[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 153 (Monday, August 10, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42642-42643]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-21301]
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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, OH
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 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
[[Page 42643]]
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: July 30, 1997.
Brief description of amendment: On July 30, 1997, the United States
Enrichment Corporation (USEC) requested an amendment to the certificate
of compliance for PORTS. The request is to clarify Technical Safety
Requirement (TSR) 2.1.3.11 dealing with the minimum required number of
operable smoke detector alarm circuits in the autoclave facilities at
PORTS. Responding to an NRC request for additional information, the
amendment request was modified by USEC on May 29, 1998.
USEC has proposed to revise the Limiting Condition for Operation
(LCO) for TSR 2.1.3.11 from requiring fifty percent of the installed
autoclave UF6 smoke detection heads to be operable to simply
requiring the autoclave UF6 smoke detection systems to be
operable. In addition to modifying the LCO, USEC has proposed to
clarify TSR 2.1.3.11, Actions Statements, to normally require at least
one operable smoke detector alarm circuit to cover an area above each
autoclave in buildings X-342A (Feed Vaporization Facility) and X-344A
(Toll Enrichment Services Facility) and above each autoclave pair in
building X-343 (Feed Vaporization and Sampling Facility). USEC has also
proposed to normally require at least four of the eight detector heads
operable at all times in the X-343 facility. This is to alleviate any
potential adverse effects on timely detection of a release in the event
of winds inside the building when one or both crane doors or hatches
are open. Changes were also made to Chapter 3, ``Facility and Process
Description,'' of the Safety Analysis Report (SAR). These changes
involve the addition of new sections 3.2.1.1.6, ``UF6 Leak
Detection System'' and 3.2.1.2.6, ``UF6 Leak Detection
System,'' and a new paragraph to section 3.2.1.3.6, ``UF6
Leakage Detectors.'' The SAR changes describe the operations and
locations of the UF6 detection systems.
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.
Clarifying the minimum number of smoke detector alarm circuits
required to be operable in autoclave buildings X-342A, X-343, and X-
344A will not result in an increase in the amounts of effluents that
may be released offsite or result in any impact to the environment.
2. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant increase
in individual or cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
The proposed clarification of identifying the minimum number of
smoke detector alarm circuits required to be operable for autoclave
buildings X-342A, X-343, and X-344A will not increase individual or
cumulative occupational radiation exposure.
3. The proposed amendment will not result in a significant
construction impact.
The proposed changes will not result in 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.
The proposed changes which involve clarifying the minimum number of
smoke detector alarm circuits required to be operable for autoclave
buildings X-342A, X-343, and X-344A will not result in an increase in
the potential for UF6 releases. 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.
The proposed changes 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, clarifying the minimum number of smoke
detector alarm circuits required to be operable in autoclave buildings
X-342A, X-343 and X-344A, will not reduce the margin of safety as
defined in the Technical Safety Requirement. In fact, an operable smoke
detector directly above an autoclave (potential UF6 release
point) would enhance safety by likely providing a more timely detection
capability as compared to an operable smoke detector that is not
directly above the autoclave.
7. The proposed amendment will not result in an overall decrease in
the effectiveness of the plant's safety, safeguards, or security
programs.
Identifying the minimum number of smoke detector alarm circuits
required to be operable in autoclave buildings X-342A, X-343 and X-344A
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: 30 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 31st day of July 1998.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Malcolm R. Knapp,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 98-21301 Filed 8-7-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
