ML20217Q996

SER Accepting General Atomics Site Decommissioning Plan & Amend to License SNM-696

ML20217Q996
Person / Time
Site:	07000734
Issue date:	04/29/1998
From:	NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS)
To:
Shared Package
ML20217Q982	List: ML20217Q980 ML20217Q990 ML20217Q996
References
NUDOCS 9805130073
Download: ML20217Q996 (3)

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UNITED STATES g

j NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION j

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WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001

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April 29, 1998 DOCKET NO:

70-734 LICENSEE:

General Atomics (GA)

San Diego, California

SUBJECT:

SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT: GENERAL ATOMICS' SITE i

DECOMMISSIONING PLAN - OCTOBER 11,1996, WITH SUPPLEMENTAL SUBMITTALS DATED DECEMBER 5,1996, APRIL 18,1997, AND JANUARY 15,1998 BACKGROU@

j On October 11,1996, GA submitted an overall site decommissioning plan that encompasses the various decommissioning activities at their La Jolla, Califomia site. This decommissioning plan provides general safety commitments and will be supplemented with site specific references whenever decommissioning activities address specific areas. The decommissioning plan is similar to other approved decommissioning plans that addressed decommissioning activities at the Sorrento Valley A and Hot Cell sites. GA is also addressing non-impacted areas in another z

licensing action to limit the amount of survey activities needed for final site release. GA i

submitted supplements to their proposed site decommissioning plan dated December 5,1996, and April 18,1997. The December 5,1996, supplement updated the proposed site decommissioning plan by adding information on fire protection. The April 18,1997, supplement i

included non-impacted, non-suspect affected and suspect affected areas in the site decommissioning plan. GA then submitted a revision dated January 15,1998, to revise the frequency of radiation safety training requirements to every two years instead of every year.

DISCUSSION The NRC staff has reviewed the proposed site decommissioning plan and found that it is in conformance with the conditions set forth in 10 CFR 70.38(g)(4)(l)-(vii); Regulatory Guide 3.65,

" Standard Format and Content of Decommissioning Plans for Licensees under 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, and 70," and the " Standard Review Plan: Evaluating Decommissioning Plans for Licensees Under 10 CFR Parts 30,40, and 70." This review is documented in the attached memorandum, j

John W. N. Hickey to Michael F. Weber, dated July 15,1997, entitled " Review of the General l

Atomics' Site Decommissioning Plan." In addition, the NRC staff has reviewed GA's submittal of January 15,1998, which includes minor revisions to the Decommissioning Plan including a i

revised frequency of radiation safety training and corrections of typographical errors on pages 6-7.

GA has decommissioned various facilities at this site; those decommissioning activities have been reviewed and the facilities have been released for unrestricted use. In order to assure the NRC has sufficient time to plan for the on-site review of decommissioning and associated radiological surveys, the following license condition is being added to Materials License SNM-696:

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9 S-24 The licensee shall develop individual survey plans for each facility or group of laboratories and provide NRC a 30-day notification, prior to GA initiating a final survey, to allow the NRC to schedule in-process inspections / surveys if required.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW An Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared for amendment of License SNM-696 to incorporate the Site Decommissioning Plan. The EA concluded that amendment of the license will have no significant impact on the environment, and a Finding of No Significant impact (FONSI) was published in the Federal Reaister on April 27,1998 [63 FR 20671). The Federal Reaister Notice included a summary of the EA and a Notice of Opportunity for a Hearing in accordance with 10 CFR Part 2, Subpart L.' No requests for hearing or other comments from the public have been received.

i The EA was conducted based on preliminary characterization information. If further characterization data indicates that significantly greater concentrations of radionuclides or

- significantly different types of radionuclides may be released off-site, or if GA determines that significantly different decommissioning activities will be required that may result in significant impacts to workers or the environment, GA will be required to notify the NRC for review and i

approval of the proposed decommissioning activities. Therefore, the staff imposes the following License Condition:

S-25 The licensee must submit for review and approval to NRC residual contamination and characterization data and planned decommissioning procedures for areas where 1.

Decommissioning procedures will be requ!. red that have not been used by the licensee in previous decommissioning activities or have not been identified in the Site Decommissioning Plan dated October 11,1996, as amended December 5,1996; April 18,1997; and January 15,1998; 2.

Workers would be entering areas where surface contamination and radiation levels are significantly higher than routinely encountered during previous decommissioning operations; 3.

Procedures could result in significantly greater airborne concentrations of radioactive materials than have been present in previous decommissioning operations; or 4.

Procedures could result in significantly greater releases of radioactive material to the environment than those associated with previous decommissioning operations.

CONCLUSION Based on the above discussions, the staff concludes that the " General Atomics' Site Decommissioning Plan"is acceptable and should be approved. Further, the staff is

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3 rec'ommending the license conditions, as discussed above, to provide for 30 day notKication and to require submittal of information when decommissioning activities are beyond the scope of the EA. Finally, the *.taff concludes that the health and safety of workers and the public are adequately protwcted.

1 The Region IV Principal Inspector has no objection to this proposed action.

Princioal Contributors:

' Charles E. Gaskin

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Susan D. Chotoo

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