ML20147B854
| ML20147B854 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000820 |
| Issue date: | 11/04/1978 |
| From: | Shum E NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20147B844 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7812180070 | |
| Download: ML20147B854 (4) | |
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{ DOCKET NO.: 70-820 1 -
ifj APPLICANT: United Nuclear Corporation l
. s,s FACILITY: Fuel Recovey Operation, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island -- -
SUBJECT:
EfNIR0fHENTAL REVIEW OF LICENSE AMENDHENTS TO AUTHORIZE THE EXTENSION Of THE EXISTI!G NORTH BAY FACILITY AND USE OF TilIS EXTENSI0ft FOR SOLID WASTES RECLAMATION AND TO EVALUATE THE EfWIR0fEENTAL IMPACT ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACTION LEVEL SET BY THE APPLICANT ON RADIOLOGICAL 4
GASEOUS EFFLUENTS
, Background By letter dated March 22, 1978, United fluclear Corporation (the applicant) applied for a license amendment (License Siti-777) to request authoriza-tion on the extension of the existing North Bay facility and use of this extension for solid wastes reclamation. In addition, the licensee requested the replacement of existing license conditions 16 and 18 which involve the establishment of action level on radiological gaseous effluents. -
In connection with this license amendr::ents application, the applicant ,
submitted infonnation on March 22, 1978, and supplemental infomation on May 12, 1978.
Discussion A. General Description of the Reclamation Operation to Recover Uranium from Lagoon Residues In the fuel recovery process of the United Nuclear Corporation, liquid ;
wastes containing minute quantity of uranium is generated. This liquid '
waste is discharged to the waste treatment system and then into lagoons and holding ponds. The basic operations involved in the lagoon and holding pond system include treatment with lime to neutralize any free acids, conversion of uranium and fluorides to insoluble salts.
The applicant's proposed license amendment is to construct a two-story building (70 ft. by 46 ft.) in area extending the main process area to the north. This new building is used to house equipment for the removal of uranium frcci the solid residues remaining in the lagoon.
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- h. Reclamation of the uranium from lagooned residues is accomplished by
} separation of the solids from the chemically neutralized processing 4
} wastes, dissolution and chemical adjustnent, large-volume extraction.
5 transfer f' rom the extractant to an aqueous solution, and transfer of
, ,, this very low uranium concentration solution (ffew ppm range) to the
. main process area for concentration and re-entry into the main process
_ stream. This is shown as a flow diagram in Figure 1. This operation - , . , ,
is a' relatively small operation compared with the main proceS of fuel #n.
recovery and involves only annominal of about 350 gm of U-235.
B. Environmental Impact of the proposed Action
- 1. Environmental Impact of Construction The ground area covered by the building foundation is presently covered by impermeable asphalt or concrete. There is no newly dis-turbed area and no change in the groundwater recharge area. The building involves only an area of 70 ft by 46 ft. The staff has considered the potential impact on the effect of generation of dust, noise, traffic, labor force, etc. and because of the s'nall scale construction activity involved, the staff cencludes that the extention of the present building to form an extended north bay will not have an adverse impact on the environment.
- 2. Environmer,tal Impact of prooosed Operation e
The operation of the uranium removal process from lagoon residues may result in the release of minute quantity of uranium in the air effluent. The air effluent stream is either filtered or scrubbed Defore it is released into the environment. The exhaust through the stack will be continuously sampled and analyzed for gross-alpha activity. The applicant has set action levels on the total quantity lant
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. operation not exceeding 25 uC (alpha) per week or 1300 pC/yr.of radio repre:ents tho maxirm total quantity of radioactivity released per year based on the direct projection of 52 weeks per year.) In actuality, the average annual release rate which w1s measured from July 1976 to June 30, 1977 was only 160 9C/yr. The 25 pC/ week action level is to allow operation rate fluctuations. However, the staff has evaluated the individual dose connitment at the maximum nearest residence (914 meters WSW from site) under both release rates. The meteorological data used to caluclata atmospheric dispersion is from on-site measurement as sumarized in the applicant's Environmental Report (ER) submitted for license renewal action in December 1974.
For dose calculation through inhalation pathway the staff assumed
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). that 50% of the uranium released is insoluble and 50% in * : soluble
} fom with an average particle size of 0.5 um. Dose conversion
! factors derived from the Task Group Lung Model W were used for i* the calculations. For dose calculation through injestion pathways,
. r. the ORNL's INREM Codet21 was used and the staff conservatively i assumed 100% food consumption at the nearest residence. The results are sumarized in Table 1.. , . _ ,, g
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Table 1 Estimated Maximum Annual Dose to an Individual at the harest Residence Organ Dose (millirems)
Action Level Release Rate Actual Annual Measured Release Rate Pathway Lung Bone- Lung Bone Inhalation 16.1 0.4 2.0 0.05 Injestion --- 2.4 --- 0.30 Total 16.1 2.8 2.0 0.35 Even though the applicant's operation is not included among the facilities as specified in the radiation standards of 25 m-rem /yr -
limit set by EPA in 40 CFR Part 190, the criteria can be used for comparison. As shown in Table 1, the estimated dose to an individual at the nearest residence is below the 25 mrem /yr standard set by EPA even under maximum action level release rate. Therefore, there is no adverse impact associated with the radioactivity released from the applicant's normal operation. The appiteant's proposed action is a relatively small operation compared to the overall plant operation, the contribution of radioactivity from this particular action to the overall release is expected to be insignificant.
U) Task Group on Lung Dynamics of Comittee II of the International Comission on Radiological Protection, " Deposition and Retention Modes for Internal Dosimetry of the Human Respiratory Tract,? Health Physics 12:173, 1966. -
(2)INREM Code - A Methodology for Calculating Dose from Radioactivity Released to the Environment ORNL-4992, March 1976.
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. The nonradiological air effluent released involves mostly carbon i
dioxide and small amounts of N0x. The environmental imppet associated i
1 with this release is expected to be insignificant.
[ The 1"iquid waste generated from this proposed operation will be
- g confined in the lagoon system. There will be no solid waste released i
into the environment from this operation.
r' " " >" ~ ~ ~I" " iE~j N '- @ 2 4 Conclusion'~' " ' '
' ~ * "' t The applicant's proposed operation to recover uranium fran lagoon residue is a relatively small operation;and as discussedaabove, the environmental impact associated with the construction of the facility building and the operation is expected to be insignificant. Although the source tem for the effluents released for the proposed operation cannot be measured at the present time, the applicant has set an action level on the total quantity of radioactivity released from all the stacks .
fran the overall plant operation not excee<ling 25 uC (alpha) per week or 1300 uC/yr. The staff has evaluated arn concluded that even under this maximum action level release rate, trere is no adverse impact associated with the radioactivity released from the overall operation of the plant. The licensee has used scrubbers or HEPA filter to further reduce the amount of radioactivity released in the stacks; and in actuality, the measured average annual release rate of air effluent from the overall operation showed a total release of only 160 pC/yr (measurement conducted fran July 1976 to June 30,1977). Thus, the staff concludes that the licensee's air effluents control system has -
satisfied ALARA; and approval of the license amendments is recommended.
In addition, the proposed license amendments action is not deemed to be a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of human ,
4 environment;and thus, pursuant to 10 CFR 51, Section 51.5(d)(4), an -
l environmental impact statement, negative declaration, or an environmental I impact appraisal need not be prepared.
l Origir.al Signed bp E. Y. Shum Fuel Processing & Fabrication Branch Division of Fuel Cycle and -
Material Safety h -
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