ML19270H072

Forwards Requested Info Re Discovery of Pan Defect at Nuclear Fuel Svcs,Inc,Summary of NRC 790123 Meeting Re Pan Defect & Summary of NRC 790329 Meeting Re Investigation & Evaluation of Defect.W/O Encl

ML19270H072
Person / Time
Site:	West Valley Demonstration Project
Issue date:	05/08/1979
From:	Haughney C NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS)
To:	Pyles J WEST VALLEY NUCLEAR WASTES
References
NUDOCS 7906220471
Download: ML19270H072 (3)

Text

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY CCWilss!ON V<

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lis. Janne L. Pyles Coalition on West Valley fluclear Uastes Whitney Road llolland, itew York 14080

Dear f4s. Fyles:

Your letter of ilarch 3,1979 has been forwarded to ne for response.

There are several documents that can provide you with information related to the subjects discussed in your letter.

These documents are described in the paragraph below.

The provisional ' operating license for the reprocessing plant in i

i Uest Valley, liew York requires that l4uclear Fuel Services, Inc. (fiFS) submit a quarterly report of their operations within thirty days following the end of each calendar quarter.

These quarterly reports i

are submitted to the lluclear Regulatory Comission (fiRC) staff whereupon copies of the reports r ; Stributed to the Local Public a

Document Rocms (LPDR's) in Bufft.lc and Cpr bgville, liew York.

In ny previous letter to you, I pr)vided the ac' dresses and hours of operation of the LPDR's.

Since the fiRC staff distributes the quarterly remrts to the LPDR's, copies are not sent directly to irdividuals.

Under their license, MFS is auihorized to receive, store and transfer spent rmctor fuel.

They are iot required to provice notification prior to the receipt or transfer of spent fuel.

The purpose of the fuel receipt and storage pool,FRS) at tiFS West Valley is to provide for receipt and storage of spelt fuel prior to reprocessing the fuel in the adjacent separations plant.

As you <now, the NFS reprocessing plant has been shutdown since 1972.

Furthemore, in September 1976, fiFS announced that they would no longer pur.ne commercial reprocessing.

140re recently, the Administra11on has announted a policy benning commercial fuel reprocessing.

Finally, informal discussions between NFS and the fiRC staff indicat's that !!FS has no plans to receive spent fuel for storage.

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i IW' ~ 8 979 its. Janne Pyles I i

In your letter of March 3, you asked several questions concerning the defect in the pan under the llFS high level liquid waste tank (designated 8D-2).

I an enclosing copies of. three documents which will provide you with information related to the discovery of the j

pan defect and the status of the ongoing investigation.

The first of these documer. s, an f!RC memorandum dated January 23, 1979, describes background and eveats leading to the discovery of the defect in the CD-2 pan. The second document, an !!RC rpemorandum dated January 31, 1979, summarizes a meeting between liFS, IIRC and a representative of the co-licensee, the !!ew York State Energy Research and Development Authority (!!YSERDA). One of the topics discussed during this meeting was the 8D-2 pan defect.

The third document, an llRC memorandum dated liarch 29, 1979, is the staff's evaluation of the safety associated l

with the 80-2 pan defect.

Please note that, as stated in the safety evaluation, the investigation of the cause, location and extent of the defect in the 80-2 pan is not yet complete and will continue for j

sone time.

This investigation involves efforts by the 11RC staff and its consultants and by flFS.

In response to your questions about the floating incident, I have attached copies of two reports written by a consulting firn engaced I

by the !!ew York State Atcaic and Space Development Authority (ASDA),

a predecessor agency to the flew York State Energy Research and l

Development Authority.

These reports describe the plans, preparations, and restorative work undertaken as a result of the floating incident.

i Enclosed with ny previous letter to you were two docunents which address your questions on seismic criteria for the FRS and for an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). Answers to your i

questions on seismic criteria for the FRS and a loss of water accident from the FRS can be found in the !!RC Staff Interim Safety Evaluation 1 3

dated August 1977. Proposed seismic criteria for an ISTSI are contained s

in the draft regulation 10 CFR 72.

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!!s. Janne Pyles ". M 3 1s79 I

l' I hope that the enclosed information is helpful.

If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact ne again.

Sincerely, l

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Charles J. Ibughney fuel Reprocessing and Re ycle Branch Division of Fuel Cycle and 11aterial Safety i

Enclosures:

i

1. TiRC memorandum dated 01/23/79

2. liRC memorandum dated 01 /31 /79

3. fikC comorandum dated 03/29/79 2346 511

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