[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19536-19537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10327]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Notice of Amendment to Certificate of Compliance GDP-2 for the 
U.S. Enrichment Corporation, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, 
Portsmouth, Ohio; Docket 70-7002

    The Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, has 
made a determination that the following amendment request is not 
significant in accordance with 10 CFR 76.45. In making that 
determination, the staff concluded that: (1) There is no change in the 
types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may 
be released offsite; (2) there is no significant increase in individual 
or cumulative occupational radiation exposure; (3) there is no 
significant construction impact; (4) there is no significant increase 
in the potential for, or radiological or chemical consequences from, 
previously analyzed accidents; (5) the proposed changes do not result 
in the possibility of a new or different kind of accident; (6) there is 
no significant reduction in any margin of safety; and (7) the proposed 
changes will not result in an overall decrease in the effectiveness of 
the plant's safety, safeguards, or security programs. The basis for 
this determination for the amendment request is described below.
    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has reviewed the 
certificate amendment application and concluded that it provides 
reasonable assurance of adequate safety, safeguards, and security and 
compliance with NRC requirements. Therefore, the Director, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, is prepared to issue an 
amendment to the Certificate of Compliance for the Portsmouth Gaseous 
Diffusion Plant (PORTS). The staff has prepared a Compliance Evaluation 
Report which provides details of the staff's evaluation. The NRC staff 
has determined that this amendment satisfies the criteria for a 
categorical exclusion in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22. Therefore, 
pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact statement or 
environmental assessment need be prepared for this amendment.
    USEC or any person whose interest may be affected may file a 
petition, not exceeding 30 pages, requesting review of the Director's 
Decision. The petition must be filed with the Commission not later than 
15 days after publication of this Federal Register Notice. A petition 
for review of the Director's Decision shall set forth with 
particularity the interest of the petitioner and how that interest may 
be affected by the results of

[[Page 19537]]

the decision. The petition should specifically explain the reasons why 
review of the Decision should be permitted with particular reference to 
the following factors: (1) the interest of the petitioner; (2) how that 
interest may be affected by the Decision, including the reasons why the 
petitioner should be permitted a review of the Decision; and (3) the 
petitioner's areas of concern about the activity that is the subject 
matter of the Decision. Any person described in this paragraph (USEC or 
any person who filed a petition) may file a response to any petition 
for review, not to exceed 30 pages, within 10 days after filing of the 
petition. If no petition is received within the designated 15-day 
period, the Director will issue the final amendment to the Certificate 
of Compliance without further delay. If a petition for review is 
received, the decision on the amendment application will become final 
in 60 days, unless the Commission grants the petition for review or 
otherwise acts within 60 days after publication of this Federal 
Register Notice.
    A petition for review must be filed with the Secretary of the 
Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, or may be 
delivered to the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman 
Building, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC, by the above date.
    For further details with respect to the action see: (1) the 
application for amendment and (2) the Commission's Compliance 
Evaluation Report. These items are available for public inspection at 
the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L 
Street, NW, Washington, DC, and at the Local Public Document Room.
    Date of amendment request: February 27, 1998.
    Brief description of amendment: The United States Enrichment 
Corporation (USEC) submitted a certificate amendment request for PORTS 
to add four facilities including the conversion shop and cleaning 
building (X-700), the maintenance and stores building (X-720), the 
chemical and engineering building (X-760) and the storage warehouse 
(XT-847) to Technical Safety Requirement (TSR) Section 2.8 entitled 
``Specific TSRs for X-710 Laboratory,'' and to delete the associated 
operational mode descriptions in TSR Section 2.8.1.
    An NRC Inspector Followup Item, 70-7002/97-206-10B, which was 
identified in an NRC nuclear criticality safety inspection report for 
PORTS dated September 29, 1997, noted that no specific Criticality 
Accident Alarm System (CAAS) TSR existed for the X-700, X-720, X-760 
and XT-847 facilities even though fissile material operations (FMOs) 
involving greater than 700 grams of U235 at an enrichment equal to or 
greater than 1.0% U235 could be conducted in those facilities, and CAAS 
coverage was being provided. As such, USEC has proposed to apply the 
existing NRC-approved CAAS TSRs for X-710 in TSR Section 2.8, to X-700, 
X-720, X-760 and XT-847. In addition, USEC has proposed to delete the 
three operational modes described in TSR Section 2.8.1, namely (1) 
``General Analytical--analyses of production, ES&H, waste management, 
technical support, maintenance/fabrication activities,'' (2) ``Uranium 
Sampling--subsampling uranium hexafluoride,'' and (3) ``Polybottle 
Operations--movement of polybottles to and from labs and storage 
areas,'' since there are no specific operational modes associated with 
the TSRs for X-700, X-710, X-720, X-760 and XT-847.
    Basis for finding of no significance:
    1. The proposed amendment will not result in a change in the types 
or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be 
released offsite.
    This amendment (1) adds the X-700, X-720, X-760 and XT-847 
facilities to TSR Section 2.8 entitled ``Specific TSRs for X-710 
Laboratory,'' since similar FMOs are conducted in these facilities and 
(2) deletes the associated operational modes listed in TSR 2.8.1. This 
amendment would enhance safety by adding more rigor to CAAS operability 
in terms of maintenance, calibration, testing, etc., in the four 
additional facilities. In addition, deleting the current operational 
modes in TSR 2.8.1, which do not apply to TSR 2.8.3.1 (CAAS TSR) since 
the CAAS is required to be operable at all times when more than 700 
grams of U235 at an enrichment equal to or greater than 1.0% U235 is 
present in the facility, will have no significant safety impact. As 
such, this amendment will not result in a significant change in the 
types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may 
be released offsite.
    2. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase 
in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
    For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the 
proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase in 
individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposures.
    3. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant 
construction impact.
    The proposed amendment does not involve any construction, 
therefore, there will be no construction impacts.
    4. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase 
in the potential for, or radiological or chemical consequences from, 
previously analyzed accidents.
    For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the 
proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase in the 
potential for, or radiological or chemical consequences from, 
previously analyzed accidents.
    5. The proposed amendment will not result in the possibility of a 
new or different kind of accident.
    For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the 
proposed amendment will not result in new or different kinds of 
accidents.
    6. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant 
reduction in any margin of safety.
    For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the 
proposed amendment will not result in a significant reduction in any 
margin of safety.
    7. The proposed amendment will not result in an overall decrease in 
the effectiveness of the plant's safety, safeguards, or security 
programs.
    For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the 
proposed amendment will not result in an overall decrease in the 
effectiveness of the plant's safety program.
    The staff has not identified any safeguards or security related 
implications from the proposed amendment. Therefore, the proposed 
amendment will not result in an overall decrease in the effectiveness 
of the plant's safeguards or security programs.
    Effective date: The amendment to GDP-2 will become effective sixty 
(60) days after issuance by NRC.
    Certificate of Compliance No. GDP-2: Amendment will revise PORTS 
TSR Section 2.8.
    Local Public Document Room location: Portsmouth Public Library, 
1220 Gallia Street, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of April 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Carl J. Paperiello,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 98-10327 Filed 4-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P