[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 72 (Wednesday, April 15, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18459-18460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-9994]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-146]
Saxton Nuclear Experimental Corporation, GPU Nuclear, Inc.;
Notice of Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No
Significant Impact; Saxton Nuclear Experimental Facility
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) is
considering the issuance of a license amendment to the Saxton Nuclear
Experimental Corporation (SNEC) and GPU Nuclear, Inc. (the licensees)
that would allow decommissioning of the Saxton Nuclear Experimental
Facility (SNEF) located near Saxton, Pennsylvania.
Description of Proposed Action
The proposed action is immediate dismantlement (the DECON
alternative) of the SNEF. The licensees have requested an amendment to
Amended Facility License No. DPR-4 that would allow decommissioning of
the SNEF by changing the license and technical specifications to (1)
accommodate decommissioning activities at the SNEF, (2) establish
specific technical specification controls over decommissioning
activities, (3) establish limiting conditions for performing
decommissioning activities, (4) extend exclusion area controls to
include the SNEF Decommissioning Support Facility, (5) establish
requirements for a Radiological Environmental Monitoring Program and an
Off-Site Dose Calculation Manual, and (6) establish requirements for
Technical and Independent Safety Reviews.
Built in 1960-62 under a license to SNEC, the facility was operated
from 1962 to 1972 primarily for research and training. In 1972, the
SNEF was shut down and placed in a condition equivalent to what is now
defined by the NRC as ``SAFSTOR'' (safe storage) and its operating
license was changed to possession-only status. In 1972, all fuel, the
control rod blades, and the superheated steam test loop were removed
from the SNEF containment vessel (CV) and returned to the U.S. Atomic
Energy Commission at its Savannah River Plant in South Carolina. After
the fuel was removed, equipment, most tanks, and piping external to the
CV were also removed. Buildings and structures that supported reactor
operations were partially decontaminated in 1972-74. Final
decontamination of reactor support structures and buildings was done in
1987-89. This process included decontamination of the Control and
Auxiliary Building, Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility, Yard Pipe
Tunnel, and Filled Drum Storage Bunker, as well as removal of the
Refueling Water Storage Tank. After acceptance of the final release
survey by the NRC, these buildings were demolished in 1992. The Saxton
Soil Remediation Project was completed in November 1994 which removed
and shipped to a licensed radioactive waste disposal facility soil that
was located within the site perimeter and found to be contaminated with
radioactive material.
In preparation for release of the site for unrestricted use, the
licensees now propose to decontaminate and dismantle the SNEF CV; the
concrete shield wall located around the northwest and northeast
quadrants of the CV; the tunnel sections that are immediately adjacent
to the outer circumference of the CV; and remaining portions of the
septic system, weirs, and associated underground piping. These
structures contain known or suspected residual radioactive material.
[[Page 18460]]
Summary of the Environmental Assessment
The purpose of decommissioning a nuclear facility is to remove the
facility safely from service, and to reduce residual radioactivity at
the site to levels that permit the license granted by the NRC to be
terminated.
The NRC staff has reviewed the licensees' application and the SNEC
Decommissioning Environmental Report prepared in accordance with 10 CFR
51.53(d). The staff also referred to the SNEC Facility Updated Safety
Analysis Report, Revisions 0, 1, and 2 and the SNEC Facility
Decommissioning Quality Assurance Plan. To document its review, the
staff has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) which examined
decommissioning alternatives, non-radiological and radiological impacts
of decommissioning, and effects of postulated radiological accidents
during decommissioning. The alternatives available for
decommissioning--DECON, ENTOMB, SAFSTOR, and no action--are evaluated
and discussed in the ``Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement on
Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities,'' NUREG-0586, dated August 1988
(GEIS). Based on its review of the licensees' application and plans for
decommissioning described in the Post Shutdown Decommissioning
Activities Report (PSDAR), the staff has determined that the
environmental impacts, both radiological and nonradiological,
associated with the decommissioning of the SNEF, are bounded by the
impacts evaluated by the GEIS and have been adequately evaluated by the
licensees. The staff also finds that the proposed decommissioning of
the SNEF complies with 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix I, and 10 CFR Part 20.
Finding of No Significant Impact
The staff has reviewed the licensees' application for license
amendment and environmental report in accordance with the requirements
of 10 CFR Part 51. Based upon the EA, the staff concluded that there
are no significant environmental impacts associated with the proposed
action and that the proposed action will not have a significant effect
on the quality of the human environment. Therefore, the Commission has
determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, not to prepare an environmental
impact statement.
For further details with respect to this action see (1) the
application for license amendment dated November 25, 1996, as
supplemented on May 30, June 4 and 16, August 21 and September 16,
1997, and February 3 and 9, 1998, (2) the SNEC Decommissioning
Environmental Report submitted on April 17, 1996, and the licensees'
response to Commission questions about the environmental report dated
July 18, 1996, and March 3 and 31, 1998, (3) the SNEC Facility Updated
Safety Analysis Report, Revision 0, submitted on October 25, 1996,
Revision 1, submitted on August 21, 1997, and Revision 2, submitted on
February 3, 1998, (4) the SNEC Facility Decommissioning Quality
Assurance Plan submitted by letter dated November 8, 1996, as
supplemented on May 30, 1997, and February 3 and 9, 1998, (5) the PSDAR
(originally submitted as the SNEF Decommissioning Plan) dated February
1996, which was submitted on February 16, 1996, as supplemented on July
18, 1996, and (6) the EA dated March 1998. These documents are
available for public inspection at the NRC Public Document Room, the
Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20003, and at the
Local Public Document Room for the SNEF at the Saxton Community
Library, Front Street, Saxton, Pennsylvania 16678. Single copies of the
EA may be obtained from Alexander Adams Jr., Senior Project Manager,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, M.S. O-11-B-20, Washington, D.C. 20555.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of April 1998.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Marvin M. Mendonca,
Acting Director, Non-Power Reactors and Decommissioning Project
Directorate, Division of Reactor Program Management, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 98-9994 Filed 4-14-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
