ML19191A131

Letter to W. Haire, Catawba Indian Nation, Regarding Section 106 Consultation for Westinghouse Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility License Renewal

ML19191A131
Person / Time
Site:	Westinghouse
Issue date:	07/11/2019
From:	Roman C Environmental Review Branch
To:	Haire W Catawba Indian Nation
JQuintero NMSS/FCSE/ERB 415.7476
Shared Package
ML19191A130	List: ML19191A131
References
Download: ML19191A131 (3)

Text

1 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 July 11, 2019 Ms. Wenonah Haire Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Catawba Indian Nation 1536 Tom Steven Road Rock Hill, SC 29730

SUBJECT:

SECTION 106 CONSULTATION OF THE NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT REGARDING THE LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION FOR THE COLUMBIA FUEL FABRICATION FACILITY IN RICHLAND COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA (LICENSE NUMBER: SNM-1107, DOCKET NUMBER: 70-1151)

Dear Ms. Haire:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been reviewing a license renewal application from Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC (Westinghouse) for its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in Hopkins, South Carolina. If approved, the facility would continue to operate for an additional 40 years making fuel assemblies for commercial nuclear power plants.

When we first began the review, the NRC sent a letter to your Tribe in May 2015 requesting concurrence on the NRCs determination that the 40-year renewal of the operating license for Westinghouses facility would not adversely affect any historical or cultural resources at the site (Enclosure 1, Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML15104A250). We do not have a record of a response from your Tribe.

In June 2018, the NRC published its Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact related to the 40-year license renewal request (Enclosure 2, ADAMS Accession No. ML18120A318]. The NRC concluded that it did not expect any impact on historic or cultural resources from continued operation because no new construction was planned.

Further, Westinghouse has a procedure in place to handle inadvertent discoveries during land-disturbing activities. However, shortly after the EA publication, there was an equipment leak that released contamination into the subsurface in July 2018. In addition, Westinghouse was conducting additional investigations into a previous buried pipe leak. Therefore, the NRC decided to re-open its environmental review.

Westinghouse submitted a revised environmental report to the NRC for its review (Enclosure 3, ADAMS Accession No. ML19088A100). The proposed action year license renewal - has not changed. However, Westinghouse will be conducting further investigation into water and soil contamination which includes collecting lithographic samples and installing groundwater monitoring wells in previously undisturbed areas of the site. The exact locations and number of wells is not known at this time. Well installation activities are short-term and involve minimal land disturbance. Once the wells are installed they would be sampled several times a year.

W. Haire 2 Although the NRC concluded in its June 2018 EA that it does not expect any impact on historic or cultural resources from continued operation because no new construction was planned, the NRC is now aware of land-disturbing activities in undisturbed portions of the site. Therefore, the NRC wanted to inform you of these changes. The installation of new groundwater wells will be performed for Westinghouse by a contractor and they will follow their procedures to avoid subsurface objects (e.g., human remains, underground utilities) and thus should be able to avoid digging in an area that might have remains or artifacts. Further, Westinghouse has a procedure in place to address inadvertent discoveries and Westinghouse must follow state law.

Therefore, the NRC believes its previous conclusionno impacts to any historic or cultural resources expected from continued operationremains the same.

The NRC staff is requesting your offices concurrence with the NRCs preliminary conclusions within 30 days of receipt of this letter. The NRC is also reaching out to the Commented [WA1]: Hi Jessie should this be in bold?

South Carolina State Historic Preservation Officer to make them aware of the new activities. The NRC intends to publish a Draft Revised EA for public review and comment and your office will also have an opportunity to provide comments on it. We will send information on how to comment once the Draft Revised EA is published.

Additional information regarding the proposed action is publicly available in ADAMS, which can be accessed online at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The ADAMS Accession Numbers have been provided for the documents referenced in this letter. Hardcopies of the enclosures are also provided.

If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Jessie Muir Quintero of my staff by telephone at (301) 415-7476 or via e-mail at Jessie.Quintero@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Cinthya I. Román, Chief Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental Review Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket No.: 70-1151 License No.: SNM-1107

Enclosures:

(1) NRC Letter to Catawba Indian Nation (2) Environmental Assessment (3) Environmental Report Commented [QJ2]: AA - please print out copies of Enclosure 1 and Enclosure 3. I already have a printed copy of Enclosure 2.

W. Haire 3

SUBJECT:

SECTION 106 CONSULTATION OF THE NATIONAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ACT REGARDING THE LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION FOR THE COLUMBIA FUEL FABRICATION FACILITY IN RICHLAND COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA (LICENSE NUMBER: SNM-1107, DOCKET NUMBER: 70-1151)

DATED: July 11, 2019 ADAMS Package Accession No.: ML19191A130 (Pkg) ML19191A131 (Ltr) *via email OFC NMSS/FCSE/ERB* NMSS/FCSE/ERB NMSS/FCSE/ERB NAME JQuintero AWalker-Smith* CRoman DATE 07/09/2019 07/10/2019 07/11/2019 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY