ML20206K011
| ML20206K011 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000354 |
| Issue date: | 04/14/1987 |
| From: | Johnson G NRC OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL (OGC) |
| To: | Paris O Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8704160242 | |
| Download: ML20206K011 (7) | |
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APR 141987 Dr. Oscar H. Paris Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Washington, DC 20555 In the Matter of BABC0CK & WILC0X (Parks Township, Pennsylvania Volume Reduction Facility)
Docket No.70-354
Dear Judge Paris:
In your letter dated March 25, 1987, to counsel for the parties and the NRC staff regarding reconsideration of license condition number 2 of your Decision, you requested that the staff submit a response. You specifically asked that the staff address six questions in addition to any other matters we may wish to address.
The staff's response is attached.
Sincerely, George E. Johnson /s/
by Leland C. Rouse George E. Johnson Counsel for NRC Staff
Enclosures:
As stated
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os Dr. Oscar H. Paris Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 In the Matter of BABC0CK & WILCOX (ParksTownship, Pennsylvania Volume Reduction Facility)
Docket No.70-354
Dear Judge Paris:
In your letter dated March 25, 1987, to counsel for the parties and the NRC staff regarding reconsideration of license condition number 2 of your Decision, you requested that the staff submit a response. You specifically asked that the staff address six questions in addition to any other matters we may wish to address.
The staff's response is attached.
Sincerely, ho E. M g%('c.
e George E. Johnson l
Counsel for NRC Staff l
Enclosures:
As stated cc:
Service List
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cc:
Dr. Oscar H. Paris Armstrong Board of Supervisors Administrative Judge Room 101, Courthouse Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Kittahhing, PA 16201 MS EW 439 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Klaus P. Fischer, Esq.
Washington, DC 20555 Regional Manager Babcock & Wilcox Dennis Paul Zawacki, Esq.
Law Department Attorney-at-Law P. O. Box 1260 1034 Fifth Avenue, Suite 400 Lynchburg, VA 24505 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Thomas F. Defilippi Thomas Y. Au, Esq.
President Assistant Counsel Leechburgh Area School Board 5050 Executive House 200 Siberian Avenue P. O. Box 2357 Leechburgh, PA 15656 Harrisburg, PA 17120 Michael M. Bauser, Esq.
Docketing and Service Section Newman and Holtzinger Office of the Secretary 1615 L Street, NW U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20555 Washington, DC 20036 George E. Johnson, Esq.
Joseph H. White, III Office of the General Counsel 15 Ardmore Avenue U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Ardmore, PA 19003 Washington, DC 20555 Cindee Virostek Director, Research Committee Kiski Valley Coalition to Save Our Children 409 North 8th Street Apollo, PA 15613
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RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS RAISED IN JUDEE PARIS' MARCH 25, 1987 LETTER 4
QUESTION 1 i
What considerations led the Staff to suggest that the off-site monitoring
-contract with the Commonwealth be expanded to include sampling for H-3, C-14, and I-125?
RESPONSE 1 The NRC sponsors a state confirmatory environmental monitoring contracts
' program, the purpose of which is to conduct independent measurements in the environs of selected nuclear facilities to evaluate the quality of licensees' environmental monitoring. The facilities that are the subject of this volun-tary state-federal cooperative effort are, with a few exceptions, nuclear power plants. The B&W facilities at Parks Township have been included in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania program because they have had a potential for 4 -
radioactive releases -that could result in measurable environmental levels of radioactivity.
The States' measurements are intended to duplicate as closely as possible parts
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. of licensees' environmental monitoring efforts, but are made independently of licensee programs. The results of the state contract program are used by NRC in verifying the capability of licensees to measure radioactivity in environmental media. The program augments the NRC inspection program.
e The state contracts program is viewed as a cooperative effort between states and the NRC. Participation by a state is voluntary and may take several forms.
The state may choose to perform both sample collection and analyses, just j
sample collection with the analyses performed by the NRC contract laboratory, the Department of Energy's Radiological and Environmental Sciences Laboratory, or a combination of state and NRC contract laboratory analysis. While most states where power plants exist have elected to participate in the program, a i
l few have declined to participate.
Where states have declined participation, I
the NRC has not funded separate contract environmental monitoring or itself performed routine independent environmental monitoring.
In these states, NRC i
assures adequacy of a licensee's program through onsite inspection of the facility effluent and environmental monitoring programs. Inspections include reviews of such areas as program quality assurance procedures, methods, instrument calibration, training, and records. As part of these activities, i
the NRC occasionally splits effluent samples with licensees and, as necessary, collects its own environmental samples to provide independent checks of e
licensees' programs. Where states have elected to participate, NRC assures adequacy of licensee programs through both onsite inspection activities and i
review of state contract monitoring results.
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2 Confirmatory monitoring contracts'with the states are nego'tiated, facility by facility, on the basis of the environmental monitoring program established at each facility. Therefore, a licensee's environmental monitoring program is established first and then the state contract is negotiated. The licensee's environmental monitoring program and the state confirmatory monitoring program 4
should be in place and operational before the start of operation so that pre-
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operational baseline data can be collected.
B&W is currently required to perform environmental monitoring for ongoing operations at the Parks Township site in accordance with Condition No. 25 of the license.
In addition, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania currently has an NRC-funded state contract for environmental confirmatory measurements.
Presently, neither the licensee's program nor the state contract confirmatory program includes the measurement of the three nuclides, H-3, C-14, and I-125, that are of interest in connection with incinerator operations.
4 Because the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has, in the past, elected to participate in cooperative confirmatory environmental monitoring programs 4
around the five nuclear power stations and the B&W sites located in the 4
Comonwealth, the staff assumed that the Comonwealth would participate in an environmental sampling program that was modified to include H-3, C-14, and I-125 around B&W's Parks Township site.
QUESTION 2 Has the Staff considered or attempted further negotiations with the Commonwealth in an attempt to reach an agreement on the expanded contract?
RESPONSE 2 Yes, the staff ha; had further discussions with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
However, for the reasons set forth in its February 5,1987 letter, the Commonwealth has not altered its position.
QUESTION 3 Does the Staff believe that an attempt to negotiate further might be fruitful?
Please give the reasons for your answer.
RESPONSE 3 I
Yes. Apparently the major part of the Commonwealth's reservation in expanding its current contract was its unwillingness to have its monitoring activities defined as a condition in the license. Once the scope of the licensee's environmental monitoring requirements. are established (see response to question 5), the scope of the Commonwealth's additional participation in the voluntary federal-state program could be explored. This would be more consistent with the procedure hoted in the response to question 1.
In any such further negotiation, NRC budget constraints to provide funding would have to be i
considered.
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QUESTION 4 How essential or desirable does Staff consider off-site monitoring for H-3,
RESPONSE 4 The Staff believes that offsite monitoring for H-3, C-14, and I-125 is important as a supplement to the stack effluent monitoring program to assure that regulatory limits are not exceeded and that environmental impacts will be negligible. Because of the very low levels of releases anticipated during normal operations, the Staff does not believe environmental monitoring will-detect these radionuclides if the incinerator operates as designed.
Nevertheless, obtaining such negative results is one of the purposes of environmental monitoring. The monitoring program should, however, be able to detect abnormal releases due to improper operations or from accidents.
QUESTION 5 If Staff considers such off-site monitors to be desirable or essential, could B&W be required to install them if the Commonwealth continues to refuse to cooperate?
RESPONSE 5 Yes.
In light of the considerations noted above, the Staff has reconsidered its previous evaluation of B&W's environmental commitments (Section IV.D.2.0 of the VRSF System Description Manual, contained in B&W's license amendment application). The Staff will require B&W to expand its planned environmental monitoring program for the purpose of sampling appropriate indicator media for-air and ingestion exposure pathways, analyzing for H-3, C-14 and I-125.
l In addition to B&W's existing environmental monitoring program (License l
Condition No. 25) and the connitments made in its license amendment application i
for the VRSF, the Staff will request that B&W submit, for approval prior to j
authorized operation, a revised and expanded environmental monitoring program I
that incorporates the following provisions:
(1) Sampling and analysis for H-3 in air and in precipitation as part of the routine monitoring program (sampling and analysis for C-14 and I-125 in c ' may be required, subject to evaluation of the program proposed by B&W), (2) Appropriate vegetation samples to be collected periodically and analyzed for H-3, C-14, and I-125, and (3) An evaluation to detemine sampling locations taking into consideration the effect of the incinerator fifty-foot stack.
In addition, particulate air sampling l
will be required and periodic soil samples will be used to assess any buildup of l
particulate activity in the environment. The Staff will require, as a license l
condition, the licensee to establish such a program whether or not the Connonwealth expands its participation in the voluntary federal-state confirmatory monitoring program.
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QUESTION 6~
Does Staff consider the independence of off-site monitors from Licensee control to be important? If so, is there any alternative means of achieving such independence?
RESPONSE 6 The staff considers routine confirmatory environmental monitoring to be desirable but not essential. Licensees, as required by license, are responsible for conducting onsite effluent and offsite environmental monitoring programs with or without independent verification. The NRC, in fulfilling its responsibility to protect public health and safety and the environment, assures the adequacy of licensees' monitoring programs through its inspection program as noted in the response to question 1.
Should NRC's inspections disclose reason to suspect or question the adequacy of B&W's program, the NRC would perform additional evaluations that could include independent sampling and analyses, as considered necessary.
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