Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Regarding Proposed Amendment Approving Decommissioning Plan University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-356]

Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

Regarding Proposed Amendment Approving Decommissioning Plan University

of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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

issuance of a license amendment approving the decommissioning plan for

the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (licensee or UIUC) Low

Power Reactor Assembly (LOPRA) located on the licensee's campus in

Urbana, Illinois, in accordance with the application dated February 10,

1995, as supplemented on April 24, 1995, and October 2, 1996. The

approved decommissioning plan will be a supplement to the Safety

Analysis Report.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

By application dated February 10, 1995, as supplemented, UIUC

requested authorization to decommission and partially dismantle the

LOPRA, Facility Operating License No. R-117, in accordance with the

decommissioning plan submitted as part of the application and to

terminate Facility Operating License No. R-117. There are two reactors

at UIUC, the Advanced TRIGA Research Reactor (TRIGA) and the LOPRA. The

LOPRA was created when a subcritical assembly authorized under the

TRIGA license was upgraded in 1971 to sustain nuclear fission in a

self-supporting chain reactor and licensed as a separate reactor. The

LOPRA will be converted back into a subcritical assembly by partial

dismantling. All byproduct and special nuclear material under the LOPRA

license will then be transferred as part of the decommissioning effort

to Facility License No. R-115 for the UIUC TRIGA. Amendment No. 9 to

the TRIGA license authorizing possession of the LOPRA byproduct and

special nuclear material was issued on August 8, 1996.

Need for Proposed Action

The proposed action is needed in order to convert the LOPRA back

into a subcritical assembly, transfer the byproduct and special nuclear

material to the TRIGA license, and terminate the LOPRA license.

Environmental Impact of the Proposed Action

All proposed operations in connection with decommissioning and

dismantling of the LOPRA will be carefully planned and controlled; all

contaminated components will be removed, packaged, and shipped offsite

or transferred to the TRIGA license; and radiological control

procedures will be in place and implemented to ensure that releases of

radioactive wastes from the facility are within the limits of 10 CFR

Part 20 and are as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA).

All decommissioning activities will be performed by trained

personnel in accordance with previously reviewed procedures and will be

overseen by experienced health-physics staff. Solid and liquid waste

will be removed from the facility and managed in accordance with NRC

requirements. The NRC staff estimates that the collective dose

equivalent to the UIUC staff and public for the project will be less

than 1 mrem.

On the basis of a review of the specific proposed activities

associated with the dismantling and decontamination of the UIUC-LOPRA,

the staff has determined that there will be no significant increase in

the amounts of effluents that may be released off site, and no

significant increase in individual or cumulative occupational or

population radiation exposure.

The staff has also determined that the proposed activities will not

have any significant impacts on air, water, land, or biota in the area

or any other significant environmental impact.

Alternative Use of Resources

The only alternative to the proposed decommissioning, dismantling,

and decontamination activities is to have UIUC maintain possession of

the reactor. This approach would include monitoring and reporting for

the duration of a safe storage period until the TRIGA is

decommissioned. However, UIUC intends to convert the reactor to a

subcritical assembly under the TRIGA reactor license. This alternative

would not be responsive to the licensee's request. The alternative of

not decommissioning reactors was rejected in the ``Generic

Environmental Impact Statement on Decommissioning,'' NUREG-0586. No

alternative appears that will have a different or lesser effect on the

use of available resources, and other alternatives need not be

evaluated.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

The NRC staff consulted with the Illinois State official regarding

the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State official had

no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

The Commission has determined not to prepare an environmental

impact statement for the proposed action based upon the foregoing

environmental assessment. The Commission concludes that the proposed

action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human

environment for the reasons given above.

For detailed information with respect to this proposed action, see

the application for a license amendment dated February 10, 1995, as

supplemented. These documents are available for public inspection at

the Commission's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington,

DC 20037.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 10th day of January 1997.

[[Page 2401]]

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Marvin M. Mendonca,

Acting Director, Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning Project

Directorate, Division of Reactor Program Management, Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 97-1088 Filed 1-15-97; 8:45 am]

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