ML20127A275

Affidavit of Mj Bell in Support of Defendant NRC Motion to Dismiss

ML20127A275
Person / Time
Site:	02700039
Issue date:	03/31/1978
From:	Bell M NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS)
To:
Shared Package
ML20126L908	List: ML20126L904 ML20126M048 ML20126M081 ML20126M089 ML20126M689 ML20126M749 ML20126M782 ML20126M803 ML20126M821 ML20126M881 ML20127A089 ML20127A275 ML20127A320 ML20127A475 ML20127A649 ML20127B448 ML20127B815 ML20127P538
References
FOIA-92-71 NUDOCS 9301110238
Download: ML20127A275 (10)

Text

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Michael . 3 ell, ceing first duly sworn, deposes and says:

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1. I am Chief of the L:w-Level '/aste Branch o!' the Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety of the Muclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The statements made herein are based upon my knowledge, and infor .ation a tailable to me in my official capacity.

2. Through my offi:ial duties I have te: me acquainted with the licensing acti:ns, health and saf ety determinaticns, environmental procedures , and adr.inistrative proceedings undertaken by the Nuclear Regula:Ory 00mmissi n in its regulati:n of the icw-level waste burial f acility operated by Nuclehr Engineering Company, !n:, (NECO) near the town of Sheffield, !!11ncis.

3 7: e Sheffield, :1'.inets cce .ercial '.:w-level radica:tive

.:sste di:posal f a:111:y is a shall:.. land burial si:e

evering 20.:5 acres in Eureau ::un , :1;incis. It is le:nted 2 ..iles r:rthe-.: er the ::c- Of ~he ffie'.d , : l l '. n- i e ;

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Infx~<'.~:s3 I) thi: estad .;n gy;.3 1 f in accord pct. cxemplians3nce ~E with the t'reedom of Information 9301:10238 920708 F0l A. _.f2 - P7'-~~~~ j; y l2 PDR FOIA -- '

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. . . . , ; .g . 3 north and west of its rstietttice 'inste site.

. The Shef field facility is one of six cor.mercial shallcw -

land burial Grounds 11:ensed for the disposal of low-level waste in the United ftstes. Because it is the cnly one not located in an Agreenent. State, it is regulated by the NRC.

L 5 The Sheffield low-level vaste disposal site was first licensed for operation in 1967 when the At0mic Energy Commission (AS0) licensed the activities of California Nuclear, Inc. (NEOC's predecessor) at the site. In 1963, California Nuclear, Inc. had presented a proposal to establish a waste disp'osal site in the State, and the

• llinois geology and healtn departments assisted' that ecmpany in locating the Sheffield site. A geohydrologic investigation was.cenducted and the site was then approved tyf the !!!1nois geolcEy and health depar tments , and 'later, ,

at the time of the 19e? licensing, ty the._ AEC af ter con-sultation with the t*nited States "eologic Survey.

6. The land on which the Sheffield site is located was- deeded by California Uuelear.to.the State of Illinois in October of 1366, in acccrdance with _ the AEC regulation which requires radioactive vaste. dispesal to te carried -cut on land ewned-by et!her the Stat; or Feds"al-covernment.

.10 ;7R 20 302(t?. Illinois then leased tha -land to.

Oalif:rnia "acicer ;nder chi:'-the ' tate-colleets 3 7

yearly rent and s #;e *:r +t: '?Jie ft;- f .:ss te buried.

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7 2311Tornia Tuclear was au:h:rt:ed to bury waste at the

' ' ' ' ' = 14 s i t e b 'r 1-em'-ent 't. ~ to its existin: 11:ence

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._. ... . .m July 15, 1964, for etner activities not related to the Sheffield site. The earlier amendnents to this license Ocncern other burial sites and the use of the Sheffield .

site for temporary storage. SECO then acquired control of California Nuclear, and with the AEC's approval the _

license was transferred to NECO in !! arch 1968 by Amendment .

No. 10. The transferred license was valid through August 31, 19fE. A copy of the license t:gether with Amendment Nos. 9, 10 and 11 is attached hereto as Exhibit 1.

3. NICO filed an application for license renewal on August 16, 1968. !t was deemed timely filed by the AEC on August 22, 1968. The Sheffield license has been continued in effect pending final C mmission action.

9 The principal cperations at a 00mmercitl land burial grou7d are the receipt, temporary stcrage, and burial in trenches of packaged low-level radioactive wastes. These wastes come frem clean-up Operati ns '. glove s , clothing, etc.};

floor drains; :ooling er circulating water demineralizers; and frem the researen, medical, and industrial use of radioisotopes. The waste packages are normally buried as received. Furtherm re, the State limits the Sheffield facility's acceptance of !cw-level waste material to packages having an activity Of less than one curie per cubic foot. As a result, the Overall activity of all materials received is only twenty millicuries per :ubic fact '1/50 of the limit), giving the Sheffield site the 1: west a:tivity of the six, law-level waste facilities in the ";nited States.

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'. 0 . The Sheffield facility 1s fourth in total telume of a'astes -

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turied in the six United States icw-level sites, and it

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11. Most of the wastes buried at the Sheffield site are generated in the mid-western region of the United States. About.70 percent have originated from activities within the State of Illinois. The major source are hosp;tals, industry, government installations.and nuclear powe'r plants.

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substantial portion of the waste arises from nuclear power plants located in the State of Illincis. About 23 percent ,

Of the State's power is produced in its seven nuclear power i plants. In the Chicago area, 40 to 45 per:ent of the power is produced by reactors. Several mere rea: tors are currently under :enstruction in Illinois,

12. Wastes are buried at the Sheffield site in trenches which are atout 30 feet deep, 50 to 60 feet wide'and 200 to 500 feet 1:ng. -Spacing between the trenches is at least 10 1-feet. Most wastes are buried in containers which are then covered with three or more feet of clay whi:h is compacted in situ. This : lay cap prevents the seecage of precipits-tion into the trench. .Three feet c.T topsoil is then-

- placed on top of the cap, :entoured to prcmote runoff of precipitation and seeded- for stabilization. The bottom Of.each trench contains a drain, graded to collect any.scepsge at~ ene end. If moisture. collects in the drain, it can be monitored. through a riser pipe and purped out if '

-necessary. No 00mpleted trench has needed pumoing to date._

Twenty trenches have teen filled, and'the last licensed one on thessite is. expected to ce_'illed f on or atout April 1,

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197*. The current cite of weste disp; sal tt the Sheffield 3t. < - t r .,3: es.g.. r ? , .* e v, - mt .r--e&. u nt s i

cate it takes acou: ter n:nths to fill a ' . arge tren:n.

13 Radi: active wastes are transported to the Sheffield site

• i by private carrier, ::nner:ial :entract carriers, common carriers, package delivery services and direct customer ,

delivery. Federal and State regulations govern the r packaging, labeling and sisippit6 cf radicactive wastes. ,

Interstate shipments are regulated by the Oerartment of i

Transportation (DCT), and intrastate shipments by Illinois.

• /arious containers are utilised for the safe transport of  ;

radioactive waste depending on the activity level of the  ;

material. *cntainers must meet OCT requirements. All vehicles entering the site are surveyed to determine that a

they are properly placarded, that containers are properly 1

sealed, and that radiation levels do not exceed 007 limits.

The envircnmental effects of waste transportati n have ,

teen eensidered in the final Environnental Statement on i the Transpcrtati:n of Radicactive 'taterial ty Air and Other !!cdes, M;F.I3 0170 (1977)..

14 Cn May 23,197$, MECO filed an applicatien- for a 11:ense teendment which w0uld permit use of the excess soil excavated from the trenches for the :enstruction of.

compacted fill trenches in tepographic depressions on the Sheffield site. On December 22, 1975, NECO was authori:ed to constract compacte1 till trenches-but not to bury .any radicactive was';e in them.

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I?. On J anuary ' f,1976, ::ICO *as requested t: inform the ERO

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application and Enviror. entai Repcrt as previously requested in July, 1975 These secaments were submitted on recenter 29, 1976. Prior to sutmitting this information, on August 30, 1976, NE00 applied ftr a license amendment to permit use et two compacted till trenches -- Tren:hes 1h and 14 A.

An amended application was filed on Movember 4,1976, and _

was supported with a Radiological Control and Safety Manual, a Site Operations Manual, a Radiological Assess-nent Evalu tion for Trenches 14 and 14A, and a report on the Geology and Geotechni:e1 Engineering for Trenches 14 and 14A. In addition, NI00 applied for the withholdinE of the proprietary information in its application pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790(b). *he amendment application was exten-sively reviewed by NRC's technical staff and !!E00 responded in detail to several sets-of technical questions. Amendment No.11 authoritinE turial in Trenches 14 and 14A was issved en January 6, 1977.

15. The issuance of Amendment No.11 is the only licentirg acti:n taken by the NEO cm KE00's Shef field licence _since -

1970. This license amendment superseded all previous li:ense enditions pertaining to 3heffield and authorized d

the burial of low-level radioactive wastes only in Trenches l'4 and 14A. It also :mpletely updated the tsdiological_ health and safety progran and procedures for the Sheffield site, and strictly limited the concentra-tiens of turied transurant: materials. Amend ent No. 11 also authori:ed NE00 to temporarily store limited quantities of rsdioactive waste 'above ground.

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• . On Oecenter 30,'1976, ;EOC sutmitted a separate application for license renewal and site expansion to the ad'acent 162

..r*:, - m v c p s .~ *. ' c. '. a.. *t' ". ,c* ..A includes discussion of the ecmpacted fi;l metnod of trench

enstruction on its original site. This was the updated app 11Ation the MRC had earlier requested. NE00's appli.

=ation was accompanied by a request that the NRC treat portions of the application as proprietary information to te withheld from public inspection. This request delayed the NRC's normal envirenmental review process.

After extensive discussion, l:E00 withdrew its ;roprietary

' status request en september 7, 1977. Notice of a >ailability of the Environmental Report and of the opportunity. to request j a hearing was then published on Oece~ber 5, 1977 (42 Fed. Reg.

61$23). Exhibit 2. An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board was then established to rule on intervention ;etitions (43 Fed.

Reg. 2023 (197B)). Exhibit 3 The State-of Illinois, among others, has been granted leave to intervene in this prceeedir.g (43 Fed. Reg. 9892 (1979)). Exhibit 4 This Licensing Scard sill hold a prehearing ecnferen:e, and will hold an evitentiary hearing after the Final Environmental Impact Statement is prepared. I d .'

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3. On August 5,1977, NE00 applied for a license amendment to permit use cf compacted. fill trenches.which would be

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built-on its present site by the same method used for Trenches 14 and 14A. The NRC has limited its considera-tion of this opplication to :nly one trench .. Trench 15.

Notice of this application and of an opportunity for

cmment was published _cn January o, 1978-(43 Ted. Reg.

1160). E.T hibit 5 '. The State of Illinois and other L interest *d persons submitted petitions to the 18C. As l'

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, . 2-a recalt, an Atomic sfety and Liceneir.g loarc has been

• r*e 114hed to rule on *e'ittent end r?at:sts for leave to

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Exhibit 6. In addition, the NRC has prepared and forwarded a Notice of Cpportunity for Public Hearing for publication ,

in the Federal Register. Exhibit 7.

19. TECO's Trench 15 arplication is now undergoinc an extensive safety review by hRC technical staff. NECO is still pro-viding additional internation in response to specific technical questions. To provide the requested infor:stion NECO is conducting field studies that are scheduled to be completed on April 6,1978. As a result, the earliest that the NRC staff can complete its safety evaluation of

!!ECO's application is the niddle of May, 1978.

2C. By letter dated March 15, 1978, NRC informed NECC that no radioactive materials should be placed in Trench 15 until -;

the staff cerpletes its evaluation of the field work . l supportirE NECO's license amendment application and is )

I satisfied that no ;otential health and safety pretlems  ;

will develep. -Exhibit B.- l

21. By letter dated March 30, 1978 NECC has informed the NRC that it intends only limited use of the Sheffield site as l a collection point for icw. level waste collected in general i freu hospitals and other snal! generaters and packaged- 1.1 Department of Transportation-spproved centainers which.will  !

te shipped off-site to another burial facility. Exhibit 9 l

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- 22. On March 3 .-1978,. the URC entered ints centract No.-

URC 02 77-C32 with ::US- Corperation of Feckville,- Maryland, to ac61st with the preparation of an environmental it. pact v , - e~-ew,,,. -.-~,,.-#--w, ,-. wm.-,, --w,.-w.--,,,,m, ~,,,-,se-+-i.--wp- ..w- -e.-ern w ,~,.w ,y y,

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5:ste-ent (IIS) fer :'ECO's M:ense renewal and site  !

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tecnnical r.sthoaciocy afines tne scope, :cntent 8:. i j

in the EIS; monitcrs the contractor's tecnnical progress 4 and recenmends changes in requirements as needed; inter-prets the scope of the werk; performs technical evalua- . .

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tions as required; performs the technical inspections }

and acceptances required; and assists the contractor in resolving any technical problems encountered. After each preliminary draft chapter is completed by the con-tractor, it is reviewed by the !!EC and returned for ,

revision in accordance with contract requirements. A second round of review and revision is then performed on the entire preliminary draft EIS, A target date of early September,1979, has been set for !US to deliver f a copy-of the draft EIS. The time of publication of a final EIS will depend in part on the extent of comments received on the draft. I expect the final EIS to be issued sometime during the first quarter of~1979 .

Eecent Federal inspecticas at the Sheffield site have

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teen made periedi. ally at 6 to 12-month intervals. .9o .t significant itens of non-ccmpliance have been found. In addition, staff from the Illinois Department of Public Health have frequently inspected the site, and_the NRC inspection staff ras maintained a close working relation-ship with the State inspectors.

14 Lew concentraticns of tritium have been detected in. on-site monitoring wells very close to one burial trench in late 1976; and in late 1977, in anLen site monitoring well

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brosinately"?Teet frem the nesrest burial trench.

-:;tt t rit . . , ce:entrtt:~ r are etti Tr: n tonc Of the ;4RO liailt en triti n :;ngentt atien for release to unrestricted areas; therefore, the t!RC considers that off-site radiological impacts have been and centinue to .

be negligible. Based on present information, the NRC is unable to conclude whether or not subsurface migration of tritium has occurred, and further analyses are teing con-ducted to determine the significance of the findings.

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.i S LL J. ':LLL, CIIIer Low-Level 'iaste Branch Division of Fuel Cycle and . .

Material Safety U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Cor. mission ,

P OC'JN7Y OF MONTGOMERY )

) SS STATT OF MARYLAND )

L l Subscribed and Sworn to before me this, the 31st day of March, 1978.

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'.y Comission e. spires July 1, 1978.

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