ML110490400

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Slides for 02/22/11, Zion Public Meeting Presentation
ML110490400
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Site: Zion  File:ZionSolutions icon.png
Issue date: 02/18/2011
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Division of Nuclear Materials Safety III
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Download: ML110490400 (25)
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Reactor Decommissioning Inspection p Program g

Zion Station Decommissioning Public Meeting February 22, 2011

Purpose of Meeting

  • Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Who We Are & What We Do

  • Decommissioning Process What is Decommissioning What is NRCs Role
  • Zion Cleanup Project What is NRCs Involvement 2

NRC - Who We Are

  • Established in 1974 by U.S. Congress, to independently regulate commercial uses of nuclear material & nuclear power
  • Led by five Commissioners nominated by the President for five-year terms

NRC - What We Do The NRC Regulates:

  • Nuclear Reactors
  • Nuclear Materials
  • Nuclear Waste
  • Decommissioning
  • Nuclear Security 4

NRC - What We Do 5

NRC Oversight

  • Conduct regular inspections to ensure safety regulations and license requirements are met
  • Provide oversight of the nuclear industry by regularly assessing facility safety
  • Enforce regulations g through g issuance of violations,, monetary y fines and license suspension or revocation (plant shutdown) actions 6

What is Decommissioning ?

  • Safe closing of a facility from operation and reduction of radioactivity to levels that permit license termination
  • The NRC requires decommissioning plants to reduce levels of radioactivity to ensure public health, public safety and protection of the environment
  • Involves the cleanup (reduction of radioactivity) of both facilities and grounds which are accomplished through various means
  • Sites can be decommissioned for radiologically unrestricted or restricted uses, as determined by the property owner

- Unrestricted use: site used for any purpose without radiological restrictions

- Restricted use: site use limited with specific radiological controls 7

Decommissioning of Reactors

  • Decommissioning is required to be completed within 60 years of permanently ceasing operations
  • NRC license is not terminated until the site meets radiological release criteria (based on annual dose to the public)
  • NRC completes p a radiological g evaluation as p part of the license termination process to ensure release criteria are met
  • NRC verifies that radiological release criteria are met through independent survey and sample analyses 8

Decommissioning of Reactors (Cont.)

  • Consists of removal of spent nuclear fuel from the reactor and its safe storage, dismantling highly radioactive plant components and the cleanup of contaminated structures, systems and equipment
  • Each licensee determines the methods used to decommission the facility and the fate of buildings/structures/foundations to meet NRC requirements 9

Zion Plant History

  • Unit 1 operated from December 1973 to February 1997
  • Unit 2 operated from September 1974 to September 1996
  • In 1998, all fuel was removed from both the reactors and placed in the facilitys spent fuel pool
  • In 1998 and 2000,, NRC held public p meetings g in the Zion area to discuss the plant shutdown and NRCs oversight role 10

Zion Plant History (Cont.)

  • In 2008, plant owner/operator Exelon Corp. submitted a request to the NRC to transfer the license and the decommissioning fund to Zion Solutions
  • In 2008, NRC met with the public to discuss plans for license transfer
  • Zion Solutions is a special-purpose subsidiary of Energy Solutions, formed for the purpose of decommissioning the Zion Station and for the safe storage of the spent nuclear fuel
  • Zion Solutions acquired the assets of Zion Station and leased the land from Exelon. Title to site real estate and spent fuel is retained by Exelon
  • NRC approved and finalized the license transfer in September 2010
  • NRC ensured that Zion Solutions had proper funds and expertise to safely decommission the site before authorizing transfer 11

Zion Decommissioning Plans

  • Decommission the site to Greenfield conditions (i.e., site could be used for other purposes w/o radiological restrictions)
  • Electrical switchyard, roads and the spent fuel stored in dry casks will remain onsite following decommissioning of the plant
  • Lake piping and associated structures will remain in-place
  • Following decommissioning, the NRC license is to be transferred back to Exelon Corp for storage and security of the spent fuel 12

Safe Spent Fuel Storage

  • Current options for safe spent fuel storage:

- Spent fuel pools

- Dry casks (i.e., concrete shielded containers)

  • Long term storage ultimately at federal repository (Responsibility of the Department of Energy) 13

Zion Spent Fuel Storage

  • Zions spent fuel is currently safely stored in the plants spent fuel pool located within a concrete shielded fuel building
  • Fuel must be relocated from the spent fuel pool to another safe storage location onsite to allow the plant buildings to be decommissioned
  • Zion Solutions plans to construct an onsite Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) which is comprised of a concrete pad and dry storage casks
  • 61 dry casks are projected to house the spent fuel and 4 dry casks are planned to store certain reactor components 14

Cask Design

  • Canister

- Contains spent fuel

- Stainless steel

- Leak tight

  • Storage Cask

- Houses canister 3 ft thick concrete walls

- Designed to withstand

  • Tornado
  • Tipping
  • Extreme Temperatures
  • Flood

- Reinforced concrete mat 15

Cask Loading Process

1. Canister is placed in the transfer cask and moved into spent fuel pool
2. Canister is loaded with the spent fuel
3. Canister lid is placed on the canister 4 Transfer cask is removed from the spent fuel pool 4.
5. Canister lid is welded shut and processed for storage
6. Canister is transferred into a storage cask from the transfer cask
7. Storage cask is moved to the ISFSI pad for storage 16

Dry Cask Storage

  • Over 50 ISFSIs exist in the U.S. with approximately 50,000 fuel assemblies stored in approximately 1,250 casks
  • First ISFSI was licensed by the NRC in 1986
  • 25-years industry experience has shown that these sites have safely stored spent fuel 17

NRC Inspection Program

  • Multi-discipline assessments of activities important to safe decommissioning
  • Areas reviewed during inspections include:

- radiation safety of public

- radiation safety of plant workers

- security of spent fuel and other radioactive materials

- structural engineering

- fire protection

- emergency preparedness

- radioactive material transportation

- ISFSI activities

- verification of licensee radiation surveys

- independent confirmatory radiation surveys 18

Inspection Program Objectives

  • Ensure public and worker safety, security of the fuel, and protection of the environment
  • Ensure residual radioactivity is reduced to a level that permits unrestricted release of the property and termination of the NRC license 19

NRC Openness with the Public

  • NRC places high priority on keeping the public informed of its activities. At www.nrc.gov you can:

- Find public meeting information

- Review NRC inspection reports, testimony, speeches, press releases and policy decisions

- Access the agencys Electronic Reading Room to view publications/documents

  • NRC staff is readily accessible to the public 20

NRC Region 3 Inspectors

  • Inspection expertise at NRC includes engineering disciplines, health physics, security, fire protection, and emergency preparedness
  • Wayne y Slawinski,, Senior Health Physicist y

Wayne.Slawinski@nrc.gov

  • Dr. Peter Lee, Health Physicist, CHP Peter.Lee@nrc.gov 21

NRC Region 3 Inspectors

  • Eugenio Bonano, Health Physicist Eugenio.Bonano@nrc.gov

Regional Public Affairs and Government Liaison

  • Harral Logaras Regional Government Liaison Specialist Harral.Logaras@nrc.gov 23

Summary

  • The NRC will be onsite at the Zion Plant regularly to ensure the decommissioning work at the plant is carried out thoroughly and safely
  • The NRC will independently verify that residual radioactivity is reduced to a level that permits unrestricted release of the property and termination of the license
  • The NRC will continue to perform inspections at the Zion Plant throughout the entire decommissioning project and until the stored nuclear fuel is ultimately transferred to the Department of Energy or other repository 24

Questions and Comments ?

25

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