ML20126D765
| ML20126D765 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000036 |
| Issue date: | 12/21/1992 |
| From: | Jim Hickey NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20126D757 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9212280152 | |
| Download: ML20126D765 (7) | |
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7590 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AND-NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY FOR A HEARING AMENDMENT OF SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL LICENSE NO. SNM-33 COMBUSILON ENGINEERING. INC.
HEMATITE. MISSOURI DOCKET NO. 70-33 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the amendment of Special Nuclear Materials License No. SNM-33 for the consolidation of all nuclear fuel manufacturing operations at the Hematite, Missouri facility.
SUMMARY
OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Identification of the Proposed Action: The. proposed action is to consolidate all nuclear fuel manufacturing activities at the Hematite nuclear fuel manufacturing facility in Hematite, Missouri. This action will relocate all nuclear fuel rod and assembly loading activities currently being performed at CE's Windsor, Connecticut, facility to Hematite. Modifications that will be -
made to the Hematite site as part of this program include increasing the fenced work area by approximately 2 acres, constructing a new rod and bundle assembly manufacturing building, modifying a portion of the existing warehouse area to include new pellet drying facilities, and expanding the automobile parking area. Additional changes to be made to the site are relocating and replacing the main storm drain lines, relocating the outfall at the site pond, and adding ground surface drains.
The licensee is authorized to receive, use, possess, store, and transfer up to 8,000 kilograms of uranium enriched to a maximum of 5.0 weight percent in the U-235 isotope in accordance with 10 CFR Part 70 and up to 50,000 kilograms.of source material in accordance with 10 CFR Part 40. The' possession limits for low-enriched uranium and source materials will not change with consolidation.
The Need for The Proposed Action: The proposed action is based on CE's expressed need to improve commercial competitiveness in the marketplace.
Consolidation of the fuel fabrication activities at the Hematite facility will 9212280152 PDR 921221 C ADOCK-07000036 PDR
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2 eliminate the need to transport radioactive materials between Connecticut and Missouri. Consolidating activities at Hematite will eliminate the need for-the Windsor license. The licensee will, therefore, no longer be required to pay the annual fees and associated costs for two special nuclear material licenses.
Environmental Imonets of the Prooosed Action: Preliminary construction associated with consolidation consisted of replacing the existing main storm drain with a larger main, relocating the main approximately 20 feet north of the existing line, and increasing the size of the parking area. The storm drain outfall into the site pond was also relocated during preliminary construction. The larger replacement main will accommodate the increased runoff from the roof of the new rod and assembly building and the parking area.
The new rod and assembly building (Building 230) was constructed on a grassy area immediately west of the fenced manufacturing area. Building 230 is 190-feet (58 meters) by 200 feet (61 meters) and contains approximately 38,000 2
feet 2 (3,530 meters ) of new manufacturing space. The building is constructed-of a free-standing steel frame with poured shallow concrete-spread footings.
The concrete-slab floor is poured on grade. The building was designed to meet the 1990 Building Officials and Code Administrators code and should withstand a seismic zone 2 earthquake, a wind loading of 100 miles per hour (161 kilometers per hour), and a snow loading of 50 pounds per foot 2 (244 kilograms per meter2 ). The fence surrounding the manufacturing area will be enlarged by-
, an additional 2.4 acres (9,712 meters2 ) to include Building .230.
The new rod and assembly building was built on grade so only a minimal amount of excavation was required for construction. There were no forested or wetland areas impacted because of the construction. The impact to the area due to the site modifications has not been significant.
There are no planned releases of radioactive liquid wastes from routine production processes. Uranium centained in the radioactive liquid wastes from mop and cleanup water, the wet recovery process, grinder coolants, and
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scrubber solution is processed to recover the uranium. - The amount'of radioactive liquid waste to be' processed for uranium recovery will increase;as a result of consolidation. It-is estimated that approximately_250 gallons'of?
waste water will'be generated _ per day inL Building:230.; Waste water potentially contaminated ^ with uranium will'be transferred .to'.the pellet :
production buil_ ding where it will be processed.along'with the other radioactive liquid wastes-generated from production processes, o The volume of laundry waste water will slightly increase as a result-of the increase in the number of personnel who will be _ wearing protective clothing.
and working in the' controlled area. The site laundry discharges to the.
sanitary waste water system which discharges to the site creek. Prior to [
discharge, the liquid wastes will be sampled and analyzed for gross alpha and beta activities. The control limits. currently in place for the discharge of _'
liquid effluents to the site creek will not be changed._ There will be no significant impact to the environment due to liquid discharges.
contaminated solid waste generated at the site is expected to increase because of consolidation. Part of the increase in-solid waste will be due to the
-additional-liquid effluents. Solidtfication of the-liquid waste is 'a major source of contaminated solid waste. The liquid waste is heated and concentrated, and the resulting concentrate-is solidified, put into; drums,n and' shipped to a commercial licensed disposal facility. -
An additional-amount of solid waste will. be created from fuel rod and assembly-production activities in Building l230. The _ types of contaminated solids that may be generated are combustible materials used for cleaning, protective ~
clothing,-shoes, gloves, contaminated tools, equipment; fixtures, contaminated-Zircaloy tubing, end caps, springs, and.other scrap production parts. After
- the potentially contaminated waste;is analyzed to determine the U-235' contenty the combustible wastes.are incinerated on site. Non-combustible wastes are packaged in 55-gallon' drums. or: metal boxes. for shipment to a licensed low-level burial site.
While there will be an increase in the amount of solid waste generated, the:
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. amount is expected to be low. To reduce-the amount of waste produced, strict control will be maintained on material brought-into the controlled area.-
Combustible wastes will be~ incinerated to reduce the amount of-solid waste to ,
be shipped to a licensed burial site. The increase.in the solid. waste produced by consolidation will not have a significantJimpact on the area.
Prior to release to the environment, airborne effluents from process areas and process equipment are air filtered. While the processes are in operation, particulate filters continuously collect stack samples. - The filters are changed weekly and are analyzed for gross alpha levels after suitable delay ~-
for the decay of the naturally occurring radon daughter products. The licensee's existing control limits will not change for gross alpha activity _in the exhaust air effluents of 4x10 ra Ci/cc, when averaged over a 2-week period, and 150 Ci per calendar quarter.
Prior to consolidation there were 17 exhaust stacks, and af_ter consolidation, there will be 16 stacks. Six of the existing stacks will be eliminated and-replaced with three new stacks._ New stacks will be added in the new pellet-drying area and in Building 230. All new stacks.will be HEPA-filtered to-remove the particulate material in the air stream prior to discharge _to the atmosphere.
The ventilation system for the fuel process areas in Building D0.is designed to move air from uncontaminated to contaminated areas. The specific operations in Building 230 that will be ventilated using_ a centralized HEPA-filtered ventilation system are the_ pellet alignment: tables, the pellet / tube loading blocks, the short stack hood,-and the scrap packaging _ hood.- Other operations in the building may _also-be ventilated _through HEPA filters. The air passing through this system will move-through two-tandem banks of absolute.
HEPA filters, which should remove essentially all of the particulate matter.
The exhaust air will be continuously sampled and analyzed for uranium content.
The air exiting the. filter banks can either be recycled back into the work place or exhausted to the outside atmosphere.
A dose assessment was performed to evaluate if the proposed action would v
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significantly increase the dose to the nearest residence from activities conducted at-the site. The nearest private residence is located 290 meters east-southeast of the plant site. The calculated effective dose equivr. lent to the nearest adult resident is 0.024 mrem. For uraniu.m exposure, the critical organ is the bone surface. The calculated dose to the bone surface is 0.36 mrem.
The calculated doses are well below the annual whole body dose limits set in 40 CFR 190.10 of 25 mrem and 10 CFR 20.105 of 500 mrem. The addition of the fuel rod and assembly work to the current fuel manufacturing operations will not significantly increase the doses to the nearest resident.
Conclusion:
The staff concludes that consolidating all nuclear fuel manufacturing activities at the Hematite facility will not significantly impact the environment surrounding the site. The impact to the area from site modifications has not been significant. While the amount of liquid effluents generated will increase, the existing control limits in place for liquid discharges will not change, and the impact to the environment due to liquid discharges will not be significant. The actual volume of uranium in the air effluents discharged to the atmosphere may decrease because of the additional filters placed on the new stacks. The calculated dose to the nearest resident is well below established federal regulations, if the proposed action is approved, the licensee will be able to terminate the Windsor special nuclear material license and decommission those buildings that had been ured for fuel fabrication, resulting in a net positive impact to the environment.
Alternatives to the Prooosed Ac11gn: The alternative to the proposed action is to deny the license amendment. Denial of the proposed action would mean the licensee would have to continue manufacturing the nuclear fuel rods and assemblies at the Windsor facility, if they were to remain in business. This alternative would only be considered if there were public health and safety issues that could not be resolved to the satisfaction of the NRC.-
Aaencies and Persons Consulted: In completing this assessment, the staff utilized the application dated August 5,1992, and supplemental environmental
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information -dated June 19, 1992,:and November _12p l992. Also,'on-September 3,1992, the staff- visited the- site and discussed the-amendment *
- application with CE personnel.
Findino of No Sionificant Imoact: The Commission has prepared an; Environmental Assessment related to the amendment of Special; Nuclear Material-License-No. SNM-33. On the basis of the assessment, the Commission has concluded that environmental impacts that would be created _by the proposed-licensing action would_not be significant and do not warrant the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement.- Accordingly, it has been determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate, i i
The Environmental Assessment and the above documents related to this! proposed action are available for public inspection and copying at the Commission's.-
Public Document Room at the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street NW.,.
Washington, DC.
OPPORTUNITY FOR A HEARING
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Any person whose interest may be affected by'the issuance ~of this renewal may file a request .for a hearing. Any-request for hearing must;be filed with the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, within 30 days of the publication of this notice in-the Federal' Reoister; be served on the NRC-staff.(Executive Director forl Operations, One
- White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852); on the licensee s .
(Combustion Engineering, Inc..-P.O. Box ~107, Hematite.. Missouri,.63047),.and must comply;with the requirements for requesting a hearing; set.forth in the Commission *s' regulation,10 CFR'Part 2, Subpart LJ" Informal Hearing; Procedures for Adjudications :in Materials Licensing Proceedings."
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-These requirements, which the. requestor must address in detail, are:
- 1. The interest of the requester in the. proceeding;- <
- 2. How that interest may be c affected by thefresults of the proceeding,-including the reasons why the requestor should be-permitted a= hearing;
- 3. The requestor's areas of concern about the licensing activity that - ,
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7 is the subject matter of the proceeding; and
- 4. The circumstances establishing that the request for hearing is timely, that is, filed within 30 days of the date of this notice.
In addressing how the requestor's interest may be affected by the proceeding, the request should describe the nature of the requestor's right under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, to be made a party to the proceeding; the nature and extent of the requestor's property, financial, or other (i.e.,
health, safety) interest in the proceeding; and the possible effect of any order that may be entered in the proceeding upon the requestor's interest.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21 day of December 1992.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Okkits$74i4 John Hickey, Chief Fuel Cycle Safety Branch Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, NMSS u
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DATE 128/92: 12/'Y/92: 12/ /$92: 12//[/92:
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
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