Consideration of License Renewal Request for Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 23 (Thursday, February 4, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5681-5683]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2628]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-143]


Consideration of License Renewal Request for Nuclear Fuel 
Services, Inc.

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Finding of no significant impact for the renewal of license for 
Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. Facility in Erwin, Tennessee.

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    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the renewal 
of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-124 to authorize processing of 
highly enriched uranium (HEU) into a classified fuel product for the 
U.S. Naval Reactor Program, processing of HEU scrap to recover uranium, 
and various decommissioning activities at the Nuclear Fuel Services, 
Inc. (NFS) facility located in Erwin, Tennessee.

Summary of the Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is to renew License No. SNM-124, so as to 
continue operations and to perform certain decommissioning activities 
at the NFS Erwin Plant. The principal operations expected during the 
renewal period include the processing of HEU into a classified fuel 
product and processing HEU scrap to recover uranium, as well as support 
operations. The principal decommissioning activities expected during 
the renewal period include excavation, sampling, segregation, 
packaging, and offsite disposal of radioactive materials from two 
burial areas, the North Site Radiological Burial Ground and the 
Southwest Burial Trenches.
    Impacts from final decommissioning of the North Site to meet 
unrestricted release criteria are also included in the Environmental 
Assessment (EA). The North Site refers to all NFS property north of the 
manufacturing facilities and covers approximately 10 hectares (24 
acres). However, NRC approval of these activities will be considered as 
a separate licensing action.
    In addition to the Proposed Alternative, a No-action Alternative 
was also assessed. Under this alternative, HEU production and scrap 
recovery operations would not be authorized. Instead, the license for 
the NFS plant would be renewed to only allow ongoing decommissioning 
activities. Eventually NFS would be required to initiate final 
decommissioning of the entire site. These decommissioning operations 
would be conducted in accordance with an approved decommissioning plan 
prepared by NFS after a thorough site survey. The NRC would assess the 
environmental impacts of site-wide decommissioning activities during 
review of this plan.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The NFS Erwin Plant provides unique fuel material fabrication and 
uranium recovery services for the United States. NFS is the sole 
fabricator of classified fuel material for the United States Naval 
Reactor Program and is also involved in U.S. Department of Energy 
uranium recovery projects.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

Normal Operations

    Normal operations will involve discharges to the atmosphere and to 
surface water. Radionuclides that may be released include isotopes of 
the actinide elements uranium, thorium, plutonium, and americium and 
lesser amounts of fission products, including technicium. Sources of 
releases to the atmosphere are the main plant stack, secondary stacks 
in process buildings, and fugitive dust emissions from decommissioning/
remediation activities. Sources of releases to surface water include 
the waste water treatment system, the secondary cooling system, and the 
sanitary sewer system.
    A dose assessment was performed to estimate the impact from 
radiological releases to the air. Atmospheric release exposure pathways 
included inhalation, ingestion of contaminated crops and resuspended 
dirt, and external exposure to the airborne plume and contaminated 
ground. For these atmospheric releases, the largest tissue dose is to 
the lung from inhalation of 234U, with minor contribution 
from the crop ingestion and external-exposure pathways. For the 
maximally exposed individual, the committed effective dose equivalent 
(CEDE) for combined releases from production operations and 
decommissioning/remediation activities was estimated as 
2.7 x 10-5 Sv/yr (2.7 mrem/yr). Doses from remediation 
activities are about an order of magnitude less than doses from 
production activities.
    A dose assessment was also performed to estimate the impact from 
radiological releases to surface water. Liquid effluents are released 
directly or indirectly into the Nolichucky River. Small creeks 
receiving portions of the liquid discharge, Banner Spring Branch and 
Martin Creek, are not used as a drinking water supply for area 
residents. The analysis assumes that an individual along the Nolichucky 
River and the surrounding population out to a distance of 80 kilometers 
(50 miles) use this potentially contaminated water. Liquid-release 
exposure pathways included ingestion of drinking water, fish, and 
irrigated crops and external exposure during recreational activities. 
The largest tissue doses are to the bone surface from ingestion of 
thorium-232, and external doses are a factor of 2500 smaller than 
internal doses. Fish, crop, and drinking-water consumption account for 
49, 37, and 14 percent of the dose, respectively. The CEDE for the 
maximally exposed individual was estimated as 9.7 x 10-7 Sv/
yr (0.10 mrem/yr).
    Under the proposed action, about 2874 shipments of contaminated 
soil would be transported offsite to the Envirocare disposal facility 
in Utah. The reference value used for estimating radiological exposure 
to the public from transporting contaminated soil from a

[[Page 5682]]

uranium fuel fabrication plant is 8.00 x 10-6 person-rem per 
shipment. Multiplying this dose rate by the number of waste shipments 
yields 23 person-mrem. Thus, a small fraction of one person-rem would 
be received by the public from transporting waste offsite.
    NRC regulations in 10 CFR 20.1301(a)(1) require that the total 
effective dose equivalent (TEDE) for members of the public not exceed 
1.0 x 10-3 Sv (100 mrem) per year. In addition, 10 CFR 
20.1101(d) requires licensees to implement a constraint on atmospheric 
releases other than radon such that an individual member of the public 
will not be expected to receive a dose in excess of 1 x 10-4 
Sv (10 mrem)/yr from these releases. Although not applicable to the NFS 
Erwin Plant because it does not process uranium for the production of 
electric power, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations 
(40 CFR 190) require that for routine releases, the annual dose 
equivalent for all pathways not exceed 2.5 x 10-4 Sv (25 
mrem) to the whole body, 7.5 x 10-4 Sv (75 mrem) to the 
thyroid, and 2.5 x 10-4 Sv (25 mrem) to any other organ. 
Doses related to NFS Erwin Plant operations are dominated by releases 
to the atmosphere. For the maximally exposed individual, the annual 
TEDE was estimated as 2.7 x 10-5 Sv (2.7 mrem), well within 
the limits established by NRC and EPA. The largest annual tissue dose 
was estimated as 2.1 x 10-4 Sv (21 mrem) to the lung. 
Although this tissue dose approaches the 40 CFR 190 limit, it is based 
on conservative estimates of atmospheric dispersion and of releases 
from process vents to bound all possible activities. The actual impacts 
are expected to be less than these estimates. The estimated dose from 
all other releases are small fractions of applicable limits.
    The impact analysis considers individuals living near the plant and 
the surrounding population out to a distance of 80 kilometers (50 
miles). The total population dose (about 0.4 per-Sv/yr) is a small 
addition to a background dose for the affected population of 950,000, 
which is approximately 1000 per-Sv/yr.
    Impacts from releases of non-radiological contaminants to air, 
surface water, and groundwater were also assessed. Air quality is 
protected by enforcing emission limits and the maintenance of pollution 
control equipment, as required under several operating permits issued 
by the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Board, Department of Environment 
and Conservation. The primary nonradiological emissions are expected to 
include volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen 
oxides. Normal emissions of gaseous effluents from process stacks are 
not expected to have a significant impact on offsite nonradiological 
air quality, because the estimated concentrations at the nearest site 
boundary are two to three orders of magnitude less than the most 
stringent State of Tennessee primary air-quality standards. The 
emission rate reported for hydrogen fluoride (HF) is estimated to 
result in a concentration that is at least 50 to 60 percent less than 
the most stringent State of Tennessee standard.
    Several chemical contaminants have been detected in Banner Spring 
Branch at levels which exceed site-specific criteria. NFS has proposed 
the removal of contaminated soils, sediments, and piping, which are 
believed to be the source of the contamination. In addition, NFS will 
routinely monitor Banner Spring Branch for cyanide and zinc as 
recommended in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facility 
Investigation Report for Areas of Concern #2 (Building 111 boiler 
blowdown and backwash water) and #4 (storm sewer system). No 
contamination of other surface waters due to plant activities has been 
identified.
    Surface water quality is expected to be protected from future site 
activities by enforcing release limits and monitoring programs, as 
required under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 
(NPDES) permit. Annual average concentrations of parameters regulated 
by the NPDES permit have generally been below discharge limits 
established for outfalls 001 and 002 from 1990 to 1996 when either 
production operations or decommissioning activities were being 
performed. Therefore, these parameters are expected to remain below the 
discharge limits during the license renewal period. Furthermore, 
discharges are not expected to have significant impact on the surface 
water quality in the Nolichucky River because of the dilution volume in 
the river.
    Previous operation of the plant has resulted in localized chemical 
and radiological contamination of groundwater. Groundwater monitoring 
conducted by NFS indicates that plumes of uranium, tetrachloroethylene, 
trichloroethylene, 1,2-dichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride could 
migrate offsite in the direction of the Nolichucky River. To address 
this contamination, NFS has removed much of the source of the 
contamination through extensive remediation projects including 
excavation of contaminated areas in the North Site. In addition, NFS is 
currently engaged in decommissioning of the Radiological Burial Ground 
and has proposed a final decommissioning plan for the entire North Site 
to remove more of the source term. NFS is also working with the 
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the 
Environmental Protection Agency to design remedial strategies and to 
investigate the offsite extent of these plumes.
    Groundwater modeling conducted by NFS also indicates that 
contamination from the NFS site should not have an impact on local 
drinking water because contaminant plumes are not expected to intersect 
the capture zone for this water. However, NFS will be required by the 
NRC to continue routine groundwater monitoring to assess the nature and 
extent of groundwater contamination and will be required to conduct 
remediation, if necessary, to prevent offsite impacts to human health 
and safety.
    If the license is renewed to allow both production operations and 
decommissioning/ remediation activities, approximately 39,100 cubic 
meters (1,380,000 cubic feet) of waste would be shipped offsite to 
Envirocare in Utah. Assuming that each waste shipment contains 13.6 
cubic meters (480 cubic feet) of waste, 2874 shipments of soil would be 
transported to Envirocare. To estimate the number of fatalities from 
transporting waste, the fatal accident risk rate was multiplied by the 
distance traveled, where the distance traveled is the round trip 
between the facility and the disposal site. A fatal accident rate of 
3.8 x 10-8 per kilometer (6.1 x 10-8 per mile) 
traveled was assumed. Multiplying this fatal accident rate by a round 
trip distance of 6560 kilometers (4100 miles) between the NFS plant in 
Erwin, Tennessee, and Envirocare in Clive, Utah, and the number of 
shipments yields a risk of less than one (0.72) fatality.
    No impacts are expected on land use, biotic resources, or cultural 
resources. And a small positive socioeconomic impact is expected 
through the employment of 350 people at the site.

Accident Conditions

    The handling, processing, and storage of material containing 
radioactive constituents at the NFS Erwin Plant could result in 
uncontrolled release of radioactive material to the environment from 
accidents. Therefore, the NRC staff conducted an accident analysis. A 
drop of contaminated dirt during remediation activities, failure of a 
high efficiency particulate air filter as a consequence of fire, and a 
generic criticality event were selected as representative accidents. 
The

[[Page 5683]]

TEDE to the maximally exposed individual from accidents involving a 
spill of contaminated soil or a facility fire were estimated to be less 
than 0.05 mSv (5 mrem), a small fraction of annual background exposure.
    The prompt, external, and internal doses due to an inadvertent 
criticality were estimated to be 5.0 x 10-3, 
1.5 x 10-2, and 2.6 x 10-1 Sv (0.5, 1.5, and 
0.026 rem), respectively, for the maximally exposed nearest resident. 
Because two independent, concurrent failures must occur before 
initiation of a nuclear criticality, the possibility of such an event 
occurring is considered by the NRC staff to be extremely low. 
Therefore, the overall risk from such an accident is acceptable.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    The State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation 
(DEC) was contacted concerning renewal of the NFS license. DEC had not 
identified any environmental issues associated with renewal and did not 
object to renewal.

Conclusion

    The NRC has determined that the issuance of the renewal to allow 
NFS to process HEU into a classified fuel product, to process HEU scrap 
to recover uranium, and to conduct specified decommissioning activities 
will not result in significant impact to human health or the 
environment.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    The Commission has prepared an Environmental Assessment related to 
the renewal of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-124. On the basis 
of the Assessment, the Commission has concluded that the environmental 
impacts associated with the proposed action would not be significant 
and do not warrant the preparation of an Environmental Impact 
Statement. Accordingly, it has been determined that a Finding Of No 
Significant Impact is appropriate.
    The Environmental Assessment and the documents related to this 
proposed action are available for public inspection and copying at the 
Commission's Public Document Room at the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street 
NW, Washington, DC.
    The NRC contact for this licensing action is Thomas Cox. Mr. Cox 
may be contacted at (301) 415-8107 or thc@nrc.gov for more information.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of January 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Charles W. Emeigh,
Acting Chief, Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, NMSS.
[FR Doc. 99-2628 Filed 2-3-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P