[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 57 (Thursday, March 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16772-16773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06236]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-1151; NRC-2022-0047]


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 exemptions; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing 
exemptions from NRC regulations and associated license amendment 
related to requests from Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC (WEC) and 
US Ecology, Inc. (USEI). WEC requested NRC approval for an alternate 
disposal and related exemptions for specified low-activity radioactive 
waste from the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in Hopkins, 
South Carolina containing byproduct material and special nuclear 
material (SNM) under License Number SNM-1107. Additionally, the NRC is 
approving exemptions requested by USEI from the applicable licensing 
requirements to allow USEI to receive and dispose of 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. Approval of the alternate 
disposal request from WEC and the exemptions and license amendment 
requested by WEC, and associated exemptions requested by USEI would 
allow WEC to transfer the specific waste from CFFF to USEI for 
disposal.

DATES: The exemptions are effective on March 24, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0047 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-2022-0047. 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 CFFF Waste (License No. SNM-1197, 
Docket No. 70-1151) dated November 5, 2022, as corrected by letter 
dated December 1, 2021, is available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. 
ML21309A095 and ML21336A461, respectively. The staff's Safety 
Evaluation Report dated March 4, 2022, is available in ADAMS under 
Package Accession No. ML22054A045.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White 
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make 
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal 
holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenny Tobin, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2328, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC (WEC) holds a special nuclear 
materials (SNM) License Number SNM-1107 under part 70 of title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of 
Special Nuclear Material.'' Under the terms of its license, WEC 
fabricates 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.

II. Request/Action

    The proposed action would approve the alternate disposal request 
and provide exemptions from 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 of waste containing byproduct material and SNM. The 
volumetrically contaminated waste includes calcium fluoride 
(CaF2) sludge dredged from the disposal lagoons and the 
Sanitary Lagoon located on the site, the sanitary lagoon liner, 
contaminated soil from under and adjacent to the Sanitary Lagoon, and 
soil associated with the demolition of the CaF2 storage pad. 
The surface-contaminated waste being considered for disposal includes 
obsolete uranium hexafluoride (UF6) shipping cylinders and 
debris associated with demolition and removal of the CaF2 
pad and Sanitary Lagoon. The waste being considered originates from 
processes associated with the chemical conversion of UF6 to 
uranium dioxide (UO2) performed at CFFF and is contaminated 
with isotopic uranium (U-234, U-235, and U-238) and technicium-99 (Tc-
99).
    As proposed, this waste would be transported from CFFF in South 
Carolina to the USEI facility near Grand View, Idaho using a 
combination of trucks and railcars. The USEI facility is a RCRA 
Subtitle C hazardous waste disposal facility permitted by the State of 
Idaho.

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

[[Page 16773]]

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 Exemptions Are Authorized by Law

    The proposal provides that the material described in this notice 
would be transported and disposed of in compliance with Federal, State, 
and local regulations. Further, as previously noted, the NRC is 
authorized to grant exemptions from 10 CFR parts 30 and 70. Granting 
these exemptions are also not contrary to the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954, as amended, or other regulatory requirements or law. Therefore, 
such disposal is not otherwise contrary to NRC requirements, and is 
otherwise authorized by law.

The Exemptions Will Not Endanger Life, Property or the Common Defense 
and Security

    NRC staff reviewed the information provided by WEC to support its 
10 CFR 20.2002 alternate disposal request and the specific exemptions 
from 10 CFR 30.3 and 10 CFR 70.3 and the associated license amendment 
in order to dispose of the specified material associated with cleanup 
activities at CFFF. The NRC staff concluded that the requested disposal 
of waste containing byproduct material and SNM is acceptable under 10 
CFR 20.2002. Details provided in this request, in combination with 
appropriate references to past approvals of similar procedures and 
material from the same site, provide an adequate description of the 
waste and demonstrate that the proposed manner and conditions of waste 
disposal would be protective of public health and safety and security 
and would not endanger property. In particular, under the alternate 
disposal request, public doses would be a fraction of the natural 
background radiation dose and a fraction of the annual public dose 
limit. NRC staff also notes that the request is also subject to 
regulation under RCRA. Lastly, because of the presence of SNM, the NRC 
evaluated potential criticality in its safety evaluation report and 
found no concerns. Therefore, the NRC concludes that issuance of the 
exemption will not endanger life, property, or the common defense and 
security.

The Exemptions Are in the Public Interest

    Issuance of the exemptions to WEC and USEI is in the public 
interest because it provides for the efficient and safe disposal for 
the subject waste material, facilitates the decommissioning of the CFFF 
site consistent with the consent agreement between CFFF and the South 
Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and conserves 
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 previously noted, exemptions are 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 
exemptions in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 and NRC implementing regulations in 10 CFR part 51. Based on the 
conclusions of the EA, the NRC staff has determined that there is no 
need to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed 
exemptions and has issued a finding of no significant impact (FONSI). 
The EA and FONSI were published in the Federal Register on March 10, 
2022 (87 FR 13766).

V. Conclusions

    Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 
70.17 and 10 CFR 30.11, exemptions for WEC and USEI are authorized by 
law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, 
are consistent with the common defense and security, and are 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 
certain low-activity radioactive materials, including byproduct and 
SNM, 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 21, 2022.

    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. 2022-06236 Filed 3-23-22; 8:45 am]
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