ML20153C094
| ML20153C094 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Maine Yankee |
| Issue date: | 08/04/1998 |
| From: | Collins S SENATE |
| To: | Rathbun D NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20153C088 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9809230338 | |
| Download: ML20153C094 (3) | |
Text
_
e
- .. SUSAN h COLUNs cowumns LA804 AND MUMAN El$0@CES
~
' ; """"i',' ',O", o'c'%',""
"ni *,t""
m.~.'...
UDittd $tatts $tDatt WASHINGTON. DC 20510-1904 August 4,1998 Mr. Dennis K. Rathbun Director, Office of Congressional Affairs Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555
Dear Mr. Rathbun:
Please find enclosed a copy of comments from one of my constituents, Mr. H.G. Brack of Hulls Cove, Maine. Mr. Brack is concerned about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's recent adaptation of concentration averaging guidelines and the applicability of these guidelines to the disposal of the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company's intact reactor vessel at the Barnwell, South Carolina, facility.
I would appr:ciate it if you could respond to his concerns directly, providing me with a copy of your response. Thank you in advance for your assistance with this matter.
Sincerely, N hn AA e 4
Susan M. Collins United States Senator SMC:mde Enclosure l
f l
W 9809230338 980916 3
E.
PDR ADOCK 05000309 M
PDR y
y o msnoo~aieveacema $$
=
e:
4'
- Authod: Skip Brack <ebrack9p2.ccedia.nst> at internst of khte:
7/23/98 1:01 PM
(
O Priority: Normal TO: senator at Collins-DC
Subject:
Reactor vessel disposal with GTCC internals intact I spoke with Virgil Autry of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Land and Waste Management, on Monday, July 20, 1998, Iabout the disposal of the MYAPC reactor vessel with GTCC (Greater than class C) reactor vessel internals intact at the Barnwell facility. He indicated
'that all the GTCC reactor vessel components had to be cleared out of the resetor before it could be sent to the landfill.
He also indicated that the state of South Carolina would follow all NRC guidelines. These guidelines l
allow disposal of class C wastes in any form at Barnwell. He did not seem j
to be familiar with the new NRC policy on concentration averaging which l
allows reactor vessels with GTCC internal components to be disposed of as class C wastes. As a result of this conversation I wrote an inquiry to Virgil on Monday. I have not yet heard back from the state of South Cerolina. Today I have sent a more formal inquiry to the Attorney General l
of the state of South Carolina asking for clarification of their position on l
concentration averaging.
l I thought I would email interested parties a copy of this correspondence.
Any additional information, citations, comments, feedback or cicrification l
is welcomed. Recipients of this email are welcome to download a recent i
report issued by the Center for Biological Monitoring
(" Patterns of f
Noncompliance: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and The Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company: Generic and Site-Specific Deficiencies in Radiological Surveillance Programs") which references these issues in l
Section II-G, parts 5-8, pages 68-70.
Also see Section II-F part 2 and Section III overview and Part A.
Please note that in the MYAPC reactor l
vessel inventory (1987) reproduced in Appendix 3 of this report, the GTCC l
components are scheduled to be segmented out of the MYAPC reactor vessel and disposed of in 109 shipments. The 109 shipments are necessary for less than 300 cubic feet of GTCC wastes because, even in 1987, the NRC had a defacto concentration averaging guideline which allowed GTCC wastes to be l
sited as class C wastes, l
July 23, 1998 i
Cffice of Attorney General l
P.O. Box.1159 Columbia, SC 29211 Daar Charles Condon:
I would like to bring to your attention that the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company (MYAPC) is currently using and hopes to continue utilizing Chtm-Nuclear's Barnwell low-level nuclear waste landfill during the reactor decommissioning process. The licensee is planning to dispose of the reactor vessel with the internals intact at Barnwell as is now allowed by the NRC (see SECY-97-164, U.S. NRC, August 25, 1997 and Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging apd Capsulation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U. S. 7' IRC, Manuary 17, 1995).
i l
This week I called Virgil Autry, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Land'and Waste Management, and he provided me with conflicting information in regards to intact reactor vessel disposal.
He indicated no GTCC (greater than class C) reactor vessel components would be
_~..., _
~
- -~ -. - -. -
', ccc:ptsd et B rnwall in cny form end indicatsd that tho internal componsnts
') yould',hnva to be rcmoved from tha reactor vsssel prior to its burial.
Ha cloo indicatsd that Barnwall will acespt only class C westes (along with
}* clees A and B).
?
Ths NRC's practice of concentration averaging of radioactive wastes means that the entire reactor vessel package with internals intact is now considered class C radioactive waste, and internals will only be classified as GTCC wastes if they are segmented out of the predominantly class A reactor vessel and sited separately.
I faxed a letter to Virgil asking for clarification.
I would now like to make the same request to your office as I made_to Virgil Autrv.
u Can the state of South Carolina provide clarification of its current A
position on NRC concentration averaging guidelines and how they impact,, 2 intact reactor ves el disposal at Barnwell?
Uhst is the legal basis for the state of South Carolina to overrule the NRC's concentration averaging guidelines, which allow intact reactor vassels to be disposed of as class C wastes, and instead require thet the rsactor vessel internals be separated out for independent disposal prior to reactor vessel disposal at the Barnwell facility?
.Thank you for your assistance in answering the questions raised by the NRC's recent adeptation of concentration averaging guidelines.
These guidelines have the potential to save MYAPC ratepayers +/- 100 million dollars by pilowing the prompt disposal of the MYAPC intact reactor vessel at the parnwell facility. The citizens of Maine appreciate the willingness of the state of South Carolina to accept MYAPC decommissioning-derived class C wastes as directed by the recent guidelines issued by federal authorities.
Yours truly, H.
G. Brack I
cc. Stephen Ward Uldis Vanags Michael Webb Michael Meisner Citizen's Advisory Panel Canter.for Biological Monitoring. Inc.
Sponsor of RADNET: Nuclear Information on the Internet SOURCE POINTS OF ANTHROPOGENIC RADIOACTIVITY World Wide Web at http://home. acadia. net /cbm BOX 144, HULLS COVE, ME 04644-0144 207/288-5126 FAX:207/288-2725 EMAIL:
sbrack9p2. acadia. net
]
I
_ _.,