ML20199K962

RBS Environmental Operating Rept for Period 960829-970828

ML20199K962
Person / Time
Site:	River Bend
Issue date:	08/29/1997
From:	Chapman P, Stoma S, Cale Young ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC.
To:
Shared Package
ML20199K959	List: ML20199K962 ML20199K974 RBG-44306, Forwards RBS Environmental Operating Rept for Period 960829-970828 & Brief Aerial Photography Analysis of RBS at St Francisville,LA:1996-1997
References
NUDOCS 9712010242
Download: ML20199K962 (9)

Text

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RIVER BEND STATION ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT FOR 1996/1997 August 29,1996 - August 28,1997 i

i Prepartd j:/[4 P.eviewed by:

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%W 11, u/1

/</. /l' ar J

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P. W. Citapman

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S. K. (oma Environmental Specialist - Sr.

Supervisor Chem / RAD Control Shift Revi:wed 13y:

proved by:

DW 0h n ~. %, T

/gTourih A [

J./'. Bim'nicite ~ ~ ~

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C Acting Supt. Chemistry /Radwaste/Linv.

Chneral Manager Plant O tions i

9712010242 971124 PDR ADOCK 05000458-R pon

IIIVEll IIEND STATION ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING IIEPOllT FOlt 1996/1997 1.lST 01: TAlli.ES & ENCI.OSURES Table 1.

Nonroutine Reports to I ederal and State Environmental Regulatory Agencies.

Photointerpretation I;eport: A 13rief Aerial Photography Analysis of River llend Station

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- RIVER BEND STATION ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT FOR 1996/1997 l

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TABLE OFCONTENTS l

PAGE l

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

/ OBJECTIVES.................................................................

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j 2.0 ENV1RONMENTAL PROTECTION ISSUES.............................................

I 2.1 A q u a t i c I s sue s.....................................................................................

1 2.2 Terrestrial i ssues............,.................................................................

2 2.3 N o i se i s s u e s.......................................................................................

2 3.0 CON? l STENCY REQUI REM ENTS...........................................................

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3.1 Plant Design and ~ Operation...............................................................

2 3.2 Reporting Related to NPDES Permit and State Certification...........

3 3.3 Changes Required for Compliance with Other Environmental Reg ul a t i o n s.....................................................................................

3 4.0 ENV1 RONM ENTA L CONDITI ON S........................................................

3 4.1 Unusual or important Environmental Events.................................

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4.2 Environmental Monitoring..........................................................

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.4.2.1 Aq uati c M o nito rin g.....................................................................

4 4.2.2 Terrestrial Monitoring....................................................................

4 4.2.3 N oise M o ni to ring............................................................................

4 r.

. 5.0 ADM INI STRATI V E PROC EDURP.S.........................................................

4 5.1 Re view and Aud it.........................................................................4 5.2 Record s Ret entio n.................................................................

5 5.3 Changes in Environmental Protection Plan.................................

5 54'

- Plant Reporting Requirements......................................................

5 5.4.1 Ro utine R epo rts..........................................................,,...........

5 5.4.2 Nonrouti ne Reports..................................................................

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RIVER BEND STATION

' ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT FOR 1996/1997

1.0 INTRODUCTION

/ OBJECTIVES The Annual Environmental Operating Report for the period of August 29,1996 (anniversary of license issuance) through August 28,1997, is submitted in accordance with Subsection 5.4.1 of Appendix B to River Dead Station Facility Operating License Number NPF-47.

River Bend Station (RBS) consists of a 936 MWE General Electric boiling water reactor located on a 3,342 acre site in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana,4.1 km (2.5 MI) southeast o."St. Francisvil!e.

Waste heat from RBS is dissipated via systems using five mechanical dran cooling towers which draw makeup water from the Mississippi River,3.3 (air) km (2.0 MI) to the southwest. Blowdown from the nomial cooling tower system is discharged to the Mississippi River through a submerged pipe about 200 meters (660 fl) downstream from the makeup water intake.

Appendix B to the RBS operating license is the Environmental Protection Plan (Nonradiological),

or EPP, which has the fo!!owing principal objectives:

1.

To verify that the facility is operated in an environmentally acceptable manner, as established in the Final Environmental Statement Related to the Operation of River Bend Station (NUREG-1073, commonly referred to as the FES-OL) and other Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) impact assessments.

2.

To coordinate NRC requirements and maintain consistency with other Federal, State, and local requirements for environmental protection.

3.

To keep the NRC informed of the environmental efTects of facility construction and operation and of actions taken to control these effects.

2.0 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ISSUES in the FES-OL dated January 1985, the NRC stafTeonsidered the environmental impacts associated with the operation of River Bend Station Unit 1. Certain environmental issues were identified which required study or license conditions to rescive environmental concerns and to assure adequate protection of the environment.

2.1 Aquatic issues No specific aquatic issues were identified by the NRC staffin the FES OL. Environmental concerns which relate to water quality are regulated by way of the facility's National 1

4 RIVER BEND STATION

' ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT 70R 1996/1997 Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit and Louisiana Water Discharge Permit.

2.2 Terrestrial Issues Salt d ift deposition from the normal cooling towers may cause changes in, or damage to, nearby vegetation on RBS property (FES-OL Section 5.5.1). A monitoring program to identify the extent ofimpacts and the mitigative actions necessary, if any, is specified in EPP Section 4.2.2.

2.3 Noise issues Operation of the normal cooling towers, the service water cooling tower and main station transformers at RBS may increase noise levels at nearby residences (FES-OL Section 5.12).

A monitoring program to identify the extent ofimpacts and the mitigative actions necessary, if any, is specified in EPP Section 4.2.3.

3.0 CONSISTENCY REQUIREMENTS 3.1 Plant Design and Operation in accordance with the EPP, RBS personnel prepare and record an environmental evaluation of any proposed change in plant design or operation or performance of any test or experiment which may significantly affect the environment. Such evaluations are not perfonned on activities which do not affect the environment or are required for compliance with non-NRC environmental regulations. The environmental evaluation process is administered through programs governing design modification and the development / revision of written procedures. Before engaging in additional construction or operational activities which may significantly alrect the environment, a determination is made and recorded as to whether any proposed change involves an unreviewed environmental question determination (UEQD). A proposed activity involves a UEQD ifit concerns:

a) a matter which may result in a significant increase in any adverse environmental impact previously evaluated in the FES-OL, environmental impact appraisals, or in any decisions of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; b) a significant change in etlluent or power levels; or c) a matter, not previously reviewed and evaluated in the documents specified in (a) above, which may have a significant adverse environmental impact.

I RIVER BEND STATION

' ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT FOR 1996/1997 -

If the activity meets any of these criteria it must either not be performed as proposed or a -

written evaluation must be prepared and submitted for prior NRC approval.

During the reporting period covered by this report no changes at RBS were determined to involve urueviewed environmental questions. Records of environmental determinations are maintained in the station Permanent Plant File as part of documentation associated with the Modification Request program and/or the procedure development system.

3.2 Reporting Related to NPDES Permit and State Certification Violations of the NPDES and Louisiana Water Discharge permits have been reported to the NRC via copies of the nonroutine reports sent to the other agencies p'trsuant to permit requirements (see Table 1).

On January 27,1992 River Bend submitted to LDEQ a renewal application with modifications for Louisiana Water Dis :harge Permit No. WP0409. In addition an application for the renewal of NPDES Peimit No. LA0042731 was submitted on September 14,1995. On August 27,1996, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to j

assume the NPDES. It is expected that the LDEQ will issue a Louisiana Pollution l

Discharge Elimination System (LPDES) permit in the near future which will replace the existing state and federal permits. Subsequently, the station has submitted to LDEQ five letters which contain supplemental information and operational change requests. River Bend Station continues to comply with the terms and conditions of the previous permits, per LDEQ guidance, which were to expire on May 28,1992 and March 15,1996 respectively.

On September 25,1996 an NPDES Compliance Inspection was conducted at River Bend Station. All aspects of the inspection were found to be satisfactory.

l 3.3 Changes Required Ihr Compliance with Other Environmental Regulations During the period covered by this report there were no changes in plant design or operation or the performance of tests or experiments required to achieve compliance with non-NRC -

environmental regulations at River Bend Station.

- 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS 3

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4 RIVER BEND STATION

' ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT FOR 1996/1997 4.1 Unusual or Importart Environmental Events During the period covered by this report there were no unusual or important events, causally related to RBS operation, which resulted in significant environmental impacts.

4.2 Environmental Monitoring 4.2.1 Aquatic hionitoring. - Water quality monitoring was performed in accordance with the requirements established in the station's NPDES and Louisiana Water Discharge permits. Results were documented in monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports and nonroutine reports (l'able 1), as required, and submitted to the USEPA and LDEQ.

4.2.2 Terrestrial Monitoring.

Subsection 4.2.2 of the EPP requires aerial photograph beginning two years prior to cooling tower operation and during the following first and third years of operation.

This requirement was completed in 1989 when the " third year" set of stereo color infrared transparencies were monitored. During this reponing period River Bend Station perfomied terrestrial monitoring with aerial photography, and expanded this monitoring to address a licensing commitment to monitor for and ret < 1 the existence of new oil and gas wells and pipelines within 2 miles of the plant. No changes in vegetative communities or individual trees, attributable to salt drift impacts, was indicated. No changes in the number or size of wellheads, pipelines or transmission line right-of-ways were identified within 2 miles of RBS. The photo interpretation report is provided as Enclosure 1.

4.2.3 Noise Monitoring.

The requirement to conduct an environmental noise monitoring program (EPP Subsection 4.2.3) was completed during 1986/87 and the results were included in the second Annual Environmental Operating Report. In general, the acoustic environment in the vicinity of RBS proved to be substantially more complex than anticipated, but neither the magnitude ofincreases attributable to plant operation nor community reaction exceeded FES-OL predictions.

5.0 ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES 4

RIVER BEND STATION

' ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT FOR 1996/1997 5.1 Reviewand Audit Entergy has provided for independent review and audit of compliance with the EPP. The main group responsible for audits of EPP-related activities, the RBS Quality Assurance Department, reported directly to the Director - Quahty Programs during the period covered in this report. All findings identified during the reporting period were satisfactorily resolved and did not indicate a significant deterioration on the activities being audited.

5.2 Records Retention Records and logs relative to environmental aspects of plant operation and audit activities are retair d in the RBS Pennanent Plant File. These records and logs are available to the NRC or. request. Records of modifications to station structures, systems, and components determined to potentially affect the continued protection of the environment will be retained for the life of the plant. Other records, data, and logs relating to the EPP will be retained for five years or, where applicable, in accordance with the requirements of the USEPA and LDEQ.

e 53 Changes in Environmental Protection Plan There were no requests for changes to the EPP during the period covered by this report.

5.4 Plant Reporting Requirements 5.4.1 Routine Reports. - This Annual Environmental Operating Report was prepared to meet the reporting requirements of EPP Subsection 5.4.1 for the period from August 29,1996, through August 28,1997. Summaries and analyses of the results of monitoring programs, including comparisons with related pre-operational studies, operational controls, and previous reports are presented in Section 4.2 above. During the period of this report there were no indications of significant harmful effects or evidence of trends toward irreversible damage to the environment causally related to the operation of River Bend Station.

5.4.2 Nonroutine Reports. - All nonroutine events from August 29,1996, through August 28,1997, that were reportable were identified to other federal, state, or local agencies in accordance with their reporting requirements in lieu of requirements of EPP Subsection 5.4.2 (see Table 1).

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RIVER BEND STATION

• ENVIRONMENTAL OPERATING REPORT FOR 1996/1997 TABLE 1 NONROUTINE REPORTS TO FEDERAL AND STATE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATORY AGENCIES DATE TYPE RECIPIENT (S)*

DOCUMENT 11-21-96 Letter LDHH RBG-43,511 12-03-96 Letter LDillI RBG-43,539 02-12-97 Letter LDilH RBG-43,732 05-12-97 Letter LDEQ RBG-43,933

• Agency abbreviations: LDEQ = Louisiana Department of Environmental Quali'y LDilH = Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals 1