ML20217D068

Forwards First of Planned Series of Progress Repts Re Status of Remediation & Decommissioning Work Underway at W Waltz Mill Site Near Madison,Pa

ML20217D068
Person / Time
Site:	Waltz Mill, 07000698
Issue date:	10/07/1999
From:	Bowman B, Nardi A WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY, DIV OF CBS CORP.
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM), NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
References
NUDOCS 9910140169
Download: ML20217D068 (8)

Text

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Wes6nghous Box 355 i Electric Company Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 15230-0355 4

October 7,1999 Document Control Center U.S< Nuclear Regulatory Commission

' Washington, DC 20555-0001 L

Regional Administrator ~

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Region I c475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406-1415 Dear Sirs; .

Subject:

_ Status of Remediation and Decommissioning Projects Underway at the i Westinghouse Waltz Mill Site - License Number SNM-770 and TR-2.

- Attached is the first of a planned series of progress reports regarding the status of the remediation and decommissioning work underway at the Westinghouse Waltz Mill Site near Madison,i PAL This work has been undertaken under License Number SNM-770 l

~ (Westinghouse Electric Company) and License Number TR-2 (CBS Corporation). The primary purpose of this communication is to keep allinterested parties appraised of the progress being made towards the' shipment of the Reactor Tank from the Westinghouse Test Reactor, which ,

. is scheduled for May 2000. '

Although the site work is being conducted under two licenses, all work is being conducted by

. the same group of personnel and many work elements are interrelated. This report on the combined activities is presented for the convenience of all parties involved. Upon completion of the Reactor Tank shipment, it is expected that the continued need for this form of communication will be reevaluated.

lf you have any questions conceming the information contained in the attached report, please

. contact A. J. Nardi at 412-374-4652. l Sincerely, I r

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A. ' seph Nardi, Supervisory Engineer Broadus M. Bowman, Project Director

. Environment, Health and Safety TR-2 Decommissioning L Attachment -

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~ Mr. Mark C Roberts, Senior Health Physicist -

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region I 475 Allendale Road Kmg of Prussia,'PA. 19406-1415 Mr. Theodore S. Michaels, Senior Project Manager I Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning Project Directorate 4_  : Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission I

Washington, DC 20555-0001

- Mr.' James Yusko, Regional Manager Radiation Protection .

l Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection l 400 Waterfront Drive ' I Pittsburgh, PA 15222-4745 Mr. Richard W. Boyle Office of Hazardous Materials Technology Research and Special Programs Administration U.S. Department of Transportation DHM-20 400 7th St., S.W.

Washington, DC 20590-0001 '

~ Mr. Richard K. Smith, Director Environmental Remediation -

CBS Corporation 11 Stanwix Street, Room 383 '

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Waltz Mill Remediation Projects Progress Report - September 1999 This progress report summarizes the Waltz Mill activities for both the TR-2 Decommissioning Project and the SNM-770 Remediation Project.

l. Critical issues

1. SNM-770 Remediation Plan work that has been authorized by the NRC and remains to be completed includes remediation of Retired Facilities (in progress), clean-out of the Process Drain Line (in progress), and decontamination of the Liquid Waste Retention Basin (in progress). The schedule for completion of Retired Facilities remediation has been extended into January 2000 based on experience to date with decontamination of the Hot Cells.' The rest of the SNM-770 work is still scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

Those portions of the SNM-770 Remediation Plan that have not yet been approved by the NRC include soil remediation, final disposition of the Process Drain Line, and final disposition of the Liquid Waste Retention Basin. A revised soil remediation plan was submitted to the NRC on August 9,1999.

2. All of the work in the TR-2 Decommissioning Plan has been authorized by the NRC.

Work on Phase 1, Facility Preparations & Engineering, is in progress. Vapor shell preparation work is complete. The final engineering report on the reactor tank removal is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. Some interference removal work j has begun on Phase !!, Reactor Tank Removal, and this phase is scheduled to be i completed in Map 2000.. Pnase Ill, Building & Structures Remediation, is in progress and scheduled to be completec'in August 2000. All of this work remains on schedule j to ship the reactor tank in May 2000. 1 II. Issues of Interest to Reoulatory Aoencies

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I Work is underway on the preparation of an application for a DOT exemption for the i shipment of the reactor tank. This includes the development of an overall j communication plan. The plan is based on the shipment of the reactor tank to  ;

ALARON (Wampum, PA) where it will be cut into pieces acceptable for disposal at the  !

Envirocare facility (Clive, UT). '

Plans for removing, transporting, and disposing of the Reactor Tank were presented to the DOT /NRC in a meeting on March 30,1999. Since that time, some changes to the plans are being evaluated pending review and approval of the Radiation Safety .

Committee. These changes are summarized as follows:

{

. The Reactor Tank waste package characterization has been revised to exclude activity in the concrete biological shield, which will be completely removed from i around the tank. As a result, the total activity in the waste package has been reduced from 37.9 Curies to 23.9 Curies.

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The method for restraint of the reactor core structure inside the Reactor Tank has been changed. Instead of using a lightweight grout around the core structure, the i

existing mechanical attachment mechanism has been analyzed as adequate to restrain the core structure during removal and shipment. Loose objects on top of the cors structure will be secured in place with a spay-on fixative.

The shipping skid design has been finalized. The shipping skid is !arger and will have bumpers at each end to restrain the Reactor Tank.

Shielding will be welded directly to the Reactor Tank instead of being attached to the shipping skid.

An extemal protective barrier will enclose the Reactor Tank. The protective barrier will be a 25-mil thick, PVC-coated, woven polyester bag and will be wrapped in a 5-ply shrinkable plastic material.

An exemption will be required to ship the Reactor Tank as a strong tight package.

Ill. Operational Hiahlichts

1. Cleanup and decontamination continued in the Retired Facilities. The major remaining work is the decon of the T-Building Pool and the decontamination and demolition of the three hot cells.

All water, sediment, and materials have been removed from the T Building Pool. The coating on the walls and floor of the s iot appears to be in very good shape and has very little contamination. A wipe-dowi, of the walls and floor is in progress.

Grit blasting is complete in Hot Cell #3. The small section of metal tubing that was found in th9 hot cell has been characterized as a piece of fuel rod potentially containing some spent fuel. Grit blasting is in progress in Hot Cell #2. Lead bricks and other material are being removed from the hot cell as work progresses. The floor of the hot cell is reading approximately 2 R/hr with spots along the perimeter (near the ventilation screens) reading 8 R/hr.

Other work underway in the Retired Facilities is final decontamination in all areas to meet the final radiological conditions established with the NRC. Final decontamination was complated in the Primary Coolant Tunnel-East, the lon Exchange Cubicle, and the Process Waste Tunnel. Work is in progress in the Service Tunnel, the Mecharsical Test Facility, and the Hot Cell Ventilation Stack Base.

2. Work continues on the characterization and cleaning of various lines that connect with the Process Drain Line manholes. Pressure washing is complete in the 4-inch line that runs between manhole 2 and the Sub-Cell Fan Room, and the line has been capped.

Sludge removal and pressure washing is complete in manhole 4 and the pipes between the manhole and the Liquid Waste Retention Basin. Clean-out of manhole 1 and the section of Process Drain Line north of manhole 1 will begin next month.

3. Dscontamination of the Liquid Waste Retention Basin was on hoic' this month while evaluating hydrolasing results and concrete core samples to determine the best c -

strategy for final disposition of the basin. This evaluation will also determine if additional hydrolasing is required in the basin.

4. . Work continues on the ' decommissioning of the Westinghouse Test Reactor, in Phase 1, Facility Preparations & Engineering, all remaining preparation work was completed including installation of vapor shell fire protection systems, repair of the polar crane, and installation of Truck Lock doors.

In Phase 2, Reactor Tank Removal, work has started on the removal of metal

- structures and platforms from around the bioshield.

In Phase 3, Buildings and Structures, removal of equipment from the Sub-Pile Room was completed, and decontamination of the room's walls and floors was started. Work continued on pumping groundwater from the Primary Coolant Tunnel-West and i removal of retired electrica! systems. Work began on clean-up of the Test Loop Cubicles, Tanks, & Pits, removal of inactive piping, and removal of the vapor shell retired ventilation system,

5. The following regulatory communications occered this month:

. ' The NRC issued Amendment 20 to the SNM-770 license to approve the revised groundwater monitoring program curing coil remediation and the change in chairman of the SNM-770 Radiation safety Committee.

. CBS submitted an applicaron to the NRC for a TR-2 license amendment to address organizational changes nece:sitatec by Westinghouse's plans to eliminate the Waltz Mill Site Manager's position

. CBS submitted an application to the NRC for a TR-2 technical specification amendment concerning confinement in the WTR during restricted activities.

= Telephone discussions with NRC Region I on the revised soil plan have resulted in the scheduling of a meeting on October 26 at the NRC offees to discuss the revised plan.

6. Approximetely 72,000 gallons of processed water were transported to an off-site municipal sewage facility this'mont'

7. Three seavans of radwaste were shipped to a licensed processor this month for '

processing and disposal. There are currently 11 seavans of radwaste in the Site hot lot awaiting final disposition and shipment. High priority is being given to the shipment of this backlog of radwaste.

8. The summary. schedule for these projects is given below.

IV.' Miscellaneous 1; Performance Indicators:(As of September 30,1999)

A. Total Dose To Date for 1999 14.443 person-rem W

y 4 1.

B. Total Dose for 1998 (TLD) 9.890 person-rem C. Total Dose for 1997 (TLD) 1.120 person-rem

, -:- D. Total Project Dose To Date' 25.453 person-rem")

E. Maximum Individual Dose (1999) 0.656 rem")

F. Personnel Contamination Occurrences 81*

G. Radiation Occurrence Reports 12A H. Recordable Accidents 8*

(1) Exposure as reported from a combination of self-reading dosimeter and TLD readings.

'(2) Cumulative from beginning of project.

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, WTR DECOMMISSIONING PROJECT l CURRENT SCHEDULE I

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1999 2000 J FlMlAjM J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S ON D RT Removal Engineering Top Level Plan Design Specifications gp lllllll Facilities Preparations Legend:

Temp Power / Lighting i Complete l __

Vontilation System in Progress Asbestos Abatement Investigation & ExF.loratory Planned {_- _

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Repair Truck Lock Door Repair Polar Crane RT Removal Remove Interferences l ll l l l l l l l; Stabilize Core Region lllllll@

Wire cut Bio-Shield lllllllE (;; ;  ;

Remove Reactor Tank llllllll ggl l Ship RT (May 2,2000) '

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[iildine; & Structures llllllll S6-Pile Room (Equipment)

_ lllll Sub-Pile Poom (Decon) lllllll/ l Test Loop Cubicles & Tanks l l l l l l l( ~ r Remove Existing Electrical lllll '% _

Remave Existing Ventilation lllll )

Transfer Canal

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g gg Primary Coolant Pipe Tunnels x

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Remove Misc. Piping Rabbit Pump Room l lll l gg Sub-Cell Room l lll l Q East & West Annex m - eBEM l lll l Truck Lock & Top Loop Tunnels pumMs CMis2 l lll l containment Decon l lll l g"ggg

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WALTZ MILL REMEDIATION PROJECT

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'. CURRENT SCHEDULE SNM.770 License 1997 1998 1999 2000 J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O!N D I

Project Preparation Interference Rernoval i

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Retired Facilities Remediation T Bullding Pool HHHHHHHHH___ l Hot Cells )

Various Final Decon lIIi j Process Drain Line .Clearwut -

i Process Drain Line . Removal (if Required) l lL@3}g@ hyMEg53t? !

Soll Remediation Retention Basin Demolition (if Required) k$$ kkhh Retention Basin Decon l

ll1IIIIII )

WTR Decarnndssioning IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Complete in Progress Planned 1

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