[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7399-7401]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-3571]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-8989 SMC-1559]
Envirocare of Utah, Inc.; Order Modifying Exemption From
Requirements Relative to Possession of Special Nuclear Material
Envirocare of Utah, Inc. (Envirocare) operates a low-level waste
(LLW) disposal facility in Clive, Utah. This facility is licensed by
the State of Utah, an Agreement State. Envirocare is also licensed by
Utah to dispose of mixed radioactive and hazardous wastes. In addition,
Envirocare has a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license to
dispose of by product material as defined in 10 CFR part 40.
Section 70.3 of 10 CFR part 70 requires persons who own, acquire,
deliver, receive, possess, use, or transfer special nuclear material
(SNM) to obtain a license pursuant to the requirements in 10 CFR part
70. The licensing requirements in 10 CFR part 70 apply to persons in
Agreement States possessing greater than critical mass quantities as
defined in 10 CFR 150.11.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 70.14, ``the Commission may * * * grant such
exemptions from the requirements of the regulations in this part as it
determines are authorized by law and will not endanger life or property
or the common defense and security and are otherwise in the public
interest.''
On May 24, 1999, NRC transmitted an Order to Envirocare of Utah,
Inc. The Order was published in the Federal Register on May 21, 1999,
(64 FR 27826). The Order exempted Envirocare from certain NRC
regulations and permitted Envirocare, under specified conditions, to
possess waste containing SNM, in greater quantities than specified in
10 CFR part 150, at Envirocare's low-level waste (LLW) disposal
facility located in Clive, Utah, without obtaining an NRC license
pursuant to 10 CFR part 70. The methodology used to establish these
limits is discussed in the 1999 Safety Evaluation Report (SER) that
supported the 1999 Order.
Envirocare, in a letter dated July 3, and 29, 2002, proposes that
NRC issue further exemptions by amending the 1999 Order as follows: (1)
Include stabilization of liquid waste streams containing SNM; (2)
include the thermal
[[Page 7400]]
desorption process; (3) change the homogenous contiguous mass limit
from 145 kg to 600 kg; (4) change the language and SNM limit associated
with footnotes ``c'' and ``d'' of Condition 1 to reflect all materials
in Conditions 2 and 3; and (5) omit the confirmatory testing
requirements for debris waste.
A principal emphasis of 10 CFR part 70 is criticality safety and
safeguarding SNM against diversion or sabotage. The staff considers
that criticality safety can be maintained by relying on concentration
limits, under the conditions specified. Safeguarding SNM against
diversion or sabotage is not considered a significant issue because of
the diffuse form of the SNM in waste meeting the conditions specified.
These conditions are considered an acceptable alternative to the
criticality definition provided in 10 CFR 150.11, thereby assuring the
same level of protection. The staff reviewed safety aspects of the
proposed action (i.e., granting Envirocare's request) in the Safety
Evaluation Report, dated January 14, 2003. The staff concluded that
additional conditions were required to maintain sufficient protection
of health, safety and the environment. The exemption conditions would
be revised as follows:
1. Concentrations of SNM in individual waste containers must not
exceed the following values at time of receipt:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maximum Measurement
Radionuclide concentration uncertainty
(pCi/g) (pCi/g)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
U-235\a\................................... 1,900 285
U-235\b\................................... 1,190 179 \1\
U-235\c\................................... 26 10
U-235\d\................................... 680 102
U-233...................................... 75,000 11,250
Pu-236..................................... 500 75
Pu-238..................................... 10,000 1,500
Pu-239..................................... 10,000 1,500
Pu-240..................................... 10,000 1,500
Pu-241..................................... 350,000 50,000
Pu-242..................................... 10,000 1,500
Pu-243..................................... 500 75
Pu-244..................................... 500 75
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ For uranium below 10 percent enrichment and a maximum of 20 percent
of the weight of the waste of materials listed in Condition 2.
\b\ For uranium at or above 10 percent enrichment and a maximum of
materials listed in Condition 2 of the weight of the waste of
materials listed in Condition 2.
\c\ For uranium at any enrichment with unlimited quantities of materials
listed in Conditions 2 and 3.
\d\ For uranium at any enrichment with sum of materials listed in
Conditions 2 and 3 not exceeding 45 percent of the weight of the
waste.
The measurement uncertainty values in column 3 above represent
the maximum one-sigma uncertainty associated with the measurement of
the concentration of the particular radionuclide.
The SNM must be homogeneously distributed throughout the waste.
If the SNM is not homogeneously distributed, then the limiting
concentrations must not be exceeded on average in any contiguous
mass of 600 kilograms of waste.
2. Except as allowed by notes a, b, c, and d in Condition 1,
waste must not contain ``pure forms'' of chemicals containing
carbon, fluorine, magnesium, or bismuth in bulk quantities (e.g., a
pallet of drums, a B-25 box). By ``pure forms,'' it is meant that
mixtures of the above elements such as magnesium oxide, magnesium
carbonate, magnesium fluoride, bismuth oxide, etc. do not contain
other elements. These chemicals would be added to the waste stream
during processing, such as at fuel facilities or treatment such as
at mixed waste treatment facilities. The presence of the above
materials will be determined by the generator, based on process
knowledge or testing.
3. Except as allowed by notes c and d in Condition 1, waste
accepted must not contain total quantities of beryllium, hydrogenous
material enriched in deuterium, or graphite above one percent of the
total weight of the waste. The presence of the above materials will
be determined by the generator, based on process knowledge, physical
observations, or testing.
4. Waste packages must not contain highly water soluble forms of
uranium greater than 350 grams of uranium-235 or 200 grams of
uranium-233. The sum of the fractions rule will apply for mixtures
of U-233 and U-235. Highly soluble forms of uranium include, but are
not limited to: uranium sulfate, uranyl acetate, uranyl chloride,
uranyl formate, uranyl fluoride, uranyl nitrate, uranyl potassium
carbonate, and uranyl sulfate. The presence of the above materials
will be determined by the generator, based on process knowledge or
testing.
5. Waste processing of waste containing SNM will be limited to
stabilization (mixing waste with reagents), micro-encapsulation,
macro-encapsulation using low-density and high-density polyethylene
and thermal desorption.
When waste is processed using the thermal desorption process,
Envirocare shall confirm the SNM concentration following processing
and prior to returning the waste to temporary storage.
Liquid waste may be stabilized provided the SNM concentration
does not exceed the SNM concentration limits in Condition 1. For
containers of liquid waste with more than 600 kilograms of waste,
the total activity (pCi) of SNM shall not exceed the SNM
concentration in Condition 1 times 600 kilograms of waste. Waste
containing free liquids and solids shall be mixed prior to
treatment. Any solids shall be maintained in a suspended state
during transfer and treatment.
6. Envirocare shall require generators to provide the following
information for each waste stream:
Pre-Shipment
1. Waste Description. The description must detail how the waste
was generated, list the physical forms in the waste, and identify
uranium chemical composition.
2. Waste Characterization Summary. The data must include a
general description of how the waste was characterized (including
the volumetric extent of the waste, and the number, location, type,
and results of any analytical testing), the range of SNM
concentrations, and the analytical results with error values used to
develop the concentration ranges.
3. Uniformity Description. A description of the process by which
the waste was generated showing that the spatial distribution of SNM
must be uniform, or other information supporting spatial
distribution.
4. Manifest Concentration. The generator must describe the
methods to be used to determine the concentrations on the manifests.
These methods could include direct measurement and the use of
scaling factors. The generator must describe the uncertainty
associated with sampling and testing used to obtain the manifest
concentrations.
Envirocare shall review the above information and, if adequate,
approve in writing this pre-shipment waste characterization and
assurance plan before permitting the shipment of a waste stream.
This will include statements that Envirocare has a written copy of
all the information required above, that the characterization
information is adequate and consistent with the waste description,
and that the information is sufficient to demonstrate compliance
with Conditions 1 through 4. Where generator process knowledge is
used to demonstrate compliance with Conditions 1, 2, 3, or 4,
Envirocare shall review this information and determine when testing
is required to provide additional information in assuring compliance
with the Conditions. Envirocare shall retain this information as
required by the State of Utah to permit independent review.
At Receipt
Envirocare shall require generators of SNM waste to provide a
written certification with each waste manifest that states that the
SNM concentrations reported on the manifest do not exceed the limits
in Condition 1, that the measurement uncertainty does not exceed the
uncertainty value in Condition 1, and that the waste meets
Conditions 2 through 4.
7. Sampling and radiological testing of waste containing SNM
must be performed in accordance with the following: one sample for
each of the first ten shipments of a waste stream; or one sample for
each of the first 100 cubic yards of waste up to 1,000 cubic yards
of a waste stream, and one sample for each additional 500 cubic
yards of waste following the first ten shipments or the following
the first 1,000 cubic yards of a waste stream. Sampling and
radiological testing of debris waste containing SNM (that is
exempted from sampling by the State of Utah) can be eliminated if
the SNM concentration is lower than one tenth of the limits in
Condition 1.
8. Envirocare shall notify the NRC, Region IV office within 24
hours if any of the above conditions are not met, including if a
batch during a treatment process exceeds the SNM
[[Page 7401]]
concentrations of Condition 1. A written notification of the event
must be provided within 7 days.
9. Envirocare shall obtain NRC approval prior to changing any
activities associated with the above conditions.
Based on the staff's evaluation, the Commission has determined,
pursuant to 10 CFR 70.14, that the exemption of above activities at the
Envirocare disposal facility is authorized by law, and will not
endanger life or property or the common defense and security and is
otherwise in the public interest. Accordingly, by this Order, the
Commission grants an exemption subject to the stated conditions. The
exemption will become effective after the State of Utah has
incorporated the above conditions into Envirocare's radioactive
materials license. In addition, at that time, the Order transmitted on
May 24, 1999, will no longer be effective.
Pursuant to the requirements in 10 CFR part 51, the Commission has
prepared an Environmental Assessment for the proposed action and has
determined that the granting of this exemption will have no significant
impacts on the quality of the human environment. This finding was
noticed in the Federal Register on January 23, 2003; 68 FR 3281.
The requests for the modifying the Order are available for
inspection at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at <http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html ML021900394 and
ML022180270. The staff's Environmental Assessment and Safety Evaluation
Report may be obtained at the above web site using ML023470617 and
ML023470587. Any questions with respect to this action should be
referred to Timothy Harris, Environmental and Performance Assessment
Branch, Division of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001. Telephone: (301) 415-6613, Fax: (301) 415-5398.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 30th day of January 2003.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Martin J. Virgilio,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 03-3571 Filed 2-12-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P