Indiana University, Environmental Assessment: Finding of No Significant Impact and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing Related to Amendment of Material License Number 13-00108-05

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-00692]

Indiana University, Environmental Assessment: Finding of No

Significant Impact and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing Related to

Amendment of Material License Number 13-00108-05

ACTION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an

amendment to NRC License No. 13-00108-05, for use of carbon-14

(14C) to conduct a field study on mayapple plants in Monroe

County, Indiana. A similar project was approved by NRC in 1988

(Amendment 45 to the license).

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Sami Sherbini, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and

Safeguards, MS T8F5, Washington DC 20555, telephone (301) 415-7902.

Environmental Assessment

Description of Proposed Action

The proposed action is to amend NRC Byproduct Material License No.

13-00108-05 to authorize Indiana University to conduct field studies

using small quantities of 14C to label mayapple plants. The total

amount of 14C involved is not to exceed 444 megabequerels (MBq)

[12millicuries (mCi)], to be administered over a period of 2 years

starting in the spring of 1997.

Experimental Procedure

Indiana University was previously authorized by NRC, in 1988, to

conduct field studies similar to those presently being considered. The

1988 studies involved administration of 1260 MBq (34 mCi) of 14C,

and the proposed study will use 444 MBq (12 mCi).

The purpose of the project is to assess the use of carbon by the

mayapple plant, Podophyllum Peltatum. This is achieved by exposing each

plant, in the field, to gaseous 14CO2 for a period of 30

minutes, during which time some of the gas will be absorbed by the

plant. Labeled plants are left in the field for a period of 1 year,

after which the plants are harvested. A total of 475 plants are

expected to be involved during the study, which is to be conducted over

a 2-year period. The first phase is expected to start in the spring of

1997 and end with the harvesting of the labeled plants in 1998, at

which time

[[Page 57912]]

the second phase will start. The second phase ends in 1999, with the

harvesting of the remaining labeled plants. No labeled plant will

remain in the field for a period of over 1 year.

The total 14C activity to be authorized for use during the 2-

year project is 444 MBq (12 mCi). The 14C is taken to the field in

the form of sodium bicarbonate (NaH14CO3). The compound, in

liquid form, is pipetted, in the laboratory at Indiana University, into

plastic centrifuge tubes, up to 25 microcuries (Ci) (0.93 MBq)

per tube, and sealed with screw caps. The amount of liquid in each of

the tubes will be very small, usually about a drop. The sealed tubes

are to be packed into an insulated box (e.g., a picnic cooler) that has

been lined with sufficient absorbent material to absorb any liquids in

case of a spill. A maximum of 35 plants will be labeled at any one

time, thereby limiting the amount of 14C to be taken to the fieled

at any one time to 32.4 MBq (875 Ci).

In the field, a centrifuge tube is attached to the stem of each

plant to be labeled, the tube is uncapped, and the plant and tube are

sealed in an exposure vessel consisting of a large, clear, plastic bag.

Acid is then injected into the centrifuge tube using a hypodermic

needle inserted through a sealable port in the plastic bag. The ensuing

reaction causes the production of 14CO2. The labeling bag is

left in this configuration for 30 minutes, and then removed from the

plant. The centrifuge tube is recapped and the bag sealed and taken

back to the university laboratory. It is expected that about 90 percent

of the 14CO2 generated in the bag will be absorbed by the

plant. Of the activity absorbed, it is estimated that about 90 percent

will be released to the atmosphere by the plant within 3 to 4 days in

the form of 14CO2, with the remaining 10 percent being

incorporated into the plant tissues. At the end of a period not to

exceed 1 year from the date of labeling, the mayapple plant will be

removed from the field, including the roots, and returned to the

university laboratory.

Personnel performing the experiments will be trained personnel who

have successfully completed the university's radiation safety training

program as well as special training for this project. They will wear

protective clothing and latex gloves during procedures involving the

handling of radioactive materials. Each labeled plant will be posted

with a radioactive material sign, and the perimeter of the experimental

site will be posted with warning signs.

Site Description

The site of the proposed experiments is on private property,

consisting mostly of upland undeveloped forest and lowland meadowland

located in a rural area of Monroe County, Indiana. The site is not

developed, but part of the lowland meadow is being used as a composting

area for lawn waste. The proposed location for the experiment is an 11

acre plot in the upland undeveloped forest section of the property. The

owners of the property live on the property, and their house is about

50 meters (160 feet) from the proposed experimental plot. They have

given the university written permission to conduct the experiments.

There is no access road to the proposed location of the

experiments, and access to the property is through a 1.25 mile-long

driveway on the property off a dead-end public road. Although many

houses in the general area have wells, the closest of which is about

300 meters (1,000 feet) from the site, the wells are no longer in use

because of the recent introduction of a municipal water supply. The

closest body of water to the site is Richland Creek, located about 460

meters (1,500 feet) from the closest point of approach to the property.

The creek is not used for fishing or drinking because it has been

classified by the State of Indiana as a Class 2 polluted waterway,

meaning that it should not be used for fishing. The depth of the water

table in the area is about 200 meters (640 feet), and is about 230

meters (740 feet) at the study location.

Based on available data and experience gained from conducting

similar experiments in the past, it appears that only two types of

insect feed on the mayapple plant: stemborers and lepidopteran larvae,

but no other animals or birds. The stemborers are known to remain

within the plant, and will therefore be collected and returned to the

laboratory when the plants are harvested. Only one lepidopteran larva

was observed on a mayapple plant during past experiments, and it

appears that these larvae are not commonly found in that area. The

licensee plans to remove any such larvae that may be found during the

proposed experiments and dispose of them as radioactive material. The

two insect species identified above are not included in the list of

endangered species for the State of Indiana published by the U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service.

Dose Assessments

Use of 14C to label mayapple plants, in the manner proposed by

the licensee, presents two possible pathways for exposure to the

radioactive material:

1. Inhalation of the 14CO2, either during application by the

workers, or as a result of emission by the labeled plants 3 to 4 days

after uptake by the plant.

2. Diffusion of the 14C into soil and subsequent contamination

of a drinking water supply. Activity may reach the ground through the

plant roots, or through a spill of the radioactive material during

labeling.

1. Airborne Pathways

The 14C is taken to the field in the form of sodium

bicarbonate liquid contained in sealed plastic tubes. Each tube will

contain up to 25 Ci (0.93 MBq) of C-14. Based on past

experience, the licensee estimated that 90 percent of the 14C

activity to which the plant is exposed is taken up by the plant.

Assuming each plant is exposed to the full 0.93 MBq (25 Ci)

content of the plastic tube attached to it during labeling, the plant

will absorb 25 Ci x 0.9, or about 0.83 MBq (22.5 Ci).

Of this activity, 90 percent is estimated to be released to the

atmosphere within 3 to 4 days of uptake by the plant. Therefore, the

activity released to the atmosphere by each plant will be 22.5

Ci x 0.9, or 0.75 MBq (20.3 Ci). An estimated 475

plants will be labeled during the 2-year period of the experiment.

Therefore, the total amount of 14C released to the atmosphere

during the proposed study will be 20.3 Ci x 475, or about 370

MBq (10 mCi).

The closest residents to the site of the experiments are the owners

of the property, whose house is located about 50 meters (160 feet) from

the proposed experimental site. The concentration of 14C at the

house is estimated by using standard airborne dispersion methods

normally used to estimate the concentrations of materials downwind of a

release point. The method chosen for the present purpose is that

recommended for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

for showing compliance with its air emissions standards (EPA 520/1- 89-

001, ``Procedures Approved for Demonstrating Compliance with 40 CFR

Part 61, Subpart I,'' Background Information Document, October 1989).

According to this model, the average downwind concentration of 14C

is given by,

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN08NO96.000

where:

C=concentration, Ci/m3

[[Page 57913]]

f=fraction of time wind is blowing toward receptor = 0.25

Q=release rate, Ci/s=1.6 x 10-4 Ci/s

u=wind speed, m/s=2 m/s

The release rate, Q, was obtained by dividing the total activity

released in a 2-year period, namely 370 MBq (10 mCi), by the number of

seconds in that period. The values of 0.25 and 2 m/s for ``f' and

``u'', respectively, are conservative values for these parameters.

Typical values for ``f' are of the order of 0.15, and typical values

for ``u'' are of the order of 4 to 5 m/s. The value of the diffusion

function, P, is given by,

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN08NO96.001

Where:

P=diffusion function

x =distance from point of release, m=50 m

H=height of release point, m=2 m

Qz=vertical diffusion parameter, m

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN08NO96.002

The release rate is obtained by assuming uniform and continuous

emission from the plants over a period of 2 years. A release height of

2 meters (6.6 feet) above ground level is assumed, and the distance to

the owner's house is, as noted above, 50 meters (160 feet). The actual

pattern of release of 14C will not be uniform, but will in fact

occur over a period of 2 months each year, for a total of 4 months

during the 2-year period of the experiment. However, assuming uniform

emissions over the 2-year period will only affect the rate at which the

14C is inhaled, but not the total quantity inhaled, and therefore

will not affect the total committed effective dose. The uniform

emission assumption only simplifies the calculations, but does not

affect the final outcome.

Using the above formulas, the concentration of 14C at the

owner's house is estimated to be about 8.14 mBq/m3 (2.2 x 10-

7 Ci/m3 ). This is a conservative estimate because the

calculations do not take into account any additional dispersion caused

by trees and other obstacles between the plants and the house.

Assuming that the residents will inhale this activity continuously

for a period of 2 years, at an inhalation rate of 1.2 m3/hr (from

Publication 30 of the International Commission on Radiological

Protection), the total inhaled 14C activity will be about 170 Bq

(4.6 x 10-3 Ci). The effective committed dose equivalent

per unit intake for 14C, in the form of 14CO2, is 6.35

Sv/MBq (0.0235 mrem/Ci) (from Federal Guidance Report

No. 11, ``Limiting Values of Radionuclide Intake and Air Concentration

and Dose Conversion Factors for Inhalation, Submersion, and

Ingestion,'' EPA-520/1-88-020). The total committed effective dose

equivalent resulting from inhalation of 179 Bq (4.6 x 10-3

Ci) of 14CO2 is therefore less than 0.01 Sv

(1 rem).

In addition to the release to the atmosphere by the plants, some

14C activity will remain in the labeling plastic bag at the end of

the labeling period. Each bag will initially contain 0.93 MBq (25

Ci) of 14CO2, of which 90 percent, or 0.83 MBq (22.5

Ci) will be taken up by the plant, leaving 0.093 MBq (2.5

Ci) in the bag. If it is conservatively assumed that the

person performing the labeling inhales about 25 percent of that

remaining activity, and if it is also assumed that the same person

performs labeling on all 475 plants, the total 14C activity

inhaled will be 2.5 Ci x 0.25 x 475 plants, or about 11.1 MBq

(300 Ci). Inhalation of this activity, in the form of

14CO2, over a 2-year period, using a dose per unit intake of

6.35 Sv/MBq (0.0235 mrem/Ci) , as above, will result

in an occupational committed effective dose equivalent of about 70

Sv (7 mrem).

2. Soil Pathway

The soil pathway is the exposure pathway that starts with

introduction of the radioactive material into the soil, followed by

diffusion to the water table and contamination of water supplies.

Exposure routes would be by drinking contaminated water, eating fish or

other marine life living in the contaminated water, eating plants grown

in contaminated soil and irrigated using contaminated water, and eating

diary products and meat produced from cattle raised on contaminated

feed and water.

None of the above pathways is significant in this case. The

property on which the experiment is to be conducted is not a working

farm, and no food is grown or produced on it. The closest well is 300

meters (1,000 feet) from the experimental site, but the wells in the

area are no longer used as a water supply because of the introduction

of a municipal water system. There is no fishing in the surrounding

area, and the closest body of water, Richland Creek, located 460 meters

(1,500 feet) from the site, is polluted and is not used for fishing.

A spill of radioactive material is not expected to have a

significant impact on the environment because each plastic centrifuge

tube contains only a drop or so of the liquid tracer, with a total

activity of 0.93 MBq (25 Ci). However, a potentially larger

source of 14C by this pathway are the labeled plants. The plants

are estimated to absorb 90 percent of the activity to which they are

exposed, which is 25 Ci x 0.9 x 475 plants, or about 407 MBq

(11 mCi). About 90 percent of this activity is expected to be released

to the atmosphere soon after labeling, leaving 10 percent, or about 37

MBq (1 mCi), in the plant tissue. The licensee stated that all plants,

including all roots, will be harvested, and no plant will be left in

the ground for more than 1 year. However, if we assume that all the

activity in the plant tissue is released to the ground, this will

provide an upper bound for any possible effect from the groundwater

pathway.

The experimental plot is about 11 acres in area, or about 45,000

m2. It will be assumed that at the end of the experimental period

of two years, the (1 mCi) 37 MBq activity in the plants is uniformly

spread out over this area and to a depth of about 1 m, which is the

approximate depth within which most of the roots will be located. It is

also assumed that a drinking water well is located at the edge of the

experimental plot. Using these assumptions, the concentration of

14C in the top soil layer will be 0.022 Ci/m3 (814

Bq/m3) . At a soil density of about 1.5 g/cm3, the

concentration will be about 0.015 pCi/g (0.56 mBq/m3) of soil.

Using the computer code RESRAD to perform a pathway analysis, and using

the water table depth at the site of about 200 meters (640 feet), the

dose from the drinking water pathway is found to be substantially below

0.01 Sv (1 rem). This is an upper limit for this

pathway, because there is no well at the edge of the experimental plot,

the nearest well being about 300 meters (1,000 feet) from the site.

Finding of No Significant Impact

Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)

and the Commission's regulations in 10 CFR Part 51, the Commission has

determined that there will not be a significant effect on the quality

of the human environment resulting from the use of 14C in mayapple

plant studies conducted by Indiana University in Monroe County,

Indiana. Further, an environmental impact statement is not required for

the proposed amendment to Byproduct Material License No.13-00108-05,

which will authorize use of 14C-labeled sodium bicarbonate at the

experimental

[[Page 57914]]

site. This determination is based on the foregoing Environmental

Assessment (EA) performed in accordance with the procedures and

criteria in 10 CFR Part 51, ``Environmental Protection Regulations for

Domestic Licensing and Related regulatory Functions.'' The EA described

herein confirms the Finding of No Significant Impact for the proposed

studies.

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, One White

Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852; and must

be served on the applicant by mail or delivery to Indiana University,

Department of Environmental Health and Safety, 840 State Road 46

Bypass, Room 160, Bloomington, Indiana 47405. 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 III Public Document Room at 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle,

Illinois 60532-4351, or in the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street,

N.W., Lower Level, 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

requester in the proceeding; (2) how that interest may be affected by

the results of the proceedings, including the reasons why the requester

should be permitted a hearing, with particular reference to the factors

set out in paragraph (g) of 10 CFR 2.1205; (3) the requester'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 requester's right,

under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, to be made a party to the

proceeding; (2) the nature and extent of the requester'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

requester's interest.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 30th day of October, 1996.

For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Josephine Piccone,

Chief, Operations Branch, Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear

Safety, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 96-28737 Filed 11-7-96; 8:45 am]

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