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NRC NEWS
U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION |
| Office of Public Affairs |
Telephone: 301/415-8200 |
| Washington, DC 20555-001 |
E-mail: opa@nrc.gov |
No. 96-68 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Monday, May 13, 1996)
NRC RELEASES CLEANED-UP AREA
AT JEFFERSON PROVING GROUND FOR UNRESTRICTED USE
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released a portion of the Jefferson Proving
Ground in Madison, Indiana, for unrestricted use, following cleanup of contamination to levels
considered safe under NRC criteria.
Using its NRC license, the Army tested depleted uranium projectiles and munitions at
Jefferson from 1983 to 1994. It closed the base last September, as required by the Defense
Authorization Amendment and Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1988.
The portion of the site that is being released for unrestricted use is south of the firing line.
It contains buildings and facilities that were used for storage of depleted uranium material. The
area of the site north of the firing line contains the depleted uranium impact area. It is not being
released and remains under NRC license.
NRC has verified through an independent radiological survey that the area south of the
firing line meets NRC decommissioning criteria. The Indiana State Department of Health,
Division of Indoor and Radiological Health, has informed NRC that it concurs with the agency's
assessment that the area south of the firing line can be released for unrestricted use.
The Army recently installed a fence to separate the decontaminated area south of the firing
line from the still-restricted depleted uranium impact area north of the line.
In November of last year, the NRC announced that it was considering release of the
southern portion of the site and offered an opportunity to request a public hearing. No such
requests were received.
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