ML19262A029

Responds to 791010 Request for Meeting Re TMI Cleanup Operations.Public Health & Safety Best Served by Processing TMI Intermediate Level Waste Water Through EPICOR-II Sys Prior to Preparation of Environ Assessments

ML19262A029
Person / Time
Issue date:	10/15/1979
From:	Hendrie J NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
To:	Speth G COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Shared Package
ML19262A027	List: ML19262A026 ML19262A029
References
NUDOCS 7910260164
Download: ML19262A029 (3)

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

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October 15, 1979 camww Mr. Gus Speth I

Chaiman Council on Environmentd Quality 2

a 722 Jackson' Place, Nd.

Washington,.DC 20006

Dear' Mr.,

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This responds-to your letter of October 10 which requested a meeting between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Council on Environmental Quality to dis-cuss CEQ's concerns about prospective -radioactive cleanup operations at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor.

As you know, our respective General Counsels and members of their staffs have met to discuss the Council's concerns.

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Let me briefly summarize the present situation and why in the Comission's judgment the public health and safety is best served by processing the TMI Unit 2 intermediate-level waste water through the Epicor-II system prior to the prep-aration of any further environmental assessment or environmental impact statements.

As a result of'the March 28, 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island Un'it '2 nuclear power plant, substantial amernts of radioactively contaminated waste water have accumulated at the facility.

As the initial step in a program to

. deal with this accumulation, the Commission's technical staff has recommended that Metropolitan Edison Company, the licensee for Three Mile Island, be per-mitted to operate an EPICOR-II filtration and ion exchange decontamination system to decontaminate intemediate-level radioactive waste water now held in tanks at the facility. This recommendation is accompanied by the staff'.s environmental assessment of the impact of use of EPICOR-II and an analysis of comments on the assessment by the public.

The staff has concluded, based on this assessment and analysis, that the proposed use of EPICOR-II will not sig-nificantly affect the environment and therefore that no eavironmental impact statement need be prepared prior to authorizing the licensee.to. operate _.EPICOR-II..

There are three major volumes of radioactively contaminated waste-water.accumu-lated at Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) as a result of the accident in March 28, 1979.

These. include approximately 630,000 gallons contained in the lower levels of the reactor. building, 85,000 gallons in the reactor coolant. system in use to remove '. decay heat from the reactor. core, and about 387.,000. gallons stored in tanks in-.the auxiliary-building. 'The waste water stored in the auxiliary

" building has a radioactivity concentration -less than 40 microceries/ milliliter -

and is referred to asdntemediate-level waste water. The radioactivity con-

. centration -of, waste water-.in..the reactor. building and-in the primary. coolant -

systems have-been measured at greater than 100 pCi/ml for some isotopes. This waste watercis~ referred"to as high-level waste water.

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1215 174 7910260/ @

Mr. Eis Speth 2

Principally because of. leakage from the primary reactor coolant system, the volume of: water in the reactor. building is increasing in volume by about 430

-gallons per : day, equivalent to a level increase of about 2 inches per month.

The present$ level is about f7-1/2 -feet above the basement floor-in the contain-anent-building..Since no. paths af leakage.to the outside have.been identified, decontamination and. disposal of this. water is not at present an urgent problem.

The situation. is different with respect to the intermediate-level waste water now stored -in-the auxiliary buildin

.about 800.-1000~. gallons per day.1/

g. 'This water is increasing at the rate of Remaining capacity in the. auxiliary building tanks as of'.the end of September 1979 was about 29,000 gallons. Thus there is a pressing need-for Action. -to deal - with the.. intermediate-level waste < water.2/

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'The. alternative-to decontaminat5ngthis-water *is to provide additional storage

-capacity..: Construction'ef newtanks with the mecessary shielding would require severaFmonths, at least,tand -cannot be accomplished.before -the auxiliary build-ing ta'nkagescapacity isiexceeded. 'There are at presant, other than decontamina-tion,-only two timely::B3ternatives available to provide suitably shielded storage space'for the intemediate-level -water, once the auxiliary building tanks are fill ed.

One. alternative would be to transfer 'the water to tanks at Unit 1.

This action would significantly raise the contamination level-of piping -and.

tanking in Unit 1 which-were not originally intended to be used for radioactive water-with -this. contamination'ilevel. and extend :the scope of the problem.of

.occupationalaexposure_f7h'e other. alternative.would be -to. transfer the.

intermediate-level -waterdtatthe TMI-2 reactor. building, mixing.it with the high-level water.present'ly"in :the containment, raising the height of that water and in -effect increasing'~by e'Imost-50% the samount of water which must subsequently be decontaminated by systed.yet.to be developed which can handle high-level waste -water.

Both vf-these.elternatives in effect.would en1arge rather than reduce.the spread of: radioactive contamination and -would involve.potentially s,ignificant ; safety questions.and environmental impacts.

The Commission-has= concluded that prompt-decontamination of the. intermediate- '

level. water-byTPICORlrH^is thejbest response -to the situation: 'The isystem -will

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The dominant source of this increase is leakage from the. component cooling

.. system,4emineralized water system and.the reactor building evaporator

,. c:cooFing system and frbm Mcircu'lation ' prior to sampling'. Most of this

. leakage.is non-contaminated water which becomes contaminated while passing through auxiliary building floor drains;and sumps.provided to collect the

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' ' $ dn-addition':to'the'=proplemmf. storage incapacity, the retention of con-L

.,Ataminated_wategin-2heiauxil-Jar.yduilding contributes to :the ucupational 2._L:,exposuremf_. workers.;at-the;TMI site. ~.The. continued safe _ shutdown of 'IMI-2 J ~ 7.hepends'-upon"the6s'ecof,'eliiiipmentVlocated '-in te auxiFiary' ' bu'ilding. "

- +-le;Approximately -5D wor'kers per-day-are rurrently admitted to.dhe-auxiliary 1.

~ ' ' ~ building'to perfom necessary Mecontamination,' operations, and. construction..

--a ctivities.

Occupational-exposure to these workers, primarily as a result of radiation from the stored waste water, averages about 15 man-rem per

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> immobilize mob of the dioactivity in the intermediate-level -water. which

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.requ' ires 1argelstorage3 volumes :and -involves at -least some possibility..of leak agei by tr.ansferring -this ; radioactivity to.the compact,-more easily. stored

..EPICORIII resins,.thereby. reducing the.?potentialrhazacd to workers and -the 4 pub 7:ic 4f-ane. excessive accumulation _vf-intemediate-1evel. waste waten... Decon m taminated water.:which7hasbeen.. cycled through -EPICOR 'II can be readily stored in

.ipressing time-constra,nt. g...iwhi3 e idisposal': options ar.e consider.e,dswithout any -

conventional, unshielded tanks

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s The Commission'hasTioncluded;.-based -on the-staff'.s.-environmental : assessment,

. Jtosether.with -thefl staffs--analysis -of :pu bl-ic.coments wthat operation.uf IPICOR-

~~21 1s tmlikely' to"have;a significant-effect on -the environment. -3n-any-event, -

we - ask rthexouncil -to -Fecognizinthat present -circumstances-requirete 3 icensee :-

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.ttoWecontaminate :promptly the fintemediate-level., radioactive swaste waterrat 2TMI -

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Uhe Commission-staff will be 2iscussing.with eyou'how.to avoid' segmentation of/.r the NEPA review of;activitiesnat TMI Unit '2 -(40 CFR.) 3502.4).and the -best manner generally for4 implementing WEPA'in this~ case. ~In this regard ~ the Com-mission reiterates that-except for the.; releases authorized by its May 25 state-ment, no further -releases.~or -discharges 'of radioactive rate'-ials-from7the site

-sinto the environmentWiTT be authorized,.nor will any-actions.Lbe taken -which 3

might foreclose alternat'iveia'ctions.in the -futore: prior to further-environmental assessments or impact;$? $_.--

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. ~, - :-fM0iCFR3506WVappaTenth-assumes-.that.<-thie. proposed 3actidn chas.:significant 5

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'envjronmentaltimpacti-and theEcunci1% regulations-haye'not=otherwise been

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-@e145As3noted Ain3texthwgabel;ieve operation aflPlCOR ~.ll isienvironmentally._.

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f $1ipsignif.irannandfthat7theurommiss-ion'thas actiedilegally'throlighout.';.Hore..

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E overs'-WhTie' the1i etareM1.ternatives' torthet.use'ofTPIt0R ~II;-*they5areffar"Y '" -

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-less-desirable from the; standpoint of@ublic. health.and safety.and. environ -

-mentaTOimpact.>0ar understanding nf40 CFR 1506.11 is -that -the Council' can

-f_ind-under?these circumstances -that it -is mecessary to operate EPICOR II

.without further environmental reviews.

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