ML070370061

NIST Environmental Audit Report

ML070370061
Person / Time
Site:	National Bureau of Standards Reactor
Issue date:	02/13/2007
From:	Mendonca M NRC/NRR/ADRA/DPR/PRTB
To:	US Dept of Commerce, National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST)
Mendonca M, NRC/NRR/DPR/PRT, 415-1128
References
Download: ML070370061 (7)

Text

February 13, 2007 LICENSEE: National Institute of Standards and Technology FACILITY: National Institute of Standards Reactor

SUMMARY

OF SITE AUDIT TO SUPPORT THE LICENSE RENEWAL REVIEW FOR THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS REACTOR (NBSR) AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY The NBSR is licensed under 10 CFR 50.21(c) as a testing facility, which is defined in 10 CFR 50.2. Criteria for and identification of licensing and regulatory actions requiring environmental impact statements in 10 CFR 51.20, states that an environmental impact statement is needed for [i]ssuance or renewal of a full power or design capacity license to operate a nuclear power reactor, testing facility, or fuel reprocessing plant pursuant to part 50 of this chapter. Therefore, the license renewal for the NBSR requires that an environmental impact statement (EIS) must be prepared as part. An environmental review team consisting of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff and contractors from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) conducted site audit activities at the National Bureau of Standards Reactor (NBSR) located at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) campus on September 26, 2006, to support the environmental review of the NIST license renewal (LR) application. The environmental review team consisted of three contractors from PNNL and three Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff. The primary goals of the site visit were to tour the site and environs; to discuss the Environmental Report (ER) submitted as part of the application by NIST; and to gather additional information to ensure that the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51 are met. A list of the names and affiliations of those participating in the NBSR site audit at the NIST site is provided as Enclosure 1.

The environmental review team participated in an initial introductory overview meeting with the NBSR staff at the NIST Center for Neutron Research on Tuesday, September 26, 2006.

NBSR staff presented a brief overview of the site, conducted a tour of the NBSR facility and associated Cold Neutron Guide Hall and the surrounding environment focusing on areas relevant to the environmental review. These areas included the cooling towers, the receiving area, the parking area, the waste water storage area, a drainage pond, temporary waste storage area and a viewing of the meteorological tower. The NBSR team provided the review team with several documents containing information in response to information requests. lists these documents and associated ADAMS accession numbers.

At the conclusion of the NBSR site audit, the NRC and its contractor staff from PNNL summarized the information and documents needed to complete the environmental review. summarizes information given verbally during the site visit and confirmed in writing by email upon which the review team will rely in preparing its draft EIS.

The NRC and contractor staff are continuing the NBSR environmental review and plan to publish a draft EIS in early 2007.

/RA/

Marvin M. Mendonca, Senior Project Manager Research and Test Reactors Branch A Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No.: 50-184

Enclosures:

As stated cc.: See next page

At the conclusion of the NBSR site audit, the NRC and its contractor staff from PNNL summarized the information and documents needed to complete the environmental review.

Enclosure 3 summarizes information given verbally during the site visit and confirmed in writing by email upon which the review team will rely in preparing its draft EIS.

The NRC and contractor staff are continuing the NBSR environmental review and plan to publish a draft EIS in early 2007.

/RA/

Marvin M. Mendonca, Senior Project Manager Research and Test Reactors Branch A Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No.: 50-184

Enclosures:

As stated cc.: See next page DISTRIBUTION:

Public RidsNrrDpr DBeissell Rids NrrDprPrta RidsNrrDprPrtb BZalcman RTR Reading File Accession No.: ML070370061 PRTB:PM PRTA:LA REB PRTA:BC PRTB:PM NAME MMendonca:cah EHylton DBeissell DCollins MMendonca DATE 02/07/07 2/07/07 2/07/07 02 /13/07 02/13/07 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

National Institute of Standards and Technology Docket No. 50-184 cc:

Environmental Program Manager III Radiological Health Program Air & Radiation Management Adm.

Maryland Dept of the Environment 1800 Washington Blvd Suite 750 Baltimore, MD 21230-1724 Director, Department of State Planning 301 West Preston Street Baltimore, MD 21201 Director, Air & Radiation Management Adm.

Maryland Dept of the Environment 1800 Washington Blvd., Suite 710 Baltimore, MD 21230 Director, Department of Natural Resources Power Plant Siting Program Energy and Coastal Zone Administration Tawes State Office Building Annapolis, MD 21401 President, Montgomery County Council 100 Maryland Avenue Rockville, MD 20850 Dr. Wade Richards, Manager of Operations and Engineering NIST Center for Neutron Research National Institute of Standards and Technology U.S. Department of Commerce 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8561 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8561 Test, Research, and Training Reactor Newsletter University of Florida 202 Nuclear Sciences Center Gainesville, FL 32611

LIST OF ATTENDEES AND AFFILIATIONS NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS REACTOR NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY SITE SEPTEMBER 26, 2006 Attendees Affiliation M. Mendonca U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

J. Wilson NRC W. Kennedy NRC B. Miller Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

E. Hickey PNNL K. Rhoads PNNL T. Myers National Institute of Standards anTechnology (NIST)

D. Brown NIST S. Weiss NIST D. Brady NIST P. Brand NIST P. Gallagher NIST Enclosure 1

LIST OF DOCUMENTS AND ADAMS ACCESSION Nos. PROVIDED BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY TEAM AT THE SEPTEMBER 26, 2006 SITE AUDIT

1. Responses to Discussion Items for the NIST License Renewal Site Audit, ML070330638

2. Map of Environmental Monitoring Locations, ML070330640

3. Map of NIST fence line with TLD Positions 1-16, ML070330635

4. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission Discharge Authorization Permit ML070330625

5. Copies of the COMPLY runs for the years 2002-2006, ML070330617

6. Topographic map in .tif format, ML070360107

7. Answer to Meteorology Question 2 concerning need for Title V Permit for pollutant emissions, ML070360579

8. Available data from NIST weather station since 2002, ML070330613 Enclosure 2

INFORMATION RECEIVED VERBALLY FROM NIST STAFF AT SEPTEMBER 26, 2006 SITE AUDIT WHICH WILL BE RELIED ON FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

1. Approximate daily reactor water use varies from 150,000 to 175,000 gallons/day, when in operation, depending on the season.

2. Approximately 250 employees work at the NCNR each day, approximately 50 work at NBSR.

3. Refueling takes place every 38.5 day operating cycle with 10-12 day shutdowns.

4. Four of the 30 fuel elements are replaced during each shutdown.

5. NIST has used the NAC-LWT, Certificate of Compliance No. 9225 shipping cask for the past three rounds of spent fuel shipping. Each cask can hold up to 42 NBSR elements, or 84 fuel sections. Three casks were shipped in 1997, two casks in 1999, and three in 2003. NIST can and has used other types of casks in the past.

6. The Control Room has 2-3 operators on duty at all times, with 3 shifts, on 8-hour rotations.

7. There are no Threatened or Endangered species on site. NIST works with the US Humane Society to study and help control deer populations. NIST also works with Geese Police for control of the goose population.

8. Air effluents from the confinement building are continually filtered through HEPA filters.

The exhaust from these filters is directed to the reactor building stack. There are radiation detectors in the building exhaust system that will initiate emergency ventilation mode upon reaching high level set points. This building emergency exhaust system uses HEPA and charcoal filters for clean up and exhaust from the building.

9. Liquid effluents from the Confinement building and the B-Wing Radioactivity labs are collected in tanks located in a vault below ground, in front of Building 235. These tanks are sampled, the samples analyzed, and the contents determined to be compliant with NIST policy and regulatory limits prior to release.

10. Environmental sampling, soil and vegetation (grass) samples are collected from onsite locations. Water samples are collected from on and offsite locations. There are environmental TLDs positioned on the NIST fence line.

11. The total acreage of the NIST site is now about 579 acres.

12. There are no alternatives available to relicensing the NBSR. The NCNR is the only cold neutron source in the US with the range of instrumentation that can meet the needs of the US neutron scattering science program. The foreign neutron sources (i.e. ILL, PSI or FRM-II) are very difficult for US researchers to get time on. The NCNR has the only very high inelastic cold neutron spectrometer, spin echo, and backscattering instruments in the US.

Enclosure 3