ML20330A262
| ML20330A262 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | WM-00073, WM-00058, WM-00070 |
| Issue date: | 01/05/2021 |
| From: | Dennise Orlando Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs |
| To: | Kautsky M US Dept of Energy, Office of Legacy Management |
| Orlando D, NMSS/DUWP | |
| References | |
| Download: ML20330A262 (3) | |
Text
January 5, 2021 Mr. Mark Kautsky, Site Manager U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management 2597 Legacy Way Grand Junction, CO 81503
SUBJECT:
DEFERRED MONITORING ON THE MONUMENT VALLEY, ARIZONA, PROCESSING SITE, THE SHIPROCK, NEW MEXICO, DISPOSAL SITE AND THE TUBA CITY, ARIZONA DISPOSAL SITE (DOCKET NUMBERS WM-70, WM-58 AND WM-73)
Dear Mr. Kautsky:
I am writing in response to your letter, dated November 3, 2020, in which you informed the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) would not be conducting semiannual or annual groundwater monitoring at the Shiprock, New Mexico, disposal site, the Tuba City, Arizona, disposal site or the Monument Valley, Arizona, former processing site for the remainder of 2020 due to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession Number ML20309A962). In your letter, you also stated that you did not expect to resume groundwater monitoring at the sites until April 2021 at the earliest.
The NRC staff reviewed the information for the sites on the DOEs Geospatial Environmental Mapping System and determined that the constituents of concern in the groundwater do not pose an immediate threat to health and safety and deferral of groundwater monitoring at the sites will likewise not pose a threat to health and safety. We suggest that DOE inform the Navajo Nation regarding the deferral of monitoring as well, if you have not already done so.
On another matter, in August of 2015, NRC staff discussed the possibility of a fracture dominated hydraulic connection between the disposal cell area and the lower terrace at the Tuba City site and made a recommendation to install additional monitoring wells downgradient from Wells 691 and 1003 which had been experiencing increasing contaminate concentrations (please see comment number 1a in letter from D. Orlando to R. Bush, dated August 27, 2015 (ADAMS Accession Number ML15209A624)). Please review the subject letter and inform the NRC staff what, if any, actions DOE plans to evaluate this possible connection.
In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 2.390 of the NRCs Agency Rules of Practice a copy of this letter will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRCs ADAMS. The ADAMS database is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
M.Kautsky 2 If you have any questions concerning the NRC comments, please feel free to contact me at 301-415-6749 or at Dominick.Orlando@nrc.gov.
Sincerely, Dominick A. Digitally signed by Dominick A. Orlando Orlando Date: 2021.01.05 15:54:26 -05'00' Dominick Orlando, Senior Project Manager Uranium Recovery and Materials Decommissioning Branch Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket Nos.: WM-58, WM-70, WM-73 cc: Shiprock list serve Tuba City list serve Monument Valley list serve
M.Kautsky 3
SUBJECT:
DEFERRED MONITORING ON THE MONUMENT VALLEY, ARIZONA, PROCESSING SITE, THE SHIPROCK, NEW MEXICO, DISPOSAL SITE AND THE TUBA CITY, ARIZONA DISPOSAL SITE (DOCKET NUMBERS WM-70, WM-58 AND WM-73 DATED January 5, 2021 DISTRIBUTION:
REvans, RIV HGepford, RIV MPoston-Brown, NMSS ADAMS Accession Number: ML20330A262 *via email OFFICE NMSS/DUWP NMSS/RTAB OGC NMSS/DUWP NAME DOrlando HArlt AGendelman BVon-Till DATE 11/30/2020 11/30/2020 12/10/2020 01/05 /2021 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY