[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 213 (Wednesday, November 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59580-59582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29493]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket 70-7002]


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

    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 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

[[Page 59581]]

interest may be affected by the results of 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: May 26, 1998.
    Brief description of amendment: On May 26, 1998, the United States 
Enrichment Corporation (USEC) requested an amendment to the certificate 
of compliance for PORTS. The request is to revise Technical Safety 
Requirement (TSR) 2.1.3.9, Low Cylinder Pressure Shutoff, to reduce the 
shutoff pressure level setpoint from 20 psia to an allowable value of 
15 psia and to reflect an improved description of the system operation 
through changes to the TSR's Surveillance Requirements and the Basis 
Statement wording.
    Specifically, USEC has proposed to revise the Surveillance 
Requirements of TSR 2.1.3.9 to: (1) Require the quarterly channel 
functional test and the semiannual calibration to be based on an 
allowable pressure reading of greater than or equal to 15 psia, instead 
of a setpoint of 20 psia and (2) to specify a definitive, initial 
period of time when the channel functional test and calibration are 
performed--an allowable value of less than or equal to 65 minutes from 
an open ended ``after the first hour of heating.'' USEC has also 
proposed to revise the Basis Statement wording to reflect the revised 
system operation.
    PORTS uses thirteen cylindrical (6, 7, and 8 foot diameter) steam 
autoclaves in buildings X-342, X-343 and X-344 to feed, transfer and 
sample UF6 contained in cylinders. Cylinder heating is 
accomplished by pressurizing the autoclave with live steam. The feed, 
transfer and sample operations of the cylinders are protected against 
cylinder overpressure by instrumentation that measures cylinder 
pressure through sensors downstream in the UF6 process line. 
If the cylinder has either a plugged cylinder valve or pigtail, the 
protection afforded by the cylinder high pressure shutoff system would 
be negated because the high pressure instrumentation would be unable to 
measure the UF6 cylinder pressure. The low cylinder pressure 
shutoff system's sole function is to ensure line clarity by measuring 
for an expected pressure after a given time period. This is performed 
early in the heating evolution to ensure the availability of the 
pressure instrumentation well before the maximum allowable working 
pressure of the UF6 cylinder.

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.
    The low cylinder pressure shutoff system is in place to verify the 
clarity of the UF6 process line and the availability of the 
cylinder pressure instrumentation. The system is not involved in the 
generation of effluents; therefore, the proposed amendment will not 
change the types or increase the amount of effluents that may be 
released offsite.
    2. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase 
in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
    The proposed amendment which involves changing the surveillance 
requirements and actuation setpoints of the low cylinder pressure 
shutoff system will not affect operability. The low cylinder pressure 
shutoff system will still be capable of ensuring UF6 process 
line clarity and the availability of the UF6 cylinder high 
pressure autoclave steam shutdown system. The changes will not increase 
the probability or consequences of a UF6 release associated 
with any postulated accident currently identified in the SAR. 
Therefore, the proposed amendment will not result in a significant 
increase in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
    3. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant 
construction impact.
    The proposed amendment does not involve any construction 
activities; 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.
    The proposed amendment which involves changing the surveillance 
requirements and actuation setpoints of the low cylinder pressure 
shutoff system will not affect operability. The low cylinder pressure 
shutoff system will still be capable of ensuring UF6 process 
line clarity and the availability of the UF6 cylinder high 
pressure autoclave steam shutdown system. The changes will not increase 
the probability or consequences of any postulated radiological or 
chemical accident currently identified in the SAR. The proposed changes 
will also not result in an increase in the potential for, or 
radiological consequences from, previously evaluated criticality 
accidents. Therefore, the proposed changes 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.
    Releases of UF6 involving autoclave feed, sampling and 
transfer operations have been analyzed in the SAR. The proposed 
amendment will not result in any changes to any of the operations; 
therefore, the proposed amendment will not result in the possibility of 
a new or different kind of accident.
    6. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant 
reduction in any margin of safety.
    The proposed changes, lowering the low cylinder pressure shutoff 
system setpoint from 20 psia to an allowable value of 15 psia will not 
affect the system operability. The function of the low cylinder 
pressure shutoff system is to ensure line clarity to the pressure 
instrumentation to allow for over pressure protection provided by the 
high UF6 cylinder pressure shutoff system. The proposed 
revisions will

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allow for improved system operability by lowering the setpoint from 
being set too close to the expected pressure measured at the particular 
time of the heating evolution. The revised methodology allows for the 
control system to accommodate for instrument uncertainty when 
determining the actual setpoint (a procedurally controlled value). The 
revised allowable value of 15 psia still allows for a 50% rise in 
pressure from the administratively controlled starting pressure of 10 
psia, which allows for the low cylinder pressure control system to 
suitably demonstrate line clarity.
    The change from the current surveillance requirements specifying 
``. . . after the first hour of heating . . .'' to the proposed 
allowable value of less than or equal to 65 minutes will not lead to a 
significant increase in measured pressure. The proposed value provides 
a definitive time for the surveillance requirements to be performed 
within an expected pressure range that is well below the maximum 
allowable working pressure of the UF6 cylinder.
    The changes 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.
    The proposed amendment which involves changing the surveillance 
requirements and actuation setpoints of the low cylinder pressure 
shutoff will not affect system operability. The low cylinder pressure 
shutoff system will still be capable of ensuring UF6 process 
line clarity and the availability of the UF6 cylinder high 
pressure autoclave steam shutdown system. Therefore, the proposed 
modifications will not result in a decrease in the overall 
effectiveness of the plant's safety program. The staff has also not 
identified any safeguards or security related implications from the 
proposed amendment.
    Effective date: 60 days after issuance of amendment.
    Certificate of Compliance No. GDP-2: Amendment will revise the 
Technical Safety Requirement.
    Local Public Document Room location: Portsmouth Public Library, 
1220 Gallia Street, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of October 1998.
Carl J. Paperiello,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 98-29493 Filed 11-3-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P