ML021500369

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Re Nrc'S Policy Statement on Decommissioning Criteria for West Valley

ML021500369
Person / Time
Site:	West Valley Demonstration Project, P00M-032
Issue date:	05/22/2002
From:	Merges P State of NY, Dept of Environmental Conservation
To:	Greeves J NRC/NMSS/DWM
References
+KBR1SISP20050613, -nr
Download: ML021500369 (2)

Text

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Solid and Hazardous Materials Bureau of Radiation 50 Wolf Road, Albany, New York 12233-7255 Phone: (518) 402-8579 FAX: (518) 402-9025 Erin M. Crotty Commissioner Website: www.dec.state.fny.us May 22, 2002 Mr. John T. Greeves W0 390 Director, Division of Waste Management 00 (v U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop T-7J8 11545 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20851

Dear Mr. Greeves:

Re: NRC's Policy Statement on Decommissioning Criteria for West Valley The purpose of this letter is to convey the New York State Department of Environmental Commission's Conservation's (NYSDEC) comments on the United States Nuclear Regulatory for West Valley, published February 1, 2002.

(NRC) Policy Statement on Decommissioning Criteria License Termination Rule The NYSDEC is in general agreement with the application of the NRC has taken the concerns of the (LTR) as the cleanup criteria for West Valley. We appreciate that NRC to the West Valley State of New York, and the interested public, into account and has applied to NRC licensed Demonstration Project (Project) the same cleanup criteria as those applicable facilities.

Dose Limits critical group We agree with the dose limit of 25 mrem/year to the average member of the release provisions for unrestricted release of any part of the site. We also agree that the restricted of the site, provided that all reasonable in 10 CFR 20.1403 may be considered for certain parts feasible. We efforts have been made to reduce the source term to the lowest level technologically in 10 CFR 20.1404. Due have reservations about the application of alternative criteria as provided as required in section to the long-lived nature of the source term, it will be difficult demonstrate, mrem/year.

20.1404(a)(1), that doses from all sources combined will not exceed 100 Waste Incidental to Reprocessing to The NYSDEC does not concur with application of the concept of Waste Incidental fully addressed the issue Reprocessing (WIR) at West Valley. First and foremost, the NRC has not that West Valley is not a of the precedent setting nature of the application of WIR to this site, given on federal land. This has federally owned facility. To date, the WIR has only been applied to tanks provided some assurance that the Federal Government will retain responsibility for such decisions, However, in this case, the NRC has C&,

of that land continues.

at least as long as the federal ownership agency involved has sanctioned the use of this concept on state-owned land, and where the federal of the site. 5 made it clear that, at present, they have no intention of seeking federal ownership

Mr. John Greeves Page 2 Another serious deficiency in our view is the decision by the NRC not to include the requirement that the concentration of the residual radionuclides not exceed the applicable concentration limits for Class C waste. This was a condition of the WIR determination for the Hanford Reservation, and the NRC has not, to date, explained why it is not explicitly called for at West Valley. We view this as an essential criterion, particularly in view of the fact that Congress, in the 1985 Low-Level Waste Policy Amendments Act (LLWPA), clearly specified that the United States Department of Energy (DOE) is to be responsible for Greater than Class C (GTCC) radioactive wastes.

There are complicating factors involved in that there is an inconsistency between NRC and NYSDEC concentration averaging methods. The NRC accepts concentration averaging of the activity in wastes not only over the volume of the waste and any contaminated materials, but also over the volume of any fill material, such as concrete grout, placed in a waste container to ensure physical stability. Under our low-level radioactive waste regulations [6 NYCRR Part 382-80(h)],

which the NRC found to be compatible with their own, we would not allow averaging over the mass of the fill material. Since this waste would be permanently placed on State land, the State's regulations should apply.

Therefore, with respect to any consideration of the waste tanks and contents as WIR, we believe that,

1. Concentration averaging must be used to determine whether or not the waste that DOE proposes to leave behind is GTCC;

2. Such concentration averaging should adhere to the NYSDEC method in 6 NYCRR Part 382.80(h), which is an applicable or relevant and appropriate requirement (ARAR);

and

3. If the residual wastes are determined to be GTCC, the DOE is obligated to take responsibility for their disposition under the LLWPA.

Finally, the high-level waste at West Valley was created, stored, and managed under an NRC license. Therefore, the NRC is obligated to make any WIR determinations for this material-not the DOE, and certainly not a DOE contractor as has been proposed.

We look forward to working with the NRC to resolve these issues. If you have any questions, please contact me.

Sincerely,

?IPpaul J. Merges, Ph.D. O SDirector Bureau of Radiation, DSHM cc: P. Giardina, EPA, Reg. 2 P. Piciulo, NYSERDA A. Williams, DOE A. Salame-Alfie, DOH