ML20206J968

Responds to Requesting Findings & Views Re Recent Correspondence from F Skolnick of Susquehanna Valley Alliance on Radioactive Water Disposal at Facility.Nrc Involvement in Issue Summarized

ML20206J968
Person / Time
Site:	Three Mile Island
Issue date:	04/08/1987
From:	Stello V NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Specter A SENATE
Shared Package
ML20206J971	List: ML20206J968 ML20206J992
References
NUDOCS 8704160230
Download: ML20206J968 (6)

Text

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[] Q c%D m a nw The Honorable Arlen Specter United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Specter:

In your letter of March 3,1987, you requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission provide you with our findings and views regarding recent corres-pondence from Ms. Frances Skolnick of the Susquehanna Valley Alliance on the subject of radioactive water Jisposal at Three Mile Island, Unit ?, (TMI-?).

In response to your request, this letter sumarizes the NRC's involvement in this issue.

As a result of the March 1979 accident at TMI-2, approximately 1.3 million gallons of water became radioactively contaminated. Additional water used in subsequent cleanup operations has been mixed with the water originally contam-inated during the accident.-so that a total of approximately ?.1 million gallons of " accident-generated" water (AGW) is projected to be accumulated at the TMI-?

site by September 1988, the scheduled endpoint of cleanup. This water has been periodically processed through specially designed demineralizer systems to reduce its radioactivity content and is being stored onsite and used in the continuing cleanup operation. Following its final processing prior to disposal, the AGW is projected to contain a total of 1020 curies of tritium, 0.9 curies of strontium-90 and 0.29 curies of cesium-137, with trace amounts of other radionuclides.

Shortly after the accident, the City of Lancaster, PA and the Susquehanna Valley Alliance (SVA) filed suit to block any discharge of this water into the Susquehanna River. Consequently, the licensee, General Public Utilities Nuclear Corporation, opted to store the water onsite and defer any plans for its disposal. With river discharge indefinitely postponed, both legal actions were settled with stipulations. The principal stipulations binding on the Comission as a result of these settlements are that: (1) "[n]o action or order to discharge any processed or unprocessed AGW into the Susquehanna River will be implemented without at least 45 days notification to plaintiffs," and

(?) prior to holding any meeting to " approve discharge of accident-generated waste water into the Susquehanna River," the Comission will notice the meeting and afford " interested persons" an opportunity to make a " technical presentation to the Comissioners." Note that these stipulations do not preclude river discharge as the ultimate method of AGW disposal.

In an April 27, 1981 Policy Statement accompanying the issuance of the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on the TPI-? cleanup, the Comission directed that final approval of any AGW disposal option would come from the Comission itself. A prohibition against water disposal without e704160230 87040s gDR ADOCK 05000320 PDR

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The Honorable Arlen Specter e i

direct Comission approval was incorporated into the TMI-2 facility license as i a Technical Specification.

On July 31, 1986, the licensee submitted a proposal to dispose of the AGW 1 through forced evaporation over a two and one-half year period, with the '

resulting evaporator bottoms to be disposed of at a low-level waste burial ,

facility. The'11censee also examined the river discharge option and a third option and concluded that all three methods of AGW disposal were environmentally acceptable. However, based on the " recognition of an existing public perception that unique health risks are associated with this disposal option, "(i.e. river discharge), the licensee has proposed the somewhat more costly and time consuming option of forced evaporation. The licensee's request for a special allocation of low-level waste burial volume needed to support this disposal option was recently approved by the Department of Energy. In conjunction with their proposal, on February 25, 1987, the licensee submitted a reouest to remove the existing prohibition on water disposal from the TMI-2 license.

On December 29, 1986, the NRC staff issued for comment the enclosed draft supplement to the PEIS on this issue (draft Supplement No. 2). This draft supplement assesses the environmental consequences of ten disposal alterna-tives, including the licensee's preferred method, and concludes that no signif-icant impact would result from implementation of any considered alternative.

The estimated maximum radiation dose that any offsite individual could receive from implementation of the ten alternatives ranges from 0 to less than 5 mrem.

For the proposed evaporation alternative, a dose of approximately 5 mrem received over two and one-half years can be compared to the approximately 225 mrem from natural background expected to be received by each inhabitant of the Harrisburg  ;

area over the same period. At the reauest of the Comission's TMI-2 Advisory

Panel, the coment period on draft Supplement No. 2 has been extended 45 days l .to April 14, 1987 for all comenters. Coments have been received to date l

from federal, state and local organizations, as well as private citizens. All -

coments received will be considered by the NRC staff in the preparation of the

! Final Supplement No. 2 to the PEIS. The NRC staff currently plans to issue the

PEIS final supplement on AGW disposal in.May 1987, to be followed shortly there-l after with a staff recomendation to the Commission on the licensee's proposed method of disposal.

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In addition to the opportunity for independent review of the TMI-2 water disposal issue provided by the three and one-half month coment period on the NRC staff supplement to the PEIS, several public meetings have been held to '

i discuss this issue. In January, February and March of'1987, the Comission's t

Advisory Panel on the Decontamination of TMI-2 held meetings on the issue of AGW disposal. These meetings provided opportunity for public coment and participation, and at the March meeting Ms. Skolnick's organi::ation, the SVA, p l brought their own scientific experts to address the Panel on this issue.

The Panel is scheduled to meet with the Commission in April, to provide a recommendation on this issue. Additionally, the NRC staff discussed the PEIS

( draft supplement on water disposal at a January 1987 meeting of the SVA and TMI l r Alert, another citizen's organization. In connection with the NRC staff's i

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The Honorable Arlen Specter .

review of the licensee's amendment request to remove the prohibition on water-disposal from the facility license, a notice of proposed staff action will appear in the Federal Register. This notice will provide further opportunity for comments or hearing requests on the issue of TMI-2 water disposal.

In sumary, we believe that the process the NRC is following in addressing the issue of disposal of TMI-2 accident-generated water is comprehensive and provides ample opportunity for independent review and coment. I hope that this infor-mation is helpful to you in addressing your constituents' concerns on this issue.

Sincerely, ISicnod). Jack L Roo.

ctor Stello, Jr.

Executive Director for Operations

Enclosure:

Draft Supplement to PEIS on AGW Disposal p -

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4 Dated:

Distribution of letter to The Honorable Arlen Specter in response to questions raised by one of his constituents, Ms. Frances Skolnick, with regard to radioactive water disposal at TMI-2.

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ENCL LTR FROM FRANCES SKOL NICK. SUSQ!!FHANNA MllRIEY VALLEY Al.LIANCE, CONCERNING DISPOSAL OF MURRAY RADIOACTIVE WATER FROM TMI DALE: 03/09/87 ASSIGNED TO: NRR CONTACT: DFNTON SPECIAL IN5TRiLT ONS Ok RFMARKS:

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, PAPER NUMBER: CRC-87-0232 LOGGING DATE: Mar 9 87 ACTION OFFICE: EDO AUTHOR: A. Specter--Const Ref AFFILIATION: U.S. SENATE LETTER DATE: Mar 3 87 FILE CODE: ID&R-5 TMI

SUBJECT:

TMI evaporation ACTION: Direct Reply DISTRIBUTION: OCA to Ack SPECIAL HANDLING: None NOTES: F Skolnick DATE DUE: Mar 23 87

-SIGNATURE: . DATE SIGNED:

AFFILIATION:

Rec'd Off. EDO Date- 3 -9 ~ E 1 Time - )st SP W

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