[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 213 (Wednesday, November 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59580-59582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29493]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket 70-7002]
Notice of Amendment to Certificate of Compliance GDP-2 for the
U.S. Enrichment Corporation, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant,
Portsmouth, Ohio
The Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, has
made a determination that the following amendment request is not
significant in accordance with 10 CFR 76.45. In making that
determination, the staff concluded that: (1) There is no change in the
types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may
be released offsite; (2) there is no significant increase in individual
or cumulative occupational radiation exposure; (3) there is no
significant construction impact; (4) there is no significant increase
in the potential for, or radiological or chemical consequences from,
previously analyzed accidents; (5) the proposed changes do not result
in the possibility of a new or different kind of accident; (6) there is
no significant reduction in any margin of safety; and (7) the proposed
changes will not result in an overall decrease in the effectiveness of
the plant's safety, safeguards, or security programs. The basis for
this determination for the amendment request is described below.
The NRC staff has reviewed the certificate amendment application
and concluded that it provides reasonable assurance of adequate safety,
safeguards, and security and compliance with NRC requirements.
Therefore, the Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, is prepared to issue an amendment to the Certificate of
Compliance for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS). The
staff has prepared a Compliance Evaluation Report which provides
details of the staff's evaluation.
The NRC staff has determined that this amendment satisfies the
criteria for a categorical exclusion in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22.
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact
statement or environmental assessment need be prepared for this
amendment.
USEC or any person whose interest may be affected may file a
petition, not exceeding 30 pages, requesting review of the Director's
Decision. The petition must be filed with the Commission not later than
15 days after publication of this Federal Register notice. A petition
for review of the Director's Decision shall set forth with
particularity the interest of the petitioner and how that
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interest may be affected by the results of the decision. The petition
should specifically explain the reasons why review of the Decision
should be permitted with particular reference to the following factors:
(1) The interest of the petitioner; (2) how that interest may be
affected by the Decision, including the reasons why the petitioner
should be permitted a review of the Decision; and (3) the petitioner's
areas of concern about the activity that is the subject matter of the
Decision. Any person described in this paragraph (USEC or any person
who filed a petition) may file a response to any petition for review,
not to exceed 30 pages, within 10 days after filing of the petition. If
no petition is received within the designated 15-day period, the
Director will issue the final amendment to the Certificate of
Compliance without further delay. If a petition for review is received,
the decision on the amendment application will become final in 60 days,
unless the Commission grants the petition for review or otherwise acts
within 60 days after publication of this Federal Register notice.
A petition for review must be filed with the Secretary of the
Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, or may be
delivered to the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman
Building, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC, by the above date.
For further details with respect to the action see: (1) The
application for amendment and (2) the Commission's Compliance
Evaluation Report. These items are available for public inspection at
the Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L
Street, NW, Washington, DC, and at the Local Public Document Room.
Date of amendment request: May 26, 1998.
Brief description of amendment: On May 26, 1998, the United States
Enrichment Corporation (USEC) requested an amendment to the certificate
of compliance for PORTS. The request is to revise Technical Safety
Requirement (TSR) 2.1.3.9, Low Cylinder Pressure Shutoff, to reduce the
shutoff pressure level setpoint from 20 psia to an allowable value of
15 psia and to reflect an improved description of the system operation
through changes to the TSR's Surveillance Requirements and the Basis
Statement wording.
Specifically, USEC has proposed to revise the Surveillance
Requirements of TSR 2.1.3.9 to: (1) Require the quarterly channel
functional test and the semiannual calibration to be based on an
allowable pressure reading of greater than or equal to 15 psia, instead
of a setpoint of 20 psia and (2) to specify a definitive, initial
period of time when the channel functional test and calibration are
performed--an allowable value of less than or equal to 65 minutes from
an open ended ``after the first hour of heating.'' USEC has also
proposed to revise the Basis Statement wording to reflect the revised
system operation.
PORTS uses thirteen cylindrical (6, 7, and 8 foot diameter) steam
autoclaves in buildings X-342, X-343 and X-344 to feed, transfer and
sample UF6 contained in cylinders. Cylinder heating is
accomplished by pressurizing the autoclave with live steam. The feed,
transfer and sample operations of the cylinders are protected against
cylinder overpressure by instrumentation that measures cylinder
pressure through sensors downstream in the UF6 process line.
If the cylinder has either a plugged cylinder valve or pigtail, the
protection afforded by the cylinder high pressure shutoff system would
be negated because the high pressure instrumentation would be unable to
measure the UF6 cylinder pressure. The low cylinder pressure
shutoff system's sole function is to ensure line clarity by measuring
for an expected pressure after a given time period. This is performed
early in the heating evolution to ensure the availability of the
pressure instrumentation well before the maximum allowable working
pressure of the UF6 cylinder.
Basis for Finding of No Significance:
1. The proposed amendment will not result in a change in the types
or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may be
released offsite.
The low cylinder pressure shutoff system is in place to verify the
clarity of the UF6 process line and the availability of the
cylinder pressure instrumentation. The system is not involved in the
generation of effluents; therefore, the proposed amendment will not
change the types or increase the amount of effluents that may be
released offsite.
2. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase
in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
The proposed amendment which involves changing the surveillance
requirements and actuation setpoints of the low cylinder pressure
shutoff system will not affect operability. The low cylinder pressure
shutoff system will still be capable of ensuring UF6 process
line clarity and the availability of the UF6 cylinder high
pressure autoclave steam shutdown system. The changes will not increase
the probability or consequences of a UF6 release associated
with any postulated accident currently identified in the SAR.
Therefore, the proposed amendment will not result in a significant
increase in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
3. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant
construction impact.
The proposed amendment does not involve any construction
activities; therefore, there will be no construction impacts.
4. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase
in the potential for, or radiological or chemical consequences from,
previously analyzed accidents.
The proposed amendment which involves changing the surveillance
requirements and actuation setpoints of the low cylinder pressure
shutoff system will not affect operability. The low cylinder pressure
shutoff system will still be capable of ensuring UF6 process
line clarity and the availability of the UF6 cylinder high
pressure autoclave steam shutdown system. The changes will not increase
the probability or consequences of any postulated radiological or
chemical accident currently identified in the SAR. The proposed changes
will also not result in an increase in the potential for, or
radiological consequences from, previously evaluated criticality
accidents. Therefore, the proposed changes will not result in a
significant increase in the potential for, or radiological or chemical
consequences from, previously analyzed accidents.
5. The proposed amendment will not result in the possibility of a
new or different kind of accident.
Releases of UF6 involving autoclave feed, sampling and
transfer operations have been analyzed in the SAR. The proposed
amendment will not result in any changes to any of the operations;
therefore, the proposed amendment will not result in the possibility of
a new or different kind of accident.
6. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant
reduction in any margin of safety.
The proposed changes, lowering the low cylinder pressure shutoff
system setpoint from 20 psia to an allowable value of 15 psia will not
affect the system operability. The function of the low cylinder
pressure shutoff system is to ensure line clarity to the pressure
instrumentation to allow for over pressure protection provided by the
high UF6 cylinder pressure shutoff system. The proposed
revisions will
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allow for improved system operability by lowering the setpoint from
being set too close to the expected pressure measured at the particular
time of the heating evolution. The revised methodology allows for the
control system to accommodate for instrument uncertainty when
determining the actual setpoint (a procedurally controlled value). The
revised allowable value of 15 psia still allows for a 50% rise in
pressure from the administratively controlled starting pressure of 10
psia, which allows for the low cylinder pressure control system to
suitably demonstrate line clarity.
The change from the current surveillance requirements specifying
``. . . after the first hour of heating . . .'' to the proposed
allowable value of less than or equal to 65 minutes will not lead to a
significant increase in measured pressure. The proposed value provides
a definitive time for the surveillance requirements to be performed
within an expected pressure range that is well below the maximum
allowable working pressure of the UF6 cylinder.
The changes will not result in a significant reduction in any
margin of safety.
7. The proposed amendment will not result in an overall decrease in
the effectiveness of the plant's safety, safeguards, or security
programs.
The proposed amendment which involves changing the surveillance
requirements and actuation setpoints of the low cylinder pressure
shutoff will not affect system operability. The low cylinder pressure
shutoff system will still be capable of ensuring UF6 process
line clarity and the availability of the UF6 cylinder high
pressure autoclave steam shutdown system. Therefore, the proposed
modifications will not result in a decrease in the overall
effectiveness of the plant's safety program. The staff has also not
identified any safeguards or security related implications from the
proposed amendment.
Effective date: 60 days after issuance of amendment.
Certificate of Compliance No. GDP-2: Amendment will revise the
Technical Safety Requirement.
Local Public Document Room location: Portsmouth Public Library,
1220 Gallia Street, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of October 1998.
Carl J. Paperiello,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 98-29493 Filed 11-3-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
