ML20211L452
| ML20211L452 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07001193 |
| Issue date: | 07/10/1978 |
| From: | Browne W NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20211L396 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-86-281 NUDOCS 8607020083 | |
| Download: ML20211L452 (3) | |
Text
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, %FeEFile:
Distribution:
- Bocket File IE:HQ(2)
PDR WTCrow LPDR WGBrowne Docket No. 70-1193 10 sa ,
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on License No. SNM-ll74, Amendment No. 2 JBMartin WPBishop RWStarostecki RMBernero APPLICANT: Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation FACILITY: Plutonia Fuel Fabrication Plant, Cimarron, Oklahoma
SUBJECT:
SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT - LICENSE AMENDMENT APPLICATION FOR BACKFILLING THE RETENTION OR
. SETTLING PONDS AND RETURNING THEM TO NORMAL USAGE.
LICENSE NO. SNM-ll74, DOCKET NO. 70-1193, i AMIN 0 MENT NO. 2 Discussion:
The Ke.r-McGee Nuclear Corporation hcs a Plutonium and a Uranim Fuel Fabrication Plant north of Crescent City, Oklahoma, called the Cimarron facility, which was licensed for the fabrication of fuel elements for nuclear reactor fuel assemblies. In the fall of 1975, the Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation decided to teminate the rtimaaron facility operations and clean out both the uranium fuel fabrication plant and the plutonin fuel fabrication plant, and place them in i standby status. Associated with the Cemarron facility were three l ponds, used for the receipt, evaporation and/or disposal of liquid wastes that were, or had the potential for being, contaminated with low levels of urani a contamination, and two ponds with a lining that contained all liquids, which wem used for the receipt, evaporation and/or disposal of liquid wattes that had the potential for or were actually contaminated with very low levels of plutonium contamination.
None of these five ponds have been used since December 1975, and Kerr-McGee would not use these ponds again, even if operations were resuned.
Kerr-McGee allowed the liquid in these five ponds to evaporate, and then they removed the sludge and mud that had accumulated in the bottoms of the ponds. The sludge and mud were placed in dras and mixed with cement. When the mixture hardened to a solid concrete, the dras were
! shipped off-site to a licensed commercial burial site. The bottoms of l
the ponds were washed clean, and samples and survey measurements show
.that only trace amounts of uranim or plutonium remain on the pond bottom.
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Kerr-McGee submitted a license amendment application on August 19, 1977 presenting the data from their sampling of soil beneath the pond bottoms and requesting authority to backfill the five ponds. They will fold the lining from the sides of the lined ponds into the bottom, then backfill the ponds to bring the surface level into substantial agreement with the surrounding topography. The unlined ponds would be disced to unifornly mix any contamination in the 10 inches of soil directly under the bottom of the pond, then backfill them until the surface matches the surrounding topography. The backfilled areas would then be seeded with grasses to stabilize the soil in a manner similar to that in the surrounding areas.
The NRC and the State of Oklahoma decided to verify the Kerr-McGee data-by independently sampling the pond bottoms in November 1977 cnd having these samples analyzed for urani c and plutoni m content. The sample data obtained was documented in a memorands to Robert L. Craig, Director, Radiation Protection, Oklahoma State Department of Health, dated March 1, 1970, from P.obert D. Delano, Chemist, Radiochemistry Laboratory, and in a letter to Mr. W. 3. Shelley, Director, Regulation and Control, Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation, dated February 3,1978, from William L. Fisher, d Acting Chief. Fuel Facility and Materials Branch, Region III, MRC.
Mr. Craig, in his cover letter to Mr. Shelley dated March 2,1978, stated that "the concentration of radioactive materials in the soil in these areas is less than those concentrations which are exempted from regulation under the Radiation Protection Regulations (Section 4.2).
After reviewing your plans for decommissioning the ponds, and in view of the above, your plans are approved as required by Section 13.3 of the regulations." Mr. Fisher stated: "However we note from visual comparison of the two sets of results that Kerr-McGee analyses are generally
- more conservative (higher) than the enclosed MRC results."
Following a review of all the data on pond bottom sampling, the data were sent to Mr. Clinton Spotts, Chief, Federal Assistance Branch, Region VI, Environmental Protection Agency Dallas, Texas, for his information and review. In his letter to Mr. R. W. Starostecki. Chief, Fuel Reprocessing and Recycle Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety, NRC, he stated: "The levels of residual radioactivity in the plutonim evapora-tion pond following decontamination are generally quite low and well under EPA's recomended " screening level" for plutonium in the general environ-ment (0.2 micro-C1/m2 - this is a conservatively developed level at which, for most situations, radiation dose will not exceed 1 mrad /yr. lung dose or 3 mrad /yr. bone dese)." He concludes the letter with the following orrecs >
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a 3-statement: "In conclusion, the method outlined by Kerr-McGeee appears to be appropriate to return the pond areas to a condition suitable for safe unrestricted use."
On the basis of the extensive investigation and reviews that have been made, it is recomended that this Amendment No. 2 to License No. SNM-ll74 be approved.
/s/ W. G. Browne W. G. Browne Fuel Reprocessing and Recycle Branch Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety i
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