ML20210E006

Forwards Retirement Plan for Facility.Early Approval of Proposed Blanket & Sodium Onsite Storage Requested.Fully Detailed Retirement Plan Cannot Be Developed Until Questions Re Blanket & Sodium Storage Settled

ML20210E006
Person / Time
Site:	Fermi
Issue date:	01/19/1973
From:	Alexanderson E POWER REACTOR DEVELOPMENT CO.
To:	Muntzing L US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC)
Shared Package
ML20210D960	List: ML20210D957 ML20210D971 ML20210D985 ML20210E006 ML20210E037 ML20210E061 ML20210E067
References
NUDOCS 8609220078
Download: ML20210E006 (10)

Text

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POWEn REACTOR DEVELOPMENT COMPANY AT - 7L R eceWesBAftete 1911 FIRST STREET W DETROIT,MICIIICAN 48226 P....PTT.,

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TEL EPDeOMEs NEWPOR T. NICHIC AN January 19, 1973 Wr. L. Hanning Huntzing Director of Regulation g U. S. Atomic Energy Coussissica W Washington, D. C. 20545

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Dear Mr. Huntzing:

. FADC is currently engaged in preparing the reactor fuel for

• shipment to Savannah River for reprocessing. Actual ahtonent is  ;

ccheduled to start before the end of January. j Simultaneously, FRDC has been devalopic 'rement plan for the plant. The premises for this plan , aitted in FRDC's letter to you dated April 28, 1972 and were uti:ized in PRDC's financial projections submitted to the Commission last year. Enclosed with this letter is a more detailed outline of the plan.

In connection with the retirement plan, it should be remembered that a significant portion of the Fermi I plant (i.e., that part of the  :

I electric generating system starting with and downstream from the second-ary sodium system where it enters the steam generator building) is owned by The Detroit Edison Company. This Edison-owned portion is non-nuclear

., and has no radioactivity. We understand that Edison plans to continue, 3 as in the past, to use the Fermi I turbines for peaking power utilizing T fossil fuel. In addition, Edison plans to install at least two 1100 Mwe boiling-water reactors on the site. One of these reactors is already l 4

a der construction.

In view of the foregoing, the retirement plan relates principal-

. ly to the portion of the Fermi plant owned and operated by PRDC, and tckes into account the added protection afforded by the fact that the  :

r; tired plant will be physically a part of a sizable complex of nuclear '

fccilities.

It is anticipated that at an appropriace time, PPDC will be i dissolved and E.fison will assume responsibility for the entire plant Since retirement costs and post-retirement curveillance expenses are censitive to the parameters of the retirement plan, the nature of the mmmmar 4.10

FowER' REACTOR DEVEtorMENT CAMPANY Mr. L. Manning Muntzing ~2- January 19. 1973 arrangement between PRDC and Edison cannot be definitired at least unti}

AEC action in principle is forthcoming on those aspects of the pisn which, if not approved, would result in major increases in previously estPnated costs. The two principal items in this category are co-site storagc of '

the radial blanket subassemblies and of the primary sodium. Fcr example, the incremental cost of removal, shipment and burial of the radial blanket is estimated at about $2.2 million.

In terms of PRDC's schedule for fuel removal and sodium drainage >

of the rasetor, PRDC needs to determine by the end of .Tebruary *dhether or not the blanket elements can, as proposed, be: left in the reacter. Delsy beyond that time will result in the added costs of having to mark time.

Also, until the questions of blanket and sodium stcrage are settled, PP.DC cannot develop a fully detailed retirement plan together with propcsed technical specifications to cover the retired facility. <

for all the foregoing reasons, early approval of the prPPosed blanket and sodium on-site storage is requested. If thir approval cannot at this stage be given definitively, then PRDC requests that sue.h approval .

be given in principle subject to provision of such further inforzation er action as the Commission may require and/or subject to subcequent agreement by The Detroit Edisen Company. In this latter connectica, Edison hss informally expressed to FRDC its concern about the fincncing of Llan}.et removal and burial should such acticn be required by the Commissicc at some future time, j Va weald be glad to cry to ans'ser any questions you or your staff may have. )

Ve truly yocs ,

a hVg (

• Eld % L. Alext.nderson Gencral Managt.r T bcce M. L. Batch J. B. Nims '

ELA/dem R. C. Callen R. G. Rateick Enclosure W. L. Cisler W. W. % ite A. P. Dennell H. A. WagncT cet Mr. John R. Hamann J. B. Denniston C. H. K utmore -

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Vice President Y.. P. Johnson P. Erickson - AEC l The Detroit Edison Company J. E. Mayern R. Schemel - ([C W. C. Marrirton A. A. Ehoudy E. C. Newton E. H. Pagt

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towta RU.cloot DEVELOPAa7 COMPAW _

RETIRFXDtr PLAN El e

Disregarding the fuel, which is being shipped off-site, the princip.a1 a kontces of radie setivity presently on-cite are: (a) the axial blanket sectior.s g of the core subast.+.ablies, (b) the radial blanket cubassemblies, (c) the pri: nary W sodium, (d) activated materials within the primary system ani (e) miscellaneous.  ;

contaminated faqvipment curside the reactor building. As met forth more. fully belev, scene of this radioactive material will be shippel,off-site a.r.d some will he stored on-site. Insofar as such material remains on-site, the relevant .

I sys,tems or attorate areas will be sealed or otherwise isolat.ed and appropriate monitoring, sorveillse,:e, acd related progr.ac.s put inte effect. A:tess to a'rean whe.r~ e radioactivity rsmains will be limited to authorised personnel. Added protection C11'. be provided I;y the secess-courrel and sarveillance prot, rams

" associated with ct!er auchar reactors ncw under construction c:r planned for the g '

site. M -

1. ,Radicactive Blanket Elements After shipment of fuel is completed, the. axial blanket sections of the fuel subasstablies will be shipped off-stte fer disposal sit a !.icensed burial .

site. Contracts will be pitced Gith Nuc. lear Engineering or e rsinnilar crganiza- <

tion to provide for the trt.nsportation and buriel and for any licenses or per- l t

mite required to carry cut this activity.

All radial blanket subasse.nblies ocV in the reactor vessel (approximately

• 37 inner radial b2ankets and approximately 484 cater radial blankuts) are t.o be i left ic place. Other radial blanket subassemblies now in the pools may be returned tg the reactor, to the decay tank in the reactor building, or shipped to a litensed L'arial site. The activat.fon levels ard pirtonium centent associa-ted Vith ,*.hese cliements as calculated for Jsine,1,1973, ate listed in Table 1. l The less than 6 Kg of plutcaiva involved in distributed in over 25.000 Kg of depleted uranium and at a lnaximum concentratio c. of abeut 0.1% of the urantuta. ,

b i T'nere will be two 1100 !!we BWRs on t'ne site with :far raors plutoniun involved. I The priniary rystum of which the reacter vesssi is a part will be sealed, a sarveillance progran will be establishedt and access to the facility will bc ILuited to authorized personr.el, all sis more fully de9cribed below. In FRDC's t judgnent, leaving the radial blanket elecents in place appears to.bn at least as satisfactory a d18Fosition of this materiel as off-site barial,would be. ,

2. Miscellaneous Contatrinated Equipment and Paterials

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l Unirradiated radial blanket subassemblies, donmy subassemblies, sources, i and other miscellaneous tctivated uaterials and e.quipr.ent will be stored in ,

the reactor or shipped to a licensed burial site. Sous, mis.:allaneous contami-l nated or other equipnent nct shipped to a burial site will be dismantled and l utored in the equipment decay tanks within the reactor building. The a nount g "

I and attivity of this equipment las not yet been idantified. .5 4.12

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F P093 REACTOR DeMimMENT CCMFANY L

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3. raiioactive Endi'ra ,

Radioactive pris.ary caodiun and modium from the transfer tank in the Fuel and Repair Luilding (FARB) will be stored on site. The sodium in the l

' prirary system will be syphoned to the sodium servica building and allowed to f reeze in the three 15,000 gallen storage tankr. In the sodium Storage Roc"a and in the cold trar, hot trap, and plugginF meter system in the Cold Trap Room. These two rooms are described in I.N. 4 of the H.S.R. and will I

he closed so as.to prevent entry except through a door which is either locked or welced 'ahst or by removal of part of a shield wall. An inert nitrogen cover gas 'ander s11gnt positive pressure will be maintained over the frozen i

sodium in the storage tanks. In the event that the indicated repositories do not provide sufficient capacity, auxiliary storage capacity will be pro-vided or the excess radioactive modium will be shipped off-site for burial.

l The activity levels asrociated with the sodium to be so stored, as calculated for June 1,1973, are listed in Table 2.

R I'-

The method of dealing with residual radioactive codium in the transfer tank and in the cold Crap in the TARB has yet to be decided.

4. itcactor' Building Penetrations, 1

These penetrations are described in Table 110.1 of the H.S.R. Sodium and 1ts piping will be cut and capped just external to the building. One j of the above-floor ventilation pipe penetrations of the building will not be capped bot vill cantsin an absolute filter co permit the building to brev he. Electrical anti instrumentation penetrations will be lef t as is.

The three personnel and equipment access penetrations will be dealt with as follova: the equipoest door, which is op2rable only from the inside, will I be lolted closed; the emergency mirlock will be changed so as to provide exit o

but not entry; the perscnnel airlock will be locked on the cutside.

5. Sealing of the Primarv System l

After transfer cf the primary nodium to the sedium service building, the primtry system will be cooled. fy sealing, a Ecs-tight system will then I be forn.ed consisting of the prosent primary sodium system plus the primary l abield tank, the machinery dome, and the primary sodium service and secondary sodium systems out to che caps pinced on the pipes. This system will then be back filled with carbon dioxide which will react with the recidual sodium to l form an inert solid compound Na2CO 3 . Carbon dioxide gas will be maintained under positive pressure within the t.ealed system. The activity levels h

W associated with t*nis system, exclunive of the radial blankets, are shown in Table 3 as es1culated for June 1,1973.

If it were necessary to remove the radini blanket subarsedlies from the I

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reactor versel at some later date when nurmal fuel handling equipuent is no

4. n 1

PowEn REACTOR DEVE14PMENT COMPANY

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. longer operable, the CIDs could be removt.d from the rotating shield plug.

Through this large accesa hole, tools could be inscrced to remove the subassemblies into a chielded contciner.

6. The Secondary Sodium System Sodium fo: this acn-radioactive syatem has been drained to storage tanks from which it will be recavered and sold. The residual sodium in the piping and equipment external to the building will be reacted, probably with steam, so that chare is no hazard from fire or from hydro-gen formation. Components of the system can then be salvaged or scrapped as time peruits and need fcr the space for other uses arises.

7. Reactor Auxiliary and Fuel Handling Systens Pools and waste liquid tar.ks will Ire drained, flushed and cleaned of any significant contamination. All componects of the waste gas, clean gas, recirculating gas and steam cleaning systems will be cleaned of significant contamination if possible. Whenever (and if) this is not possible, the component will be saaled and access to the etea made such that entry can be gained only through well locked doors cr by removal of heavy shielding plugs.

8. Facility Area Fene_e_

Either (a) the present fence (see Figure 501.5 of the H.S.R.) will be maintained intact or (b) it will be rerouted so as to allow easier access to uncontaminated areas. In either event, chete will be a single access gate manned continuously by a security guard or locked.

9. Alministrative and Technical Files -

L Legally required anf other significant records will be retained. The li Letroit Edison Company is expected to be ghe file custodian once PRDC is dissolved.

l l 10. Surveillanc.e

a. Physical Barrier Inr.pection, Visual inspection of the fence and buildings will be made weekly to l determine that the physical barriers are intact, and gates and doors are properly locked.

b. Cover Cas Pressu3 Nitrogen cover tas will be maintained over stored sodium, and entbon

dioxide cover gas will be ma{ntained over those systems .containing i residaal radioactive soditra. The cover gas pressure of each of thesc

• Systems which can be completely closed by welding will not need a controlled atmosphere 4.14

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Powsa RE C1DR DEVEIAPNENT COMPANY l

systems will be maintained at approximately 1 psig. A low pressure switch will energize a light located in a continuously manned control room. The alarm systems will be tested (uarterly.

c. Water Seepage

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'm To detect the presence of water seepage into regions which contain g stored or residual radioactive sodium, water detectors will be installed.

Alarms for each of these regions will be located in a control room and monitored continuously. Those regions selected for water seepage surveil-lance are:

1) The space between the biological shield and the

, Reactor Building

2) Primary sodium overflow tank pit

3) Primary sodium cold trap room

4) Primary sodium storage tank room

- The alarm systems will be tested quarterly.

d. Environmental Radiation Survey To verify that no detectable release of radioactive material has occurred, samples of 1) airborne dust, 2) precipitation, 3) surface water, and I 4) drinking water will be sampled quarterly and analyzed for gross alpha, gross bets and gamma activity according to the following:

Sample Measurement Airborne Dust Gross Alpha, Cross Beta Precipitation Gross Alpha, Cross Beta and Gamma Surface Water Gross Beta Drinking Water Gross Beta Sampling locations will be selected from those shown in the present technical specifications. Once Detroit Edison's full Fermi 2 monitoring program is in effect, these items will automatically be covered and available in Edison's reports.

, e. Facility Radiation Survey Radiation surveys will be made to check for the presence of gamma radia-tion and transferable contamination. Gamma radiation measurements will be made using portable survey instruments and the contamination checks using smears. Surveys and smears will be made of the following areas on e 4.15 1

POWEn REACron DEVELOPMENT COMPANY

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quarterly ba, sis. ,

pntalment Building

1) Fxit port area

2) M&chinery dome - door and window seals

3) Operating floor Fuel and Repair Building

1) Cold trap room access semis Auxiliary Butidings l

1) Cold trap room seals,

2) Godium storage room seals

11. Administrative Cortrols A person will be designated to control the keys to the locked gate and doors and to control authorized entry into restricted areas. The results of the environmental and facility radiation surveys will be reported to the AEC qJarterly in writing. An annual renort on the status of the deactivated facility will be submitted to the A!:C. Unusual events will be reported to the AEC as required by license and by means of the annual report. Records k or logs will be kept with respect to the environmental and facility radiation W l surveys, water seepage, testing of the cover gas and water seepage alarm l

. systems, inspection of the physical barriers and unusual events.

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January 22, 1973

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TABLE 1 CALCULATED ACTIVITY OF THE RADIAL BLANKET DUE TO FISSION PRODUCTS AND STAINLESS STEEL (June 1. 1973)

Fission Products Attivity (Curies)

Sr-90 (28.8 y) 1900 Y-90 (64 hr) 1900 Y-91 (61 d) 300 l Zr-95 (65 d) 400 Ru-106 (368 d) 1000 Rh-106 (30 sec) 1000 Sb-125 (2.7 y) 70 Cs-137 (30 y) 1700 Ce-144 (282 d) 15000 Pr-144 (18 m) .- 15000 Pm-147 (2.6 y) 800 Total Fission Products 39000 Stainless Steel co-58 (71 d) 70 Fe-59 (45 d) 1 Co-60 (5.3 y) 440 Cr-51 (28 d) 50

, Total Stainless Steel 510 Total 39500 PLUTONIUM CONTENT OF THE RADIAL BLANKET Isotope Mass (kg)

Pu-239 5.92 Pu-240 .002 Pu-241 5 x 10' Pu-242 %0 Total 5.92 4.17

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, TABLE 2 ACTIVITY OF STORED PRIMARY SYSTEM SODIUM (Curies)

B Isotope Total Activity

.. B 137 Cs 1.7 Sr 90 y,7 Na 0.4 All Others <0.04 3, Total 3.8 i

Stored Quantity - 356,000 lb.

Based on previous aseasurements, final B

values to be based on measurements in progress In addition, activity in the primary sodium service system coid trap is estimated to be 5 curies. Principal isotopes are Cal 37 and Sr90 4.18

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TABLE 3

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CALCULATED ACTIVITY OF STAINLESS STEEL WITHIN THE REACTOR VESSEL

-d ' (NEGLECTS BIANKET SUBASSD(BLTES) s, (June 1,1973) i 1

Activity Source (Curies)

Component Co-58 Fe-59 Co-60 Cr-51 Total Control & Safety Rod Qiannels Portion in Core , 21 L .9 L 30 Portion in Blanket 1 L .9 L 10 Portion between Blanket E and holddown L L .9 L 1 Molddown Mechanism Inner Region +1 1 158 L E Outer Region (R > 41.cm)

Shield Bars L L 70 L 158 70 12 .3 105 .1 117 Thermal Shield E Lower Upper

,- 1 L

.2 L

88 9

.1 L

89 9

Holddown Coluan L L 4 L 4 Safety Rods - Poison Section Lower L L L L --

Middle L L L L --

Upper L L L L --

Rotating Plug L L L L Support Plates .7 .3 965 .1 975 Support Structure .1 .1 35 L 35 Support Structure Shielding .2 .1 35 . L 35

.* low Baffles L L 2 L 2 Conical Flow Guide L L L L -

Imwer Reactor Head Shielding L L 18 L 18

' Transfer Rotor L L L L --

OEM L L 6 L 6 Reactor Vessel - Negligible -

Total 36 <2 1514 <2 %1550 L = less than 0.1 curies 4.19

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