[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 57 (Thursday, March 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16772-16773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06236]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-1151; NRC-2022-0047]
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC; Columbia Fuel Fabrication
Facility; and US Ecology, Inc.; Idaho Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act Subtitle C; Hazardous Disposal Facility Located Near Grand
View, Idaho
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: License amendment and exemptions; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing
exemptions from NRC regulations and associated license amendment
related to requests from Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC (WEC) and
US Ecology, Inc. (USEI). WEC requested NRC approval for an alternate
disposal and related exemptions for specified low-activity radioactive
waste from the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in Hopkins,
South Carolina containing byproduct material and special nuclear
material (SNM) under License Number SNM-1107. Additionally, the NRC is
approving exemptions requested by USEI from the applicable licensing
requirements to allow USEI to receive and dispose of the material from
CFFF without an NRC license. The USEI disposal facility, located near
Grand View, Idaho, is a Subtitle C Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA) hazardous waste disposal facility permitted by the State of
Idaho to receive low-level radioactive waste. Approval of the alternate
disposal request from WEC and the exemptions and license amendment
requested by WEC, and associated exemptions requested by USEI would
allow WEC to transfer the specific waste from CFFF to USEI for
disposal.
DATES: The exemptions are effective on March 24, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0047 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0047. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the ``For Further
Information Contact'' section of this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or
by email to [email protected]. The Request for Alternate Disposal
Approval and Exemption for Specific CFFF Waste (License No. SNM-1197,
Docket No. 70-1151) dated November 5, 2022, as corrected by letter
dated December 1, 2021, is available in ADAMS under Accession Nos.
ML21309A095 and ML21336A461, respectively. The staff's Safety
Evaluation Report dated March 4, 2022, is available in ADAMS under
Package Accession No. ML22054A045.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenny Tobin, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2328, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC (WEC) holds a special nuclear
materials (SNM) License Number SNM-1107 under part 70 of title 10 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of
Special Nuclear Material.'' Under the terms of its license, WEC
fabricates nuclear fuel at the Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility
(CFFF). The US Ecology, Inc. (USEI) disposal facility near Grand View,
Idaho is a Subtitle C Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
hazardous waste disposal facility permitted by the State of Idaho to
receive radioactive waste.
II. Request/Action
The proposed action would approve the alternate disposal request
and provide exemptions from 10 CFR 70.3 and 10 CFR 30.3 and an
associated WEC license amendment, allowing WEC to transfer and USEI to
receive and dispose of waste containing byproduct material and SNM. The
volumetrically contaminated waste includes calcium fluoride
(CaF2) sludge dredged from the disposal lagoons and the
Sanitary Lagoon located on the site, the sanitary lagoon liner,
contaminated soil from under and adjacent to the Sanitary Lagoon, and
soil associated with the demolition of the CaF2 storage pad.
The surface-contaminated waste being considered for disposal includes
obsolete uranium hexafluoride (UF6) shipping cylinders and
debris associated with demolition and removal of the CaF2
pad and Sanitary Lagoon. The waste being considered originates from
processes associated with the chemical conversion of UF6 to
uranium dioxide (UO2) performed at CFFF and is contaminated
with isotopic uranium (U-234, U-235, and U-238) and technicium-99 (Tc-
99).
As proposed, this waste would be transported from CFFF in South
Carolina to the USEI facility near Grand View, Idaho using a
combination of trucks and railcars. The USEI facility is a RCRA
Subtitle C hazardous waste disposal facility permitted by the State of
Idaho.
III. Discussion
Pursuant to 10 CFR 70.17 and 10 CFR 30.11, the Commission may, upon
application of any interested person or upon its own initiative, grant
such exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 70 and part 30
respectively, as
[[Page 16773]]
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.
The Exemptions Are Authorized by Law
The proposal provides that the material described in this notice
would be transported and disposed of in compliance with Federal, State,
and local regulations. Further, as previously noted, the NRC is
authorized to grant exemptions from 10 CFR parts 30 and 70. Granting
these exemptions are also not contrary to the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, or other regulatory requirements or law. Therefore,
such disposal is not otherwise contrary to NRC requirements, and is
otherwise authorized by law.
The Exemptions Will Not Endanger Life, Property or the Common Defense
and Security
NRC staff reviewed the information provided by WEC to support its
10 CFR 20.2002 alternate disposal request and the specific exemptions
from 10 CFR 30.3 and 10 CFR 70.3 and the associated license amendment
in order to dispose of the specified material associated with cleanup
activities at CFFF. The NRC staff concluded that the requested disposal
of waste containing byproduct material and SNM is acceptable under 10
CFR 20.2002. Details provided in this request, in combination with
appropriate references to past approvals of similar procedures and
material from the same site, provide an adequate description of the
waste and demonstrate that the proposed manner and conditions of waste
disposal would be protective of public health and safety and security
and would not endanger property. In particular, under the alternate
disposal request, public doses would be a fraction of the natural
background radiation dose and a fraction of the annual public dose
limit. NRC staff also notes that the request is also subject to
regulation under RCRA. Lastly, because of the presence of SNM, the NRC
evaluated potential criticality in its safety evaluation report and
found no concerns. Therefore, the NRC concludes that issuance of the
exemption will not endanger life, property, or the common defense and
security.
The Exemptions Are in the Public Interest
Issuance of the exemptions to WEC and USEI is in the public
interest because it provides for the efficient and safe disposal for
the subject waste material, facilitates the decommissioning of the CFFF
site consistent with the consent agreement between CFFF and the South
Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and conserves
low-level radioactive waste disposal capacity at licensed low-level
radioactive disposal sites while ensuring that the material being
considered is disposed of safely in a regulated facility. Therefore,
based upon the evaluation previously noted, exemptions are appropriate
pursuant to 10 CFR 30.11 and 10 CFR 70.17.
IV. Environmental Considerations
As required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC performed an environmental
assessment (EA) that analyzes the environmental impacts of the proposed
exemptions in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 and NRC implementing regulations in 10 CFR part 51. Based on the
conclusions of the EA, the NRC staff has determined that there is no
need to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed
exemptions and has issued a finding of no significant impact (FONSI).
The EA and FONSI were published in the Federal Register on March 10,
2022 (87 FR 13766).
V. Conclusions
Accordingly, the Commission has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR
70.17 and 10 CFR 30.11, exemptions for WEC and USEI are authorized by
law, will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety,
are consistent with the common defense and security, and are in the
public interest. Therefore, the Commission hereby grants WEC and USEI
exemptions from 10 CFR 70.3 and 10 CFR 30.3 to allow WEC to transfer
certain low-activity radioactive materials, including byproduct and
SNM, from the WEC CFFF for disposal at the USEI disposal facility
located near Grand View, Idaho, and issues WEC a conforming license
amendment.
Dated: March 21, 2022.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jacob I. Zimmerman,
Chief, Fuel Facility Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Management,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2022-06236 Filed 3-23-22; 8:45 am]
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