ML20209F513
| ML20209F513 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 04/13/1994 |
| From: | Randy Hall NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| To: | Chase G, Wichers D, Worman G AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED, BEAR CREEK URANIUM CO., PATHFINDER MINES CORP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20209F412 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9907160043 | |
| Download: ML20209F513 (8) | |
Text
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p, as s UNiicD STAT 18 3- . NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
{ l AEoloN IV
\ **"** / unAusuu ascovsav mato omes oeuvca.Ei.Nonoosms APR 1319N URL 1 LE)ILM PJR: AlIACHED LIST OF LICENSEES, APPLICANIS, AND STATE Ladiss and Gentlemen:
This is to confirm our meeting on April 19, 1994, at 1:00 p.m. It will be held in Room 1127 (first floor. East Wing) of the Wyoming's Herschler Building, Cheyenne, Wyoming. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss with licensees. applicants, and the State, proposals for discharging liquid affluents from uranium recovery facilities. The objectives are to explore discharge options that might prove usefu' in complying with Federal and State regulations, discuss some general guidelines for addressing both radiological and nonradiological constituants in the affloants, anci cliscuss infomally the draft policy position that NRC is developing on discharging effluents based on 10 CFR Part 20. I A copy of the draft position is attached for discussion purposes only. please be aware that as a draft, it has not been approved by NRC management and is therefore subject to revision. In the extreme esse, the Commission could decide to not issue the policy.
If you have any questions on the draft policy, please call any of the following:
Josep'< Holonich 301-492-3391 Myron Fliegel 301-492-2155 1.atif Hamdem 301-492-2528 Ramon Hall 303-231'5800 Edward Hawkins 303-231-5800 Sincerely.
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Ramon E. Hall Director
Attachment:
As stated 9-9907160043 990712 Enclosure 1 PDR ORG NOMA ;
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DRArT DIRCCTIVE ON RELEASE OF EFFLUENTS FROM URANll31 REC 0VERY FACILITIES ,
' PURPOSE: This direct.lve provides general guidance for review of proposals for release of effluents from licensed uranium recovery fac111ttes, including urantum mills and in situ leach operations.
The guidance is intended to assist NRC reviewers, but should also ,
be useful to Itcensees and applicants submitting proposals for effluent releases from existing or planned urantue recovery operations.
DISCUSSIUN: In situ leach uranium recovery operations generate excess water from three liquid waste streams: production bleed, ground-water sweep, and permeate and reject brine water from reverse osmosis -
operations used for treatment of contaminated water.
Production bleed is ground water extracted from the aquifer in excess of injected water, during operations, in order to maintain a not ground-water inflow into the recovery zone and minimize or eliminate the migration of lixiviant and dissolved source material outside the recovery zone. Ground-water sweep is ground water extracted at the end of a uranium recovery operation after injection has stopped, in ordar to remove the remaining source material and aid in restoring ground-water quality in the recovery tone. Permeate and reject brine water are Generated by reverse l osmosis operations that are used for additional treatment of contaminated water during restoration.
Excess water from r. ills that arc in reclamation or standby may include ground water recovered from corrective action, programs required by 10 CFR 40, Appendix A Criterion 5, water recovered from tailings dewatering activities, and tatilngs liquor that needs to be disposed before reclamation car proceed. For operating mills, excess water may also include tailings liquor.
Evaporation ponds have generally constituted the most common practice for dl>pusal of contaminated water at licensed uranium recovery operations. Water is evaporated, and the remaining sludge is properly disposed of in the tailings pile or in a licensed facility. Evaporation ponds that are installed, operated, and closed in conformance to the provisions of Appendix A, 10 CFR Part 40, provide an acceptable method for disposal of contaminated water and will be approved on a site-specific basis by'15tc.
Alternative practices have been proposed by licensees and license appitcants for release / disposal of contaminated water from uranium recovery operations. These have incit.ded discharge into surface waters, land applications including use for onsite irrigation, and injection in deep wells. Proposals to use these methods at
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2 specific sites will be considered and evaluated by staff, mainly on the basis of the regulatory provisions for waste disposal in Subpart K of 10 CTR Part 20, as described in the following paragraphs.
Proposed releases of licensed materials by discharging them into surfat.u welers will be treated as releases in effluents. and authorized according to the provisions of $20.2001(a)(3), which requires that licensees / applicants comply with the dose limits for individual members of the public in 120.1301. These limits include the total effective dose equivalent to individual members of the public (0.1 res/ year) as well as the dose in any unrestrteted area tros external sources in any 1 hour1.157407e-5 days <br />2.777778e-4 hours <br />1.653439e-6 weeks <br />3.805e-7 months <br /> (0.002 rem in any I hour). In addition, these provisions permit a licensee to apply for Commission authorization in advance to operate up to
' an annual dose limit for an individual member of the public (0.5 ree), which the Commission may generally authorize on a temporary basis and/or under special circumstances involving existing facilities (th ese designed prior to January 1994). The regulations in 420.1301 also reouire that licensees coeply with the provisions of EPA'.s generally applicable environmental standards in 40 CFR Part 190. In some cases, the Commission may impose additional restrictions on radiation levels and on the total cuantity of radienuclidas that may ha relaasad in affli. ants in order to restrict the collective dose at a particular site.
In order to demonstrate compliance with the dose limits for individual members of the public in $20.1301, licensees and applicants who are applying for a permit to discharge licensec materials into surface streams are required to do so according to the provisions of 120.1302, which requires that licensees (1) demonstrate compliance with the dose limits for individual numbers of the public by conducting surveys of radioactive materials in affluents to unrestricted and controlled areas; and (2) show compliance with the annual dose limit by demonstrating, by measurement or calculation, that the total effective dose equivalent to the individual likely to receive the highest dose from the licensed operaLion dun not exceed the annual dose limit; OR, by demonstrating that the annual average concentrations of released radioactive materials do not exceed the values specified in Table 2 of Appendix.B to 520.1001-520.2401, and that the dose from external sources to a continuously exposed individual would not exceed the established standard (0.002 res/ hour and 0.05 res in a year). The provisions of $20.1302 also permit licensees, i upon approval by the Commission, to adjust the effluent concentration values in Table 2 of Appendix 8 to $20.1001-620.2401 for members of the public to take account of the actual characteristics of effluents that will be released.
Proposed releases of licensed materials by such methods as land applications, including onsite irrigation,' deep well injection, or other methods not specified in Part 20, will be authorized under r
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the provisions of $20.2002, which requires that licensces and applicants prepare and submit applicauons of the prcposed methods to the Connission for review, evaluation, and approval.
Applications will include an analysis and documentation of waste l characteristics, environmental conditions, and potentially affected facilities, and a demonstration that doses will be as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) and comply with the dose limits in Part 20. Proposals to release affluents through land applications including effluent use for onsiLe irrlystion will need to analyze projected concentrations of contaminants and toxic substances in the soil and/or vegetative cover over time, and the ,
J associated long-term impacts on ground water, surface water, and 1and uses, including particularly crop production and the i possibility for toxic substances to reach the food chain.
Proposals to use deep well injection for effluent release will need to demonstrate the injection zcne is not classified as a useable or potentially useable aquifer, is confined, and that there is no likelihood that the injected contaminants will contaminate anothar aquifer through cross contamination.
Licensees and applicants considering release of licensed materials under the provistors of either $20.2001 State, and or $20.2002 requi local regulations governing any other toxic or hazardous properties of discharged effluents, as required by 10 CFR Part (20.2007.
In addition to the above requirements under part 20, all applications for release of licensed materials from uranium recovery operations need to demonstrate that the released effluents will not be returned to an aquifer or any other source of uscabic or potentially useable ground water, or that the groundwater protection standards in Appendix A to 10 CFR Part 40 will not be violated. ,
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Power Resources, Inc. Power Resources. Inc.
ATTN: Paul Hildenbrand ATTh: Steve Morzenti P.O. Box' 1210 1560 Broadway, Suite 1470 Glenrock, Wyoming 82637 Denver, Colorado 80202 Pathfinder Mines Corporation Pathfinder Mines Corporation North Butte ISL Operations- ATTN: Lee Nugent ATTN: Donna L. Wichers - Shirley Basin Mine 935 Pendell Boulevard S'n irley Basin, Wyneing 82615 Mills, Wyoming 82644 Energy Fuels Nuclear, Inc. Rio Algon Mining Corp.
ATTN: William J. Almas ATTN: Bill Ferdinand !
One Tabor Center, Suite ~2500 6305 Waterford Blvd., Suite 325 j 1200 Seventeenth Street Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73118 ;
Denver, Colorado 80202' Ferret Explcration Company of Hydro Resources, Inc.
Nebrasks, Inc. ATTN; Mark Pelizza ATTN: Steve Collings Uranium Resources, Inc.
216 Sixteenth St. Mall, Suite $10 12750 Merit Drive, Suite 1210, LB 12 Denver, Colorado 80202 Dallas, Texas 75251 Bear Creek Uranium Mr. Ernest Y. Scott ATTN: Gary Chase Salt Lake Slag Products P.O. Box 366 P.O. Box 130 Casper, Wyoming 82602 Magna, Utah 84044 Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Cheyenne, WY Director, Dennis Hussmer Land Quality Division Director, Roger Shaffer !
Water Quality Division Director. William Garland i David Finley, Solid and Hazardous Waste Division Director I
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MEETING WITH URANIUM MILL LICENSEES AND WYOMING .
I MEtTING
SUMMARY
DMg: April 19, 1994 .
1 Location: State Office l i
Cheyenne, Wyoming Attendees: Attachment 1 Staff from the Division of Waste Management and the Uranium Recovery Field !
Office met with several uranium recovery licensees and Wyoming officials. j Several licensees in Wyoming and other ?tates had either formally or )
informally requested approval from NRC to discharge excess water, from ground i water remediation at conventional mills and from operations at in situ mills, l rather than evaporate it.
Several licensees discussed their situations and proposals. Power. Resources, Inc. discussed its proposal for land application of excess water at its Highlands in situ mill. Ferret Exploration discussed its proposed deep well injection at its in situ mill in~ Nebraska. Pathfinder Mines discussed several deep well injection options that it is looking at for disposal of excess water at its Shirley Basin mill site. Energy Fuels Nuclear discussed its proposal j for land disposal of excess water at its proposed Reno Creek in situ mill, a whose application is currently undergoing NRC license review.
NRC staff then discussed a draft guidance directive that described acceptable ways of disposing of excess water. The guidance discussed discharge into surface water bodies, deep well injection, and land application of cxcess water. Licensees made some suggestions to clarify the guidance. Wyoming offi'ials stated that they had no objections to NRC allowing licensees to dispose of excess water as described in the guidance.
Enclosure 2
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LIST OF ATTENDEES U.S. NRC Licensees Ed Hawkins.
Joe Holonich ' Gary Chase Myron Fliegel Bear Creek Uranium UPRC Latif Hamdan ,
George Worman Wyomina'DE0 Oscar A. Paulson Kennecott Uranium Co.
Dennis Hemmer John Wagner Donna L. Wichers Bill. Garland. COGEMA Mining Co.
Steve Ingle- .
. Georgia Cash . Steve Collings Dave Finley Ferret Nebraska Robert Lucht Jake Strohman Mark S. Pelizza Bill Hogg URI/PRI Mark Moxley Bill Almas i Terry Wetz Energy Fuels Nuclear Strat Murdock Pathfinder Mines Corp.
George L. Hoffman ,
Hydro-Engineering l Marion Lommis i i
Wyo. Mining Assn.
Bill Kearney Paul Hildenbrand PRI Bill Ferdinand Dennis Stover Rio Algom 4 Glen Catchpole Uraner2/ Ferret 1
Attachment 1 g
ADDRESS LIST Gary Chase Bear Creek Uranium Bill Kearney P.O. Box 366 Paul H;'.Jenbrand Casper, Wyoming 82602 Power Resources, Inc.
P.O. Box 1210 George Worman Glenrock, Wyoming 82637 Oscar A. Paulson Kennecott Uranium Co. Bill Ferdinand P.O. Box 1500 Dennis Stover Rawlins, WY 82301 Rio Algom Mining Company Radiation Safety, Licensing &
Donna'L. Wichers Regulatory Affairs Pathfinder Minds Corporation 6305 Waterford Blvd., Suite 325 North Butte ISL Optrations Oklahoma City, OK 73118 935 Pendell Boulevard Mills, WY 82644 Glen Catchpole Uranerz/ Ferret Steve Collings -
Ferret Exploration Company of Nebraska, Inc.
216 Sixteenth St. Hall, Suite 810 Denver, CO 80202 Mark S. Pelizza Hydro Resources, Inc.
Uranium Resources, Inc.
12750 Merit Drive, Suite 1210, LB 12 Dallas, TX 75251 Bill Almas Terry Wetz Energy Fuels Nuclear, Inc.
One Tabor Center Suite 2500 1200 17th Street Denver, CO 80202 Strat Murdock Pathfinder Mines Corp.
George L. Hoffman Hydro-Engineering Marion Lomis Executive Director Wyoming Mining Association P.O. Box 866 Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003 l
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