ML20247K249
| ML20247K249 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Prairie Island  |
| Issue date: | 07/25/1989 |
| From: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20247K245 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8907310486 | |
| Download: ML20247K249 (3) | |
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. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION h
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 c, ~.
W SAFETY EVALUATION _BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION RELATED TO AMENDMENTS NOS. 88 AND 81 TO FACILITY OPERATING' LICENSES NOS. DPR-42 AND DPR-60 NORTHERN STATES F0WER COMPANY PRAIRIE ISLAND NU. CLEAR GENERATING PLANT, UNITS NOS. 1 AND 2 00CKETS NOS. 50-282 AND 50-306
1.0 INTRODUCTION
By letter dated October 24, 1988, the licensee for Prairie Island, Northern States Power Company (NSP), requested an amendment for Prairie Island's license.
This proposed license amendment would allow the Prairie Island Plant to receive materials with low levels of radioactive contamination (drummed Low Specific Activity (LSA) waste and used protective clothing) from other NSP job sites (Monticello and Pathfinder) for the purposes of decontamination and volume reduction. Our review is limited to the evaluation of (1) the increase in occupational exposure to plant personnel from the processing of LSA waste from other NSP facilities at Prairie Island and (2) the environmental effect of shipping this waste to Prairie Island.
2.0 EVALUATION 2.1 Occupational Radiation Ey osure to Plant Personnel The licensee has installed a super-compactor unit at the Prairie Island plant which is capable of yielding significant volume reduction factors for drums containing low level dry radioactive waste (3-4 55-gallon drums compacted to fit in a single 58-gallon container). Because of the difficulty and <adiation exposure involved in dismantling this super-compactor for shipment te and use at other NSP facilities, the licensee has requested that drummed low level dry
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radioactive waste from other NSP facilities be shipped to the Prairie Island plant for volume reduction and subsequent shipment to a disposal site.
-The three activities which would result in occupational radiation exposure to personnel during the shipment of this waste to the Prairie Island plant are (1) the packaging and labeling of this waste in drums for shipment to the Prairie Island plant, (2) the transporution of this waste, and (3) the receipt, storage, and compaction of this waste at the Prairie Island plant. The licensee contends that the dose incurred at the other NSP facilities from packaging and labeling cf this waste for shipment to the Prairie Island plant would be no greater tun the dose incurred if the waste were to be packaged for shipment directly i.o a j
disposal site. The annual dose to the driver transporting the waste to the j
Prairie Island plant would be minimal due to the low dose rates and small number f
8907310486 890729 PDR ADOCK 05600182 l
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. of waste shipments made (2-3 trips / year x 2 mrem /hr x 3hr/ trip). Once the drums arrived at the Prairie Island plant, they would either be compacted immediately or stored in the radwaste building and compacted within a few weeks of receipt.
The licensee estimates that the total additional annual dose to plant personnel as a result of shipping wastes from the NSP facilities to the Prairie Island plant for compaction would be less than one person-rem. This additional dose is a small fraction of the annual cumulative dose at the Prairie Island or Monticello plants.
The licensee has also requested that the Prairie Island plant be allowed to provide for the cleaning of protective clothing from other NSP facilities when necessary (during times of high usage or equipment breakdown at the other facilities). Since this would result in very little additional dose to plant personnel due to the low activity of used protective clothing, and since this is a common practice at other facilities, the staff finds this request acceptable.
Because the additional dose associated with this proposea license amendment is so low and because the benefits to be gained from transporting this low activity waste to the Prairie Island plant outweigh the benefits and higher costs associated with transporting the super compactor to the other NSP facilities, the staff finds this amendment acceptable.
The staff has reviewed the environmental effects of this proposed license amendment and finds that the dose to the general public will be much less than the 0.2 man-rem referenced in the Final Environmental Statement (FES) regarding the transportation of solid wastes.
Collective doses of this magnitude are very unlikely to have significant impact on the quality of the human environment.
The proposed change would not create the possibility of a new, or a different kind of accident than any previously evaluated, nor a significant increase in the probability of an accident previously evaluated, since the proposed change is limited to "By-product Material Transfer" between plants.
It would not involve a significant reduction in the margin of safety; it would not change the conclusion in the FES; and is, therefore, acceptable.
i On the basis of the above evaluation, the staff concludes that the license amendment change proposed by the licensee is consistent with 10 CFR Part 20, 10 CFR Part 51.31, and Regulatory Guide 8.8 and, therefore, is acceptable.
No change in.our previous FES input have to be made to accommodate the new amendment. The staff further concludes that there are no significant radiological or non-radiological impacts associated with the proposed action, and that the issuance of the proposed license amendment will have no significant impact on the quality of the human environment.
3.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATION
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32 and 51.35, an environmental assessment and finding of l
no significant impact was published in the Federal Register on June 29, 1989 l
(54 FR 27441).
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- Accordingly, based upon the environmental assessment, the Conmission has determined that issuance of this amendment will not have a significant effect
- on the quality of the human environment.
4'. 0 CONCLUSION We have concluded, based.on the considerations discussed above, that (1) there is reasonable assurance that the health and safet of the public will not be endangered by operation in the proposed manner, (y) such activities will be 2
conducted in compliance with the Commission's regulations, and (3) the issuance of the amendments will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the.public.
Principal Contributor: John L. Minns-Charles S. Hinson Dated: July 25, 1989 i
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