[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19536-19537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10327]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Notice of Amendment to Certificate of Compliance GDP-2 for the
U.S. Enrichment Corporation, Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant,
Portsmouth, Ohio; Docket 70-7002
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 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (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 interest may
be affected by the results of
[[Page 19537]]
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: February 27, 1998.
Brief description of amendment: The United States Enrichment
Corporation (USEC) submitted a certificate amendment request for PORTS
to add four facilities including the conversion shop and cleaning
building (X-700), the maintenance and stores building (X-720), the
chemical and engineering building (X-760) and the storage warehouse
(XT-847) to Technical Safety Requirement (TSR) Section 2.8 entitled
``Specific TSRs for X-710 Laboratory,'' and to delete the associated
operational mode descriptions in TSR Section 2.8.1.
An NRC Inspector Followup Item, 70-7002/97-206-10B, which was
identified in an NRC nuclear criticality safety inspection report for
PORTS dated September 29, 1997, noted that no specific Criticality
Accident Alarm System (CAAS) TSR existed for the X-700, X-720, X-760
and XT-847 facilities even though fissile material operations (FMOs)
involving greater than 700 grams of U235 at an enrichment equal to or
greater than 1.0% U235 could be conducted in those facilities, and CAAS
coverage was being provided. As such, USEC has proposed to apply the
existing NRC-approved CAAS TSRs for X-710 in TSR Section 2.8, to X-700,
X-720, X-760 and XT-847. In addition, USEC has proposed to delete the
three operational modes described in TSR Section 2.8.1, namely (1)
``General Analytical--analyses of production, ES&H, waste management,
technical support, maintenance/fabrication activities,'' (2) ``Uranium
Sampling--subsampling uranium hexafluoride,'' and (3) ``Polybottle
Operations--movement of polybottles to and from labs and storage
areas,'' since there are no specific operational modes associated with
the TSRs for X-700, X-710, X-720, X-760 and XT-847.
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.
This amendment (1) adds the X-700, X-720, X-760 and XT-847
facilities to TSR Section 2.8 entitled ``Specific TSRs for X-710
Laboratory,'' since similar FMOs are conducted in these facilities and
(2) deletes the associated operational modes listed in TSR 2.8.1. This
amendment would enhance safety by adding more rigor to CAAS operability
in terms of maintenance, calibration, testing, etc., in the four
additional facilities. In addition, deleting the current operational
modes in TSR 2.8.1, which do not apply to TSR 2.8.3.1 (CAAS TSR) since
the CAAS is required to be operable at all times when more than 700
grams of U235 at an enrichment equal to or greater than 1.0% U235 is
present in the facility, will have no significant safety impact. As
such, this amendment will not result in a significant change in the
types or significant increase in the amounts of any effluents that may
be released offsite.
2. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase
in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the
proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase in
individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposures.
3. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant
construction impact.
The proposed amendment does not involve any construction,
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.
For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the
proposed amendment 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.
For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the
proposed amendment will not result in new or different kinds of
accidents.
6. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant
reduction in any margin of safety.
For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the
proposed amendment 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.
For the reasons provided in the assessment of criterion 1, the
proposed amendment will not result in an overall decrease in the
effectiveness of the plant's safety program.
The staff has not identified any safeguards or security related
implications from the proposed amendment. Therefore, the proposed
amendment will not result in an overall decrease in the effectiveness
of the plant's safeguards or security programs.
Effective date: The amendment to GDP-2 will become effective sixty
(60) days after issuance by NRC.
Certificate of Compliance No. GDP-2: Amendment will revise PORTS
TSR Section 2.8.
Local Public Document Room location: Portsmouth Public Library,
1220 Gallia Street, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of April 1998.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Carl J. Paperiello,
Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 98-10327 Filed 4-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
