[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 62 (Monday, April 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16239-16241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-06495]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-271; NRC-2017-0085]
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Vernon, Vermont and US
Ecology Idaho Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Subtitle C
Hazardous and Low-Activity Radioactive Waste Treatment and Disposal
Facility
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering
issuing an approval to Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (ENO, or the
licensee) for alternate disposal of low-activity radioactive waste
water containing byproduct material from the Vermont Yankee Nuclear
Power Station (VY). Additionally, the NRC is considering the related
action of approving an exemption to US Ecology Idaho (USEI) from the
licensing requirements of section 30.3 of title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR), to allow USEI to receive and possess the
byproduct radioactive materials from VY without an NRC license. The NRC
staff is issuing an environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no
significant impact (FONSI) associated with the proposed approvals.
DATES: The EA is available on April 3, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0085 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0085. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to [email protected]. For
the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS Accession numbers are provided
in a table in the Availability of Documents section of this document.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack D. Parrott, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-00001; telephone: 301-415-6634, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is considering a request dated January 14, 2016, ADAMS
Accession No. ML16029A071, as supplemented by letter dated June 28,
2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16182A035), and email dated August 11, 2016
(ADAMS Accession No. ML16231A028) by ENO for alternate disposal of
approximately 757,082 l (200,000 gal) of low-activity radioactive waste
water containing byproduct material from VY to the USEI Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C hazardous and low-
activity radioactive waste treatment and disposal facility located near
Grand View, Idaho. Additionally, USEI requested, by letter dated
January 14, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No. ML16021A173), an exemption from
the licensing requirements of 10 CFR 30.3 to allow USEI to receive and
possess the byproduct radioactive materials from VY without an NRC
license. These requests were made under the alternate disposal
provision contained in 10 CFR 20.2002 and the exemption provisions in
10 CFR 30.11. This EA has been developed in accordance with the
requirements of 10 CFR 51.30.
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of Proposed Action
The proposed action consists of NRC approval of ENO's alternate
disposal request under 10 CFR 20.2002 and USEI's exemption request
under 10 CFR 30.11. The proposed action arises from the licensee's
shutdown of its VY power reactor facility on December 29, 2014. By
January 12, 2015, ENO certified that VY had permanently ceased power
operations and that all fuel had been permanently removed from the
reactor vessel and placed in the spent fuel pool, thus beginning the
decommissioning phase for VY (ADAMS Accession No. ML15013A426).
In its January 14, 2016 letter, ENO requested approval for the
alternative waste disposal of certain low-activity radioactive waste
water containing byproduct material (waste water) resulting from
activities associated with preparing for long-term dormancy of VY as
part of the decommissioning process. The ENO's January 14, 2016 letter
transmitted its application for alternative waste disposal, which was
submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 20.2002. The ENO's application
described the transport and the disposal of the waste water at the USEI
facility.
In its January 14, 2016 letter, USEI also requested an exemption
from the licensing requirements of 10 CFR 30.3, pursuant to 10 CFR
30.11, for the USEI facility in Grand View, Idaho, to allow for the
disposal of the ENO waste water. Because the USEI facility is not
licensed by the NRC, this proposed action would require the NRC to
exempt USEI from the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA) and
NRC licensing requirements in 10 CFR part 30 with respect to the low-
activity material authorized for disposal.
The USEI facility is a RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste disposal
facility permitted by the State of Idaho. The USEI site has both
natural and engineered features that limit the release of any stored
radioactive material into the environment. The natural features include
a low annual precipitation rate of 18.4 cm (7.4 in)/year, and a long
average vertical distance to groundwater below the disposal zone of 61
m (203 ft). The [engineered features include the cover, the liners, and
the leachate monitoring systems. The waste water would be transported
by truck from the VY facility in Vernon, Vermont to the USEI facility
in 40 shipments of 18,927 liters (5,000 gal) each.
The subject waste consists of approximately 757,082 liters (200,000
gal) of water associated with the decommissioning of VY and preparing
the VY facility for long-term dormancy. Since the cessation of plant
operations, plant process water has been drained from systems creating
a surplus of water. The waste water to be disposed of is currently
stored in the former VY suppression chamber (Torus). The Torus has a
capacity of 41,639,953 liters (1,100,000 gal) and, as of January 14,
2016, was filled to approximately 96% of capacity. The water in the
Torus is continuously circulated and filtered/demineralized to minimize
suspended solids. For disposal, the waste water will be pumped from the
Torus, from an upper elevation in the Torus that
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minimizes entrainment of bottom sediment, through the former high
pressure coolant injection suction strainers located inside the Torus.
The waste water being considered under this request will include
fission and activation products resulting from VY operations. The
radionuclide concentrations, which are described in ENO's January 14,
2016 submittal and its June 28, 2016 supplemental information, are
expected to be low and to remain low through the shipment campaign.
Need for Proposed Action
The need for the proposed action is to authorize an appropriate
method of disposal for surplus waste water containing radioactive
material currently stored at the shutdown VY power reactor in Vernon,
VT. The waste water was generated as a result of the subsequent
draining of plant process water from the various plant systems
following cessation of plant operations. The VY waste water storage
system, the Torus, is at approximately 96% of its capacity. The USEI
facility in Grand View, Idaho has the capability to receive and process
the waste water. Upon receipt at USEI, the waste water will be
solidified with clay and disposed as a soil-like waste.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC staff has reviewed the evaluation performed by the licensee
to demonstrate compliance with the 10 CFR 20.2002 alternate disposal
criteria. Under these criteria, a licensee may seek NRC authorization
to dispose of licensed material using procedures not otherwise
authorized by NRC regulations. The licensee's application must include
a description of the waste containing licensed material, including the
physical and chemical properties important to risk evaluation, and the
proposed manner and conditions of waste disposal. The application must
also include an analysis and evaluation of pertinent environmental
information and the nature and location of any other potentially
affected licensed and unlicensed facilities. Finally, the licensee's
supporting analysis must show that the radiological doses arising from
the proposed 10 CFR 20.2002 disposal will be as low as reasonably
achievable and within the 10 CFR part 20 dose limits.
The licensee performed a radiological assessment. Based on this
assessment, ENO concludes that the dose equivalent for the Maximally
Exposed Individual, which includes workers involved in the
transportation and placement of this waste, will not exceed ``a few
mrem per year.'' The standard of a ``few [millirem per year] mrem/yr''
to a member of the public is set forth in NRC Regulatory Issues Summary
2004-08, ``Results of the License Termination Rule Analysis'' (ADAMS
Accession No. ML041460385). The transportation workers and USEI workers
are treated as members of the public because the USEI site, while
permitted by the State of Idaho under RCRA to accept certain
radioactive materials, is not licensed by the NRC.
The NRC staff evaluated activities and potential doses associated
with transportation, waste handling and disposal as part of the review
of this 10 CFR 20.2002 application. This evaluation is documented in a
Safety Evaluation Report (ADAMS Accession No. ML16320A442). The
projected doses to individual transportation and USEI workers have been
appropriately estimated and are demonstrated to meet the NRC's
alternate disposal requirement of not more than ``a few mrem/yr'' to
any member of the public.
The licensee also performed a radiological assessment of the
potential dose to the general public from the USEI RCRA facility after
its closure. They evaluated a post-closure dose to a member of the
public, the intruder construction scenario, the intruder well drilling
scenario, and the intruder driller occupancy scenario. All of the
results were not more than ``a few mrem/yr'' for approval of an
alternate disposal authorization at an operating site.
The NRC staff's independent review of the post-closure and intruder
scenarios confirmed that the maximum projected dose over a period of
1,000 years is also within ``a few mrem/yr.'' Additionally, the
proposed action would not significantly increase occupational or public
radiation exposures.
With regard to potential non-radiological impacts, the NRC staff
concludes that the proposed action would not have significant impacts
upon any environmental resources. Activities associated with the
proposed action occurring at the VY facility are bounded by prior
environmental analyses, including the NRC's ``Generic Environmental
Impact Statement on Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities,'' NUREG-
0586, Supplement 1 (2002). The transportation of the waste water is
also similarly bounded by the transportation analyses in NUREG-0586,
Supplement 1.\1\ This environmental assessment incorporates by
reference and tiers off of NUREG-0586, Supplement 1. Additionally, the
NRC staff determined that the proposed action (i.e., undertaking) is
not the type of activity that would have the potential to cause effects
on historic properties, and that the proposed action would have no
effect on endangered or threatened species or their critical habitat.
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\1\ NUREG-0586, Supplement 1, is available on the NRC's public
Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr0586/s1/v1.
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Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
the no-action alternative, under which the staff would deny the
disposal request. The denial of the request would result in the waste
water being transported to another out-of-state waste disposal facility
that is authorized to take this waste water (the current practice). All
other factors would remain the same or similar. Therefore, the
environmental impacts of the proposed action and the no-action
alternative are similar and the no-action alternative is accordingly
was not further considered.
Agencies and Persons Consulted
The NRC provided a draft of this EA and draft of the NRC Safety
Evaluation Report (SER) for this proposed action to the State of Idaho
Department of Environmental Quality and the State of Vermont Department
of Public Service for review on December 12, 2016 (ADAMS Accession Nos.
ML17013A250, ML17013A257, and ML17013A303) for a 30-day review. No
comments were received from the State of Idaho. Comments were received
from the State of Vermont by letter dated January 11, 2017 (ADAMS
Accession No. ML17012A240). The State of Vermont commented on the
potential for changes to the radionuclide concentrations in the water
to be disposed and how that would affect dose, how particulate
contamination in the water to be disposed would be avoided, how the
concentration of radionuclides in the water to be disposed would be
verified and how those concentrations would be controlled relative to
dose, and on the calculated dose rate to the drivers of the tanker
trucks. These comments were all comments on the NRC's SER, and were
addressed by revising or supplementing the final SER (ADAMS Accession
No. ML17055C780). An additional comment came from the State of Vermont
on the potential for non-radioactive hazardous contamination in the
water to be
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shipped. Non-radiological impacts from this disposal have been
addressed in this EA as having been bounded by previous environmental
analysis. Further State of Vermont concerns about non-radiological
constituents in the water to be shipped should be addressed to ENO
under the State's authority for regulation of hazardous wastes.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The proposed action consists of the NRC approval of ENO's alternate
disposal request under 10 CFR 20.2002 and USEI's exemption request
under 10 CFR 30.11. The NRC staff has prepared this EA in support of
the proposed action. On the basis of this EA and NUREG-0586, Supplement
1, which are incorporated by reference, the NRC finds that the proposed
action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human
environment, and therefore, the preparation of an environmental impact
statement is not warranted. Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a
Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.
IV. Availability of Documents
Documents related to the proposed action, including the application
and supporting documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's
Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
From this site, you can access the NRC's ADAMS, which provides text and
image files of NRC's public documents. The documents related to this
action are listed below, along with their ADAMS accession numbers.
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Document Date ADAMS accession No.
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ENO letter to NRC, Vermont Yankee--Submittal of 10 CFR 01/14/2016 ML16029A071
20.2002 Request for Alternate Waste Disposal at US
Ecology.
USEI letter to NRC, US Ecology Idaho, Inc.--Request for 01/14/2016 ML16021A173
Exemptions under 10 CFR 30.11 for Alternate Disposal of
Wastes from Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant Under 10 CFR
20.2002.
NRC letter to ENO, Request for Additional Information 03/22/2016 ML16077A345
Related to 10 CFR 20.2002 Alternate Waste Disposal
Request for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station.
ENO letter to NRC, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station-- 06/28/2016 ML16182A035
Response to Request for Additional Information Related
to 10 CFR 20.2002, Alternate Waste Disposal Request.
NRC email to ENO, Follow-up Questions Related to Entergy 07/28/2016 ML16231A219
Request for 20.2002 Disposal of Contaminated Water.
ENO email to NRC, Response to NRC Questions Related to 08/11/2016 ML16231A028
Request for 20.2002 Disposal of Contaminated Water.
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If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are problems in
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or
by email at [email protected]. These documents may also be viewed on the
public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The PDR
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of March 2017.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bruce A. Watson,
Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of Decommissioning,
Uranium Recovery, and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Materials
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2017-06495 Filed 3-31-17; 8:45 am]
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