ML20057C525
| ML20057C525 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/23/1993 |
| From: | Bell M NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | Schwing E SCHWING & PALUS, P.C. |
| References | |
| REF-WM-3 NUDOCS 9309290069 | |
| Download: ML20057C525 (3) | |
Text
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WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 SEP 2 31993 Eric M. Schwing Schwing & Salus, P.C.
600 South Second Street Suite 100 Springfield, IL 62704
Dear Mr. Schwing:
This is in response to your letter of September 3,1993, to Paul Lohaus, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Paul has recently assumed the position of Deputy Director, Division of Low-Level Waste Management and Decommissioning, and I am responding on his behalf as Chief of the Low-Level Waste Management Branch.
In your letter, you expressed concern about the possible implications of the privatization of the Paducah, Kentucky, gaseous diffusion enrichment facility for the Central Midwest Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission's Regional Management Plan.
You requested information about the waste streams generated by the facility and asked whether facilities designed to meet 10 CFR Part 61 requirements could safely dispose of these wastes. As you stated, it is unclear at this time that wastes generated by the new corporation, U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC), will be a State responsibility.
NRC has not received any information concerning waste streams generated at the Paducah, Ohio, facility, nor are we aware if waste generation at Paducah has been characterized by personnel at the Department of Energy, USEC, or their contractor, Martin Marietta Corporation. We have information on waste generated at the Portsmouth, Ohio, enrichment plant.
Our trip report (Enclosure 1) for a March 1993 visit to the Portsmouth facility may assist you in understanding the operations, and the generation of waste, at a gaseous diffusion plant (GDP). We recommend you contact John Adams, Occupational Safety / Nuclear Safety Officer, USEC, at (202) 835-7614, for specific information concerning waste generation at the Paducah facility.
We also recommend you contact personnel of the Midwest Low-level Radioactive Waste (LLW) Compact, as they may have recent experience in assessing possible impacts of the Portsmouth facility on their plans to develop a regional LLW disposal facility in Ohio.
When 10 CFR Part 61 was developed, tailings generated by the enrichment plants were not envisioned as a potential source term for disposal in a near-surface facility. Although limited quantities of uranium can be received at a near-surface facility licensed under 10 CFR Part 61 or its equivalent, the performance objectives in Part 61 likely would not be met if large volumes of uranium, such as the tailings, were to be received for disposal. Accordingly, only process wastes, whose volume is small compared to tailings, and which include clothing, contaminated equipment, and residues, may qualify for disposal in a Part 61 facility.
Enclosures 2 and 3, NRC correspondence to a license applicant proposing to operate a commercial uranium enrichment facility, clarify our position concerning disposition of depleted tails.
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If the Central Midwest LLW Compact is responsible for disposing GDP generated LLW (other.than tailings), GDP waste characteristics, volumes, and other datamust be evaluated. Classification and characterization of the waste streams, their contribution to the facility inventory, and a performance assessment incorporating GDP waste would be necessary to develop a comprehensive analysis of the facility and its ability to meet Part 61 performance objectives.
Limits on the inventory of disposed uranium could be necessary, depending on the results of analyses.
I trust this responds to your request.
If we can be of further help, please do not hesitate to contact Richard Turtil of my staff at (301) 504-3447.
(Original Signed by
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Michael J. Bell, Chief Low-Level Waste Management Branch Division of Low-Level Waste Management and Decommissioning Office of Nuclear Material Safety.
and Safeguards
Enclosures:
As stated Ticket:
LLWM 93-114 Distribution:
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SUBJECT ABSTRACT: RESPONSE TO ERIC SCHWING CONCERNING HIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ABOUT WASTES GENERATED AT THE PADUCAH ENRICHMENT FACILITY AND THFIR POSSIBLE DISPOSAL IN REGIONAL COMPACT.
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9 2-i must be evaluated. Classification and characterization of the waste streams, their contribution to the facility inventory, and a performance assessment incorporating GDP waste would be necessary to develop a comprehensive' analysis of the facility and its ability to meet Part 61 performance objectives.
Limits on the inventory of disposed uranium could be necessary, depending on the results of analyses.
t I trust this responds to your request.
If we can be of further help, please do not hesitate to contact Richard Turtil of my staff at (301) 504-3447.
j Hichael J. Bell, Chief
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Enclosures:
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