ML20206N185
| ML20206N185 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000008 |
| Issue date: | 06/24/1986 |
| From: | Rouse L NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20206N165 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8607010396 | |
| Download: ML20206N185 (7) | |
Text
'. * . 7590-01 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COP 9tISSION NOTICE OF ISSUANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND FINDING 0F NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AMENDMENT OF MATERIALS LICENSE N0. SNM-7 BATTELLE COLUMBUS LABORATORIES VOLUME REDUCTION DEMONSTRATION FACILITY WEST JEFFERSON, OHIO DOCKET N0. 70-8 The U S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) has issued an Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact in connection with a request to amend NRC Materials License No. SNM-7 which would authorize operation of a low-level radioactive waste Volume Reduction Demonstration Facility (VRDF) at the Battelle Columbus Laboratories (BCL) site in West Jefferson, Ohio.
Identification of the Proposed Action Battelle has proposed to operate, as a demonstration project in connection with their nuclear sciences operations, a facility for the purpose of reducing the volume of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) generated by nuclear power utilities and industrial and institutional users of radioactive materials. The VRDF would process LLW supplied under the terms of negotiated contracts with
> waste generatort as well as waste from Batte11e's nuclear and medical research operations. Battelle would use a controlled air incinerator to reduce the volume of combustible LLW, including contaminated oil and scintillation fluids.
The expected throughput would be about 270,000 cubic feet per year of combustible waste. Volume-reduced LLW, in the form of incinerator ash, would be shipped by truck to licensed disposal sites or returned to the waste generators.
8607010396 860624 PDR ADOCK 07000008 C PDR :
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2 Reasons for No Significant Environmental Impact The reasons why the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment are as follows:
- 1. Construction and operation of the VRDF would be consistent with local land use patterns. It would be built within 1000-acre tract of land owned by BCL, which is in an area that contains several small industrial / institutional developments. Since the VRDF would be constructed within the bounds of the BCL-owned property and adjacent to the Nuclear Sciences Area that contains several buildings, no significant additional disruption on the plant and animal life of the area is expected.
- 2. Airborne effluents from normal operation of the VRDF would result in concentrations of radionuclides in air less than one percent of the NRC annual limits at the site boundary. The radiation dose to the maximally exposed individual would be substantially less than the limits of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Air Act standard, 40 CFR 61 (25 mrem /yr whole body and 75 mrem /yr thyroid) .
- 3. Non-radiological dirborne effluents from normal operation of the VRDF are expected to be within the limits set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (0 EPA).
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- 4. There would be no liquid effluents resulting from operation of the VRDF, except for an increase of about one gallon per minute of water for domestic uses, including potable water and water for sanitary facilities.
- 5. Calculated radiation doses resulting from postulated accidents in the VRDF would not be cause for any protective actions under EPA's Draft Protective Action Guidance.
- 6. Transportation of LLW to and from the VRDF would not significantly increase the amount of traffic or highway deterioration, nor would the risk from normal or accident conditions in transport be significantly affected.
Summary of Environmental Assessment In accordance with 10 CFR Part 51.30, the Environmental Assessment of the Battelle Volume Reduction Demonstration Facility identified the proposed action (as briefly described above) and included a discussion of: need for the VRDF, alternatives to operation of the VRDF, the environmental impacts of construction and operation of the VRDF and alternatives, agencies and persons consulted, and identification of sources used in preparing the assessment.
With a lack of new LLW disposal sites and an increasing volume of waste being generated by nuclear power utilities and industrial / institutional users of radioactive materials, the need for waste volume minimization and reduction has become apparent. Battelle recognized the need for volume reduction as a
4 commercial venture and proposed the VRDF to help fill that need, by demonstrating 4
- r the safety, technical effectiveness, and cost effectiveness of incineration as a method of LLW management.
Since the proposed VRDF would be at the site of existing facilities operating 1
under an NRC license, references to the ongoing activities were used in the environmental assessment, including provisions of the NRC license, a previous NRC environmental assessment, and an analysis of the effects of natural phenomena. The latter was used extensively in describing the site environment with updated information obtained as the result of a site visit and contacts with local sources.
Information about the VRDF operations, processes, and facilities, including methods of waste confinement and effluent control, was obtained from reports and descriptions submitted by Battelle as part of the application for license amendment.
The quantities and composition of incoming LLW from nuclear power plants and industrial / institutional generators were estimated by the NRC. The NRC's estimates of radionuclide composition were used in subsequent determinations of quantities and composition of VRDF end-products and effluent releases.
The radiological effects from normal operations including transportation were calculated independently and found to be insignificant. In addition, the non-radiological effects were evaluated, including a review of dioxin formation and destruction in incinerators. Battelle has an effluent and environmental radiological monitoring program, and the NRC will require more frequent sampling
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and additional monitoring as appropriate for the VRDF. However, at the projected low-level concentrations for routine stack effluent, representative sampling and accurate measurement may be difficult, particularly for tritium, carbon-14 and io' dine-125. Therefore, the NRC will also require semiannual reports analyzing the correlation among incoming waste, system performance, and emissions as an aid in determining the reliance that can be placed on information contained in incoming shipment manifests and administrative limits on effluents (tritium, carbon-14 and iodine-125).
The impacts of several postulated accidents in VRDF operations and transportation were evaluated in the assessment. Other accidents were not evaluated, but were bounded by those that were. The calculated impacts are realistic estimates; and the projected doses, for a frame of reference, are less than the annual limit for radiation workers.
No alternatives to operation of the VRDF were identified as being clearly superior, either in greater benefit or less impact.
Other Related Environmental Documents Battelle prepared an Environmental Assessment for Demonstration Incineration Operations and a Report on Safety Related Information for the Battelle VRDF i
which were submitted as part of their application for license amendment.
Finding of No Significant Impact The Commission's Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety has prepared an l
6 Environmental Assessment related to the amendment for the operation of the Volume Reduction Demonstration Facility at Batte11e's West Jefferson site.
On the basis of this Assessment,-the-Commission-has determined not to
- ErrJ t - +yw prepareanEnvironmentalImpact.Statementfortheia,c,tionandhasconcluded that a Finding of No Signif.icant Impact is appr,o g ,ipte. _
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Availability of Finding!of No Significant Impact 41 and Environmental Assessment M M ;i in qt'he Applicant's Environmental
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This Finding, the Staff's Envihonmental Assessmen;;lj uti AssessmentandReportonSafetyRelatedInformat(ogareavailableforpublic inspection and copying at-the. Commission's Public-Do ument Room, 1717 H Street, NW.,
Washington, DC. - Qq :
~ N Dated at Silver Spring, Maryland,' this AY ' day'o~f June 1986.
FOR THE U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 1RIGINAL SIGNT.D BY:
Leland C. Rouse, Chief Advanced Fuel and Spent Fuel Licensing Branch Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety l .
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