ML20210D733

Environ Assessment & Finding of No Significant Impact Re Util 870521 Request for Exemption from 10CFR70.24 Re Criticality Accident Requirements for Irradiated SNM Samples.Eis Will Not Be Prepared

ML20210D733
Person / Time
Site:	Three Mile Island
Issue date:	06/08/1992
From:	Weiss S Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
Shared Package
ML20210D728	List: ML20210D723 ML20210D729 ML20210D733
References
NUDOCS 9206180012
Download: ML20210D733 (4)

Text

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l 7590-01 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION GPU NUCLEAR CORPORATION QQCKET NO. 50-320 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is considering issuance o,f an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 70.24, criticality accident requirements relative to facility Operating license No. DPR-73, issued to CPU Nuclear Corporation (the licensee), for the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 2 (TMI-2), located in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. By Order for Modification of License, dated July 20, 1979, the licensee's authority to operate the facility wat suspended and the licensee's authority was limited to maintenance of the facility in the shutdown cooling mode (44 FR 45271). By further Order of the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, date February 11, 1980, a new set of formal license requirements was imposed by order to reflect the post-accident

-condition of-the facility and to assure the continued maintenance of the safe, stable, long-term cooling condition of the facility (45 FR 11292). These license conditions and those imposed by subsequent orders were formally incorporated in the TMI-2 license on January 27, 1987. The license provides, among other things, that it is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the Commission now or hereafter in effect.

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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Identification of Prooosed Action:

The action being considered by the Commission is exemption from 10 CFR 70.24 requirement for a monitoring system capable of detectine a ~riticality accident in special nuclear materials (SNM) storage areas. The need for such a system at THI-2 is obviated by the use of safe mass limits and safe geome-tries in the SNM storage areas.

The Need f~or the Proposed Action:

The exemption is necessary to grant relief from criticality monitoring

' requirements that are burdensome and not needed for safety purposes.

Environmental Imoacts of the Procosed Action:

The proposed action will have m etaironmentai impact as it only affects the installation or lack thereof of electronic instrumentation in SNM storage areas. Thus, this exemption will not change the types, or allow an increase in the amounts of effluents that may be released to the environment.

Individual and cumulative occupational radiation exposure would actually p decrease slightly as the need to use iadioactive sources to periodically i calibrate the criticality monitors would be obviated. The SNM storage areas will be criticality safe by mass limit and geometric limits. Therefore, the Comm .on concludes that there are no significant radiological impacts associated with the proposed exemption.

With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed exemption involves features located entirely within restricted areas as defined by 10 CFR Part PO, It does not affect nonradiological plant effluents and has no l

a other environmental impact. Therefore, the Commission concludes that there )

are no significant nonradiological environmental' impacts associated with the l

proposed exemption.

Alternatives to the ProDosed Action:

Since the Commission concludes that there are no significant environ-mental effects associated with the proposed exemption, any alternatites with equal or greater environmental impacts need r.ot be evaluated.  ;

1 The principal alternative would be to deny the requested action; this 1 would increase the environmental impact by increasing occupational radiation exposure to personnel calibrating the in'. .aents using radiation sources.

Alternative Use of Resources:

This action does not involve the use of resources not previously consid-ered in the final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement fer TMI-2 dated March 1981 as supplemented.

fl@ LNG OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT

~. sed upon the foregoing environmental assessment, the hRC staff con-

- cludes that this. action will not have a significant effect on the quality of '

the human environment. Accordingly, the Commission has determined not to ,

prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed exemption.

For further details with respect to this action, see the letter from GPUN,-Request for Exemption from 10 CFR 70.24, dated May 21, 1987. This document is available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20555, and at the local public document room located at the State Library of

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Pennsylvania, Government Publications Section, Education Building, Conrnon-wealth and Walnut Streets, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17126.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 8th day of June 1992.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 1 i

M Seymour H. Weiss, Director Non-Power Reactors, Decommusioning and Environmental Project Directorate Division of Reactor Projects - lil/lV/V Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

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