[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 187 (Thursday, September 26, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60704-60706]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24442]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION


Draft Decommissioning Questions and Answers Regarding 
Clarification of License Termination Guidance of the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission's Office Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards; Notice of 
Availability

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability and request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) is announcing the availability of 
draft decommissioning questions and answers regarding clarification of 
license termination guidance, for public comment.
    The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and NRC staff identified an 
approach to clarify existing guidance associated with the License 
Termination Rule (10 CFR part 20, subpart E), in concert with NMSS'' 
decommissioning guidance consolidation project. Under this approach, 
NEI's License Termination Task Force (Task Force) generated questions 
(Qs) associated with decommissioning issues that are common to the 
industry. The Task Force also proposed answers (As) to the questions 
and submitted the Q&As to NRC staff for review. NRC staff reviewed the 
Q&As and the supporting technical bases and provided comments to NEI on 
September 28, 2001. An open meeting was held between NRC, NEI, and 
industry representatives on December 4, 2001, to discuss each Q&A and 
the technical issues to ensure that the questions were properly asked 
and answered and were supported by a defensible technical basis. NRC 
staff and NEI further developed the Q&As so that they adequately 
reflect NRC regulations and guidance and include a sound technical 
basis.
    As a result of this cooperation, eight Q&As have been found 
acceptable by NRC staff. Seven of the Q&As were to be incorporated into 
the draft document ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance: 
Characterization, Survey, and Determination of Radiological Criteria'' 
(NUREG-1757, Volume 2) to solicit public comment on them. However, two 
Q&As were inadvertently omitted. Therefore, five Q&As are included in 
Volume 2 of NUREG-1757, and three Q&As are included in the 
``supplementary information'' section of this notice. Volume 2 of 
NUREG-1757 is being published for public comment on or close to the 
date of this notice. NRC is seeking public comment on the Q&As and 
Volume 2 of NUREG-1757 in order to receive feedback from the widest 
range of interested parties and to ensure that all information relevant 
to developing the document is available to the NRC staff. These draft 
documents are being issued for comment only and are not intended for 
interim use. The NRC will review public comments received on the draft 
documents. Suggested changes will be incorporated, where appropriate, 
in response to those comments, and a final document will be issued for 
use. The final Q&As will be included in the text of the final document 
of Volume 2 of NUREG-1757.

DATES: Comments on this draft document should be submitted by December 
26, 2002. Comments received after that date will be considered to the 
extent practicable.

[[Page 60705]]


ADDRESSES: Members of the public are invited and encouraged to submit 
written comments to: Duane W. Schmidt, Project Manager, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, Mail Stop T-7F27, U. S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hand-deliver comments 
to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 
p.m., Federal workdays. Comments may also be sent electronically to 
[email protected]. Copies of comments received may be examined at 
the ADAMS Electronic Reading Room on the NRC web site, and the NRC 
Public Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1F21, Rockville, MD 
20852. The NRC Public Document Room is open from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Duane W. Schmidt, Mail Stop T-7F27, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. 
Telephone: (301) 415-6919; Internet: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Qeustion 5

    What are acceptable methods to characterize embedded piping and 
buried piping?

Answer to Question 5

    Several methods have been used to characterize the residual 
activity within embedded pipe, and these methods can be used for buried 
piping, as well. By definition, ``embedded piping'' is piping (e.g., 
part of a plant system) that is found in buildings and encased in 
concrete floors and walls, while ``buried piping'' is piping (e.g., 
culvert) that is buried in soils. To be found acceptable, the methods 
must each address the following issues:
    [sbull] Radionuclides of interest and chosen surrogate
    [sbull] Levels and distribution of contamination
    [sbull] Internal surface condition of the piping
    [sbull] Internal residues and sediments and their radiation 
attenuation properties
    [sbull] Removable and fixed surface contamination
    [sbull] Instrument sensitivity and related scan and fixed minimum 
detectable concentrations
    [sbull] Piping geometry and presence of internally inaccessible 
areas/sections
    [sbull] Instrument calibration
    [sbull] Data quality objectives (DQOs)
    An industry study (Cline, J. E., ``Embedded Pipe Dose Calculation 
Method,'' Electric Power Research Institute Report No. 1000951, 
November, 2000) evaluated several techniques for measuring the 
radiological contamination on the inside of embedded pipe. Measurement 
techniques included pipe crawlers, gamma-ray scanners, dose rate 
measurements with dose-to-curie computations, scraping samples with 
radiochemical analyses, and smear samples with radiochemical analyses. 
A brief description of these methods is provided below.
    The pipe crawler uses a beta sensitive detection system that is 
inserted into the pipe with a cable. Spacers keep the detectors at a 
fixed distance from the pipe wall. Measurements can be made at various 
points or as a continuous scan within the pipe to provide a profile of 
the extent and distribution of the contamination. Scaling factors based 
on a laboratory radiochemistry analysis of the deposited material can 
be applied to the measurements to provide radionuclide quantities in 
the pipe.
    The gamma-ray scanner uses a calibrated, collimated high-purity 
germanium or sodium iodide spectrometer to make external measurements 
on the pipe. This gamma-ray scanning yields an average concentration 
over the length of the pipe within the field of view of the detector. 
The sensitivity of this method may be limited by the thickness of the 
piping itself and concrete between the pipe and the detector. Some 
radionuclide identification is possible and scaling factors can be 
applied as discussed above for the pipe crawler.
    The dose rate measurements are also made on the external surface of 
the walls or floors containing the embedded pipe using a sensitive 
gamma detector capable of reading in the roentgen per hour range. The 
dose rate readings may be used directly in determining compliance with 
the dose criteria or used to make dose-to-curie conversions based on 
other measurements providing radionuclide identification.
    Radionuclide identification for the contamination in the pipe may 
be accomplished by smear or scraping samples and radiochemical 
analysis. The industry report compared radionuclide ratios determined 
by smears and by scrapings with those found by etching the surface of 
the pipe. The report concluded that either of these techniques yields 
radionuclide mixes that are representative of the average total 
deposits.
    Each approach is useful in specific applications, and multiple 
methods might be used in complex facilities like power plants. Each 
method also has limitations and uncertainties that must be addressed.
    Other useful information on embedded pipe characterization may be 
found in sources, such as the U.S. Department of Energy Innovative 
Technology Reports and case studies published in open literature.
    Regardless of the source of the information, it is incumbent on the 
licensee to develop and document a comprehensive approach to embedded 
pipe and buried piping characterization that accounts for limitations 
and uncertainties, taking into account the Multi-Agency Radiation 
Survey and Site Investigation Manual (NUREG-1575, Rev. 1) guidance in 
developing the related DQOs. It should also specifically address each 
of the critical issues in the bulleted list above.

Question 9

    Is the collection of additional characterization data, beyond that 
available from periodic radiation protection surveys, required in the 
license termination plan for structures, components, and soils that 
will be removed from the facility prior to license termination?

Answer to Question 9

    No. In general, radiological data obtained during characterization 
surveys are used to determine the radiological status of the site, 
including facilities, buildings, surface and subsurface soils, and 
surface and ground water. In turn, this information is used to support 
the planning and design of final status surveys (FSS). In addition to 
providing the basis of the design of FSS, characterization surveys are 
used to support the following:
    [sbull] Identification of remaining site dismantlement activities
    [sbull] Development of new (or revisions to existing) remediation 
plans and procedures
    [sbull] Revisions to decommissioning costs and trust fund
    [sbull] Identification of environmental aspects not previously 
considered
    [sbull] Revisions to the Environmental Report
    Since the license termination process is only concerned with the 
status of facilities after the completion of all remediation 
activities, radioactivity associated with structures, components, and 
soils that will be removed from the facility and appropriately disposed 
of elsewhere, is not an issue as it cannot contribute to public dose 
controlled under 10 CFR 20.1402--``Radiological Criteria for 
Unrestricted Use.'' Therefore, additional characterization data need 
not be collected.

[[Page 60706]]

Question 10

    Is characterization data required to support initial classification 
of Class 1 areas?

Answer to Question 10

    Areas classified as Class 1 do not require characterization data to 
support that classification.

    Note: Characterization data are needed to support 
decommissioning activities for all areas including:

    [sbull] Determination of radionuclide distribution profiles and 
identification of surrogate radionuclides
    [sbull] Dose modeling and development of derived concentration 
guideline levels
    [sbull] Final status survey design and instrument selection
    [sbull] Structuring the data quality objectives
    [sbull] Assessment of spatial variability of radioactive 
contaminants on building surfaces and in surface and subsurface 
soils
    [sbull] Assessment of whether ground water is impacted, using 
the results of the surface and subsurface soil characterization 
surveys
    [sbull] Initially defining and changing the boundaries of Class 
1 survey units with bordering and adjacent survey units
    [sbull] Re-classification of survey units (using guidance in 
NUREG-1575, ``Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation 
Manual,'' and NUREG-1727, ``NMSS Decommissioning Standard Review 
Plan'')

    Dated at Rockville, MD, this 20th day of September, 2002.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Larry W. Camper,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-24442 Filed 9-25-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P