ML12313A148

Public Meeting Presentation Slides Nov 2012

ML12313A148
Person / Time
Site:	Zion  File:ZionSolutions icon.png
Issue date:	11/01/2012
From:	NRC/RGN-III
To:
Tehrani N
References
Download: ML12313A148 (30)

Text

NRC Role & Oversight Zion Station Decommissioning Project Public Meeting November 1, 2012

Purpose of Meeting

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Who We Are & What We Do

• Decommissioning Process What is Decommissioning What is NRCs Role

• Zion Cleanup Project What is NRCs Involvement 2

NRC - Who We Are

• Established in 1974 by U.S. Congress - led by five Commissioners nominated by the President for five-year term

• Independently regulate commercial uses of nuclear material & nuclear power

• Comprised of approx. 4,000 staff located in Maryland headquarters and four regional offices in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois and Texas 3

NRC - Locations 4

NRC - What We Do The NRC Regulates:

• Nuclear Reactors

• Nuclear Materials

• Nuclear Waste

• Decommissioning

• Nuclear Security 5

NRC - What We Do 6

NRC - Inspection & Oversight

• Conduct site inspections to ensure safety and regulatory compliance

• Respond to site issues and events

• Enforce regulations with the authority to issue sanctions

• Ensure public and worker safety, site security, and protection of the environment

• Ensure residual radioactivity is reduced to a level that permits release of the property to allow license termination 7

NRC - Inspectors at Work 8

What is Decommissioning

• Decommissioning = Cleanup

• Reduction of radioactivity to levels that permit license termination

• Goal is to ensure the public health and safety, and protection of the environment

• Involves the cleanup of buildings, structures and grounds including groundwater

• Decommissioning options - Determined by licensee:

• Unrestricted use: release the site unconditionally for any purpose without radiological restriction

• Restricted use: release the site with specific controls to prevent unauthorized access 9

Decommissioning of Reactors

• Required to be completed within 60 years of permanently ceasing operations

• NRC license is not terminated until the site meets radiological release criteria (based on annual radiation dose to the public)

• NRC completes a radiological evaluation as part of the license termination process to ensure release criteria are met

• NRC verifies that radiological release criteria are met through independent surveys and sample analyses 10

Decommissioning of Reactors (Cont.)

Process Involves:

• Removal of spent nuclear fuel from the reactor and its safe storage

• Dismantling highly radioactive plant components

• Cleanup (decontamination) of contaminated structures, systems and equipment

• Each licensee determines the methods used to decommission the facility to meet NRC radiological release criteria 11

Zion Plant History

• Unit 1 operated from December 1973 to February 1997

• Unit 2 operated from September 1974 to September 1996

• In 1998, all fuel was removed from both the reactors and placed in the facilitys spent fuel pool 12

Zion Plant History (Cont.)

• In 2008, Exelon Corp. (NRC Licensee) submitted a request to the NRC to transfer the license and the decommissioning fund to ZionSolutions

• ZionSolutions:

• Subsidiary of Energy Solutions

• Formed for the purpose of decommissioning the Zion Station

• Completed Asset Sale Agreement with Exelon Corp

• Leased land from Exelon

• Assumed responsibilities and liabilities for decommissioning project

• NRC approved the license transfer in September 2010

• NRC ensured that ZionSolutions had proper funds and expertise to safely decommission the site before authorizing transfer

• Following decommissioning, the NRC license will be transferred back to Exelon Corp for ongoing storage/security of the spent fuel 13

Zion Decommissioning Project

• Principle Decommissioning Actions

1. Decommission and dismantle the facility

2. Relocate nuclear fuel from the spent fuel pool to dry cask storage

• Decommission the site for unconditional release (i.e., site could be used for other purposes w/o radiological restrictions)

• Electrical switchyard, access roads and the spent fuel stored in dry casks will remain onsite following decommissioning of the plant

• Lake piping and associated intake structures will remain in-place 14

What is inside the Plant 15

Zion Decommissioning Status 16 Containment Opening

Zion Decommissioning Status CRD Mechanism atop Reactor 17

Zion Decommissioning Status 18 Isolation of Reactor Coolant System

Zion Decommissioning Status 19 Dismantled CRD Mechanism

Zion Decommissioning Status Reactor Head Transportation 20

Zion Decommissioning Status Waste Shipment Liners 21

Safe Spent Fuel Storage

• Current options for safe spent fuel storage:

• Spent fuel pools

• Dry casks (i.e., concrete shielded containers)

• Long term storage ultimately at federal repository (responsibility of the Department of Energy) 22

Zion Spent Fuel Storage

• Zions spent fuel is currently safely stored in the plants spent fuel pool located within a concrete shielded fuel building

• Fuel must be relocated from the spent fuel pool to another safe storage location to allow the plant buildings to be decommissioned

• Zion Solutions plans to construct an onsite Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) which will be comprised of two concrete pads and surrounding security structures

• The licensee projects that 61 dry casks are projected to house the spent fuel and 4 dry casks are planned to store certain reactor components 23

Cask Design

• Canister

• Contains spent fuel

• Stainless steel

• Leak tight

• Storage Cask

• Houses canister

• 3 ft thick concrete walls

• Designed to withstand

• Earthquake

• Tornado

• Tipping

• Extreme Temperatures

• Flood

• ISFSI Pad

• Reinforced concrete mat approx 3-feet thick 24

Dry Cask Storage in U.S.

• Over 50 ISFSIs exist in the U.S. with approximately 50,000 fuel assemblies stored in approximately 1,250 casks

• First ISFSI was licensed by the NRC in 1986

• 26-year industry experience has shown that these sites have safely stored spent fuel 25

NRC Openness with the Public

• NRC places high priority on keeping the public informed of its activities. At www.nrc.gov you can:

• Find public meeting information

• Review NRC inspection reports, testimony, speeches, press releases and policy decisions

• Access the agencys Electronic Reading Room to view publications/documents

• NRC staff is readily accessible to the public 26

NRC Region 3 Oversight

• Inspection expertise at NRC includes engineering disciplines, health physics, security, fire protection, and emergency preparedness

• Christine Lipa, Chief, Materials Control, ISFSI, and Decommissioning Branch Christine.Lipa@nrc.gov

• Wayne Slawinski, Zion Inspection Project Lead Inspector Wayne.Slawinski@nrc.gov 27

Regional Public Affairs and Government Liaison

• Viktoria Mitlyng Public Affairs Officer Viktoria.mitlyng@nrc.gov

• Prema Chandrathil Public Affairs Officer Prema.chandrathil@nrc.gov

• Harral Logaras Regional Government Liaison Specialist Harral.Logaras@nrc.gov 28

Summary

• The NRC will be onsite at the Zion Plant regularly to ensure the decommissioning work at the plant is carried out thoroughly and safely

• The NRC will independently verify that residual radioactivity is reduced to a level that permits unrestricted release of the property and termination of the license

• The NRC will continue to perform inspections at the Zion Plant throughout the entire decommissioning project and until the stored nuclear fuel is ultimately transferred to the Department of Energy or other federal repository 29

Questions and Comments 30