineration of wastes, which was that effluents

from the incinerators must remain within the concentration limits

specified by 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Tables II. Incineration at NIH

was authorized only after performance of NRC staff reviews of the

incinerator design and proposed methods of operation and control of

effluents, including disposal of the ash resulting from incineration,

and consideration of the public doses expected from the operation.

The NRC practice in 1988 was, and still is, to determine on a case-

by-case basis whether to perform an environmental assessment in

connection with applications for incineration of waste containing

radioactive material, provided that the concentration of radioactive

materials in the incinerator effluents at the point of release, and in

the ash residues, do not exceed the limits specified by 10 CFR Part 20,

Appendix B, Table II, and also provided that the dose to the highest

exposed member of the public that results from the authorized activity

is no more than a small fraction of the dose limit for individual

members of the public (100 millirem per year) specified by 10 CFR

Sec. 20.1301(a)(1). The radiation dose to a member of the public

resulting from air effluents depends on the concentration of

radioactive materials in the air at the location of that person.

Limiting the concentrations of radioactive materials emitted from the

stack at the release point to those [[Page 14803]] specified in 10 CFR

Part 20, Appendix B, Table II, ensures that any dose to members of the

public will be a small fraction of the applicable public dose limit.

This is due to the fact that dispersion of the effluent air from the

stack will reduce the average concentration of radioactive materials in

the air at the location of an exposed individual to a small fraction of

the limits for emissions at the release point, causing the delivered

dose to that individual in turn to be a small fraction of the public

dose limit. Review of an application to incinerate licensed materials

involves, in part, verification that dispersion of the released

material during transit, from the stack to the closest exposed

individual, will reduce the concentrations sufficiently to ensure a

very small dose to members of the public, even under the most

conservative assumptions. Since the NIH application proposed limiting

airborne incinerator effluents at the release point to 10 CFR Part 20,

Appendix B, Table II, limits, the dose to the highest exposed member of

the public would be limited to a small fraction of the dose limit for

individual members of the public specified by 10 CFR

Sec. 20.1301(a)(1).

The NEPA and the Commission's implementing regulations in 10 CFR

Part 51 do not require the performance of an environmental assessment

in connection with authorization of incineration of radiological wastes

at NIH. Under NEPA Sec. 102(2)(c), 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(c), and 10 CFR

51.21, an environmental assessment must be undertaken by the NRC for

all licensing and regulatory actions except where the Commission's

regulations, See 10 CFR 51.20(b), require the preparation of an

environmental impact statement, or the licensing actions are eligible

for categorical exclusion from these requirements because the actions

do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the

human environment. 10 CFR 51.21 and 51.22(a). Any use of source,

byproduct, or special nuclear material which involves quantities and

forms of these materials similar to those involved in activities

eligible for categorical exclusion in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(i)-(xv), is

also eligible for categorical exclusion. 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(xvi). The

Commission anticipated that the quantities of radioactive material

associated with the fifteen types of activities eligible for

categorical exclusion under 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(i) -(xv) would involve

effluent releases of between zero and 12% of the limits of 10 CFR Part

20. Statement of Consideration, ``Environmental Protection Regulations

for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions and Related

Conforming Amendments'', 49 FR 9352, 9376-9379 (March 12, 1984).

Applicants who propose to limit the concentration of radioactive

material in the incinerator stack effluents to less than 12 per cent of

the applicable 10 CFR Part 20 limits, therefore, would be eligible for

the categorical exclusion pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(xvi). Since

NIH committed, in its application for authority to incinerate

radioactive waste, to have a program with the objective of limiting

average annual concentrations of radioactive material in the

incinerator stack effluents to 10 percent of the 10 CFR Part 20,

Appendix B, Table II, limits, the NIH application for authority to

incinerate was eligible for categorical exclusion pursuant to 10 CFR

51.22(c)(14)(xvi).

NIH's authority to dispose of contaminated ash residue from

incinerator operations was also granted without performance of an

environmental assessment, pursuant to the categorical exclusion of 10

CFR 51.22(c)(14)(xvi), for the same reasons as discussed above. The

concentrations of radioactive materials in the ash residue were

required by License Condition 24, in the case of NIH, to be below those

specified by 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table II. Since 10 CFR Part 20

does not specify concentrations limits for ash, the limits specified

for water were applied to the incinerator ash.

When the categorical exclusion provisions of 10 CFR Part 51 exempt

a license application to incinerate licensed materials from the

requirements to prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental

impact statement, such as the NIH incineration operations, the licensee

is not required to submit an environmental report for such proposed

activity. Although NIH was not required to submit a formal

environmental report in connection with its application for

authorization of its incineration facility, NIH was required to submit,

and did submit, detailed descriptions of the facility and the proposed

mode of operation and control to ensure safe operation and compliance

with NRC requirements.

In view of the above, the NRC was not required to and did not

perform environmental assessments, and the Licensee was not required to

and did not submit environmental reports, in connection with

authorization of NIH incineration operations or disposal of incinerator

ash residue. Petitioner has been provided, however, with copies of

documents submitted by the Licensee in support of License Condition 27

and documents associated with the grant of License Condition 27.

2. Radioactive Material Discharges Into the Sanitary Sewer Systems

(License Condition 21)

Petitioner requests copies of the NRC environmental assessments

and/or safety evaluations that provide the basis for the NRC's grant of

an exception from 10 CFR Sec. 20.303(d) limits regarding radioactive

material discharges into sanitary sewer systems. License Condition 21

exempts NIH from 10 CFR Sec. 20.303(d), now superseded by 10 CFR

Sec. 20.2003(a)(4), which limits the quantity of licensed and other

radioactive material released into the sewerage system to 5 Ci/yr H-3,

1 Ci/yr C-14, and 1 Ci/yr all other isotopes combined. License

Condition 21, however, authorizes disposal of up to 8 Ci/yr of all

licensed and other radioactive material, with no separate limits on the

activities of individual isotopes, provided the provisions in 10 CFR

Secs. 20.303 (a), (b), and (c), superseded by 10 CFR Secs. 20.2003

(a)(1), (a)(2) and (a)(3), are met. These regulations place limits on

the monthly average concentrations of radioactive materials in sewer

releases.

The license amendment which initially authorized a sewer release

limit of 8 Ci/yr was granted in 1969, and predates NRC's 10 CFR Part

51, which implements the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of

1969. There was, therefore, no requirement at the time the license

amendment was granted to conduct an environmental assessment in

connection with this License Condition 21. No environmental assessments

or safety evaluations to support the grant of this amendment were found

in a search of NRC records, nor were any references to such documents

found.

A review of NRC records pertaining to the NIH license indicates

that the grant to NIH of the exemption from 10 CFR 20.303(d), by

raising the annual release limit from the 10 CFR Part 20 limit of 1 Ci/

yr to 8 Ci/yr in 1969, and from the 10 CFR Part 20 total activity limit

of 7 Ci/yr to 8 Ci/yr after 1982, without separate limits on H-3 and C-

14, was based on concentrations of radioactive material in the sewer

releases from the facility. The dose to a member of the public,

obtaining drinking water from the sewer discharge point for the

facility, depends on the concentration of activity in the sewer water,

and not on the total amount released during the year. [[Page 14804]]

10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(xvi) provides that any use of source,

byproduct, or special nuclear material which involves quantities and

forms of these materials similar to those involved in actions eligible

for categorical exclusion from environmental assessments is also

eligible for exclusion, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(i)-(xv). NIH

releases daily to the sewers a very large amount of water from its

various buildings and the Clinical Center. This volume of water, which

substantially exceeds one million gallons per day, provides very large

dilution factors for radioactive wastes released to the sewers. At the

level of 8 Ci/year, the resulting average concentrations of

radioactivity in water leaving the NIH campus are a small fraction of

the allowable concentrations specified in the 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix

B, Table 3, and thus NIH sewer disposal activity is eligible for

categorical exclusion pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(c)(xvi). See Section

III.B.1, supra. The corresponding doses are, therefore, also small

fractions of the public dose limits, and are of the same order of

magnitude, or smaller, than those involved in activities that are

eligible for categorical exclusion. It was, therefore, concluded that

grant of the NIH application for an 8 Ci/yr sewer disposal limit was

eligible for the categorical exclusion. NRC's review of the NIH

amendment application for License Condition 21 also considered the fact

that radioactive material in the sewer water released from NIH is

further diluted at the Blue Plains Sewage Treatment Plant, to which NIH

discharges its sewer water. Further dilution is provided by the Potomac

River, to which the effluent from Blue Plains is discharged.

The 10 CFR Part 20 limit on total activity released to the sewers

per year from a licensee's facility was imposed to guard against the

possibility that more than one licensee may discharge radioactive

material to the same sewer lines, thus raising the overall

concentrations of radioactive materials in the sewer lines. This was

not an important consideration in the case of NIH in view of the high

water discharge volume from the facility, which ensures very low

concentrations of radioactive materials, even in the presence of

possible sewer discharges from other licensees discharging to the same

sewer system. A review of the NIH records for sewer discharges in

recent years showed that the annual quantities discharged have been

less than the 7 Ci/yr limit in 10 CFR Part 20. License condition 21 did

not impose separate limits on H-3 and C-14 discharges.

In view of the above, Petitioner's request for environmental

assessments and/or safety evaluations providing the basis for

authorization of License Condition 21 cannot be granted. Petitioner,

however, has been provided with documents submitted by NIH to the NRC

in support of the amendment requests to raise the sewer discharge

limits.

3. Construction and Operation of the Low Level Waste Storage Facility

at NIH's Poolesville Campus (License Condition 28)

Petitioner requests copies of the NRC environmental assessments

and/or safety evaluations that provide the bases for the NRC grant of

the Licensee's license amendment application for construction and

operation of a low level waste storage facility at NIH's Poolesville

campus. License Condition 28 of the License currently states that

``Radioactive waste generated under this License shall be stored in

accordance with the statements, representations, and procedures

included with the Licensee's waste storage plan described in the

Licensee's application dated October 13, 1992''. The conditions under

which radioactive waste is stored at the Poolesville facility are

described in the Licensee's 1992 application for an amendment to permit

such storage, and were incorporated into License Condition 28 as tie-

down conditions. They were evaluated by the NRC staff and found to be

adequate to ensure public health and safety and to minimize adverse

environmental effects. The Poolesville facility is inspected routinely

by NRC's Region I to ensure that the conditions described in the bases

for the license amendment are being observed, in addition to observance

of good radiological safety practices.

The application documents for the License Condition 28 provide

detailed descriptions of the Licensee's Poolesville facility and

surrounding environment and demography, storage building construction

details, methods of waste storage, waste form and inventory control,

and other relevant details. This information was provided in accordance

with the instructions in NRC Information Notice IN 90-09, ``Extended

Interim Storage of Low-Level Waste by Fuel Cycle and Materials

Licensees'', which describes the information required by the NRC for

its review of license amendment requests to authorize extended interim

storage of low-level radioactive waste. This review is functionally

equivalent to an environmental assessment for such facilities.

In view of the above, Petitioner's request for environmental

assessments and/or safety evaluations in connection with authorization

of License Condition 28 cannot be granted. Petitioner, however, has

been provided with a copy of IN 90-09 and the information submitted by

the Licensee in support of its application for authority to construct

and operate the Poolesville low level waste storage facility, which is

the functional equivalent of a an environmental report and safety

evaluation.

C. Request to Forward a Copy of Future Correspondence Between NRC and

NIH to Petitioner

As requested by Petitioner, North Bethesda Congress of Citizen's

Associations will be placed on the distribution list for all

correspondence regarding operation of the NIH incinerators, sewer

disposal limits, and interim radioactive waste storage license

amendments at the Poolesville facility.

IV. Conclusion

For the reasons discussed above, Petitioner's request to suspend

authority for incineration operations by NIH pursuant to Condition 24

of the NIH License, pending a review and improvement of operating

procedures for the incinerators, and pending preparation of an

environmental assessment and an environmental report, was mooted by

removal of that authority from NIH License No. 19-00296-10 in November

1994. Petitioner's request for copies of any NRC environmental

assessments and/or safety evaluations that provide the bases for

authorization of License Conditions 21 and 28 cannot be granted, as

explained in Section III, supra. Certain information submitted by the

Licensee in connection with its request for authorization of License

Conditions 21, 24, and 28, and NRC correspondence in response, however,

was provided to Petitioner. Petitioner's request for a copy of all

future correspondence between NRC and NIH regarding these matters is

granted.

A copy of this Decision will be filed with the Secretary of the

Commission for the Commission to review in accordance with 10 C.F.R.

2.206(c). As provided by this regulation, this Decision will constitute

the final action of the Commission 25 days after issuance, unless the

Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the decision

within that time.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of March, 1995.

[[Page 14805]] For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Robert M. Bernero,

Director, Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 95-6733 Filed 3-17-95; 8:45 am]

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