ML20046A549

Provides Clarification of Staff Remarks Re Criteria That Might Be Used in Decommissioning of Facility at Gore,Ok

ML20046A549
Person / Time
Issue date:	07/06/1993
From:	Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Rogers, Selin I, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
References
NUDOCS 9307290028
Download: ML20046A549 (2)

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UNITED STATES:

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E NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Tyg f

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July 6. 1993 l

MEMORANDUM FOR:

The Chairman P

Commissioner Rogers j

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Commissioner Ramick Commissioner de Planque l

FROM:

James M. Taylor Executive Director for Operations 1

SUBJECT:

CIAPRICATION OF STAFF REMARKS

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At the close'of the. periodic hriefing of the commission on j

operating reactors anti kuel cycle facilities on June 25, 1993, Commissioner Remick aued a question regarding the criteria that might be used in the.iecommissioning of the Sequoyah Fuels i

facility at Gore,. Oklahoma.

Dr. John H. Austin responded for the staff.

'Dr. Austin noted that Sequoyah Fuels had proposed to remediate its site by being i

~ declared.an 11e(2) byproduct. material disposal site, therefore '

l using '10 'CFR Part ' 40,. Appendix A, ' as the criteria.

Dr. Austin's-j description.of,the Sequoyah Fuels proposal ~wac-based upan'section 2.2.2 of the Preliminary Plan-for Completion.of Decommissioning, i

dated. February 16, 1993.

That section of the Preliminary Plan i

suggests that the Sequoyah Fuels decommissioning.. waste might be

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able to' be characterized as lie (2) byproduct material, thus

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importing Appendix A criteria.

OGC has provided. informal views that hexafluoride conversion

'i plants had never' be:en considered as uranium mills, and were not 1

contemplated;as such in the Uranium Mill Tailings. Radiation'

' control'Act of-1978.

The~ uranium contaminated decommissioning

-j wastes at Sequoyah Fuels do.not fit the. definition of lie (2) byproduct material ~and thus fall outside the coverage of the Act.

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This was'the' legal advice referred to by Dr. Austin in'his remarks to the Commission.

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However, nren if the decommissioning waste at Sequoyah Fuels

. g could not be characterized as'11e(2) byproduct material that does not preclude tne' application of 10 CFR Part 40, ' Appendix A, j

criteria-in the evaluation of the applicant's proposal.

As long 1

as'the NRC lacks codified residual radiation criteria applicabl.

to fuel cycle decommissioning (apart from uranium mill tailings disposal areas) the-staff has the discretion to apply criteria that have been endorsed by policy-directive, such as.the Site Decommissioning Management Program Action Plan','found in analogous codified regulations, or developed for application to a specific' case, s4 9307290028 9307061 l

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=Dr. Austin's remarks may suggest that,.as a consequence of

. placing _the site on the SDMP list, a decision had been made.to

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use the Action Plan criteria, although-he noted in response to a p

comment'by the Chairman that if-analysis supports.something less stringent than Action Plan criteria, the staff-would give it l

-serious' con' sideration.

3 To assure that there is no misunderstanding, we would like to clarify that, although the Sequoyah Fuels site has been put on i

the SDMP list,'no decision had yet been taken by the staff as to the criteria against Unich the Sequoyah decommissioning effort would be evaluated.

Such decision awaits a full site characterization and detailed decommissioning plan, including the nature and extent of the radioactive waste materials, the

. physical characteristics of the site, and the technical design of any onsite disposal cell.

Or% W s% %

James M. Taylor James M. Taylor Executive Director for Operations cc:- SECY

.O G C OCA OPA

' Distribution:

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