ML20136A923
| ML20136A923 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07001113 |
| Issue date: | 10/31/1985 |
| From: | Crow W NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20136A909 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8511200076 | |
| Download: ML20136A923 (5) | |
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p: o 7590-01 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION FINDING 0F NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AMENDMENT OF SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIALS LICENSE N0. SNM-1097 GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA DOCKET 70-1113 The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is considering amending Special Nuclear Materials License No. SNM-1097 for the offsite burial of industrial waste products generated by the General Electric Company's (GE) uranium fuel fabrication facility at Wilmington, North Carolina.
Environmental Assessment
-Identification of the Proposed Action: The proposed action would archorize GE for the offsite burial.of industrial waste products generated as a result of fuel fabrication operations. The basis for the proposed method of disposal is Option 2 of the Branch Technical Position paper, " Disposal or Onsite Storage of Thorium or Uranium Wastes from Past Operations", which assesses the disposal by burial of radioactive materials that contain not more than 250 pCi/g of uranium, of which no more than 100 pCi/g is soluble. The intended burial site for the industrial waste is a U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and State of South Carolina licensed hazardous waste facility located in Pinewood, South Carolina.
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2 Need for the Proposed Action: Currently, industrial waste from GE's fuel fabrication operations are stored onsite. The recent advanced chemical treat-ment of the aqueous waste streams for the removal of uranium has resulted in lowering the uranium concentration of the industrial waste to use Option 2 of the Branch Technical Position as the basis for disposal.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action: Due to the nature of the pro-pose'd action, no significant change in gaseous or liquid effluents from the GE facility is expected, therefore, the following discussion will be limited to assessing the potential for environmental impacts resulting from the handling and disposal of solid waste from GE's fuel fabrication plant.
A. Solid Waste Most of the industrial waste consists of calcium fluoride sludge. The sludge is precipitated from the aqueous waste stream generated during fuel fabrication operations. As stated previously, advanced chemical treatment of the aqueous waste stream has resulted in significantly reducing the uranium concentration in the sludge. The uranium concentration is low enough to use Option 2 of the Branch Technical Position as the basis for disposal.
The environmental impacts associated with disposal under Option 2 have been analyzed under all possible conditions. Under the normal situation, i.e., land and water use controls, the dose is expected to be lower than doses assessed under Option 1 of the Branch Technical Position for unrestricted use.
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Burial of the industrial waste products will be at the GSX Corporation hazardous waste facility in Pinewood, South Carolina. Operations at the GSX facility must meet EPA 40 CFR 265 requirements for land and water use controls. In the event the GSX facility faces closure, the EPA requires a plan for the future care and use of the property be submitted and a notice added to the deed of the property restricting use of the land.
These conditions for the operation of the GSX hazardous waste facility are consistent with the criteria given by Option 2 of the Branch Technical Position.
B. Transportation Prior to loading the waste into trailers for transport to the GSX facility, the waste will be dewatered. Therefore, very little free water is expected to be present. In. addition, the trailers used in the transport of the waste are engineered so that material remains within the confines of the trailer.
In the unlikely event of an accident during transport, exposure to the waste would be via inhalation. However, the industrial waste products are in a solidified form (sludge), thus dispersion would be localized.
Therefore, in the event of an accident, potential doses to the general public are expected to be insignificant.
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4 Conclusion-
- Based _upon.the information presented above, the environmental impact associated with the offsite burial of industrial waste generated from GE's Wilmington
- facility .is expected to be insignificant. ~. conditions for the burial of the waste products shall meet Option 2 criteria to assure protection of the environ-ment. In addition, operations at the GSX facility are subject to State of South Carolina and EPA requirements for environmental control and monitoring. There-
. fore, the' disposal by burial of industrial waste products is not expected to
- have an significant environmental impact.
Alternative to the Proposed Action: One alternative to the proposed action is
' the disposal of the industrial waste products at a licensed low-level radio-active waste site. However, the large volume of waste and its low-concentrations of radioactive materials makes it more practical, from the standpoint of risk to ,
the public health and cost benefit, to justify the disposal of the industrial l waste products at a hazardous waste facility.
. Furthennore, land use controls at the hazardous waste facility meet and/or exceed the minimum qualifications of Option 2 of the Branch Technical Position.
Therefore, exposure to the general public and environment is expected to be minimal.
A second alternative would be to deny GE's application. Such an alternative would be considered only if significant issues of public and safety could not be resolved to the satisfaction of the regulatory authorities involved.
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Agencies and Persons Consulted: The NRC staff reviewed the licensee's i application dated July 1, 1985, and its supplements dated September 10, and October 10, 1985, and did not consult other agencies or persons.
Finding of No Significant Impact: The Commission's Division of Fuel Cycle and l
Material Safety has prepared an Environmental Assessment related to the amend-
-ment for the offsite burial of industrial waste products generated by GE's Wilmington, North Carolina, fuel fabrication facility. On the basis of this Assessment, the Commission has concluded that the environmental impact created by the proposed action would not be significant and does not warrant the pre-paration of an Environmental Impact Statement. Accordingly, it has been determined that a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.
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, 1717 H Street, NW., Washington, DC. Copies of the Environmental Assessment may be obtained by calling (301) 427-4510 or by writing to the Uranium Fuel Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
Dated at Silver Spring, Maryland, this 31st day of October 1985.
FOR THE U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Originr.1 signed bit W. T. Crew W. T. Crow, Acting Chief ,
Uranium Fuel Licensing Branch Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety, NMSS OFC: FCUP :FC E . :FCUF : : : :
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NAME:KKodali/as:VLTharpe :WTCrow : : : :
DATE:10/2//85 :104)?V85 :10////85 : : : :
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