ML20237L397

Discusses Review of SAR for Liquid Waste Treatment Sys. Clarification of DOE Plans Re Liquid Effluents Requested Prior to Release of Ser.Info About Decontamination Factors & Release Criteria Also Requested

ML20237L397
Person / Time
Issue date:	08/25/1987
From:	Hurt R NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS)
To:	Bixby W ENERGY, DEPT. OF
References
REF-PROJ-M-32 NUDOCS 8708280086
Download: ML20237L397 (2)

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Dr. W. W. Bixby, Director West Valley Project Office PDE

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West Valley, NY 14741-019 R

SS 396

Dear Dr. Bixby:

We have reviewed the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) for the Liquid Waste Treatment System (LWTS), and have found no public health or safety concerns with the basic LWTS structures and processes. Our normal procedure at this point would be to issue a Safety Evaluation Report (SER) on the LWTS, and while we still-intend to

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do so, we understand from our visit to the site on August 6 and 7, 1987, that i

your current plans for disposition of the treated liquid waste are substantially l

different from the information in the SAR. Under these circumstances, I feel that we need a clarification of your plans, particularly regarding liquid j

effluents, before we issue an SER.

j The SAR identifies several options for disposition of the treated liquid wastes.

It says that "the ion exchange effluent... is routed to either Lagoon 3 or the Interceptors" (p. 27) and that " water sent to Lagoon 3 is pumped to the roof-top evaporator for processing or it can be diverted to a distribution header and sent to STS, VF, or LWTS for use as process or recycle water" (p. 31). On page 57, the SAR says that " doses to off-site individuals and populations [due j

to LWTS operations] will occur via atmospheric release of radioactivity from 8

the main plent stack and from release of liquid effluent." Tables H.8.2-2 3

through H.8.2-5, addressing off-site discharges and doses, seem to assume on the other hand that the only releases will be through the main plant stack,

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with no liquid effluent.

The LWTS flow diagram in Chapter Four shows many l

options for the treated water, including recycle, processing through the roof-top evaporator, end release to Buttermilk Creek.

In sum, the SAR is not very l

definitive about the most likely destination of the liq (uids that have passed through the LWTS. How we have been verbally informed in our August meeting and by telephone since) that the recycle equipment and roof-top evaporator will probably not be in place by the time you begin processing the supernatant. We need to know more specifically how you plan to handle the treated liquid wastes l

and how much liquid effluent there will be.

We also need nore information about decontamination factors (DF's) and release i

criteria. There is little in the SAR about DF's for the various pieces of equipment in the LWTS; DF's were estimated for the 31017 evaporator but not for the three ion exchangers or the roof-top evaporator. The information in the SAR indicates that Cs-137 decontamination will be adequate, but it is not j

clear that evaporation and zeolite ion exchange will by themselves be sufficient l

l to keep the concentrations of other radionuclides (Sr-90 for example) below the 10 CFR 20 release limits. Effluent release limits for all important radio-nuclides, including Cs-137, Sr-90, H-3, C-14, Tc-99, 1-129, and transuranic, should be specified along with a discussion of how the limits will be achieved and monitored.

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25 W Dr. W. W. Bixby 2

Once we have received updated information on'the~LWfS, we will proceed with our SER.

Please feel free to call me at any tine if you want to discuss these issues further.

Sincerely, Original Signed by R. Davis Hurt West Valley Project Manager Fuel Cycle Safety Branch Division of Industrial and j

Medical Nuclear Safety j

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