ML19209C712
| ML19209C712 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Maine Yankee |
| Issue date: | 09/27/1979 |
| From: | Stello V NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19209C711 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7910180131 | |
| Download: ML19209C712 (4) | |
Text
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-UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 0FFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT VICTOR STELLO, JR., DIRECTOR In the Matter of
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MAINE YANKEE ATOMIC POWER COMPANY
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Operating License No. DPR-36 (Maine Yankee Atomic Power Plant)
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DIRECTOR'S DECISION UNDER 10 CFR 2.206 By letter dated July 13, 1979, John M. R. Paterson, Deputy Attorney General of the State of Maine, re, quested on the State's behalf that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission initiate appropriate proceedings to impose penalties against Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company for an alleged violation of the operating license for its Maine Yankee facility (DPR-36).
The incident whicn the State submits constituted a violation of Maine Yankee's operating license involved the sh.ipment of new (unirradiated) fuel from Kittery, Maine, to the facility site via U.S. Route 1 rather than via the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 95.
The State of Maine believes that " Maine Yankee's permit requires, in a condition expcessly requested by the State and agreed to by the licensee during the Operating Permit Proceedings, that truck shipments of fuel and waste products to or from the plant must be made via the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 95 to points closest to Wiscasset, Maine."
This request for the imposition of penalties has been treated as a request for action under 10 CFR 2.206 of the Ccmmission's regulations.
Based upon the information contained in the request, a review of Maine Yankee's license requirements concerning the shipment of new fuel to this facility was
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. conducted.
The results of our review indicate that no part of this license establishes a requirer:ient which stipulates a route over which new fuel is to beshipped.W This shipment of new fuel was subject to packaging requirements set forth in 10 CFR Part 71 of the Commission's regulations.
The safety of transportation of radioactive materials is regulated jointly by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Departmeri of Transportation, who cooperatively partition their regulatory activities by means of a Memorandum of Understanding /
2 to avoid unnecessary duplicative regulation.
Under the NRC's reculations, the safety of the transportation of radioactive material is as'ured by setting standards for package integrity (under normal and accident conditions), reviewing and approving accident package designs for satisfaction of these standards, 1/
During the proceeding before the Atomic Safety Licensing Board conducted prior to the issuance of an operating license for the Maine Yankee facility, the Scate of Maine did reauest that some sort of controls over the route selected for the transportation of nuclear materials to and from the facility be imposed.
However, this request was denied.
6 AEC 465, 473 (1973).
The Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board, upon its review of that initial decision, noted that at least at that point in time (1973), the Maine Turn-pike Authority specifically prohibited the use of the Turnpike (the route preferred by the State) for the transportation of nuclear materials.
There was no suggestion in the record that the regulations of the Turnpike Authority were in the process of being amended or that the State was then pressing to have the Turnpike open to transport of nuclear materials.
Thus, there was no question of a selection among alternate routes.
In the Matter of Maine Yankee' Atomic Power Co. (Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station), ALAB-161, 6 AEC 1003, 1017-1018 (1973).
Consequently, while Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company may have made a commitment during the licensing proceeding to use the Maine Turnpike route when it became available, no condition to that effect has ever been made a part of its operating license.
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Transportation of Radioactive Materials. Memorandum of Understanding, Department of Transportation - Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 44 Fed. Rea.
38690 (July 2, 1979).
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. and inspecting and enforcing compliance wi'h the regulations. The NRC in a recent reexamination of its transportation regulations and environmental assessment of the radiological r -ks from transportation of radioactive materials concluded that the health and safety of the public is adequately protected by this regulatory approach. W This study concluded that the risk associated with transportation of radioactive material is very low, is well within established national guidelines and is very small in comparison to other risks accepted by the general publi_c, such as accidents involving motor vehicles and death associated with electric shocks.
For the foregoing reasons, no NRC enforcement action will be initiated as a result of this shipment of fuel to the Maine Yankee facility.
A copy of my determination in this matter will be placed in the Commiss'ea's Public Document Room at 1717 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20555, and the local public document room for the Maine Yankee facility at Wiscasset Public y
" Final Environmental Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Materials by Air and Other Modes," NUREG-0170, Vol.
1, Summary &
Conclusions, pp. iii-xxv, (Dec. 1977).
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See, Final Environmental Statement, suora, at p.
vii, Table 3-7 at p.3-13; iable 5-16 at p.
5-53.
A preliminary rep rt on a current study of the transportaion of radioactive materials through densely populated areas in urban environments, " Transport of Radionuclides in Urban Environs:
Working Draft Assessment," SAND-77-1927 (May 1978), also concludes that routine exposure from aormal transportation in urban areas and expected health effects from potential transportation accidents in urban areas are very small.
The study does suggest, however, that sabotage of spent fuel shipments has the potential for producing serious radiological consequences in areas of high population density.
Consequently, the Commission has concluded, it is prudent and desirable to require certain interim safeguards measures for spent fuel shipments until the results of confirmatory research are available.
See 44 Fed. Req. 34466 (June 15, 1979).
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. Library, High Street, Wiscasset, Maine 04578.
A copy of this determination will also be filed with the Secretary of the Commission for its review in accordence with 10 CFR 2.206(c) of the Commission's regulations.
As prov.ded in 10 CFR 2.206(c) of the Commission's regulations, this decision will constitute the final action of the Commission 20 days after the date of issuance, unless the Commission on its own motions institutes review of this decision within that time.
.,-(
? [ b.['j Victor Stello, Jr.-
Director Office of Inspection and Enforcement Dated at Bethesda, September,1979 Maryland This 27th day of Q\\9 g \\ y3
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