ML19254D347
| ML19254D347 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Dresden  |
| Issue date: | 10/06/1979 |
| From: | Vollmer R Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Kempin K AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19254D348 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7910250375 | |
| Download: ML19254D347 (4) | |
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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V. ASHINCTON. D. C. 20555 (N "' ( /
October 6,1979 o...+-
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'r. Kent Me -i n
- 15 N. E. 1st Street
..al ia, Illinoi s 01434 ugg
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" e a r *'r. Ke" ;i r
~T This is in response to,your recent letter to Dr. Hendrie, which expresse:
your concern related to the chemical decontamination of Dresden Nuclear cwer Station, Unit No. 1.
o L.'e have been reviewing this project since Conncnwealth Edison's initial
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4 decontanination proposal on December 12, 1974.
On Dece,ber 9,1975 v.e issued a conditional authorization which allowed Cornonweal+.h Er': son i
to initiate the chenical decentanination subject to the complet c. of
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- ree itens which vrould be resolved as follows:
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The testing progran will be completed and the results sub.mitted for g
the rev iew ar.d apprcval of the !P'C sta" ;"ior to :erfor.irg the
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prorosed che--ical cleaning.
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A pre-service inspection progran for the prir ary ccolant bourdary will be fornulated and subnitted for NRC review and approval ::rior g
to returning the reactor to service.
A post-cletninc surveillancs progran which includes additional surveillance specinens and a specimen withdrawal and examination schedule will be subnitted for NRC review and approval prior to returning the reactor to service.
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_;py of our Safety Evaluation "n support of these actions is enclosed yy
c your infe r.ation.
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": toter 6,1979 Thc sol.ert ill pre'erentially dissolve the exide w"tF:ut significar ly attacking the underlying base retal of the prinary ccoling systen piping.
Af ter re. ov al of the uranium fuel, the solvent will be circulated thrcugh the prir ary ccolant syster for arprcxinately 100 hours0.00116 days <br />0.0278 hours <br />1.653439e-4 weeks <br />3.805e-5 months <br /> at about 250*F.
t.f ter circui: tion the sclvent and the dissolved exides. ill be drained frcn tFe rcc:ter *o a caste treatrent facility located idjacent to the reactcr. A r., rt.a ning sol'.ent will be clecned frc- ;FE reactor by rinsing..ith de,ineralized water.
The rinse water ard solvent will be stored in the waste treatrent facility stcrage tani.s u til processed to concentrati:n and solidify the solvent and dissolvec radioactive cnrresicn pr: ducts.
The iecentaniriation will be carried cut entirely withir a closed systen and cil waste processing will be accomplished within a specially designed, eartr quake proof, leak tight, building.
All transportation of radioactive wastes will :e dcne in accordance with all applicable '.:C and Departrnent of Transportation regulations.
Because of these precautions, there will be no increased ha:crd to the health and safety of the citizens of Illinois or any degradation e' the environment in Illinois.
Ae'er ;recessir4 the concentrated waste solution will be solidified in 55 Sallen dru 's asing a pr; cess develcred by the Dow Cher :al Corpany f ur the sciicific;; ion of low level radioactive wastes.
This s;lidification process
' as been tested on the M-1 solvent and ::roduce a s;l.
waste fort that centained no f ree liquids. The waste solid'fication procedures include a cuality control process test on each barrel of waste tc ;rovide additional assurance that the liquid waste has been properly solicified.
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'ter solidification the waste druns will be transported by a conmercial 4,
tioactive vaste carrier to a licensed solid waste burial ground such
- s Eeatty, Nevada or Hanford, Washing, ton.
These arid, desert sites have been specifically selected for the disposal of the Dresden waste to 3
further assure that there is no interaction of the waste with ground water. Because the waste is in a solid form, the ground water level is
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oximtely 300 feet below the surface, and the burial sites are
(:iuca:M ir re o'.e. uninhabitec locations, there is ade:uate assurance that the waste will remain isolated from potential pat ways for exposure Df *he cCculation.
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'POER ORM1
"- Kent Kenpin 0:tober 6,1979 hcv ever, preliminary estinates of the cost for decontar.inating currently c;erating U. S. reactors range from 1 nillion to 5 nillion dollars per 2.
rea: tor and would vary depending on the extent of m:dification required at a specific facility to perform the decontanination.
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The decontanination of reactor primary cooling systens.111 reduce the raciation exposure levels in the areas of these systens, thereby pernit-ting greater access to the systen for inspections, nodi #ications, and rA repairs.
These activities provide greater assurance of the continued safe operation of the reactor and are thErefore in the :est interest of 4
the Fealth and safety of the public.
Furthernore, the cecontamination i
will reduce the occupational exposure of the individuals employed at I
D resd er..
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1.'ith respect to requests for the p'eparation of an Environmental Impact Statenent for the Dresden Unit I decontamination, Title 10 Part 51.5 4
of the United States Code of Federal Regulations identifies the following N.
actions as requiring the preparation of such a Statement:
"(1) Issuance of a pernit to construct a nuclear power reactor, testing facility, or fuel reprocessing plant purstant to Part 50 4'
of this chapter; 445
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3%"S (2) Issuance of a full power or design capacity license to operate a nuclear power reactor, testing facility, or f uel reprocessing plant purstant to Part 50 of this chapter; (3) Issuance of a pernit to construct or a design capacity license to operate an isotopic enrichment plant pursuant to s50.33 of this r n chapter; (4) Issuance of a license to po[sess and use special nuclear material
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for processing and fuel fabrication, scrap recovery, or conversion of uranium hexafluoride pursuant to Part 70 of this chapter; (5) Issuance of a license to possess and use source material for M(. 7 uranium milling or production of uranium hexafluoride pursuant to Part 40 of this chapter;
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ci' idicactive castc cin ~:3' tv l a r d b'.. r i c i.wrsuant t c ;'3 rt s 30,
'0, and/or 70 of this
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'e-1:: 7 ;' :"t to a full puner cr design capacity license pursuan. tt : art 50 cf this cnaw
'.ere ;o finel er.vircr ental intact st ate er.t has been creviously crepared; 1208 954
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<r. Kent Keapin October 6,1979 (8) Issuance of a license to manufac'.tre pursuant to Appendix M of Part 50 of this chapter; (9) Amendnents 'of Parts 30 and 40 of this chapter concerning the exemption frcm licensing and regulatory requirements of any equip-nent, devise, connodity or other product containing byproduct naterial or tource material, and (10) Any other action which the Commission deternines is a major Commission action significantly affecting tha quality of human environment."
Our review to date has concluded that the decontamination of the Dresden a
1 primary coolant system is not one of the identified actions requiring g
that an Environmental Impact Statement be prepared.
The Conmission has wT not determined that this action is a major Commission action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.
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In summary, the Dresden decontamination has been care'ully planned to T
improve the safety of the reactor and reduce the exposure of plant 3
personnel to radiation. The waste produced by the process is similar in type and quantity to the waste routinely produced at Dresden and its m
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processing, transportation, a'id disposal will not cause any new hazards not previously evaluated and deemed acceptab!e.
Si ncerely, S,
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. Richard H. Vollner, Acting Assistant 2
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Director for Systematic Evaluation M
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Program Division of Operating Reactors Enclosure.
Safety Evaluation u.C 1208 055
UNITED STATES NUCt. EAR REGU' ATORY CO'AMISSION W ASHINGTON. D. C. 20555 SATETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION SUPPORTING AUTHORIZATION TO CHEMICALLY DECONTAMINATE THE PRIMARY COOLING SYSTEM AT DRESDEN UNIT 1 COR10NWEA' TH EDISON COMP ANY DRESDEN NUCLEAR POWER STATION UNIT 1 DOCET NO. S0-10 IhTRODUCTION By letters dated December 16, 1974, April 1, 197S and April 14, 197S, the Commonwealth Edison Company (CECO) reu ested authori:ation to carry out a chemical decontamination of the interior surfaces of the Dresden Unit 1 primary coolant system.
The purpose of the decontanination is.o remove a deposition of activated corros.on products which is tightly bonded to the primary coolant systec piping and components. The presence of the corrosion products in the system results in high levels of radiation in adjacent areas and limits access to these areas for the purpose of in-service inspection, routine maintenance and plant modifications.
Ceco has tentatively scheduled the chemical cleaning project to begin in Jaruary 1977 with an anticipated return to service scheduled for July 1977.
EVALUATION The staff's review of CECO's proposed chemical decontanination of the interior surfaces of the Dresden Unit I primary coolant system has been completed. The results of tFis review are as follows:
1.
Environmental Impact The chenical decontamination of the Dresden 1 primary coolant system will be performed entirely within a closed decontamination system.
The system has been designed so that no chemical or radiological wastes will be released to the environment from the decontamination process. All wastes generated in the process will be either solidified for offsite burial at a licensed burial ground or reprocessed for reuse onsite. The solid wastes produced are similar in type and qu; ity to those handled routinely at the site. Therefore, no adverse en ronmental impacts are anticipated due to the decontamination.
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2 2.
Materials Compatibility The staff has reviewed the results of the material testing program that has been carried out in support of the proposed Dresden 1 decontaminaticn program. The test program was organi:ed to look at corrosive effects during the decontamination process and possible residual effects during subsequent reactor operation.
Based upon our review of the results of the testing program completed to date, we have concluded that the test program adequately evaluated those aspects of the materials compatibility that we consider to be important.
As a result of our discussions with CECO's consultant, Dr. Craig Cheng of Argonne National Laboratory, we find that the remaining program will be conducted in a manner that will answer our presently unresolved concerns and the test results will be adequately interpreted and reported.
We conclude that upon the successful completion of the testing program described in the submittals and with an adequate surveillance P.nu inspection program, the Dresden Nuclear Power Station Unit I can be subjected to the described chemical cleaning process without undue corrosion or other deleterious materials compatibility effects that would adversely effect the integrity of the primary coolant system and connected systems.
A small number of items of concern have not been resolved to the staff's full satisfaction at this time. However, we conclude that authorization to carry out the chemical decontamination should be granted in anticipation of the successful resolution of these open items in the near future. The following open items are identified at this time as requiring resolution to the staff's satisfaction:
(a) The materials test program will be completed and the test results will be enalyzed and reviewed prior to the beginning of the cleaning process.
(b)
Surveillance specimens in addition to those now planned will be determined by mutual agreement with the applicant and a schedule for specimen withdrawal will be stated.
(c) A pre-service inspection program for the primary coolant boundary and safety related systems will be formulated and performed prior to return to power.
I208 057
. 3.
Effluent Treatment Systems We have determined that the effluent treatment system, if constructed as described in the CECO submittals, is capable of handling the types and quantities of effluents expected to be generated by the decon-tamination program. Our review was limited to the use of the system for chemical decontamination only, and use of the system for any other purpose subsequent to that program must be reviewed prior to such use.
4.
Radiological Safety We have further concluded that the radiological cafety program described in the submittals is adequate to assure that the health and safety of the public and the onsite personnel will not be endangered by the Dresden 1 decontanination proj ect.
CONCLUSION We have concluded, based on the considerations discussed above, that:
(1) because the chemical cleaning does not involve a significant increase in the probability or consequences of accidents previously considered and does not involve a significant decrease in a safety margin, the cIcaning proj ect does not involve a significant ha:ards 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 Commission's regulations and the issuance of this amend:. nt will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.
Date:
December 9,1975 1208 058