ML19309B972
| ML19309B972 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Dresden  |
| Issue date: | 03/13/1980 |
| From: | Vollmer R Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Steder P, Steder T AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19309B973 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8004070418 | |
| Download: ML19309B972 (3) | |
Text
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March 13, 1980
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Docket No. 50-10 Mr. Paul Steder Mrs. Teresa Steder 67 Northwood Drive Urbana, Illinois 61801
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Steder:
This is in response to your letter dated January 19, 1980, in which you expressed three concerns related to the proposed Dresden 1 decontamination.
Your concerns and our response are as follows:
1.
Leakage of radioactive waste at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was caused by the use of solvents similar to Dow NS-1.
Response
The migration of radioactive waste which you have referred to was reported by Means, Crerar and Duguid (Science, Vol. 200, 30 June 1978).
The referenced paper discusses the disposal of 35 million gallons of liquid waste in burial pits at Oak Ridge National Laboratory between 1951 and 1965. Comonwealth Edison, the licensee for Dresden Unit No.1, has agreed to dispose of the Dresden 1 waste at either Beatty, Nevada or Hanford, Washington comercial low level waste burial sites.
These sites differ significantly in their geologic and hydro-logic characteristics from the Oak Ridge site where chelant-aided migration of radionuclides was observed by Means, Crerar and Duguid.
Specifically, the Oak Ridge site, where migration occurred, experiences very high precipitation and has a water table so shallow that it probably intersects the disposal pits and trenches during periods of heavy rain fall.
In addition, the Oak Ridge topography is hilly with steep slopes underlain by fractured shale material which allows underground water and radioactive waste to flow down hill through the fractures until it seeps to the surface within 250 feet of a perennial stream.
8004070
Mr. and Mrs. Steder 2
March 13, 1980 Conversely, the commercial waste burial sites at Beatty and Hanford, where no migration of radionuclides has been observed, are flat desert areas with very low precipitation, a water table approximately 300 feet below ground level and a distance of 8 to 10 miles to the nearest perennial stream.
In addition to these site characteristics, which prevent the migration of radioactive material from the desert waste burial-sites, another significant difference between the proposed waste disposal technique and the now discontinued Oak Ridge methods is that the Dresden waste will be disposed of as a solid. At Oak Ridge over 35 million gallons of liquid radioactive waste was pumped into the disposal trenches.
We estimate that approximately 7 million gallons of liquid waste was disposed of in Trench No. 7, which was identified as a source of chelated radionuclides.
Because of the differences we have concluded that the Dresden wastes should be disposed of in a dry burial site.
2.
There are no assurances that the Dresden waste will be acceptable as low level.
Response
Radioactive wastes are separated into two broad classifications:
"high level wastes" and "other than high level wastes". High level wastes are radioactive wastes produced in the first solvent extraction cycle of fuel reprocessing operations.
If fuel is not j
reprocessed, the unprocessed fuel will be classified as high level waste should it be discarded.
High level wastes are highly radioactive, contain significant quantities of transuranic radio-nuclides, and require extensive shielding, sophisticated remote handling techniques, and often require cooling to remove the heat generated by the decay of the contained fission products.
The second waste classification "other than high level wastes" includes wastes that are not produced in the first step of the solvent extraction cycle of fuel reprocessing or the unprocessed fuel.
The Dresden 1 waste that will be produced from the decontamination falls into this class and therefore may be buried in a commercial waste burial site.
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Mr. and Mrs. Steder March 13, 1980 The Dresden decontamination waste will not be high level wastes.
These wastes will be packaged and shipped in full conformance with all applicable NRC and Department of Transportation requirements.
3.
There is no guarantee that the process will not damage the old pipes, joints and valves or that these components have not already been damaged by their long exposure to high levels of radiation, resulting in possible unsafe operation when the plant is returned to service.
Response
Before returning Dresden 1 to service following decontamination of the primary cooling system, a comprehensive pre-service inspection will be performed to assure the integrity of the 4
primary coolant system and assess the effect of the chemical cleaning on safety-related components that have been in contact with the cleaning solvent.
Facility Operating License No. DPR-2, issued to Dresden Unit 1, requires that Connonwealth Edison operate the facility in accordance with detailed operating standards called Technical Specifications. The specifications establish limits on operating parameters related to safety and establish the minimum complement of safety-related equipment needed to assure that these limits are not violated.
Commonwealth Edison must comply with all the requirements of the facility Technical Specifications before returning the facility to service, including all the normal inspections and tests required before returning the reactor to service following,each refueling outage.
l I hope that this letter has been responsive to your concerns.
Sincerely, Richar'd H. Vollmer, Acting Assistant Director for Systematic Evaluation Program Division of Operating Reactors l
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