ML13140A358

May 23, 2013 NRC Presentation

ML13140A358
Person / Time
Site:	Palisades
Issue date:	05/20/2013
From:	NRC/RGN-III
To:
References
Download: ML13140A358 (18)

Text

1 NRC Public Webinar NRC Regulations on Radioactive Releases from Nuclear Power Plants May 23, 2013

2 Welcome Charles Casto Regional Administrator NRC Region III

3 Introductions - NRC

• Charles Casto, Regional Administrator, Region III

• Jack Giessner, Chief, Branch 4 (Presenter)

• John Cassidy, Sr. Health Physicist, RIII (Presenter)

• Richard Conatser, Health Physicist, NRR (Presenter)

• Martin Phalen, Sr. Health Physicist, RIII

4 Meeting Agenda

• Meeting Purpose

• Overview of NRC regulations related to discharges from nuclear plants

• Q&A Session

• Closing Remarks

Meeting Purpose

• Discuss releases from nuclear power plants and related NRC regulations including the recent leak from the safety injection refueling water tank at Palisades

• Answer questions from the public 5

Overview

• Nuclear power plants need to discharge radioactive gases and liquids in small amounts in order to operate

• NRC regulates all radioactive releases from nuclear plants to protect public health and safety

• All release information is publicly available and inspected by the NRC 6

How is radiation measured?

• Radiation exposure is measured in rem

• It is the amount of energy deposited in a material by radiation

• Doses from radioactive effluents are so small they cannot be measured with dose meters. Instead, samples are analyzed for radioactive materials, and the doses are calculated.

• The NRC dose limit for the public is 0.1 rem/year

• Annual dose from all radioactive releases from a nuclear plant are typically much less than 0.001 rem 7

Sources of Exposure

• ~1/2 of the total annual U.S. public individual's radiation exposure is from natural sources -

.31 rem/year

• ~1/2 of annual exposure is from diagnostic medical sources -.31 rem/year

• Dose from nuclear plant releases is less than 0.001 rem/year The chart above shows the contribution of various sources of exposure to the total collective effective dose and the total effective dose per individual in the U.S. population for 2006. Values have been rounded to the nearest 1%, except for those <1 % [less than 1%]. Credit: Modification to image courtesy of National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements 8

NRC Regulations As part of NRC's requirements for operating a nuclear power plant, plants must:

- Limit radiation exposure to individual members of the public to 0.1 rem/year, and nuclear plant worker exposure to 5 rem/year

- Keep releases as low as reasonably achievable NRC limits based on best available national and international research to ensure public and environmental safety NRC reviews research to ensure that changes to limits are adjusted as necessary Plants are required to comply with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations NRC requires plants to monitor radioactive releases to ensure that there is no significant additional risk to life and health The radioactive releases from nuclear plants result in very small doses to members of the public living around these plants 9

NRC Monitoring Requirements for Releases

• The NRC requires plants to monitor and report plant discharges and results of environmental monitoring around their plants

• NRC requires plants to participate in an independent review of their analysis programs

• In annual reports, NRC requires plants to identify liquid and airborne radioactive releases and the associated dose to the public. Most are planned and monitored.

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NRC Monitoring Requirements for the Environment

• To ensure minimal impact to the environment, plants must measure and annually report:

- Radioactivity levels around their plants

- Airborne radioiodine and particulate samples

- Results from samples of surface, groundwater, and drinking water and downstream shoreline sediment

- Results from samples of ingestion sources such as milk, fish, invertebrates, and broad leaf vegetation Plant reports can be viewed at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/tritium/plant-info.html 11

How does NRC ensure that requirements are met?

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• The NRC conducts onsite inspections of each plant's effluent and environmental monitoring programs to ensure compliance with NRC requirements

• The NRC documents plant effluent releases and the results of their environmental monitoring and assessment effort in inspection reports that are available to the public NRC reports can be viewed at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/listofrpts_body.html

Safety Injection Refueling Water Tank (SIRWT)

• Image for demonstration purposes only 13 F Nozzle leak

What happened with the SIRWT?

Palisades plant shutdown on May 5, 2013, due to observed SIRWT leakage of ~90 gpd while monitoring the tank Exceeded the 38 gpd limit to shut down established by NRC's confirmatory action letter (CAL EA 12-155; ML12199A409)

~80 gallons of low radioactivity water spread onto the roof, down roof drains, into drains that go to Lake Michigan Released radioactivity to Lake Michigan had very low impact to an individual (.000002 rem), is well below regulatory limits (.1 rem/year) and did not impact the safety of plant workers or the public NRC will ensure that repairs to the tank are safe 14

Summary

• Nuclear plants need to discharge radioactive liquids and gases in small amounts in order to operate

• NRC regulates radioactive releases from plants to protect public health and safety

• All release information is publicly available and inspected by the NRC 15

16 Questions

17 Meeting Closure Chuck Casto Regional Administrator NRC Region III

Meeting Contacts For Follow-up Questions - Contact the NRC Region III Office of Public Affairs:

Viktoria Mitlyng / Prema Chandrathil Tel: (630) 829-9500 OPA3@nrc.gov 18