Finding of No Significant Impact Related to Amendment of Materials License No. SNM-1999, Kerr-McGee Corp., Cushing Refinery Site Cushing, Oklahoma

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 070-3073]

Finding of No Significant Impact Related to Amendment of

Materials License No. SNM-1999, Kerr-McGee Corp., Cushing Refinery Site

Cushing, Oklahoma

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

a license amendment to Materials License No. SNM-1999, held by the

Kerr-McGee Corporation (Kerr-McGee or the licensee), to authorize

remediation of its Cushing Refinery Site (Cushing site) located in

Cushing, Oklahoma.

Summary of Environmental Assessment

Background

Kerr-McGee has environmental responsibility for a former refinery

site near the city of Cushing, Oklahoma. The refinery opened around

1912 and was purchased by Kerr-McGee in 1956. During the early 1960s,

in addition to petroleum processing, Kerr-McGee processed uranium fuel

and thorium metal in several buildings onsite under licenses issued by

the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The uranium fuel and thorium

processing area was decommissioned, the property and facilities were

released for unrestricted use, and the license was terminated by the

AEC. Kerr-McGee continued to operate the refinery until 1972, at which

time it was torn down. In May 1990, Kerr-McGee entered into a Consent

Order with the Oklahoma State Department of Health (now referred to as

the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality) (DEQ), addressing the

investigation and remediation of the Cushing refinery site. The DEQ

Consent Order divided the site work into radiological and non-

radiological remediation efforts. The non-radiological remediation is

being performed in a manner similar to the Federal Superfund Remedial

Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) process. On April 6, 1993, NRC

issued Materials License SNM-1999 to the Kerr-McGee Corporation, for

the radiological decommissioning of its Cushing site. This license

authorized the licensee to possess radioactive contaminated soil,

sludge, sediment, trash, building rubble, and any other contaminated

material, at its Cushing site.

Proposed Action

The licensee has proposed to remediate its Cushing Refinery site.

The purpose of this remediation effort is to remove radioactive

contamination to levels such that the site can be released for

unrestricted use. Kerr-McGee has performed a radiological

characterization survey of the site. Those areas found to contain

radioactive contamination were designated as radioactive material areas

(RMAs). In this action, Kerr-McGee is proposing to collect the

radioactive contaminated material that exceeds NRC's Branch Technical

Position (BTP) 1 Disposal Option 1 (Option 1), package this

[[Page 45983]]

material, and ship this material to the Envirocare Low-Level

Radioactive Waste Disposal Site in Clive, Utah, for disposal. The

licensee will perform a final survey of the site to determine if the

site has been remediated in accordance with the approved Cushing site

decommissioning plan and the criteria for unrestricted release of the

site have been achieved. The results of this final site survey will be

submitted to the NRC for its review. Based on the results provided in

this final survey report and NRC confirmatory survey findings, the NRC

will terminate Materials License SNM-1999.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ Disposal or Onsite Storage of Thorium or Uranium Waste from

Past Operations (46 FR 52061, October 23, 1981).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Need for Proposed Action

The proposed action is necessary to remove the contamination that

exists at the Cushing site. This action will facilitate remediation of

this site to a condition suitable for unrestricted release and is one

of the actions necessary for termination of Kerr-McGee's Cushing site

Materials License SNM-1999.

Alternative to Proposed Action

An alternative to the proposed action is a no-action alternative.

The no-action alternative would mean that the Cushing site would not be

remediated at this time. This conflicts with NRC's requirement, in

Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 70.38, of timely

remediation at sites that have ceased operations. Although there is no

immediate threat to the public health and safety from this site as long

as the licensee maintains appropriate controls over the radioactive

material, not undertaking remediation, at this time, does not resolve

the regulatory and potential long-term health and safety problems

involved in storing this waste. No action now would delay remediation

until some time in the future, when costs could be much higher than

they are today. It is even possible that no disposal option will be

available in the future if the current low-level radioactive waste

disposal facilities are closed and no new ones are opened. Therefore,

the no-action alternative is not acceptable.

Environmental Impacts of Proposed Action

Radiological impacts on members of the public may result from

inhalation and ingestion of releases of radioactivity in air and in

water during the remediation operations, direct exposure to radiation

from radioactive material at the site during remediation operations,

and transport for disposal. Decommissioning workers may receive doses

primarily by ingestion, inhalation, and direct exposure during the

remediation activities. In addition to impacts from routine operations,

the potential radiological consequences of accidents were considered.

NRC staff considered the potential impacts of the proposed Cushing

site remediation activities on the local ground-water supply. The

licensee stated that the regional ground-water aquifer is isolated from

the uppermost water-bearing zone by a low permeability strata. Further,

the licensee's ground-water monitoring program thus far has not

detected radioactive contamination of the shallow ground-water.

Additionally, DEQ stated the following: (1) The shallow ground-water

unit yields low quantities of poor quality water; (2) it is highly

unlikely that future residential or commercial drinking water wells

will be established from the shallow ground-water at this site; and (3)

no known drinking water wells are screened in the shallow ground-water

within 1.6 km (1 mile) radius of the site. Also, DEQ stated that the

shallow ground-water should not be considered a viable drinking water

source for the area, and that DEQ would consider water quality

standards other than maximum contamination levels, as set by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as appropriate for the shallow

ground-water at this site. Further, based on EPA guidance, the shallow

ground-water would be classified as a ``Class III--Groundwater Not a

Potential Source of Drinking Water and of Limited Beneficial Use.'' NRC

staff has determined that removing radioactive contamination from the

Cushing site would not cause ground-water contamination. Although, the

removal of radioactive contamination from the Cushing site would reduce

the potential of future contamination of the local ground-water supply.

The licensee has evaluated the potential for exposure to both a

member of the public and a radiation worker that would result from

remediation of the Cushing site and from a remediation of the largest

area that requires remediation, respectively. The results of the

licensee's analyses indicate that the upper bound doses resulting from

remediation activities would be: (1) 0.18 mlli-sievert (mSv) [18 milli-

roentgen-equivalent-man (mrem)] total effective dose equivalent (TEDE)

for a member of the public; and (2) 1.4 mSv (140 mrem) TEDE, to a

radiation worker. Thus, the radiological consequences of remediating

the Cushing site are insignificant for both members of the public and

radiation workers. The results are well within the regulatory limits as

specified in 10 CFR part 20.

The licensee also evaluated the potential for exposure from

conditions that would result from several postulated accident

scenarios. The licensee considered accident scenarios for both onsite

and offsite accidents. The licensee found that the worst-case credible

accidents were the result of contaminated wastes being spilled. The

offsite worst-case credible accident was a single intermodal container

holding 12.6 cubic meters (m3) (450 cubic feet

(ft3)) of contaminated waste soil being spilled in transit.

The resulting dose to the worker cleaning up the spilled material was

0.35 mSv (35 mrem) TEDE and for a member of the public the resulting

dose was 0.0015 mSv (0.15 mrem). The onsite worst-case credible

accident was a single container holding 0.2 m3 (7.5

ft3) of contaminated waste soil being spilled. The resulting

dose to the worker cleaning up the spilled material was 0.11 mSv (11

mrem) TEDE.

The results of the licensee's analyses were considered estimates of

upper bound doses resulting from worst-case, but credible, potential

accidents. The results indicate that the radiological consequences of

the potential accidents involving radioactive waste spillage are

insignificant for both a member of the public and a radiation worker

cleaning up the spilled waste and would result in doses to that are

well within the regulatory limits as specified in 10 CFR part 20.

Further, the low-level waste disposal facility, Envirocare, is

eligible to receive Cushing waste. The Envirocare facility is regulated

under State of Utah rules for land disposal of radioactive wastes.

Disposal at the Envirocare facility will provide for long-term

institutional control and minimize the potential for human intrusion

and other environmental impacts. Waste will be packaged and shipped in

accordance with NRC and Department of Transportation requirements.

Therefore, NRC staff believes that disposing of the Cushing site

radiologically contaminated wastes at the Envirocare facility will not

cause any significant impacts on the human environment and is

acceptable.

The NRC staff also considered nonradiological impacts and concluded

that all such impacts are negligible.

Further, the conclusion in the staff's Environmental Assessment was

that the remediation of the Cushing site represented an insignificant

risk to the public health and safety and the human environment.

Therefore, NRC concluded that there are no environmental justice issues

related to the remediation of the Cushing site.

[[Page 45984]]

Conclusions

Based on NRC staff's evaluation of the licensee's Cushing site

decommissioning plan, NRC staff has determined that the proposed plan

complies with NRC's public and occupational dose and effluent limits,

and that authorizing the proposed activities by license amendment would

not be a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of

the human environment. NRC staff concludes that a finding of no

significant impact is justified and appropriate, and that an

environmental impact statement is not required. In accordance with the

requirements of subpart L of 10 CFR part 2, an Opportunity for a

Hearing was offered.2

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\2\ 60FR 46318 (September 6, 1995).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alternative Use of Resources

The activities leading to the proposed action would result in the

irreversible use of energy resources in the conduct of the proposed

Cushing site remediation. In addition, a portion of the Envirocare

facility will be irreversibly committed for the disposal of Cushing

site waste. There is no reasonable alternative to these resource uses,

and the proposed action does not involve any unreviewed conflicts

concerning use of available resources.

Agencies and Persons Consulted, and Sources Used

The Environmental Assessment on which the finding of no significant

impact is based was prepared by the NRC staff in the Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards, Rockville, MD. NRC staff provided a

draft of its Environmental Assessment to DEQ for review. DEQ in its

letter Dated July 12, 1999, stated that they had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

Pursuant to 10 CFR part 51, NRC has prepared an environmental

assessment related to the issuance of a license amendment to Materials

License SNM-1999, authorizing remediation of the Cushing Refinery Site.

On the basis of this environmental assessment, NRC has concluded that

this licensing action would not have any significant effect on the

quality of the human environment and does not warrant the preparation

of an environmental impact statement. Accordingly, it has been

determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.

Further Information

For further details with respect to this action, the Environmental

Assessment and other documents related to this proposed action are

available for public inspection and copying at NRC's Public Document

Room at the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street NW., Washington, DC 20555-

0001.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of August 1999.

For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Larry W. Camper,

Chief Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 99-21730 Filed 8-20-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590-01-P