Finding of No Significant Impact and Notice of Opportunity for a Hearing, Renewal of Source Material License SMB-920, Cabot Performance Materials Boyertown, PA

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-6940]

Finding of No Significant Impact and Notice of Opportunity for a

Hearing, Renewal of Source Material License SMB-920, Cabot Performance

Materials Boyertown, PA

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the renewal

of source Material License SMB-920 for the continued operation of Cabot

Performance Materials (CPM) facility located in Boyertown,

Pennsylvania. CPM processes tin slags, tantalite, and columbite ores to

extract tantalum and niobium. The ores and slags contain uranium and

thorium, and sludges resulting from the slag and ore processing contain

in excess of 0.05 percent uranium and thorium. Therefore, the sludges

are source material as defined and regulated by 10 CFR Part 40, and

their possession by CPM is licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

Summary of the Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

The proposed action is the renewal of CPM's source material license

for five years. With this renewal, CPM will continue to operate the

Boyertown facility to process tin slags, tantalite, and columbite ores,

and will revise their process to use the stored sludges as supplemental

feedstock in addition to new ores and ore concentrates. CPM is licensed

to possess and use up to 400 tons of elemental uranium and thorium in

slag, ores, and sludges.

Need for the Proposed Action

CPM performs a necessary service for the commercial electronics

industry by extracting tantalum and niobium from slag and ores. Denial

of the license renewal application is an alternative available to the

NRC, but would require expansion of tantalum and niobium production

capacity at an existing facility or transfer of extraction activities

to a new facility. Denial of the

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application to process the sludges would result in their continued

storage on site.

Effluent Controls and Monitoring

The continued operation of the CPM facility will result in the

continued release of low levels of radioactive constituents and

fluorides. Under accident conditions, the facility could release higher

concentrations over a short period of time. The facility uses a number

of controls to reduce the release of radioactive materials and

fluorides to the environment, and performs monitoring of effluents and

the environment.

The CPM facility produces gaseous, liquid, and solid effluent

streams. Gaseous effluents are controlled by minimizing the amount of

airborne radioactive materials within the plant, and by the use of a

dust collector, baghouse, and stack scrubber on specific processes.

Liquid effluents are controlled by the use of waste water retention

lagoons and treatment systems that reduce the concentration of

radioactive materials prior to discharge to West Swamp Creek. Solid

wastes are managed through a combination of reprocessing, off-site

disposal, and recycling.

Stack scrubber performance is monitored by measuring the

concentration of fluorine in the scrubber water and the flowrate of the

scrubber recycle water. The performance of the gaseous effluent

controls is further evaluated by the environmental air sampling program

described below. Liquid effluents are sampled at the point of discharge

to Swamp Creek, and the samples are analyzed for uranium and other

constituents. Solid wastes are surveyed prior to off-site disposal.

CPM has performed and will continue to perform monitoring to detect

accumulation of radioactive materials in the environment. This

environmental monitoring program samples sediment and surface water in

West Swamp Creek; and air and ground water at locations on or near the

facility. Forage sampling for fluoride, which was performed under the

previous license, will not be performed under the renewed license.

Two new air monitoring stations downwind of the plant were

installed in 1995. Air samples will be collected continuously at these

two locations, and the samples analyzed for radioactivity. In addition,

CPM has committed to perform a temporary air monitoring program using a

mobile air sampler at additional locations near the site boundaries.

The purpose of this mobile sampling is to further assure that the most

significant pathway for air effluents has been identified.

Environmental Consequences of Proposed License Renewal

Implementation of the proposed action, renewal of the CPM license,

involves both beneficial and negative impacts. The beneficial impacts

include support for production of economically valuable electrical

components and processing of the stored sludge into a more stable form.

The associated negative impacts from continued plant operations include

releases to air and surface water from plant operation. Implementing

either the proposed action or the alternative action, non-renewal of

the license, involves decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the

facility.

For the proposed action, the handling of materials and normal

operations of the facility will result in the continued release of low

levels of radioactive and non-radioactive constituents. Under accident

conditions, the facility could release higher concentrations of

materials over a short period of time. The facility will eventually be

decontaminated and decommissioned at the end of its useful life, but

the impacts of such decontamination and decommissioning are beyond the

scope of this Environmental Assessment (EA), which deals only with the

potential environmental impact of continued operations.

Normal operations at the CPM facility will involve groundwater

withdrawals, discharges of fluoride and radionuclides to surface

waters, discharges to the atmosphere, and generation of various solid

and liquid waste streams. The impacts of normal operations are both

radiological and nonradiological.

The radiological impacts of the continued operation of the CPM

facility were assessed by calculating the radiation dose to the

maximally exposed individual located at the nearest residence and the

collective radiation dose to the local population living within 80

kilometers (50 miles) of the plant site.

The results of the dose assessments are summarized below, and a

detailed description of the methodology and results is provided in the

appendix to the EA.

Radionuclides which may be released to the environment include

potassium-40 (K-40), uranium-238 (U-238), uranium-235 (U-235), thorium-

232 (Th-232), and their decay daughters, including radon-222 (Rn-222).

The sources of the releases are the main process building (Building

073) stacks, the ore storage pile, the sludge storage mausoleums, and

the liquid waste system lagoons.

Potentially exposed individuals for the atmospheric releases are

primarily residents along the northeast and north boundaries of the

site. Atmospheric dispersion analysis established that the maximally

exposed individual would be located on the northeast boundary of the

site.

Liquid effluents are released into West Swamp Creek, a tributary of

the Schuylkill River. Because of its low and irregular flow, West Swamp

Creek is not a drinking water supply for area residents. Therefore, the

analysis assumed that an individual along the Schuylkill River, and the

surrounding population out to a distance of 80 kilometers (50 miles),

used this potentially contaminated water.

The radionuclide doses were estimated using the Hanford

Environmental Radiation Dosimetry Software System GENII computer code,

except for radon. Atmospheric release exposure pathways included

inhalation, ingestion of contaminated crops and resuspended dirt, and

external exposure to the airborne plume and contaminated ground. Liquid

release exposure pathways included ingestion of contaminated drinking

water, fish, and irrigated crops; and external exposure during

recreational activities. Because GENII does not simulate radon

inhalation impacts, the NRC staff developed independent dose estimates

using dose factors specific to radon-222. Details on the method of

radiological impact analysis are presented in the appendix to the EA.

Potential radiation doses from releases to the atmosphere from the

CPM facility are calculated for the maximally exposed individual and

the population. These doses are expressed in terms of the 50-year

committed effective dose equivalent (CEDE) from internal exposure from

the intake of radionuclides for a period of one year. For the maximally

exposed individual, the CEDEs for combined releases from Building 073

and the ore storage pile were estimated as 6.5 x 10 -7 Sv/yr

(0.065 mrem/yr), while the CEDE for release from the storage mausoleums

was estimated as 2.5 x 10 -5 Sv/yr (2.5 mrem/yr). The doses are a

small fraction of background doses for both the maximally exposed

individual and other members of the population; the external background

radiation doses from cosmic and terrestrial sources are approximately

2.6 x 10 -4 and 2.8 x 10 -4 Sv/yr (26 and 28 mrem/yr),

respectively. The doses from atmospheric releases are also a fraction

of the 10 mrem/year limit set by 40 CFR 61 Subpart I, National

[[Page 51472]]

Emissions Standards for Radionuclide Emissions from Facilities Licensed

by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Potential impacts for the maximally exposed individual and the

population from releases to surface water were also calculated. The

largest tissue doses are to the bone surface from ingestion of lead-210

(Pb-210), and external doses are a factor of 10,000 smaller than

internal doses. The CEDE for the maximally exposed individual was

estimated as 2.8 x 10-6 Sv/yr (0.28 mrem/yr). For both the

maximally exposed individual and other members of the population, doses

are a small fraction of background sources.

The NRC regulations (10 CFR 20.1301) require that the Total

Effective Dose Equivalent (TEDE) for members of the public not exceed

1.0 x 10-3 Sv (100 mrem) per year. The TEDE is the sum of the

effective dose equivalent (EDE) from exposure to external radiation for

one year and the CEDE defined above. For atmospheric releases of

radionuclides other than radon, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

regulations (40 CFR Part 61, Subpart I) require that the annual

effective dose equivalent not exceed 1.0 x 10-4 Sv (10 mrem).

Doses from CPM facility operations are dominated by releases to the

atmosphere. For the maximally exposed individual, the annual TEDE

including dose from radon was estimated as 2.6 x 10-5 Sv (2.6

mrem). The largest annual tissue dose was estimated as 2.1 x 10-4

Sv (21 mrem) to the lung. This tissue dose is entirely due to radon

releases from the storage mausoleums, which would be eliminated by

implementing the planned sludge processing modifications. Estimated

doses for all other releases are small fractions of applicable limits.

Continued operation of the facility is expected to have minor

impacts on air quality, surface water, ground water, land use, and

biota. Surface water, sediment, and groundwater monitoring during

previous operations have indicated no significant impact from non-

radiological constitutents, including fluoride. It is expected to have

little or no impact on cultural resources, and to have a positive

socioeconomic impact.

Normal operation of the CPM facility is not expected to have a

significant effect on off-site nonradiological air quality, although

fluoride concentrations measured in air have exceeded the State of

Pennsylvania 24-hour maximum of 5 g/m \3\ on occasion. State-

issued operating permits for processing activities include release

limits for compounds of fluorides, and the State's compliance and

enforcement program addresses any exceedence of the limits.

The primary potential impact on terrestrial resources is from

fluoride released to the environment from the ore digestion process.

Biannual monitoring of both corn and grasses since 1988 indicates that

operation of the facility has resulted in elevated fluoride

concentrations in forage crops growing adjacent to the plant.

There are no state or federal standards for fluoride concentration

in forage. While there has been research in this area, as reported in

the EA, no specific regulatory limits are currently applied to this

aspect of the environment. Additionally, there are no federal ambient

air quality standards for fluoride. There has been no increased

degradation in off-site vegetation from fluoride since the previous

assessment, and the expected releases will be the same as or less than

those from previous operations. Therefore, no adverse impacts to the

off-site environment are expected from the continued operation of the

facility.

The handling, processing, and storage of material containing

radioactive constituents at the CPM facility could result in

uncontrolled release of radioactive material to the environment in the

event of an accident. The relatively small quantities and low

concentrations of the radioactive constituents constrain the

radiological impacts of potential accidents. Use of hazardous chemicals

in operations at the facility could also result in uncontrolled

releases, posing a potential risk to workers and public health and

safety.

The accident analysis identified potential hazards, reviewed

potential accident initiators and release mechanisms, developed

accident scenarios, and estimated consequences for a set of potential

accident scenarios. The hazard review identified the primary hazards as

radionuclides in the feed material, process equipment, and sludge

storage mausoleums, and the hazardous chemicals stored on site. For

radioactive material in solid form, the primary release mechanisms

would be drop and resuspension during transfer, and failure of the

filtration systems during processing. For radioactive material in

liquid solution, the primary release mechanism would be equipment

failure during processing and transfer. For hazardous chemicals, the

failure of storage equipment is the scenario with the largest potential

impact. Based on the above considerations, a feed ore spill during

transfer, a large-scale leak of treated liquid radioactive waste, and

release of anhydrous ammonia from tank storage were selected as

representative accidents.

Feed ore is transferred to process equipment from a storage pile

located near building 073. Equipment failure or improper operation

could lead to inadvertent dumping of the load, resulting in an airborne

release of 0.066 and 0.009 Ci of U-238 and Th-232,

respectively. Based on dispersion analysis, the maximally exposed

individual would be 205 meters (673 feet) northeast of building 073,

and the CEDE for this release was estimated as 4.0 x 10-7 Sv (0.04

mrem), indicating insignificant risk to public health and safety.

Approximately 30,280 liters (8,000 gallons) of liquid radioactive

waste are processed daily at the CPM facility. Radionuclides are

removed as filtered solids during processing, and the resulting liquid

is mixed with other liquid streams to generate an overall average daily

flow of approximately 378,500 liters (100,000 gallons). The largest

capacity tank in the system is a 378,500-liter (100,000 gallon) tank

for storing treated liquid. Failure of this tank with release to

surface water bounds potential accidents associated with the waste

treatment system. The released liquid would be diluted in West Swamp

Creek and the Schuylkill River, and the maximally exposed individual

could receive a CEDE of 5.8 x 10-9 Sv (5.8 x 10-4 mrem).

This dose is a very small fraction of normal background radiation,

indicating insignificant risk to public health and safety.

Ammonia is stored under pressure as a liquified gas in a 37,850-

liter (10,000 gallon) tank located on the southeast side of County Line

Road. Failure of a transfer or relief line could cause an uncontrolled

release with potential health and safety impacts. This event was

represented as development of a 2.5-centimeter (1 inch) diameter hole

in the tank vapor space, with isentropic escape through the hole. Under

the assumed conditions, the release rate was estimated as 930 grams per

second (2.05 pounds per second). The release time with no operator

response could be as long as 6 hours. Dispersion analysis established

that the maximally exposed individual would be located 330 meters

(1,083 feet) north-northeast of the release point. Ambient ammonia

concentrations were estimated as 1.3 grams per cubic meter (930 parts

per million) at the location of the maximally exposed individual.

Ammonia concentrations above 1,000 parts per million for an extended

period of time can be lethal, while concentrations

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between 25 and 200 parts per million produce transient irritation. The

potential for this release to occur for an extended period of time is

low because CPM would take response actions in accordance with their

Preparedness, Prevention, and Contingency Plan.

Alternative to the Proposed Action

An alternative to the proposed action is non-renewal of the

license. In this case, CPM would shut down the processes that involve

source material, and would decontaminate and decommission (D&D) the

site in accordance with an approved plan. Cabot would do a thorough

survey of the site grounds and buildings and prepare a detailed D&D

Plan. The environmental impacts of the D&D activities would be assessed

during NRC review of the detailed D&D Plan.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

During the preparation of the EA, various state and local agencies

were contacted for gathering information. These contacts included the

Tri-County Area Chamber of Commerce for employment information, the

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for

threatened and endangered species information, the Pennsylvania

Department of Environmental Protection for air quality information, and

the Pennsylvania Registry of Historic Places for cultural resources

information.

Conclusion

The staff concludes that the impact to the environment and to human

health and safety from operations at this facility has been and is

expected to remain minimal. Results of the environmental monitoring

program conducted during the previous license period indicate no

significant impact to the environment as a result of site operations.

Radioactive materials in effluents released to the environment are well

below regulatory limits. The total whole body dose received by the

maximally exposed individual is below federal regulatory limits.

Finding of No Significant Impact

The NRC has prepared an EA related to the renewal of source

Material License SMB-920. On the basis of this assessment, the NRC has

concluded that environmental impacts that would be created by the

proposed licensing 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.

Opportunity for a Hearing

Any person whose interest may be affected by the renewal of this

license 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, D.C. 20555, within 30 days of the publication

of this notice in the Federal Register; must be served on the NRC staff

(Executive Director for Operations, One White Flint North, 11555

Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852) and on the licensee (Cabot

Performance Materials, County Line Road, Boyertown, PA 19512); and must

comply with the requirements for requesting a hearing set forth in the

Commission's regulation 10 CFR Part 2, Subpart L, ``Informal Hearings

Procedures for Adjudications in Materials Licensing Proceedings.''

These requirements, which the requestor 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 area 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 (e.g., 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 25 day of September 1996.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Robert C. Pierson,

Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards,

NMSS.

[FR Doc. 96-25175 Filed 10-1-96; 8:45 am]

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