ML20149H081

Exemption from 10CFR50.82(b)(6)(ii) Re Terminal Radiation Survey.Exemption Granted

ML20149H081
Person / Time
Site:	05000356
Issue date:	07/16/1997
From:	Collins S NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
To:	ILLINOIS, UNIV. OF, URBANA, IL
Shared Package
ML20149B884	List: ML20149G148 ML20149G185 ML20149G209 ML20149H081
References
NUDOCS 9707240203
Download: ML20149H081 (5)

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA l

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of ) )

) l UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN0IS AT URBANA- )

CHAMPAIGN ) Docket No. 50-356

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(University of Illinois at Urbana- )

Champaign Low Power Reactor )

Assembly) )

EXEMPTION I.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (the licensee or University) is the holder of Facility Operating License Nos. R-ll5 and R-117, which authorize operation of the University of Illinois Advanced TRIGA Research Reactor (TRIGA) and the University of Illinois low Power Reactor Assembly (LOPRA). The licenses provide, among other things, that the licensee is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) now or hereafter in effect. The reactors are located in the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Urbana, Champaign County, Illinois.

II.

I By application dated February 10, 1995, as supplemented on April 24, 1995, and October 2, 1996, the licensee requestei from the NRC authorization to decommission the LOPRA. The letter of February 10, 1995, contained a I

request that authorization be given for terminating Facility Operating l

l 9707240203 970716 l PDR ADOCK 05000356 P PDR

License No. P-117. By license amendment dated January 21, 1997 (Amendment No. 6), the Commission approved the decommissioning plan for the LOPRA. By letter dated April 15, 1997, the licensee informed the NRC that the University had completed decommissioning the LOPRA in accordance with Amendment No. 6 to the Facility Operating License. As discussed in the University's decommissioning plan and letter of April 15, 1997, the LOPRA and the TRIGA (Docket No. 50-151) (which remains in operation), are both located at the same site, the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, which continues to be a ,

i restricted environment. The LOPRA was located in the bulk shielding tank of the TRIGA reactor.

As part of the license termination process, the licensee has requested a specific exemption in accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal j Reaulations, Section 50.12 (10 CFR 50.12), to part of the requirements of 10 CFR 50.82(b)(6)(ii). This part of the regulations requires, as a condition of license termination, that a terminal radiation survey and associated documentation demonstrate that the facility and site are suitable for release.

The Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and TRIGA will remain subject to the TRIGA license after the LOPRA license is terminated. All components and fuel from the LOPRA were transferred to the TRIGA license. Some components containing byproduct material were subsequently transferred to a University of Illinois byproduct materials license (License IL-01271-01) issued by the State of

'llinois to allow the components to be stored at a facility away from the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. The components and fuel will be maintained for the capability to construct and operate a subcritical assembly in the TRIGA ,

bulk shielding tank, which is currently authorized under the TRIGA license.

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k No facility or site is to be released as part of this license termination.

Therefore, a terminal radiation survey of the facility and site are not necessary for terminating the LOPRA license. The Nuclear Reactor Laboratory and former LOPRA components will be considered for release in the future when the University requests termination of the TRIGA license.

III.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission may, upon application by any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 when (1) the exemptions are authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to public health or safety, and are consistent l with the common defense and security and (2) when special circumstances are present. Special circumstances are present, according to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii), whenever " application of the regulation in the particular circumstances would not serve the underlying purpose of the rule or is not necessary to achieve the underlying purpose of the rule."

The underlying purpose of 10 CFR 50.82(b)(6) is to describe the requirements that must be met for license termination, one of which is that the results of the terminal radiation survey and other documentation show that l the facility and site meet the requirements for release. These survey results and documentation form part of the basis for terminating the license, because license termination usually results in the release of the facility and site for unrestricted use.

In this case, the reactor components and fuel (the facility) were transferred to the TRIGA license (some components were i

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subsequently transferred to a University of Illinois byproduct materials license), and the site will not be released because of the continued operation i J

! of the TRIGA reactor. Therefore, application of the rule that the terminal radiation survey and other documentation must show that the facilitu and site are suitable for release is not necessary in order to terminate the license, i

IV.

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l For the foregoing reasons, the NRC staff has concluded that not requiring a terminal radiation survey and associated documentation that demonstrate that the facility and site are suitable for release as a condition of license  !

i termination will not present an undue risk to public health and safety and is 1

consistent with the common defense and security. The NRC staff has determined l

that there are special circumstances present, as specified in 10 CFR 50.12 I l

(a)(2), in that application of part of 10 CFR 50.82(b)(6)(ii) is not necessary I in order to achieve the underlying purpose of this regulation.  !

Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR i 50.12(a), the exemption is authorized by law, will not endanger life or l property or common defense and security, and is otherwise in the public l interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants an exemption from the l requirements of 10 CFR 50.82(b)(6)(ii) that a terminal radiation survey and associated documentation demonstrates that the facility and site are suitable for release are neaded as a condition of Facility Operating License No. R-117 termination.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on the quality of the f

human environment (62 FR 38130).

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For further details with respect to this action, see (1) the. application  :

for terminating Facility Operating License No. R-117, dated February 10, 1995, as supplemented; (2) the Commission's safety evaluation related to the ,

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, termination of the lic.ense; (3) the environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact; and (4) the Commission's Order terminating Facility t-Operating License No. R-117. Each of these items is available for public inspecticn at the Commission's Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW., .

Washington, DC 20037.

Copies of items' 2, 3, and 4 may be obtained upon receipt of a request addressed to the U.S.- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC o

20555-0001, Attention: Director, D. vision of Reactor Program Management.

This exemption is effective upon issuance.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION i 4

1 ector Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of July 1997 i

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