ML20209B382
| ML20209B382 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07003073 |
| Issue date: | 06/15/1999 |
| From: | Lux J KERR-MCGEE CORP. |
| To: | Brown S NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9907060447 | |
| Download: ML20209B382 (10) | |
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KERR-McGEECORPORATION KERR McGEE CENTER e OKLAHOMA Cif Y, OKLAHOMA 73125 l
June 15,1999 -
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Mr. Stewart Brown i
Low-Level Waste _& Decommissioning Projects Branch Division of Waste Management Office of Nuclear Materials Safety & Safeguards U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C. 20555 Re:
Docht No. 70-3073 License No. SNM-1999
Dear Mr. Brown:
Kerr-McGee Corporation (KMC) performs annual audits of the radiation safety program at the Cushing site. In 1998, one audit finding addressed an apparent lack of a control and accounting program for special nuclear material, citing 10 CFR 70.32 as an applicable requirement.
I KMC retained Mr. Henry Morton and Mr. Tom Potter to review the cited regulation and perform an analysis of the status of KMC compliance with the regulation. Attachments 1 and 2 provide a summary and a detailed analysis of this review.
In essence, the audit response indicates that KMC must only account for SNM as it is generated by excavation of contaminated material, and should receive confirmation from NRC that MC&A measures described in the license application constitute all required MC&A measures.
KMC requests written confirmation from NRC regarding these two points If you have any questions or comments, please call me at (405) 270-2694.
Sincerely, I
. Jeff Lux Project Manager xc:
C. L. Cain, NRC Region IV Cushing Citizens' Oversight Committee Earlen Shirley, ODEQ Darrell Shults, ODEQ 4..l 9907060447 990615 PDR ADOCK 07003073 PDR
ATTACHMENT 1
SUMMARY
OF KM MC&A ISSUE Audit Finding: No program for control and accounting of SNM-10CFR70.32 (and other related findings)
Finding inapplicable: The cited regulation describes an NRC action-imposition of a license condition specifying the MC&A program designed to demonstrate how compliance with 10 CFR Part 70.58(1),74.31(b),74.33(b), or 74.51(c), as applicable, is achieved. None of those regulations applies to KM. KM proposed no MC&A program in its license application and NRC did not impose a license condition specifying one. This indicates that NRC agrees with KM that no MC&A program is required. The KM application committed to hmited MC&A controls, as noted below, and the NRC SER noted those proposed controls. No additional requirements were imposed as license conditions. The KM status with respect to NRC regulatory requirements related to MC&A is summarized below:
- 1. For activities currently and previo isly authorized under SNM-1999, required MC&A controls are described in the September 25,1992 license application (page 35). They consist solely of recording and maintaining records of transfers of SNM quantities greater j
than 1 gram of contained U-235, in accordance with 10 CFR 70.51(b)(1)-(6) and reporting of events in accordance with 10 CFR 70.52(a), (b), and (c) (or the equivalent 10 CFR 74.11). (Use of the recording protocol in 10 CFR 74.15(a) would assure compliance with
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the requirement to record transfers, which may be interpreted to apply to KM.)
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- 2. Most other regulatory requirements related to MC&A clearly do not apply to KM because of KM site conditions (limited material inventory, etc.).
- 3. Certain MC&A requirements cannot be reasonably applied to KM, but are not clearly excluded by site-specific conditions at KM or explicitly excluded by language in the KM i
license and supporting documentation:
requirements in 10 CFR Part. 70.51(b), as they relate to SNM inventory,
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requirements of 10 CFR Part 74.13(a)(1) (material status reports),
e requirements of 10 CFR Part 70.51(c), (maintenance of procedures to account for SNM e
inventory), and requirements of 10 CFR 70.51(d) (annual SNM physical inventory).
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However, NRC approval of the limited MC&A controls explicitly described by KM in its license application implicitly renders these requirements inapplicable to KM.
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A'ITACilM ENT 2 MATERIAL AND ACCOUNTABILITY REQUIREMENTS INTRODUCTION Requirements for material control and accounting (MC&A) of SNM are complex. Different sets of requirements are speciGed for different classes of users. These requirements are presented in the regulations in ways that are simultaneously segmented and, within segments, highly overlaid and interwoven, so that reference to several sections of the regulations is sometimes necessary to q
develop the comprehensive set of requirements applicable to a particular user.
t in trying to determine MC&A requirements that should apply to KM, it is essential to keep in mind the purpose of these regulatory requirements. The purpose is to reduce the opportunity for improper removal of significant quantities of SNM from the licensee's inventory, and to provide for rapid detection if such removal occurs. The ultimate aim is to prevent diversion of SNM for use as material in nuclear weapons. With reference to enriched uranium, the SNM previously used at KM, the material most desirable for diversion for weapons would be high-purity, high-enriched uranium. Thus, the most stringent MC&A requirements are imposed on licensees that possess large quantities of high-purity, high-enriched uranium. Licensees that possess only small quantities of enriched uranium are not subject to most MC&A requirements, and the threshold quantity of uranium that triggers more stringent requirements increases with decreasing enrichment. By similar reasoning enriched uranium present in extremely dilute concentrations in chemical:y complex matrices that make concentration of the uranium difficult, the form of the uranium present at KM, should be subject to less stringent MC&A measures. It is particularly important to note that the KM SNM now being questioned as possibly requiring MC&A measures is only a residual portion of the SNM released from all regulatory control when the SNM license was terminated in 1966. (A portion was removed during supplemental site decontamination between 1972 and 1982.) The regulatory controls termina+ed in 1966 included material control and accounting requirements, which were well developed at the time.
Consequently, it is clear that the intent of the regulations would be that MC&A measures imposed in the current license should be, at most, minimal.
KM LICENSE SNM-1999 MC&A COMMITMENTS KM obviously had these considerations in mind when it proposed minimal MC&A provisions in its September 25,1992 license application (page 35). The only MC&A measures KM proposed were recording SNM transfers for disposal, maintaining those records until license termination, and reporting ofloss, theft, unlawful diversion oflicensee SNM, or any attempt at theft or diversion. The regulations KM cited for these measures were, for the first two,"10 CFR Part 70.51(b)(1)(b)(6))"(most likely intended to refer to 70.51(b)(1)-(b)(6)), and, for the third,10 CFR Part 70.52(a),(b), and (c)).
The license issued 4/6/93 by NRC, SNM-1999, does not specify any exemptions from regulatory requirements for MC&A. Ilowever, the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation Report (SER), which was prepared in support of the licensing action and issued at the same time, shows that the NRC staff carefully reviewed the KM application, including its proposed limited MC&A measures and
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information related to quantities, concentrations, and enrichment of uranium at the site, and considers KM proposals sufGcient. In the discussion of SNM safeguards on page 15, the staff specifically describes the KM MC&A proposal. Finally, condition i1.k of SNM-1999 as issued (11.n in the most recent amendment, amendment 8) speciGes that "except as speciGcally provided
otherwise in this license, the licensee shall conduct its program in accordance with statements, representations, and conditions contained in letter dated Sentember 25,1992 (the KM application]" and several other letters submitted later, none of which bear on this issue. This condition constitutes NRC approval of the KM MC&A provisions proposed in its September 25, 1992 application.
If SNM-1999 included specific exemptions from inapplicable MC&A requirements, the matter would be crystal clear..Without such exemptions, some interpretation is necessary. A reasonable, but narrow interpretation would be that the requirements applicable to KM are the commitments made in the license application. The auditors apparently considered a broader interpretation possible-one in which other MC&A measures required by regulation, but not mentioned in the KM application, might apply. Consideration of this possibility necessitates further consideration of the regulations.
l MC& A REQUIREMENTS OF NRC REGULATIONS l
Background Information The regulations do not explicitly account for uranium purity in establishing the stringency of MC&A requirements. However, as noted in the KM license application (9/25/92) in Item 5 and i
in Tables 1 and 2 and Attachment 1, the enriched uranium at the site is present as an extremely dilute contaminant in soil or on the surfaces of building materials. Furthermore, it is not readily subject to extraction and purification. Consequently, it is not desirable for diversion. NRC Staff judgment on this matter is in agreement, as evidenced by the recommendations in the SER supporting the license that KM be exempt from 10 CFR Part 73 requirements for physical
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security of SNM and from 10 CFR Part 70.24 requirements for criticality accident monitor:ng. In this regard, the SNM at KM is comparable to SNM involved in waste disposal operations, for which quantity thresholds for MC&A procedures 'more stringent than the minimal requirements usually do not apply. This exclusion is provided because, for these materials, stringent MC&A i
measures are both unnecessary and impractical. Strictly speaking, KM operations may not be considered waste disposal operations. But the materials are comparable, and a judgment that KM operations were effectively waste disposal operations would be reasonable. That would indicate
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that MC&A requirements for KM should be minimal.
l Basic MC&A Requirements
-The most basic MC&A requirements, generally applicable to all 10CFR70 licensees, are specified in 10 CFR Part 70.51(b)(1) through (6),10 CFR Part 70.52(a), (b), and (c),10 CFR Part 74.11, l
and 10 CFR Part 74.15(a), reproduced below:
970.51 Material balance, inventory, and records requirements (UH98 version).
(b) Licensees subject to the recordkeeping requirements ofSS74.31, 74.33 and 74.59 of this chapter are exemptfrom the requirements of570.5f(b) (1) through (5). Otherwise:
. (1) Each licensee shall keep records showing the receipt, mventory (including location), disposal, acquisition, and transfer ofall special nuclear materialin his possession regardless ofits origin or method ofacquisition.
1 (2) Each record that is required by the regulations in this part or by license condition must be maintained and retainedfor the period specified by the appropriate regulation or license I
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coridition. Ifa retention period is not otherwise specified by regulation or license condition, the licensee shall retain the record until the Conunission terminates each license that authori:es the activity that is subject to the recordkeeping requirement.
(3) Each record ofreceipt, acquisition, or physical inventory ofspecial nuclear inaterial that must be maintainedpursuant to paragraph (b)(1) of this section nmst be retained as long as the licensee retains possession of the material andfor three yearsfollowing transfer ofsuch material.
1 (4)[ Reserved]
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(5) Each record of transfer ofspecial nuclear material to other persons must be retained by the licensee who transferred the material until the Commission terminates the license authori:ing the licensee's possession ofthe material. Each record required by paragraph (e)(1)(v) of this section must be retainedfor three years after it is made.
(6) Prior to license termination, licensees shallforward thefollowing records to the appropriate NRC Regional Office:
(i) Records ofdisposal oflicensed material made under 520.2002 (inchiding burials authori:ed 1
i before January 28,198)(2) ), 20.2003, 20.2004, 20.2005; (ii) Records required by 920.2103(b)(4); and (iii) Records required by 970.25(g).
[38 FR 30544, Nov. 6,1973, as amended at 38 FR 32784, Nov. 28,1973; 41 FR 18303, Afay 3, 1976; 43 FR 6925, Feb.17,1978; 50 FR 7579, Feb. 25,1985; 52 FR 10038, Afar. 30,1987; 53 FR 19253, Afay 27,1988; 56 FR 55998. Oct. 31,1991; 61 FR 24675, Afay 16,1996]
l70.52 Reports of accidental criticality or loss or theft or attempted theft ofspecial nuclear material (HH98 version).
(a) Each licensee shall notify the NRC Operations Center (1) within one hour after discovery of any case ofaccidental criticality or any loss, other than normal operating loss, ofspecial nuclear meterial.
1 (b) Each licensee whopossesses one gram or more ofcontained uranium-235, uranium-233, or phaonium shall notify the NRC Operations Center within one hour after discovery ofany loss or theft or unlauful diversion ofspecial nuclear material which the licensee is licensed to possess or any incident in which an attempt has been made or is believed to have been made to commit a theft or unlawfid diversion ofsuch material (c) This notification must be made to the NRC Operations Center via the Emergency Notification System of the licensee is party to that system. If the Emergency Notyication System is inoperative or unavaliable, the licensee shall make the required notyication via commercial telephonic service or other dedicated telephonic system or any other method that will ensure that a report is i
received by tne NRC Operations Center within one hour. The exemption off73.21(g)(3) applies to all telephonic reports required by this section.
[52 FR 21657, June 9,1987, as amended at 59 FR 14087, Afar. 25,1994)
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s74.1i Reports ofloss or theft or attempted theft or unauthori:edproduction ofspecial nuclear material (HU98 version).
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(a) Each licensee who possesses one gram or more of contained uranimn-235, uranium-233, or plutonium shall notify the NRC Operations Center within I hour ofdiscovery ofany loss or theft or other unlanfid diversion ofspecial nuclear material which the licensee is licensed to possess, or any incident in which an attempt has been made to commit a theft or unlanfid diversion of special nuclear material. The requirement to report within I hour ofdiscovery does notpertain to I
measured quantities ofspecial nuclear material disposed of as discards or inventory difference quantities. Each licensee who operates an uranimn enrichmentfacility shall notify the NRC Operations Center within I hour ofdiscovery of any unauthori:edproduction ofenriched uranium. For centrifuge enrichmentfacilities the requirement to report enrichment levels greater than that authorized by license within I hour does not apply to each cascade during its start-up process, not to exceed thefirst 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />.
l (b) This notification must be made to the NRC Operations Center via the Emergency Notification System ifthe licensee is party to that system. If the Emergency Nonfication System is inoperative or unavailable, the licensee shall make the required nonfication via commercial telephonic service or other dedicated telephonic system or any other method that will ensure that a report is received by the NRC Operations Center within one hour. The exemption off 73.21(g)(3) applies to all telephonic reports required by this section.
l (c) Reports required under 673. 7) need not be duplicated under requirements of this section.
[52 FR 21659, June 9,1987; 52 FR 23257, June 18, I987, as amended at 56 FR 55998, Oct. 31, l
'1991]
974.15 Nuclear material transfer reports (HU98 version).
(a) Each licensee who transfers and each licensee who receives special nuclear material shall complete in computer-readableformat a Nuclear Material Transaction Report. This should be done in accordance with instructions whenever the licensee transfers or receives a quantity of special nuclear material of1 gram or more ofcontained uranium-235, uranium-233, or l-plutonium. Copies of these instructions (NUREG/BR - 0006 and NMMSS Report D - 24 l
" Personal Computer Data inputfor NRC Licensees") may be obtainedfrom ti,e U.S. Nuclear Regidatory Commission, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Washington, DC 20555 -
1 0001. This prescribed computer-readableformat replaces the DOE /NRC Form 741 which has I
- been previously submitted in paperform.
[59 FR 35621, July 13,1994]
Note that for the KM situation, the regulations in 10 CFR 70.52(a),(b), and (c) are equivalent to
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those in 10 CFR 74.11.
More Stringent MC& A Requirements More stringent requirements that could conceivably apply to KM are specified in 10 CFR Part l
70.51(c) through (i),10 CFR 70.58, and 10 CFR Part 74, except for 10 CFR Parts 74.1 I and 74.15(a), which, as noted above, are more generally applicable. Audit findings 30,31, and 32 suggest that 10 CFR Part 75 may also apply to KM.
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Review of 10 CFR Part 75 indicates that it does not apply to KM. This part is intended to implement, with respect NRC and Agreement State licensees, the Agreement between the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (I AEA) for the Application of Safeguards in the United States. flowever, these requirements apply only to designated facilities, those on the United States list of eligible facilities. If the Cushing site were on this list, NRC would have notified KM in accordance with 10 CFR Part 75.41:
57541 Designation (HU98 version).
l The Commission, by written notice, will designate those installations which, in accordance with identifications madefrom time to time by the IAEA, under Article 39(b) ofthe principal text ofthe Agreement, are subject to the application of1AEA safeguards. Such notice shall be effective until the Commission informs the licensee, in writing, that its installation is no longer so designated.
Whenever a previously-designated installation is no longer subject to the application of1AEA safeguards, the Commission willgive the licensee prompt notice to N effect.
1 With respect to the more stringent requirements specified in 10 CFR Part 70.51(c) through (i),10 CFR 70.58, and 10 CFR Part 74 (excluding generally applicable 10 CFR Parts 74.11 and 74.15(a) listed above), many of these regulatory requirements can be excluded from further consideration
- because the KM situation probably does not meet the threshold for application of these requirements.
The possession thresholds for qualifying for those more stringent requirements vary for various parts, but most include (sometimes with additional threshold conditions for the most stringent requirements):
1.
Possession at any one time and location special nuclear material in a quantity totaling more than 350 grams of contained uranium-235, uranium-233, or plutonium, or any combination thereof, or 2.'
Possession of more than i effective kilogram of SNM.
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Effective kilograms of special nuclear material means: (1) For uranium with an enrichment in the isotope U-235 of 0.01 (1%) and above, its element weight in kilograms multiplied by the square ofits enrichment expressed as a decimal weight fraction and (2) For uranium with an enrichment in the isotope U-235 below 0.01 (1%), by its element weight in kilograms multiplied by 0.0001. That is, one effective kilogram is 10,000 kilograms of uranium at a U-235 enrichment of 1%, about 400 kilograms of uranium at a U-235 enrichment of 5%, about 200 kilograms of uranium at a U-235 enrichment of 7%, or 100 kilograms of uranium at a U-235 enrichment of 10%.
As noted in item 5 of the KM license application submitted September 25,1992, the quantity of uranium remaining onsite can only be grossly estimated. The preliminary estimate provided by KM in the licensa application was approximately 700 kg in materials with concentrations exceeding levels qualifying for release for unrestricted use. According to information in the same license application, U-235 enrichment measurements varied from 0.01% to about 40% in isolated samples, but appear to be clustered largely in the range of 3-10%. Considering the uncertainties in both the uranium inventory estimate and the enrichment estimates, the inventory almost certainly exceeds the first threshold quantity listed above, but may or may not exceed the second.
The more stringent regulatory requirements that probably do not apply to KM are as follows:
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10 CFR Subpart E probably does not apply because KM probably does not possess a j
" formula quantity"-5,000 grams of U-23) " strategic SNM"-uranium enriched to at least j
20% U-235.
2.
10 CFR Part 70.33 does not apply because it applies only to enrichment facilities.
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10 CFR Part 70.31 does not apply because 10 CFR Part 70.51(b)(1) through (6), which, by license, clearly apply to some extent, apply only if 10 CFR Part 70.31 does not apply (see 10 j
CFR 70.51( b) above). It should be noted that 10 CFR 70.31 applies to "cach licensee who is Q
authorized to possess and use more than one efrective kilogram of special nuclear material of j
low strategic signiGcance, excluding sealed sources, at any site or contiguous sites subject to j
control by the licensee, other than a production or utilization facility licensed pursuant to part 50 or 70 of this chapter, or operations involved in waste disposal." Special nuclear material i
I of low strategic signincance means: (1) Less than an amount of special nuclear material of moderate strategic signiGcance, but more than 15 grams of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in U-235 isotope); or (2) Less than 10,000 grams but more than 1,000 grams of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 10 percent or more but less than 20 percent in the U-235 isotope); or (3) 10,000 grams or more of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched above natural but less than 10 percent in the U-235 isotope).
KM SNM is probably not SNM of moderate strategic importance (see item 5 below), but may or may not be SNM oflow strategic importance. The NRC exclusion of KM from this regulation may be based on a consideration that the KM inventory is, effectively, involved in
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waste disposal operations, is not material of strategic signiGeance, or is less than one j
effective kilogram of SNM.
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The combination of the previous two considerations eliminates the applicability of 10 CFR 74 Subpart C.
j 5.
10 CFR 74.15(b) does not apply because KM will not be transferring SNM to or from a foreign source.
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6.
10 CFR 74.15(c) does not apply because 10 CFR Part 75 does not apply to KM.
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10 CFR Part 70.58 probably does not apply because KM SNM is probably not strategic SNM or "SNM of moderate strategic importance"(Less than a formula quantity of strategic special 3
i nuclear material but more than 1,000 grams of uranium-235 (contained in uranium enriched to 20 percent or more in the U-235 isotope) or 10,000 grams or more of uranium-235 l
(contained in uranium enriched to 10 percent or more but less than 20 percent in the U-235 l
isotope)). If NRC considered this section applicable, they would have required that KM comply with 10 CFR Part 58(1), which requires each licensee subject to the section to submit "a full description of his program for control of and accounting for special nuclear material in his possession under license to show how compliance with the requirereents of this section.
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. will be accomplished."
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10 CFR Pan 70.51(c),(f),(g), and (h) do not apply because KM SNM is probably not SNM j
of moderate strategic importance (see previous item).
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9.
10 CFR Part 74.17 does not apply because that regulation is applicable only to licensees j
subject to 10 CFR Part 74.31,10 CFR Part 74.33,10 CFR Part 74.51 (in Subpart E), or 10 i
CFR Part 70.51(e). As explained in items above, KM is subject to none of those regulations.
10.10 CFR Part 74.13(b) does not apply because that regulation is applicable only to licensees j
subject to 10 CFR Part 70.51(c). As explained in item 6 above, KM is subject to not subject to those regulations.
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l I. 10 CFR Part 74.13(a)(2) does not apply because that regulation is applicable only to licensees subject to 10 CFR Part 75.35. As explained in the discussion above, KM is not subject to any of the 10 CFR Part 75 regulations (I AEA safeguards).
l More Stringent MC&A Measures Potentially Applicable to KM l
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s The only remaining portion of 10 CFR Part 74 potentially applicable to KM, in addition to the gc ~ " 7 plicable 74.11 and 74.15 noted above, is 74.13(a)(1), which is related to material stat.
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974.13 Afaterialstatus reports (HU98 version).
(a)(1) Each licensee authori:ed to possess at any one time and location special nuclear material in a quantity totaling more than 350 grams ofcontained uranium-235, uranium-233, or plutonium, or any combination thereof shall complete andsubmit in computer-readableformat material balance reports concerning special nuclear material received, produced, possessed, transferred, consumed, disposed of or lost by it. These prescribed computer-readable reports replace the DOFJNRC Form 742 which has been previously submitted in paperform. Each nuclear reactor licensee, as defined in ll50.21 and 50.22 of this chapter, also shallprepare in computer-readableformat a statement of the composition of the ending inventory. The inventory composition report must be submitted with each material balance report. This prescribed computer-readable report replaces the DOE /NRC Form 742C which has been previously submitted in paperform. Each licensee shallprepare andsubmit the reports described in this paragraph in accordance with instructions (NUREG/BR - 0007 and NAlAfSS Report D - 24
" Personal Computer Data Inputfor NRC Licensees"). Copies ofthese instructions may be obtainedfrom the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Washington, DC 20555 - 0001. Each licensee shall compile a report as of Afarch 31 and September 30 ofeach year andfile it within 30 days after the end of the period covered by the report. The Commission maypermit a licensee to submit the reports at other times when good cause is shown.
[50 FR 7579, Feb. 25,1985, as amended at 51 FR 9766, Afar. 21,1986; 52 FR 31613, Aug. 21, 1987; 54 FR 6877, Feb.15,1989; 55 FR 5979, Feb. 21,1990: 59 FR 35621, Judy 13,1994)
The only remaining portions of 10 CFR Part 70.51 potentially applicable to KM, in addition to the generally applicable 70.51(b)(1)-(6) are 70.51(c) and 70.51(d):
970.5I Afaterial balance, inventory, and records requirements (1/1/98 version).
(c) Each licensee who is authori:ed to possess at any one time special nuclear materialin a quantity exceeding one effective kilogram ofspecial nuclear materialshall establish, maintain, andfollow written material control and accounting procedures that are sufficient to enable the licensee to accountfor the special nuclear material in the licensee's possession under license.
The licensee shallretain these procedures until the Commission terminates the license that authorizes possession of the material and retain any supersededportion of the proceduresfor three years after the portion is superseded.
(d) Except as required byparagraph (e) ofthis section, each licensee who is authori:ed to possess at any one time and location special nuclear material in a quantity totaling more than 350 grams ofcontained uranium-235, uranium-233, orplutonium, or any combination thereof shall conduct a physical inventory of all special nuclear material in his possession under license
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at intervals not to exceed twelve months.
[38 FR 30544, Nov. 6,1973, as amended at 38 FR 32784, tbv. 28, I973; 41 FR 18303, Afay 3, 1976; 43 FR 6925, Feb.17,1978; 50 FR 7579, Feb. 25,1985; 52 FR 10038, Afar. 30, I987; 53 FR 19253, Afay 27.1988; 56 FR 55998, Oct. 31,1991; 61 FR 24675, Alay 16,1996]
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It should be noted that if the KM inventory is less than one effective kilogram of SNM, and it may be,10 CFR Part 70.51(c) does not apply.
CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSED AUDIT RESPONSES The following conclusions are based on the foregoing cc..siderations:
- 1.
For activities currently and previously authorized under SNM-1999, an MC&A program consisting solely of recording and maintaining records of transfers of SNM quantities greater than I gram of contained U-235,in accordance with 10 CFR 70.51(b)(1)-(6) and reporting of events in accordance with 10 CFR 70.52(a), (b), and (c)(or the equivalent 10 CFR 74.11) would be consistent with SNM 1999. Use of the recording protocol in 10 CFR 70.15(a) would assure compliance with that regulation, which may be interpreted to apply to KM.
2.
Most other regulatory requirements related to MC&A do not apply to KM.
- 3. The requirements in 10 CFR Part 70.51(b), as they relate to SNM inventory, the requirements of 10 CFR Part 74.13(a)(1)(material status reports), the requirements of 10 CFR Part 70.51(c),(maintenance of procedures to account for SNM inventory), and the requirements of 10 CFR 70.51(d)(annual SNM physical inventory) cannot be reasonably applied to KM, but may be interpreted as potentially applying to KM. They are not obviously excluded by either site-specific conditions at KM or by language in the KM license and supporting documentation.
The following audit responses are proposed based on the conclusions above:
1.
Prepare and implement procedures consistent with conclusion 1.
- 2. Confirm with the NRC licensing project manager that the MC&A measures described in the license application (those described in conclusion 1) constitute all required MC&A measures.
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