ML20235V225

Forwards Kentucky Dept for Human Resourcs (Kdhr) 771227 Order to Nuclear Engineering Co,Inc Re Maxey Flats,Kdhr 771227 Press Relaese & Louisville Courier Journal 771231 Article

ML20235V225
Person / Time
Issue date:	01/09/1978
From:	Kerr G NRC OFFICE OF STATE PROGRAMS (OSP)
To:	Bell M NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS)
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References
FOIA-87-235 NUDOCS 8707230098
Download: ML20235V225 (8)

Text

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION j g ,g WASHINGTON, D. C. 20565 l

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• • • • • JAN 9 1978 Ref: SA/GWK

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MEMORANDUM FOR: Michael Bell, Chief Low Level Waste Branch, NMSS

FROM

G. Wayne Kerr, Assistant Director for State Agreements Program l l l Office of State Programs

SUBJECT:

KENTUCKY ORDER RE MAXEY FLATS )

Attached for your information are copies of the following:

1. Order dated December 27, 1977 issued by Kentucky Department  ;

For Human Resources (KDHR) to Nuclear Engineering Co., Inc. ]

2. KDHR Press Release dated December 27, 1977.

l

3. Article from Louisville Courier Journal dated December 31, 1977.

J hC y ' 'h h

l l G. Wayne Kerr, Assistant Director {

i for State Agreements Program )

Office of State Programs j Attachments:

As stated I

cc: w/ attachments R. Ryan J. Fouchard F. Swanberg ,

/

8707230098 870717

( PDR FOIA MINTONB7-235 PDR 'l '1

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' COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY KENTUCKY STATE DEPARTMENT FOR HUMAN RESOURCES In the Matter of:

KENTUCKY STATE DEPARTMENT FOR HUMAN RESOURCES Divirion of Consumer Health Protection COMPLAINANT dRDER NUCLEAR ENGINEERING COMPANY, INCORPORATED

,. 9200 Shelbyt 11e Road, Suite 526 P. O. Box 7246 Lo'aisville , Kentucky 40207 RESPONDENT l

This matter coming before the-Secretary on the complaint  ;

i of the Division of Consumer Health Protection,. Radiation '

Control Branch upon the facts and conduct presented by said 1 office and the Secretary being advised that the office has  !

called to the attention of the Nuclear Engineering Company, Inc., in writing that certain violations have occurred and the company having been accorded an opportunity to demonstrate or achieve compliance with all lawful requirements of its license and the Sacretary being advised that the licensee has not achieved compliance. The Secretary finds:

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(1) There is water currently existing in the completed trenches in violation of Condition No. 17 of the license.

In 1972, the licensee and the agency agreed that the water would be recoved as expediently as possible, it being anti-cipated that this process would be completed within approx- j imately two years. Recent inspection by the agency shows that the licensee has not completed the removal of the water and that Condition 17 of the license is still being violated, thus creating a situation that represents a potential for release of contaminated liquids into the environment and 3 i

thus a potential hazard to the health, safety and welfare of I l

1 the public.

(2) In August, 1977, it was discovered that water contaminated with radioactive material was migrating from an old completed trench to a newly-dug open trench. Sub-soil migration was.not anticipated at the time that the site was developed.and would not have occurred had there not been water accumulated in the trenches.

(3) Recent studies completed by the Legislative Re-search Comnission, Dames and Moore, and the Agency's Radiation l staff all indicate that the future integrity of the site for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste cannot be insured l at this time.

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NOW, UHEREFORE, pursuant to the authority of 902 KAR' l

100:040, Section 6 (2), it is hereby. ordered that the licensee cease and desist in the receipt and burial of commercial radioactive waste until the completion of the water manage-i ment program and the completion of further studies of the geological and hydrological. makeup of the site to determine its long-term use for the disposal of radioactive material.

This order does not prohibit the licensee from the possession, processing and disposal of the radioactive waste generated on site from the on-going water management program.

• This order shall be effective immediately.

4 KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT FOR HUMAN RESOURCES i

l l L ' A )?/ U L --- ,

PETER D. C0fN Secretary for Human Resources Done at Frankfort, Kentucky, this Onl day of December, 1977.

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Department for Human Resources L .. ;.h, FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 27, 1977) --

Human Resources Secretary l

Peter Conn announced today that hc is issuing an order prohibiting 1

the burial of any new radioactive material at the Maxey Flats nuclear t'aste disposal site in Fleming County.

Conn and Secretary Russell McClure of the State Department of Finance and Administration announced at a joint news conference that a proposed agreement with Nuclear Engineering Company, Inc., of Louisville (NECO) -- which cpera tes Maxey Flats -- will not go into effect.

Instead, the Department for Human Resources, which licenses l

operation of Maxey Flats, will use its licensing oowers to prevent I the burial of further radioactive waste deposits at the site and to 1

conduct tests to determine the long-term use and safety of Maxey Flatj The joirit decision announced today will have the effect of requiring NECO to continue financing cleanup operations at Maxey j Flats, for which the company is currently responsibic. The problem l of contaminated surface water in trenches at Maxey Flats was first  !

identified in 1972, and NECO has been trying unsuccessfully to eliminutethe problem.

Conn also announced that he is assigning an inspector to Maxey Flats on a full-time basis for 90 days, beginning Wednesday, December 28, 1977. The inspector will oversee NECO's cleanup operations and f rio re )

'.*' , Maxey; Fla ta - 2 I

its compliance with licensing regulations. The need for a

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full-time inspector will be evaluated at the end of 90 days, Conn said.  !

Conn said that burial of any new radioactive wastes at Maxey Flats, other than those involved in cleanup operations on the site, will be prohibited until studies are made of the hydrology and geology of the site, to determine if additional material can be I

buried without risk to public safety.  !

The Department of Finance and Administration leases the Maxey Flats site to NCCO on behalf of the State. On December 15, 1977, l

Finance Secretary McClure, James N. Neel, President of NECO, and representatives of the White Plans, N.Y., consulting firm of I

Dames and Moore proposed an agreement for the two-year closure of Maxey Flats and forwarded it to Secretary Peter Conn for his review.

The proposed agreement was reviewed by DHR radiation control staff and by the General Counsel of the Department. A licensure review was also conducted. The review identified some problems, and Conn and McClure discussed these at length over the Christmas holidays.

Conn indicated that Secretary McClure in the negotiations looked at the Maxey Flats situation from the standpoint of the leasor and from that perspective the agreement developed was probably the best one that could be obtained with the concurrence of all parties.

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",.* ', , tta:<ey Fla ta - 3 3

1 Conn said it would have been preferable to have reached a negotirted agreement. However, Conn said that he looked at the l

matter from the licensing viewpoint and determined that action regarding the license was the most appropriate course of action at l

this time.

Highlights of the joint decision are to:

(1) Motify NECO that the State will not enter into the proposed agreement.

(2) Prohibit the burial of any additional radioactive material at Maxey Flats except for that generated as a result of the site cleanup. NECO's license will be amended with this provision.

(3) Conduct studies of the hydrology and geology of Maxey 3

Flats, to determine whether additional radioactive waste materials can ever be buried there without risk to public safety.

'( 4 ) The joint decision announced today will have the effect 1

of requiring NECO to continue financing cleanup operations at I Maxey Flats, for which the company is currently responsible.

1 Radiation officials in the Department for Human Resources say l 1

the existence of water in the trenches represents a potential for the release of contaminated liquids into the environment. I l

Tne trench water must be pumped, the removed contaminated water i l

processed, and the residue from this processing reburied.

Radiation officials also contend that the subsoil leakage {

of radioactive wastes from an old trench to a new trench, that occurred at Maxey Flats in August, 1977, would not have happened if there had not been water in the trenches.

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