ML22042A003

Durita Colorado LTSP Acceptance Letter with Contingencies

ML22042A003
Person / Time
Issue date:	03/30/2022
From:	Martha Poston-Brown NRC/NMSS/DDUWP/URMDB
To:	Boger C US Dept of Energy, Office of Legacy Management
Poston-Brown M
References
Download: ML22042A003 (11)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 March 30, 2022 Ms. Charlee Boger, Durita Site Manager U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management 2597 Legacy Way Grand Junction, CO 81503

SUBJECT:

REVIEW OF REVISIONS TO REVISED DRAFT LONG TERM SURVEILLANCE PLAN DURITA COLORADO SITE

Dear Ms. Boger:

I am responding to your December 2, 2021, submittal providing the revised draft long-term surveillance plan (LTSP) and the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE) responses to our comments on the November 2020 version of the draft LTSP for the Hecla Durita site (Colorado Radioactive Material License No. CO-317-02) located in Montrose County, Colorado (Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML22031A213).

We did not identify any significant concerns with the revisions to the draft LTSP during our review of the revised draft LTSP. Our review was based on our technical review in accordance with the criteria in Appendix D of NUREG-1620 Revision 1, Standard Review Plan for the Review of a Reclamation Plan for Mill Tailings Sites Under Title II of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978.

It was noted however that there are several open issues associated with the revised draft LTSP.

The results of our review and the open items are discussed in the enclosed, Technical Evaluation Report for the draft revised Long Term Surveillance Plan Hecla Mining Corporation Durita Site.

Based on our review of the revisions, the open items will need to be addressed in the final LTSP prior to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concluding that the final LTSP complies with NRC regulations. The NRC acknowledges that the majority of these open items were committed to by the DOE/LM in your letter dated December 2, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML22031A216).

We appreciate the DOEs effort to work with the NRC and the State of Colorado to terminate the Hecla Durita site license.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRCs Agency Rules of Practice and Procedure, 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 Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.

C. Boger 2 If you have any questions or comments, please contact Martha Poston-Brown at Martha.Poston-Brown@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, Signed by Poston-Brown, Martha on 03/30/22 Martha Poston-Brown, Health Physicist Uranium Recovery and Materials Decommissioning Branch Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards

Enclosure:

as stated cc: J. Grice, CDPHE

ENCLOSURE TECHNICAL EVALUATION REPORT FOR THE REVISED DRAFT LONG-TERM SURVEILLANCE PLAN DATED NOVEMBER 2021 HECLA MINING CORPORATION DURITA SITE MONTROSE COUNTY, COLORADO FACILITY NAME: DURITA SITE; HECLA MINING CORPORATION, MONTROSE COUNTY, COLORADO REVIEWER(S): MARTI POSTON (FEBRUARY- MARCH 2022)

DATE: 3/14/2021

SUMMARY

, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff reviewed the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Legacy Managements (DOE/LMs) revised draft Long-term Surveillance Plan (LTSP) for the Hecla Mining Corporations Durita site in Montrose County, Colorado. Based on the staffs review, with the exception of several open items, the revised draft LTSP for the Durita site meets the criteria in NUREG-1620, Standard Review Plan for the Review of Reclamation Plan for Mill Tailings Sites under Title II of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 Appendix D Guidance to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Staff for Reviewing Long-term Surveillance Plans. Revision 1.

Introduction In 10 CFR 40.28, a general license is issued for the custody of and long-term care for uranium or thorium mill tailings sites that are closed under Title II of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (UMTRCA).

The NRCs regulations at 10 CFR 40.28(b), provide that the revised draft LTSP should present the following information:

(1) A legal description of the disposal site to be transferred and licensed.

(2) A detailed description of the final conditions of the disposal site, including existing groundwater characterization.

(3) A description of the long-term surveillance program, including proposed inspection frequency and reporting to the Commission; frequency and extent of groundwater monitoring, if required; appropriate constituent limits for groundwater; inspection personnel qualifications; inspection procedures; record keeping; and quality assurance procedures (4) The criteria for follow-up inspections in response to unusual observations from routine inspections or extreme natural events (5) The criteria for instituting maintenance or emergency measures

2 On November 23, 2020, the DOE/LM submitted a revised draft LTSP to the NRC outlining the activities the DOE/LM proposes to undertake at Durita site pursuant to the DOEs responsibilities under the UMTRCA (Agency Document Access and Management System

[ADAMS] Package Accession Number ML20335A146). The NRC staff provided comments on the November 2020 draft LTSP and in response to these comments, the DOE submitted a revision to the draft LTSP on December 2, 2021 (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML22031A213).

Review Approach The NRC staff prepared this preliminary final technical evaluation report by assessing the Durita site revised draft LTSP against the review criteria of NUREG-1620, Revision 1, Appendix D.

provides guidance for the NRC review of revised draft LTSPs. The staff used the guidance in NUREG-1620, Revision 1, Appendix D to develop a detailed review checklist. Under this approach, the review criteria in NUREG-1620, Revision 1, Appendix D are provided, the location in the revised draft LTSP where the activities or processes corresponding to the criteria are located is cited and the staffs evaluation of the DOEs activities or processes with respect to the criteria is summarized in this TER. Except for a short site description and history of the site, no additional detailed descriptions of the DOEs activities are included, except for those requiring a detailed technical evaluation, such as the rationale for the post-license termination groundwater monitoring program or the long-term care fee. In this way this TER focuses on the most risk-significant activities or processes that the DOE will undertake at the site, rather than providing a detailed description and discussion of each item reviewed and found to be acceptable in the revised draft LTSP.

Legal Description and Ownership of the Land Consistent with Section D2.2.1 of NUREG-1620, the revised draft LTSP provides a legal description and describes ownership of the land. Specifically, Section 2.1.1 of the revised draft LTSP describes the site ownership. The DOE stated that the surface and subsurface of the site will be owned by the United States of America by and through the DOE. The NRC staff determined that the ownership of the site by DOE/LM is acceptable because it meets the criteria in 10 CFR Part 40 Appendix A, Criterion 11.C.

Per discussions with the DOE in March of 2021, the Bureau of Land Management land transfer is not anticipated to be completed until April of 20231. When the final LTSP is accepted by the NRC, either the land will have been transferred or other arrangements will have been made to ensure that the site will not be used in a way that could adversely impact the tailings. When the final LTSP is ready for acceptance by the NRC the land ownership description should be updated to state the final condition of the land ownership. In response to the NRC Staff comments, the DOE committed in the revised draft LTSP to updating the land ownership description in the final LTSP to include the Public Land Order once the withdrawal is complete (ADAMS Accession No. ML22031A216). This is an open item in the NRC staffs evaluation of the revised draft LTSP.

Section 2.1 of the revised draft LTSP states that real estate information is included in Appendix A of the final LTSP. The NRC staff will review the real estate information in the final LTSP when it is submitted. This is an open items in the NRC staffs evaluation of the revised draft LTSP.

1 Monthly site status teleconference between CDPHE,DOE and NRC regarding the Durita site held on February 28, 2022

3 Section 3.9 of the revised draft LTSP states that site records are managed in accordance with the appropriate records management requirements as specified in the Records and Information Management Transition Guidance (DOE 2018 or current guidance2). Inactive records are preserved in collections under DOEs control. The NRC staff has concluded that records maintenance by the DOE is acceptable.

The NRC staff reviewed the legal description and ownership of the land in the revised draft LTSP and determined that with the exception of open items identified above, it included the information described in NUREG-1620, Revision 1, Appendix D, Section D 2.2.1 and, therefore, the NRC staff concludes that the description of the ownership of the land and legal description are satisfactory. Therefore, with the revisions described above it will be acceptable.

Final Condition of the Disposal Site Consistent with Section D2.2.2 of NUREG-1620, Section 2.3.1 of the revised draft LTSP provides a description of final condition of the disposal site. The description of the final site condition is adequate to provide future inspectors with a baseline to determine if changes at the site have occurred. Figure 3 is a September 2018 photograph of a portion of the site. The final LTSP should include several representative photographs of the site when it is transferred to the DOE/LM. In response to NRC staff comments on the revised draft LTSP, the DOE committed to taking additional site photos during the transition site visit and including those photos in the final LTSP (ADAMS Accession No. ML22013A216). Therefore, this is an open item in the NRC staffs evaluation of the revised draft LTSP.

Figure 7 provides the layout of the leach tanks, disposal cell and diversion ditches. Figures 8 and 9 provide cross section drawings of the heap leach tanks and disposal cell, respectively.

The drawings provide an adequate level of detail to inform the reader of the location of site features, disposal cell liners, the placement of the tailings in the cell and radon and riprap covers. Therefore, the NRC staff has concluded that they are acceptable.

Section 2.4 of the revised draft LTSP provides a description of the heap leach tank and disposal cell construction, contents, and designs. The descriptions are adequate to allow the reader to understand what material is in the heap leach tank and disposal cell and how they were stabilized and/or constructed.

Figure 4 is a topographic map of the Durita site. The NRC staff has concluded that it is detailed enough for the reader to understand the elevations of various site features and is therefore acceptable.

Figure 1 is a map of the general location of the Durita site and Figure 7 is a site map. Both are adequate to allow the reader to understand the location of the site and its proximity to other features near the site as well as the final site configuration. The NRC staff has concluded that the vicinity maps are acceptable.

Only one photograph was included in the revised draft LTSP, that of the central area (Figure 3).

The DOE should include a sufficient number of representative photographs of the site in the final LTSP to allow future inspectors to determine if changes are occurring at the site. Without 2 U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Legacy Management, Records and Information Management Transition Guidance, LM-Guide-4-10.2-1.0.0; November 2018, www.energy.gov

4 these additional photographs the NRC staff is unable to conclude that the ground and aerial photographs are adequate and has identified this as an open item in the NRC staffs evaluation of the revised draft LTSP. The DOE has committed to taking new site photos during the transition site visit and including them in the final LTSP. The DOE stated that these photos would serve as a baseline for future inspections (ADAMS Accession No. ML22031A216).

Section 2.3.2 of the revised draft LTSP describes the permanent site surveillance features which include 11 perimeter signs, one entrance sign, six boundary markers and a site marker.

Figures 5 and 6 of the revised draft LTSP provide images of the site marker, and entrance sign.

The DOE should ensure that the final LTSP includes an image or photograph of these signs as well as the perimeter signs and boundary markers. With these additional photographs, the NRC staff is unable to conclude that the information provided regarding site signs and markers is adequate and has identified this as an open item. The DOE committed to ensuring that the final LTSP will include images or photographs of the signs and surveillance features including perimeter signs and boundary markers (ADAMS Accession No. ML22031A216).

Section 2.5 of the revised draft LTSP describes the site geology and hydrology, groundwater quality, the rationale for discontinuing groundwater monitoring and the absence of surface water at the site. Figure 10 provides a generalized stratigraphic column for the site. The information provides adequate information to provide the reader with an understanding of the groundwater conditions at the site. Therefore, the NRC staff has concluded that the groundwater characterization discussion is adequate.

Section 3.7 discusses the environmental monitoring at the site and states that site groundwater does not pose an unacceptable risk to the public safety or the environment. As such, the revised draft LTSP indicates that the DOE does not intend to conduct groundwater monitoring at the site. This is discussed in more detail in the next section.

The NRC staff reviewed the discussion of the final site conditions in the revised draft LTSP and determined that it included the information described in NUREG-1620, Revision 1, Appendix D, Section D 2.2.2 and, therefore, the NRC staff concludes that the discussion of the final site condition is adequate with the exception of the open items described above.

Long-Term Surveillance Program (1) Frequency of Inspection Section 3.3 of the revised draft LTSP discusses the site inspection program and Section 3.3.1 states that inspections will be conducted on an annual basis (once every 12 months) unless conditions preclude the inspection. If the inspection cannot be conducted, the DOE/LM will inform the NRC at least 30 days before the scheduled inspection. An annual inspection meets the requirements of 10 CFR 40 Appendix A, Criterion 12 and, therefore, the NRC staff has concluded that the inspection frequency is acceptable.

(2) Reporting to the Commission Section 3.4 of the revised draft LTSP discusses reporting annual inspection results to the NRC and states that reports will be submitted within 90 days of the last report. The DOE/LM reporting meets the requirements of 10 CFR 40, Appendix A, Criterion 12 and, therefore, the NRC staff has concluded that it is acceptable.

5 (3) Groundwater Monitoring Section 3.7.1 of the revised draft LTSP discusses the environmental monitoring at the site and states that site groundwater does not pose an unacceptable risk to the public safety or the environment. As such, the DOE does not intend to conduct groundwater monitoring at the site.

The NRC staff developed an independent scenario analysis of the groundwater hydrology at the site to determine if post-license termination groundwater monitoring is necessary. The NRC staff concluded that based on the site features, aquifer assessment, and scenario analyses, that with respect to groundwater, the Durita site would provide reasonable assurance of control of radiological hazards effective for 1,000 years. (ADAMS Accession Number ML17243A417)

Based on the NRCs independent evaluation, the NRC staff has concluded that groundwater monitoring is not necessary at the site. As such, the staff has concluded that the revised draft LTSP not including a discussion of post-license termination groundwater monitoring is acceptable. Items D2.2.3(3) a-e of NUREG-1620, Revision 1, Appendix D are not applicable.

Section 3.7.2 of the revised draft LTSP discusses vegetation monitoring and sites that the condition of the most critical vegetated areas, the tops of the leach tanks and diversion channels will be evaluated during each inspection. If necessary, the revised LTSP states that the DOE/LM will consult with a qualified range scientist or plant ecologist to determine the vegetative health at the site. The NRC staff has concluded that the DOE/LM procedure should ensure that the site vegetation will be adequately monitored and if necessary, adverse conditions can be addressed and is therefore acceptable.

(4) Inspection Personnel Qualifications Section 3.3.4 of the revised draft LTSP discusses the qualifications of the individuals that will conduct inspections. Inspectors will be selected depending on the site-specific circumstances and will be scientists and/or engineers with specific expertise to evaluate the site conditions.

Inspectors will be trained through participation in previous inspections. The NRC staff has determined that the DOE/LM has established a program to ensure that site inspections are conducted by individuals with the necessary expertise and qualifications to evaluate the site.

Therefore, the NRC staff has concluded that the inspection personnel qualifications are acceptable.

(5) Inspection Procedures Sections 3.3.2 and 3.3.3 of the revised draft LTSP discuss the DOE/LM inspection procedures and inspection checklist and Appendix C is the inspection checklist that DOE/LM will use in performing inspections. The site is divided into inspection areas and a walkthrough inspection is conducted, using the site inspection checklist. The inspectors will also check for unauthorized entry, surrounding land use and disturbance of site features and photographs of inspected areas will be taken. The NRC staff has concluded that the information regarding site inspections and the information in the site inspection checklist is adequate to ensure that the DOE/LM will be able to detect changes to the site that could result in failure of the site to maintain the tailings safely and, as such, the inspection procedures are acceptable.

6 (6) Recordkeeping and Quality Assurance Procedures Section 3.9 of the revised draft LTSP discusses DOE/LM record retention and management and Section 3.10 of the revised draft LTSP discusses the quality assurance program. Records important for protecting public health and safety and management of the site are maintained by DOE/LM. The records are managed in accordance with the DOEs records management requirements as specified in the Records and Information Management Transition Guidance and inactive records are preserved in collections under the DOEs control. The NRC staff has concluded that the DOEs records management is adequate. The DOE/LMs quality assurance program complies with DOE orders and requirements as specified in Guidance for Developing and Implementing LTSPs for UMTRCA Title I and Title II Disposal Sites. The NRC staff has concluded that the quality assurance procedures are adequate to ensure that the data collected is of adequate quality.

The NRC staff reviewed the discussion of the long-term surveillance program in the revised draft LTSP and determined that it included the information described in NUREG-1620, Revision 1, Appendix D, Section D 2.2.3 and the NRC staff concludes that the long-term surveillance program is adequate. Therefore, the discussion of the final site conditions it is acceptable.

Criteria for Follow-up Inspections Section 3.5.1 of the revised draft LTSP discusses the criteria for a follow-up inspection, Section 3.5.2 discusses the personnel that will conduct a follow-up inspection and Section 3.5.3 discusses reporting the results of follow up inspections. The revised draft LTSP outlines the circumstances when a follow-up inspection would be warranted, and how the DOE/LM will use a graded approach based on the urgency of the site-specific circumstance in deciding when to conduct the follow-up inspection. If unusual damage or disruption that threatens or compromises site safety security or integrity the revised draft LTSP outlines how the DOE will respond, including the personnel that will be involved and how the DOE/LM will report the situation to the NRC. The NRC staff has concluded that the revised draft LTSP description of the DOE/LMs follow up inspection program should ensure that, if site integrity or safety could be compromised, the DOE/LM has a process in place to respond and evaluate the situation.

Therefore, the NRC staff finds the description of the follow-up inspection program adequate.

Sections 3.6.5 and 3.6.6 discuss how DOE/LM will respond to severe weather and seismic events. The revised draft LTSP states that the DOE/LM is informed of severe weather events and subscribes to the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center for seismic event notifications if a magnitude 3.0 or greater seismic event occurs within 0.3 degrees of longitude of the site (approximately 20 miles). Table 3 describes the responses the DOE/LM will take in the event that a seismic event threatens the integrity of the disposal cell.

The NRC staff reviewed the discussion of the criteria for follow up inspections in the revised draft LTSP and determined that it included the information described in NUREG-1620, Revision 1, Appendix D, Section D 2.2.4 and the NRC staff concludes that the criteria for follow up inspections is adequate. Therefore, the discussion of the criteria for follow up inspections is acceptable.

7 Criteria for Instituting Maintenance or Emergency Measures The revised draft LSTP Section 3.6.1 describes the routine maintenance measures that the DOE/LM will undertake at the site, mainly repair and maintenance of site surveillance features.

Section 3.6.2 states that emergency measures are the actions that the DOE will take in response to unusual damage or disruption that threatens or compromises site safety, security, or integrity. Section 3.6.3 of the revised draft LTSP outlines the graded approach that the DOE/LM will use to determine the level of response to emergencies at the site. The NRC staff has concluded that the approach described in the revised draft LTSP should ensure that routine maintenance measure will be sufficient to maintain the site and the DOE/LM can identify and respond to emergencies.

The first bullet under the discussion of DOE actions on page 24 in case of unusual damage discusses informing the NRC but it is not clear which criteria the DOE will use - 10 CFR 40.60 or 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 12. The NRC staff requested in their comments that this section be clarified. The DOE/LM revised this section to require the DOE to notify the NRC if unusual damage or disruption is discovered; and, after discovery of an event that prevents immediate protective actions necessary to avoid exposures to radiation or radioactive materials (ADAMS Accession No. ML22031A215).

In the comments to the draft LTSP, the NRC requested that the DOE revise the reporting commitments in Section 3.6.4 to indicate that the DOE will contact the NRC Uranium Recovery and Materials Decommissioning Branch (URMDB) PM and Branch Chief, the Region IV Branch Chief and principal site inspector if the site experiences unusual damage or disruption. If the site experiences Priority 1 damage, the NRC Emergency Operations Center should be notified as soon as the DOE is aware of the damage. In the revised draft LTSP dated November 2021, Section 3.6.4 was revised to notify the NRC Emergency Operations Center and the Materials Decommissioning Branch (MDB), Division of Decommissioning Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards for any Priority 1 or Priority 2 events and to contact the MDB project manager and branch chief as well as the branch chief of the Division of Materials Safety, Security and State and Tribal Programs, the appropriate Region IV branch chief and the principal site inspector in the case of unusual damage or disruption.

(ADAMS Accession No. ML22031A215). The NRC staff identified that the organizational names for reporting requirements are incomplete and identified this as an open item.

The NRC staff reviewed the discussion of the criteria for instituting maintenance or emergency measures in the revised draft LTSP and determined that it included the information described in NUREG-1620, Revision 1, Appendix D, Section D 2.2.4 and the NRC staff concludes that the criteria for follow up inspections is adequate. Therefore, the discussion of the criteria for follow up inspections is acceptable.

CONCLUSIONS The NRC staff evaluated the DOEs revised draft LTSP using review procedures in NUREG-1620 Revision 1, Appendix D. The NRC staff evaluation identified several remaining open items (listed below) in the revised draft LTSP which much be addressed before the NRC staff would conclude that the DOEs final LTSP complies with NRC regulations.

8 Open Items

1. The landownership legal description should be updated to state the final condition of the land ownership.

2. The DOE should provide the recorded deed and Public Land Order in the final LTSP when it is submitted.

3. The DOE should take additional site photographs during the transition of the site and include those photos in the final LTSP (ADAMS Accession No. Ml220132A216).

4. The DOE should include a sufficient number of representative photographs of the site in the final LTSP to allow future inspectors to determine if changes are occurring at the site.

5. The DOE should ensure that the final LTSP includes an image or photograph of these entrance sign and site marker as well as the perimeter signs and boundary markers.

6. The DOE should revise the reporting commitments for the NRC to correctly identify the organization in Headquarters the Materials Decommissioning Branch (MDB) should be the Uranium Recovery and Materials Decommissioning Branch (URMDB).

Ltr ML22042A003 NMSS/DUWP OFFICE R-IV/DNMS/MLDB NMSS/MSST/SLPB R-IV/DNMS/MLDB

/URMDB NAME MPoston-Brown MP SPoy SP RVon RV MPoston-Brown MP DATE Feb 11, 2022 Feb 17, 2022 Mar 30, 2022 Mar 30, 2022