ML20164A089
| ML20164A089 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Erwin |
| Issue date: | 06/01/2020 |
| From: | Freudenberger R BWXT Nuclear Fuel Services |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards |
| References | |
| 21G-20-0054, ACF-20-0150, GOV-01-55 | |
| Download: ML20164A089 (5) | |
Text
21 G-20-0054 GOV-01-55 ACF-20-0150 Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.
June 1, 2020 Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- Attention: Document Control Desk 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852
Reference:
- 2) NRC Regulation 10 CFR 70.17, "Specific Exemptions"
- 3) Federal Register Notice, Vol. 55, No. 93, Page 19890, "Proposed Rules,"
dated May 14, 1990
- 4) Federal Register Notice, Vol. 56, No. 159, Pages 40757 and 40758, "Rules and Regulations," dated August 16, 1991
- 5) Letter from NFS to NRC (21G-19-0054, ACF-19-0110), "NFS Request for Exemption from 24-Hour Reporting Requirement of 10 CFR 70.50(b)(1),"
dated May 15, 2019
- 6) Email from James Downs (NRC) to Amaryl Morie (NFS), "Request for Additional Information - Exemption Request from 24-hour Reporting Requirement," dated March 12, 2020
- 7) Email from James Downs (NRC) to Amaryl Morie (NFS), Response to Due Date Extension - Exemption Request from 24-hour Reporting Requirement, dated March 20, 2020
- 8) Letter from Nima Ashkeboussi (NEI) to Aaron Szabo (NRC), "Industry Comments on the Information Collection for Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear Material," dated October 27, 2017
Subject:
Response to NRC Request for Additional Information (RAI) Concerning Exemption Request from 24-Hour Reporting Requirement Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., (NFS), hereby submits the additional information requested on March 12, 2020 (Reference 6). The attached NFS reporting resource estimates are consistent with those previously provided by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) on behalf of its fuel cycle facility members (Reference 8).
If you or your staff have any quesUons, require additional information, or wish to discuss this transmittal, please contact me, or Ms. Amaryl Morie, Licensing Manager, at 423-743-2579.
Please reference our unique document identification number (21 G-20-0054) in any correspondence concerning this letter. /v /vi _5 S 2 D Sincerely, NUCLEAR FUEL SERVICES, INC.
x.L1!f-~
Richard J. Freudenberger
. Safety and Safeguards Director 1205 Banner Hill Rd, Erwin, TN 37650 People Strong
't: +1.423.743.9141 f: +1.423.743.0140 www.nuclearfuelserviceS.c6m INNOVATION DRIVEN >
210-20-0054 GOV-01-55 ACF-20-0150
Attachment:
Response to NRC Request for Additional Information (RAI) Concerning Exemption Request from 24-Hour Reporting Requirement AAM/pj Copy:
Mr. James Downs Technical Program Manager Division of Fuel Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Two White Flint North 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852-2738 Regional Administrator U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 245 Peachtree Center Ave., NE, Suite 1200 Atlanta, GA 30303-1257 Mr. Joel Rivera Senior Fuel Facility Inspector U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region II 245 Peachtree Center Ave., NE, Suite 1200 Atlanta, GA 30303-1257 Mr. Larry Harris NRC Senior Resident Inspector
21G-20-0054 GOV-01-55 ACF-20-0150 Attachment Response to NRC Request for Additional Information {RAI)
Concerning Exemption Request from 24-Hour Reporting Requirement (2 pages to follow)
21G-20-0054 GOV-01-55 ACF-20-0150 Response to NRC Request for Additional Information (RAI)
Concerning Exemption Request from 24-Hour Reporting Requirement
- 1. Granting the requested exemption would require the NRC to make determinations in accordance with 10 CFR 70.17, which include, in part, finding that the exemption is in the public interest. Your application states the exemption would allow resources to be focused on other activities of higher significance. However, no data was provided to quantify the resources saved.
Granting the exemption would reduce the level of transparency to the public of unplanned contamination events. An estimate of the resources saved is needed to make a finding that a reduced level of transparency is justified. The resource estimate should be limited to costs incurred by reporting the event. Costs associated with investigations and corrective actions that would be performed even if no report was made should be excluded from the estimate.
Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., (NFS), takes regulatory responsibilities very seriously and commits a significant amount of time and resources to the process of evaluating and, if
- necessary, preparing an event report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Operations Center. Specifically, the time spent preparing the initial evaluation per 10 CFR 70.50(b)(1 ), the resources required for the necessary investigation, and the 30-day follow-up report required by 10 CFR 70.50(c) is demanding in nature and substantial in resources.
The total man-hours necessary for unplanned contamination event reporting are approximately 620 hours0.00718 days <br />0.172 hours <br />0.00103 weeks <br />2.3591e-4 months <br /> or $102,000 per year.
NFS asserts that granting this exemption would not reduce the level of transparency to the public of unplanned contamination events. Spills or contamination events are documented in the NFS Corrective Action Program (CAP). In addition, a full time Senior Resident Inspector (SRI) is assigned to NFS. The SRI has unfettered access to and routinely tours and inspects the Radiologically Controlled Areas (RCAs) of the facility. The SRI has computer access to the NFS CAP. In the course of completing core inspections during a calendar year, the SRI has the opportunity to observe operations and maintenance activities in NFS' RCAs and follow up on issues such as radiological spills and contamination events. Each calendar year the NRC SRl's follow-up activities at NFS are supplemented by approximately 30 hours3.472222e-4 days <br />0.00833 hours <br />4.960317e-5 weeks <br />1.1415e-5 months <br /> of core inspection review of NFS' Radiation Protection (RP) program by an inspector from NRC Region II. The annual RP core inspection includes a review of RP-related events in the CAP. The results of the inspections are documented in quarterly inspection reports, which are publicly available in the NRC Agency Document Administration and Management System.
Additionally, the Proposed Rule (Reference 3) to amend regulations to revise licensee reporting requirements regarding notifications of incidents related to radiation safety states:
"The intent of these amendments is to require prompt notification (either immediately or within 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />) to the NRC of events that would require prompt action by the NRC to protect public health and safety or the environment." The specific events, as noted in this Proposed Rule and NFS' request from Exemption from the 24-hour reporting requirement (Reference 5), are located in an RCA and pose no public health and safety or environmental risk. Therefore, these events do not meet the intent of the Proposed Rule.
210-20-0054 GOV-01-55 ACF-20-0150 Similarly, the Final Rule (Reference 4) amending regulations to revise licensee reporting requirements regarding incidents related to radiation safety states: "This action is necessary to ensure that significant occurrences at material licensee facilities are promptly reported to NRG to that the Commission can evaluate whether the licensee has taken appropriate action to protect the public health and safety and whether prompt NRG action is necessary to address generic safety concerns." Again, the specific events, as noted in this Final Rule and NFS' request from Exemption from the 24-hour reporting requirement (Reference 5), are located in an RCA and pose no public health and safety or environmental risk. These types of events do not require NRG action to protect public health and safety; the events also do not require prompt NRG action. Therefore, these events do not meet the intent of the Final Rule.
Also, 10 CFR 70, Subpart H requires NFS to perform Integrated Safety Analyses (ISAs),
limit the risk of credible high or intermediate consequence events, identify Items Relied on for Safety (IROFS), and satisfy performance requirements. Certain IROFS failures, exposures, and failures to satisfy the performance requirements are already required to be reported per 10 CFR 70, Appendix A.
Finally, it should be noted that the nuclear power reactors, research and test reactors, and site-specific and standalone independent spent fuel storage installations are not subject to a similar reporting requirement for unplanned contamination events.
NFS believes this request to grant an exemption from the 10 CFR 70.50(b)(1) reporting requirement is consistent with NRC's Principles of Good Regulation and is in the public interest as it provides clarity, reliability, and consistency with the regulatory reporting requirements of licensees with comparable RP programs. Furthermore, NFS' significant expenditure of resources due to this reporting requirement will then remain focused on activities of higher safety significance at NFS.