ML021220143

Summary of Meeting Between SNEC, Gpu, and the NRC Staff

ML021220143
Person / Time
Site:	Saxton File:GPU Nuclear icon.png
Issue date:	05/14/2002
From:	Alexander Adams NRC/NRR/DRIP/RORP
To:	NRC/NRR/DRIP/RORP
Adams A, NRC/NRR/DRIP/RORP, 415-1127
Shared Package
ML021220111	List: ML021220143 ML021220721
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Download: ML021220143 (9)

Text

May 14, 2002 LICENSEES: Saxton Nuclear Experimental Corporation (SNEC) and GPU Nuclear, Inc. (GPU)

FACILITY:

Saxton Nuclear Experimental Facility (SNEF)

SUMMARY

OF MEETING BETWEEN SNEC, GPU AND THE NRC STAFF On April 8, 2002, representatives of the NRC staff met at NRC Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, with representatives of the SNEC and GPU, the licensees for the SNEF. Attachment one is a list of meeting attendees. Attachment two is the slides used by the licensees during the meeting.

The plant was operated between 1962 and 1972, and it was shut down in May 1972. In February 1975, the plant was placed in SAFSTOR until 1986, when phased dismantlement began with the removal of the support buildings, contaminated soil, and some materials in the containment. The licensees decommissioning plan became the Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report. The resubmitted License Termination Plan (LTP) was accepted for detailed technical review in March 2000.

Technical review of the LTP has generated requests for additional information (RAI). This meeting was scheduled to discuss (1) NRC staff review of information that the licensees presented to the NRC in their response to RAI2 (RAI dated November 8, 2000, from the NRC),

(2) observations from a visit to the SNEC site conducted by NRC staff on March 11, 2002, (3) NRC staff review of additional characterization data provided by the licensees, and (4) issues from continuing NRC staff review of the LTP. Discussion topics for the meeting were forwarded to the licensees in a letter from the NRC dated March 28, 2002 (ADAMS accession no. ML020860292). The discussions with the licensees technical staff and consultants provided clarification and a better understanding of the site specific technical data and related information.

The Chief of the Decommissioning Projects Branch in the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) opened the discussions by expressing concern about the pace of progress in the resolution of the RAI issues related to the LTP and the need to show that the process leading to license termination works. It was stated that the NRC staff seeks consistency and technical soundness in its reviews of LTPs. It was suggested that the Saxton staff may find it useful to have discussions with other licensees with LTP applications under review by the NRC.

Contact:

Alexander Adams 301-415-1127 The licensees stated that their goal was to better understand what information the NRC staff needs and to help the NRC staff understand the information that the licensees have submitted.

The technical discussions focused on two areas, the pathway analysis and health physics issues.

In the area of pathways analysis, SNEC agreed to use the DandD code default parameter values for metabolic and behavioral parameters, if available. These will be treated as constants in the sensitivity analysis. If no DandD code default parameter value is available, the NRC staff advised that these parameters be treated stochastically in the sensitivity analysis. The NRC staff suggested that SNEC develop DCGL values using a deterministic analysis instead of a probabilistic analysis. It was suggested by the NRC staff that a probabilistic analysis be used in conducting the sensitivity analysis. The NRC staff also suggested that SNEC treat distribution coefficients (Kd) as a stochastic parameter in the sensitivity analysis. SNEC indicated that volumetric area factors will be revised once the modeling issues are resolved. SNEC will update the range of the ground-water hydraulic slope based on well data. SNEC will confirm that assuming a 10,000 m2 contaminated area is bounding in terms of the extent of contamination at the site and the proposed size of the survey units. SNEC agreed to provide NRC a copy of the Co-Physics report. SNEC will provide information to justify the elimination of some isotopes from the list for which DCGL values will be developed. In the area of pathway analysis, the NRC staff will re-evaluate the need for additional information to close out RAI2 Question 6 and agreed to review information provided by SNEC during the meeting on their modeling in preparation for future meetings.

In the area of health physics, the NRC staff discussed with the licensees several outstanding issues concerning site characterization. The licensees recent decision to remove all concrete from the containment vessel (CV) prior to the final status survey is a significant departure from that which is currently described in the LTP. Consequently, the NRC staff explained that the LTP will need to be revised to include the new survey units and related characterization data specific to the exposed inside surface of the CV liner. In addition, the NRC staff emphasized that the licensee needs to demonstrate that all CV liner surfaces hidden behind the to be installed steel support structure comply with the release criteria.

Issues concerning the recent provision of the Phase 1, 2, and 3 characterization data for the site were next discussed. The NRC staff raised concern that the additional characterization data provided (e.g., intake/discharge tunnels, structures, and land/water areas) included minimal or no specific TRU/HTDN data for survey units. Such information is needed to assess the nature and extent of contamination in the survey units, considering that the site operated with failed MOX fuel assemblies. The licensees indicated that additional TRU/HTDN data was available and that it would be provided to the NRC staff for review. The NRC staff also asked that all maps clearly indicate the boundaries of the survey units for the grounds as opposed to the current way of showing only area classifications. The licensees agreed to revise the maps as necessary to address this concern in order that the NRC staff could evaluate the design of the final status survey for each survey unit. The NRC staff and licensees agreed to continue discussing the adequacy of the Phase 1, 2, and 3 characterization data at future public meetings. Finally, issues concerning the consistency of survey unit classification (e.g., intake tunnel and weir outfall) and the content of the final status survey report will also be addressed at these upcoming meetings.

It was agreed that additional meetings would be needed and that separate meetings in the areas of pathways analysis and health physics issues would be scheduled for the near future (a meeting to further discuss pathway analysis issues has been scheduled for May 8, 2002, and a meeting to discuss health physics issues has been scheduled for May 22, 2002).

/RA/

Alexander Adams, Jr., Senior Project Manager Research and Test Reactors Section Operating Reactor Improvements Program Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-146 Attachments: 1. List of Meeting Attendees

2. Briefing Material cc w/attachments: Please see next page

Saxton Nuclear Docket No. 50-146 Experimental Corporation cc:

Mr. Michael P. Murphy Bureau of Radiation Protection Department of Environmental Protection 13th Floor, Rachel Carson State Office Building P.O. Box 8469 Harrisburg, PA 17105-8469 Mr. Jim Tydeman 1402 Wall Street Saxton, PA 16678 Mr. James H. Elder, Chairman Concerned Citizens for SNEC Safety Wall Street Ext.

Saxton, PA 16678 Mr. Ernest Fuller 1427 Kearney Hill Road Six Mile Run, PA 16679 Saxton Borough Council ATTN: Judy Burket 707 9th Street Saxton, PA 16678 Mr. David J. Thompson, Chair Bedford County Commissioners County Court House 203 South Juliana Street Bedford, PA 15522 Mrs. Alexa Cook, Chairman Huntingdon County Commissioners County Court House Huntingdon, PA 16652 Saxton Community Library P.O. Box 34 Saxton, PA 16678 Carbon Township Supervisors ATTN: Penny Brode, Secretary R. D. #1, Box 222-C Saxton, PA 16678 Hopewell Township - Huntingdon County Supervisors ATTN: Reba Fouse, Secretary RR 1 Box 95 James Creek, PA 16657-9512 Mr. D. Bud McIntyre, Chairman Broad Top Township Supervisors Broad Top Municipal Building Defiance, PA 16633 Mr. Don Weaver, Chairman Liberty Township Supervisors R. D. #1 Saxton, PA 16678 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District ATTN: S. Snarski/P. Juhle P.O. Box 1715 Baltimore, MD 21203 The Honorable Robert C. Jubelirer President Pro-Temp Senate of Pennsylvania 30th District State Capitol Harrisburg, PA 17120 Mr. James J. Byrne Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station P.O. Box 480 Middletown, PA 17057 Mr. Robert F. Saunders First Energy Corp.

76 South Main Street Akron, OH 44308 Ms. Mary E. OReilly First Energy Legal Department 76 South Main Street Akron, OH 44308

Mr. Manuel Delgado 2799 Battlefield Road Fishers Hill, VA 22626 Mr. Eric Blocher 216 Logan Avenue Wyomissing, PA 19610 Mr. David Sokolsky 1000 King Salmon Avenue Eureka, CA 95503 Mr. Gene Baker 501 16th Street Saxton, PA 16678 Mr. Dick Spargo 1004 Main Street Saxton, PA 16678 Mr. Mark E. Warner AmerGen Energy Co., LLC P.O. Box 480 Middletown, PA 17057 Mr. G. A. Kuehn, Jr.

Vice President SNEC and Program Director SNEC Facility GPU Nuclear, Inc.

P.O. Box 480 Middletown, PA 17057-0480 James Fockler, Chairman Saxton Citizens Task Force 1505 Liberty Street Saxton, PA 16678 Dr. Rodger W. Granlund Saxton Independent Inspector Radiation Science and Engineering Center The Pennsylvania State University Breazeale Nuclear Reactor University Park, PA 16802-2301 Mr. Gareth McGrath Altoona Mirror 301 Cayuga Avenue Altoona, PA 16603 Dr. William Vernetson Director of Nuclear Facilities Department of Nuclear Engineering Sciences University of Florida 202 Nuclear Sciences Center Gainesville, FL 32611 Mrs. Bunny Barker Box 143, RR 1 James Creek, PA 16657 Mr. William Kanda

First Energy Operating Corp.

10 Center Road Perry, OH 44081

LIST OF MEETING ATTENDEES MEETING BETWEEN THE NRC STAFF AND THE SAXTON EXPERIMENTAL CORPORATION April 8, 2002 NAME TITLE ORGANIZATION Alexander Adams Project Manager USNRC Robert D. Holmes Project Consultant SNEC GPU/FE Art Paynter RSO/Chair and FSS Mgr.

GPU G.A. Kuehn VP/PROG DIR SNEC GPU FENOC Pat Donmachie GPU Consultant GPU Mike Williams Saxton B.O.S.

GPUN Jim Byrne Mgr. D&D Engineering GPUN Anna Bradford Environmental Eng.

NRC/NMSS Michael P. Murphy Site Rep.

PA DEP Larry Camper Branch Chief NRC/NMSS/DWM/DCB Pat Madden Section Chief NRC/NRR/DRIP/RORP Claudia Craig Section Chief NRC/NMSS/DWM/DCB Stewart Schneider Health Physicist NRC/NMSS/DWM/DCB Jon Peckenpaugh System Analyst NRC/NMSS/DWM/EPAB Sam Nalluswami Project Manager NRC/NMSS/DWM/DCB Mark Thaggard Sr. Systems Analyst NRC/NMSS/DWM/EPAB Ernest Fuller Citizen Rodger Granlund Independent Inspector Penn State

May 14, 2002 It was agreed that additional meetings would be needed and that separate meetings in the areas of pathways analysis and health physics issues would be scheduled for the near future (a meeting to further discuss pathway analysis issues has been scheduled for May 8, 2002, and a meeting to discuss health physics issues has been scheduled for May 22, 2002).

/RA/

Alexander Adams, Jr., Senior Project Manager Research and Test Reactors Section Operating Reactor Improvements Program Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-146 Attachments: 1. List of Meeting Attendees

2. Briefing Material cc w/attachments: Please see next page DISTRIBUTION:

PUBLIC RORP r/f PDoyle FGillespie TDragoun MMendonca AAdams WBeckner OGC EHylton SHolmes CBassett DMatthews WEresian PIsaac PMadden LCamper (NMSS)

CCraig (NMSS)

JPeckenpaugh (NMSS)

SNalluswami (NMSS)

GHill (2) (T5-C3)

SSchneider (NMSS)

ADAMS ACCESSION NO: ML021220143 TEMPLATE #: NRC-001

• Please see previous concurrence OFFICE RORP:LA RORP:PM NMSS RORP:SC NAME EHylton:rdr AAdams SNalluswami PMadden DATE 05/ 08 /2002 05/ 09 /2002 05/ 13 /2002 05/ 13 /2002 C = COVER E = COVER AND ENCLOSURE N = NO COPY

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY