[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 223 (Monday, November 21, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-28640]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: November 21, 1994]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-315 and 50-316]

 

Indiana Michigan Power Co. (Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant Units 1 
and 2); Exemption

I

    Indiana Michigan Power Company (the licensee) is the holder of 
Facility Operating Licenses Nos. DPR-58 and DPR-74 which authorize 
operation of the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, at 
steady-state reactor power levels not in excess of 3250 and 3411 
megawatts thermal, respectively. The Donald C. Cook facilities are 
pressurized water reactors located at the licensee's site in Berrien 
County, Michigan. These licenses provide, among other things, that they 
are subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (the Commission) now or hereafter in effect.

II

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 20.2001, ``(a) A licensee shall dispose of 
licensed material only--(1) By transfer to an authorized recipient as 
provided in Sec. 20.2006 or in the regulations in parts 30, 40, 60, 61, 
70, or 72 of this chapter; or (2) By decay in storage; or (3) By 
release in effluents within the limits in Sec. 20.1301; or (4) As 
authorized under Secs. 20.2002, 20.2003, 20.2004, or Sec. 20.2005.''

III

    By letter dated October 9, 1991, as supplemented October 23, 1991, 
September 3, 1993, and September 29, 1993, the licensee requested 
approval for disposal of licensed material pursuant to Title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Section 302. (That section has 
since been renumbered 2002).
    The licensee is requesting approval to leave approximately 942 
cubic meters of slightly contaminated sludge in place underneath the 
upper parking lot on the D.C. Cook site. In 1982, approximately 942 
cubic meters of slightly contaminated sludge were removed from the 
turbine room sump absorption pond and pumped to the upper parking lot 
located within the exclusion area of the D.C. Cook plant. The 
contaminated sludge was spread over an area approximately 4.7 acres. 
The sludge contained a total radionuclide inventory of 8.89 millicuries 
(mCi) of Cesium-137, Cesium-136, Cesium-134, Cobalt-60, and Iodine-131.

IV

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 20.2301, ``The Commission may, upon application 
by a licensee or upon its own initiative, grant an exemption from the 
requirements of the regulations in this part if it determines the 
exemption is authorized by law and would not result in undue hazard to 
life or property.'' The staff has determined that the requested 
approval for disposal of licensed material pursuant to Title 10 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Section 2002 necessitates an 
exemption to 10 CFR 20.2001.
    The licensee in 1982 evaluated the following potential exposure 
pathways to members of the general public from the radionuclides in the 
sludge: (1) External exposure caused by groundshine from the disposal 
site, (2) internal exposure caused by inhalation of resuspended 
radionuclide, and (3) internal exposure from ingesting ground water. 
The staff has reviewed the licensee's calculational methods and 
assumptions and finds that they are consistent with NUREG-1101, 
``Onsite Disposal of Radioactive Waste,'' Volumes 1 and 2, November 
1986 and February 1987, respectively. The staff finds the assessment 
methodology acceptable.
    The doses calculated by the licensee for the maximally exposed 
member of the public based on a total activity of 8.89 mCi disposed are 
listed below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Whole body
                                                                 dose   
                                                               received 
                                                                  by    
                           Pathway                             maximally
                                                                exposed 
                                                              individual
                                                               (mrem/yr)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Groundshine.................................................       0.94 
Inhalation..................................................        .94 
Groundwater Ingestion.......................................        .73 
                                                             -----------
      Total.................................................       2.61 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For perspective, the radiation from the naturally occurring 
radionuclides in soils and rocks plus cosmic radiation gives a person 
in Michigan a whole-body dose rate of about 89 mrem per year outdoors.
    On July 5, 1991, the licensee re-sampled the onsite disposal area 
to assure that no significant impacts and adverse effects had occurred. 
A counting procedure based on the appropriate environmental low-level 
doses was used by the licensee; however, no activity was detected 
during the re-sampling. This is consistent with the original activity 
of the material and the decay time. The reduced level of radioactivity 
would not be detectable against background through the shielding 
provided by the parking lot surface. The 1991 re-sampling process used 
by the licensee confirms that the radiological impact of the 1982 
disposal was very small. Based on the staff's review of the licensee's 
discussion, the staff finds that the potential radiation exposure due 
to leaving the contaminated sludge in place is significant. Based on 
the staff review of the exposure potential of the original quantity of 
material, and the measured level of decay, the continued presence of 
the material poses no more radiological impact than disposal methods 
authorized by 10 CFR 20.2001. Therefore, the licensee's proposed action 
would not pose a radiological hazard to life or property and the 
exemption to 10 CFR 20.2001 allowing onsite storage of the radioactive 
material pursuant to 10 CFR 20.2002 is acceptable.

V

    The staff has reviewed the licensee's request and concluded that 
issuance of this exemption will not endanger life or property and will 
have no significant effect on the safety of the public or the plant.
    Accordingly, the Commission has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 
20.2301, that this exemption as described in Section IV is authorized 
by law, will not endanger life or property and is otherwise in the 
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants an exemption 
from the requirements of 10 CFR 20.2001.
    Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that 
granting of this exemption will have no significant impact on the 
environment (October 31, 1994, 59 FR 54477).
    This exemption is effective upon issuance.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 10th day of November 1994.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jack W. Roe,
Director, Division of Reactor Projects--III/IV, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 94-28640 Filed 11-18-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M