ML23113A023

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NRC Presentation: Overview of Pilgrim Liquid Discharge Considerations for the North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery Plan Northeast U.S. Implementation Team (Neit)
ML23113A023
Person / Time
Site: Pilgrim
Issue date: 04/11/2023
From: Marlayna Vaaler Doell
Reactor Decommissioning Branch
To:
Doell M
References
Download: ML23113A023 (47)
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Text

Overview of Pilgrim Liquid Discharge Considerations Briefing for the North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery Plan Northeast U.S.

Implementation Team U.S. NRC 11APR 2023 Harry Anagnostopoulos, Senior Health Physicist

Contents Part A: Background Information - Swimming in a Sea of Radiation Part B: Technical Information 1.

Review of Regulatory Approach to Effluents - Reactors and Hospitals 2.

Typical Water Processing and Release 3.

A Brief History of Effluent Releases at Pilgrim 4.

Routine Environmental Monitoring Near Pilgrim 5.

Characteristics of Cape Cod Bay 6.

Overview of East Coast Facilities 7.

OPTIONAL - Tritium, a Primer 3

Swimming in a Sea of Radiation Part A:

Take Your Kids to Work Day Nevada Test Site 2012

Where Does It Come From?

Primary Cosmic Radiation Supernova and solar wind Mostly protons and alpha particles Secondary Cosmic Radiation Formed in the upper atmosphere Mostly neutrons and protons Converted to electrons and gamma rays at the earths surface Higher doses at higher altitudes Cosmogenic Radionuclides Radioactive material produced when cosmic radiation reacts with the upper atmosphere C-14, H-3, Na-22, Be-7 Continuously rain down to the earths surface Primordial Radionuclides Present at the formation of the earth Located in rocks and soil K-40, Rb-87, Ra-226, Uranium, Thorium

Where Does It Come From?

Medical Procedures Nuclear medicine for diagnosis &

treatment Radionuclides produced in accelerators and reactors F-18, Tc-99m, I-131, Tl-201, Ir-192 Nuclear Power Reactors Air emissions, waste, spent fuel Emissions low, unless there is an accident H-3, I-131, C-14, Kr-85 Above-Ground Nuclear Testing Fission products and activation products Stopped in 1962 Cs-137, Sr-90, I-131, Co-60

How Much Do I Get ?

Natural Sources: ~ 310 mrem Man-Made Sources: ~ 310 mrem On average, a U.S. resident receives 620 mrem / yr

How Much Is That ?

YOUR Body is Radioactive !

Nuclide Mass (g)

Activity (pCi)

Daily Intake (g)

Uranium 90 30 1.9 Thorium 30 3

3 K-40 17,000 120,000 390 Ra-226 0.000031 30 0.0000023 C-14 0.022 100,000 0.0018 H-3 6.0E-08 600 3.0E-09

YOUR Food is Radioactive !

Food K-40 (pCi/kg)

Ra-226 (pCi/kg)

Banana 3,520 1

Brazil Nuts 5,600 1,000 to 7,000 Carrot 3,400 0.6 to 2 White Potatoes 3,400 1 to 2.5 Red Meat 3,000 0.5 Lima Bean 4,640 2 to 5 Drinking Water 0 to 0.17

The Oceans Are Radioactive !

Radionuclide Activity in All Oceans (Curies)

Uranium 1,100,000,000 K-40 380,000,000,000 H-3 20,000,000 C-14 180,000,000 Rb-87 36,000,000,000

So Whats A picoCurie ?

Its a measure of radioactivity Its a rate of radioactive decay 1 picoCurie = 2.2 decays each minute Each decay gives off energy 485,459 decays in your body each minute !

918,060,000,000,000,000,000,000 decays in the ocean each second!

The Fukushima Disaster In Perspective Food Japanese Limit (Cs-137 pCi/kg)

Rice, Meat, Vegetables, Fish 2,702 Milk, Baby Food 1,351 0

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 Value, in pCi/kg, Normalized to Cs-137 Normal food Disaster food Eating 1 kg of normal bananas = 0.07 mrem Eating 1 kg of disaster baby food = 0.07 mrem Eating 1 kg of disaster meat = 0.14 mrem Flying to Japan = ~5 mrem

Pause for Check-In 15

Part B: Technical Information 16

1. The Regulatory Approach for Effluents
  • 40 CFR 190 (U.S. EPA)
  • NPDES Permit (State of Massachusetts and EPA) 17 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was created as an independent agency by Congress in 1974 to ensure the safe use of radioactive materials for beneficial civilian purposes while protecting people and the environment. The NRC regulates commercial nuclear power plants and other uses of nuclear materials, such as in nuclear medicine, through licensing, inspection and enforcement of its requirements.
1. Regulations - NRC
  • Radiation safety regulations apply to all licensees (medical, manufacturing, power reactors, etc)
  • Objectives Based
  • Performance Objectives vs Specific Criteria
  • What vs How
  • NRC compared to OSHA
  • Radiation Dose Based
  • Absorbed dose is the best indicator of potential human health risks
  • Humans are the most sensitive population
  • Regulatory limits are not safety limits (10 CFR 20)
  • Conservative assumptions in guidance documents 18
1. Regulatory Process - Power Reactors
  • Dose-based limits are provided in federal regulations (10CFR20, 10 CFR50, 40CFR190)
  • Implementation includes ALARA criteria (As Low As is Reasonably Achievable) at levels much lower than regulatory limits
  • Compliance and mandatory annual reporting is part of the reactors license
  • EPA radiological limits are included by the NRC and are part of NRC inspections 19
1. Regulatory Process - Power Reactors
  • All inspected by the NRC each year for reactors undergoing decommissioning 20
1. Regulatory Process - Power Reactors
  • Authority to discharge is provided in the regulations and license
  • NRC pre-approval for each discharge is not required
  • Licensee must make prompt notifications to the NRC if the more stringent ALARA criteria cannot be met.

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1. Regulations - Existing NPDES Permit 22

Comparisons of Basic Indicators of Water Quality Parameter Torus*

Dryer Separator Pit

/ Reactor Cavity*

Spent Fuel Pool*

Treated Water Tank Plymouth Town Water pH 7.61 6.72 7.22 8.89 Conductivity

(µS/cm) 352 17.0 39.2 1

239 Boron (ppb) 162 22.7 20.4 10 20.4 Chloride (ppb) 89,6 00 1,680 4,270 10 220,000 TOC (ppb) 273 101 96.2 200 1,091 Nitrate (ppb) 30 (post UV) 2,210 Sulfate (ppb) 10 (post UV) 7,700

  • Not representative of post-treatment expectations 23
2. Typical Water Processing & Release 24 Treated Water Tank Filter Ion Exchange Radiation Monitor Discharge Canal Automatic Valve Processing Tank sample
3. History of Effluent Releases Publicly available at: https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/tritium/plant-info.html 25

0 1

3 0

4 6

29 5

21 1

7 2

2 0

0 0

0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000 300000 350000 0

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Number of liquid releases Year Number of Liquid Releases & Volume - Pilgrim Station Volume (gallons)

Number of Releases 26

0 0.141 0.23 0

1.98 2.48 4.43 0.099 6.2 0.0039 3.56 0.0015 0.00082 0

0 0

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Tritium Activity Released (Curies)

Year Comparison of Annual Tritium Releases, Gas & Liquid - Pilgrim Liquid Releases Gas Releases Note: values in the blue call-outs show the activity of Tritium in the liquid release, in Curies 27

3.00 0.90 0.57 0.10 0.05 0.12 0.08 0.03 0.03 0.05 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.05 0.01 0.00 0

20 40 60 80 100 120 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Dose from ALL Radionuclides in millirem Year Comparison of Liquid and Gas Releases to Limits - Pilgrim Liquid Releases Gas Releases Note: values in the blue call-outs show the TOTAL whole-body dose for ALL radionuclides and ALL releases in that year NRC annual whole-body dose limit as found in 10 CFR 20.1301 EPA annual whole-body dose limit as found in 40 CFR 190 Typical whole-body dose from one transcontinential flight in the summer season (4 millirem) 28

4. Environmental Monitoring Publicly available at: https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/tritium/plant-info.html 29
4. Radiological Environmental Monitoring Program
  • Required as part of the facilitys licensing basis
  • Results reported annually
  • Described in Regulatory Guide 04-001
  • Objectives
  • Evaluate the local environment to establish a baseline prior to operation
  • Determine if any measurable radiation or radioactive materials are attributable to plant operation
  • Determine if any measurable radiation or radioactive materials that are attributable to plant operation are commensurate with the reported effluents and meet design objectives 30
4. Samples and Monitoring 31
4. Sampling Results - Aquatic Edibles 2020
  • Shellfish:
  • Blue mussels and soft-shelled clams
  • Natural K-40 detected, as expected
  • No plant-related radionuclides, results similar to pre-operational period
  • Lobster:
  • Collected from outfall June, July, August, September
  • Results same as shellfish
  • Fish:
  • Some species harder to collect as warm discharge water has stopped
  • Results same a shellfish 32
4. Sample Results - Surface Water 2020 Release Point Note: No H-3 (tritium) was detected in 2011, the year with the largest number of liquid releases Sample Point 33
5. Characteristics of Cape Cod Bay 34
5.

Pilgrim Design Assumptions 35

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6. Overview of East Coast Nuclear Power Plants 38
6. Right Wale Range 39
6.

Location of Hospitals 40

6. Radiopharmaceuticals in River Water 41 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234160/

Pause for Check-In 42

7. Tritium in Perspective - Optional
  • A radioactive isotope of Hydrogen (one proton, two neutrons)
  • Produced naturally in the upper atmosphere when cosmic rays interact with Nitrogen atoms (along with C-14 and Be-7)
  • Produced by reactors, however releases are at fractions of the natural background production rate [EPA fact sheet]
  • Can be found at very low concentrations in lakes and streams (about 4 pCi/L)
  • Radiation emitted as Beta particles of very low energy (cannot penetrate the skin surface)
  • Rapidly incorporates with water molecules and cannot be removed
  • Because water turns over rapidly in the body, tritium in the body is rapidly cleared from tissues [EPA fact sheet, 10-day biological half-life]

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44

7. Relative Risks - Tritium
  • Dose per unit of radioactivity in the body - ingestion
  • K-40: 5.02 E-09
  • Cs-137: 1.35E-08
  • Co-60: 7.28 E-09
  • Ra-226: 6.83 E-06 [Bone Surface]
  • Th-232: 1.85 E-05 [Bone Surface]

https://www.epa.gov/radiation/federal-guidance-report-no-11-limiting-values-radionuclide-intake-and-air-concentration 45

46 0.1 18.6 50.0 26.9 25,271.0 68,450.0 0

10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 H-3 K-40 Cs-137 Co-60 Ra-226 Th-232 Relative Risk (millirem per microCurie ingested)

Radionuclide Comparison of Tritium Risk to Other Radionuclides

Popular shopping site Tritium activity not even listed No warning or precautions Found online Each watch contains 27 Curies of H-3 47

48 Questions?

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