[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 57 (Friday, March 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16239-16241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-06301]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-1151; NRC-2021-0062]


Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC; Columbia Fuel Fabrication 
Facility; and US Ecology, Inc.; Idaho Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act Subtitle C Hazardous Disposal Facility Located Near Grand 
View, Idaho

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: License amendment and exemption; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
exemption and associated license

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amendment related to a request from Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC 
(WEC) from NRC regulations with respect to a request for alternate 
disposal and exemption for specified low-activity radioactive waste 
from the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in Hopkins, South 
Carolina for waste containing byproduct material and special nuclear 
material (SNM) under License Number SNM-1107. Additionally, the NRC is 
taking the related action of approving exemptions to US Ecology, Inc. 
(USEI) from the applicable licensing requirements to allow USEI to 
receive and dispose the material from CFFF without an NRC license. The 
USEI disposal facility, located near Grand View, Idaho, is a Subtitle C 
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste disposal 
facility permitted by the State of Idaho to receive low-level 
radioactive waste and is not licensed by the NRC. Approval of the 
alternate disposal request from WEC, the exemptions and license 
amendment requested by WEC and associated exemptions for USEI would 
allow WEC to transfer the specific waste from CFFF for disposal at 
USEI.

DATES: This exemption is effective on March 12, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0062 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 website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0062. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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 https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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]. The Request for Alternate Disposal 
Approval and Exemption for Specific Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility 
Waste (License No. SNM-1197, Docket No. 70-1151) dated February 8, 2021 
is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML21039A719. The staff's 
Safety Evaluation Report dated March 3, 2021 is available in ADAMS 
under Package Accession No. ML21053A335.
     Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request 
to the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Tiktinsky, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-8740, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC (WEC) is the holder of a Special 
Nuclear Materials (SNM) License SNM-1107 under Part 70 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), which authorizes the 
fabrication of nuclear fuel at the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility 
(CFFF). The US Ecology, Inc. (USEI) disposal facility near Grand View, 
Idaho is a Subtitle C Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 
hazardous waste disposal facility permitted by the State of Idaho to 
receive radioactive waste that is not licensed or exempted from 
licensing by the NRC.

II. Request/Action

    The proposed action would approve the alternate disposal request 
and provide exemptions to 10 CFR 70.3 and 10 CFR 30.3, and an 
associated WEC license amendment, allowing WEC to transfer and USEI to 
receive and dispose specific wastes.
    Westinghouse had previously requested and received a corresponding 
exemption and license amendment, dated December 9, 2020 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML20302A084) to transfer approximately 1428 m\3\ (50,400 
ft\3\) of solid contaminated Calcium Fluoride (CaF2) sludge 
to the USEI RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste disposal facility near 
Grand View, Idaho for disposal. This material was dredged from the 
Calcium Fluoride Lagoons and subsequently placed in a storage pile. 
USEI was granted a corresponding exemption to receive and dispose of 
this material on December 9, 2020.
    After Westinghouse received the December 9, 2020 exemption, it 
discovered that the actual volume of CaF2 was less than the 
1428 m\3\ (50,400 ft\3\) previously assumed. The actual volume was 694 
m\3\ (24,500 ft\3\). In its February 8, 2021 letter, Westinghouse has 
requested an exemption and license amendment to dispose of 733 m\3\ 
(25,900 ft\3\) of similar CaF2 from the ``Operations'' pile. 
The total amount of CaF2 material (from the previous 
approval the additional material considered here) would not exceed the 
previously approved volume of 1428 m\3\ (50,400 ft\3\). In addition, 
the CaF2 from the ``Operations'' pile is similar to the 
previously approved material, and the total activity and other 
parameters for the disposal at USEI will not differ from the initial 
approval. The CaF2 sludge was generated as a waste from 
uranium recovery waste treatment process and is contaminated with SNM 
(low enriched uranium {<5 wt. % U-235{time} ) as well.
    The previously exempted sludge, soil, and debris associated with 
the closure of the East Lagoon will be shipped with the CaF2 
sludge to USEI using a combination of trucks and railcars.

III. Discussion

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 70.17 and 10 CFR 30.11, the Commission may, upon 
application of any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant 
such exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 70 and Part 30 
respectively, as it determines are authorized by law and will not 
endanger life or property or the common defense and security and are 
otherwise in the public interest.

The Exemption Is Authorized by Law

    The proposal provides that the material previously described, would 
be transported in compliance with U.S. Department of Transportation 
regulations to USEI in Idaho, which is a Subtitle C, RCRA hazardous 
waste disposal facility permitted by the State of Idaho. As such, the 
material will be removed per State and local regulations, will be 
shipped per existing Federal regulations to a location approved by the 
State of Idaho to receive the material, and such disposal is not 
otherwise contrary to NRC requirements, and is therefore authorized by 
law.

The Exemption Will Not Endanger Life, Property and Is Consistent With 
The Common Defense and Security

    NRC staff reviewed the information provided by WEC to support their 
10 CFR 20.2002 alternate disposal request and for the specific 
exemptions from 10 CFR 30.3 and 10 CFR 70.3 and associated license 
amendment in order to dispose of CaF2 sludge from the 
``Operations pile'' as aggregated waste at

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USEI. As documented in the Safety Evaluation Report, the NRC staff 
concludes that, consistent with 10 CFR 20.2002, WEC provided an 
adequate description of the materials and the proposed manner and 
conditions of waste disposal. The NRC staff also concluded that the use 
of the site-specific dose assessment methodology to evaluate the 
projected doses associated with the transportation and disposal of the 
waste streams at USEI are acceptable. The NRC staff reviewed the input 
parameters included in this modeling and found that they are 
appropriate for the scenarios considered. The NRC staff also evaluated 
the potential doses associated with transportation, waste handling, and 
disposal and found that the projected doses have been appropriately 
estimated and are demonstrated to meet the NRC's alternate disposal 
standard of contributing a dose of not more than ``a few millirem per 
year'' to any member of the public and are as low as is reasonably 
achievable. The NRC staff also concluded that the projected doses from 
the post-closure and intruder scenarios at USEI are also within ``a few 
millirem per year'' over a period of 1,000 years. Lastly, because of 
the presence of SNM, the NRC evaluated potential criticality in its 
SER, and found no concerns. This subsequent disposal request remains 
bounded by the parameters of the previous request and approval. 
Therefore, the NRC concludes that issuance of the exemption is will not 
endanger life, property, and is consistent with the common defense and 
security.

The Exemption Is in the Public Interest

    Issuance of the exemption to WEC and USEI is in the public interest 
because it would provide for the efficient and safe disposal for the 
subject waste material, would facilitate the decommissioning of the 
East Lagoon at the CFFF site, and would conserve low-level radioactive 
waste disposal capacity at licensed low-level radioactive disposal 
sites, while ensuring that the material being considered is disposed of 
safely in a regulated facility. Therefore, based upon the evaluation 
above, an exemption is appropriate pursuant to 10 CFR 30.11 and 10 CFR 
70.17.

IV. Environmental Considerations

    As required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC performed an environmental 
assessment (EA) that analyzes the environmental impacts of the proposed 
exemption in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 and NRC implementing regulations in 10 CFR part 51. Based on that 
EA, the NRC staff has determined not to prepare an environmental impact 
statement for the proposed exemption and has issued a finding of no 
significant impact (FONSI). The EA and FONSI were published in the 
Federal Register on March 11, 2021 (86 FR 13915).

V. Conclusions

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
70.17 and 10 CFR 30.11, the exemptions for WEC and USEI and associated 
WEC license amendment are authorized by law, will not present an undue 
risk to the public health and safety, is consistent with the common 
defense and security, and is in the public interest. Therefore, the 
Commission hereby grants WEC and USEI exemptions from 10 CFR 70.3 and 
10 CFR 30.3 to allow WEC to transfer the specifically identified 
byproduct material and SNM waste described above from the WEC CFFF for 
disposal at the USEI disposal facility located near Grand View, Idaho, 
and issues WEC a conforming license amendment.

    Dated: March 23, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jacob I. Zimmerman,
Chief, Fuel Facility Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Management, 
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2021-06301 Filed 3-25-21; 8:45 am]
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