ML17254A996
| ML17254A996 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Ginna  |
| Issue date: | 10/23/1984 |
| From: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17254A995 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8410240261 | |
| Download: ML17254A996 (3) | |
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O UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY. COMMlSSlON.
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGUIJLATION ON DISPOSAL OF LOW LEVEL RADIOACTIVE, WASTE'AT3.ERIAL ROCHESTER GAS AND ELECTRIC CORPORATION R.
E.
GINNA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT DOCKET NO. 50-244
1.0 INTRODUCTION
In accordance with 10 CFR 20.302, the Rochester Gas and Elecctric Corporation (the licensee) requested approval of a proposed procedure tco dispose of slightly radioactively contaminated material (licensed materrial) from the roofs of the auxiliary building and other plant buildings, c4f the R.
E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, in a municipal landfill.
. The request and information on the disposal were submitted. Nn a letter of August 10, 1984.
Additional information was provided in a lletter of March 19, 1984.
The material to be disposed is about 70 tons of gravel, tar;, and plywood pieces.
Analysis of samples from the roof of the auxTTiaryg building indicates that the radioactive contamination in the materi'a11 consists of, on the average, about 3.0 pCi Co-60 per gram, 2.24 pCi Cs-1334 per gram, and 9.2 pCi Cs-137 per gram.
The total quantities of radionucl=ides to be disposed are estimated to be about 0.30 mCi of Co-60, 0.23 rmCi of Cs-134, and 0.92 mCi of Cs-137.
2.0 EVALUATION If the landfill is operated in accordance with the requireIIMents of its permit from the'tate of New York, the waste will be covered with:.at least 6 inches of soil by the end of the day on which it is delivered, andi eventually by at least 2 feet of soil.
In addition, the landfill would have its site selected and would have been designed to protect or minimize the imp>act on water resources.
The staff has estimated that the maximum external exposure rate from the gamma radiation from the contaminant radionuclides in an eiffectively infinite area of such contaminated material is 0.019 mrem ito the whole body, per hour.
Such external exposure is the most likely exposuire
- pathway, and it is also the exposure pathway which would be expected to. yield the highest dose.
If the contaminated material is covered by 6 inches of soil, the exposure rate would be reduced to not more -than 0.012 mremI per hour; with 2 feet of cover, it would be about 0.0005 mrem/hr.
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Because it is necessary to protect water resources from the contents of sanitary landfills,'it is unlikely that exposure through a liquid pathway would occur.
Even if it should occur, the limits of the source, i.e., less than 100 tons of material with concentrations comparable to'he values of 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table II, Column 2, indicate that it would not be significant to the public health and safety.
For comparison, the amount of Cs-137 is equivalent to the present accumulation of weapons testing fallout Cs-137 on an average 3 acres of land.
Exposure through inhalation of dust from the roofing material is a potential pathway until the material is buried.
The concentrations of radionuclides are so low, however, that dose rates from inhalation are negligible.
J The individual having the potential for maximum exposure will probably be a
worker at the landfill.
The staff estimates that the total body exposure of such a worker would be less than 4 mrem occurring in the first year only.
The dose to any person would be less than 1 mrem/year in subsequent years.
The radiation risk to a worker at the Ginna Huclear Plant from'this disposal procedure would be less than that to the landfill worker, and most likely less than the normal radiation exposure a worker woul'd receive during a
'omparable period of time at the plant site.
The non-radiological impacts of this disposal procedure are minor.
They consist of the impacts of trucking the material to the landfill, of the operation of burial of the material in the landfill, and of the waste occupying a small fraction of the landfill site.
These impacts are similar in nature to those of disposal of low-level radioactive waste from the site in licensed low-level waste burial sites, which was considered in the Environmental Statement for this plant.
Based on its review and evaluation of the proposed
- disposal, the staff concludes that:
1.
The radiation risks to workers involved in the disposal are small compared to.the routine occupational exposures at the Ginna Huclear Plant.
2.
The possible radiation risks to members of the general public a's a
result of such disposal are well below regulatory limits and small in comparison to the doses they receive each year from natural background radiation.
3.
The non-radiological impacts are minor.
- 3. 0 CONCLUSION Based on the staff evaluation of the licensee's proposed disposal in a landfill with a valid permit from the State of New York of the waste material described previously, the staff concludes that:
(1) the approval does not involve a significant hazards consideration, (2) there is reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be endangered by operation in the proposed
- manner, and (3) such activities will be conducted in compliance with the Corrmission's regulations and the issuance of this approval will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.
4.0 ACKNO'l<LEDGEMENT This Evaluation was prepared by J. Swift and G. Dick.
Dated:
October 23, 1984