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Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact of License Amendment for Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: April 10, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 69)]
[Notices]
[Page 17472-17474]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10ap02-130]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-36]
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact of
License Amendment for Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Amendment of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, Materials
License SNM-33 to exempt the licensee from the fissile material package
standards for shipment of certain bulk materials (e.g. soils)
containing low concentrations of uranium-235 contamination and to
impose limits on these shipments.
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The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering the amendment
of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-42 to exempt the licensee from
the fissile material package standards for shipment of certain bulk
materials (e.g. soils) containing low concentrations of uranium-235
contamination at the Westinghouse Electric Company LLC facility located
in Hematite, MO, and to impose limits on these shipments, and has
prepared an Environmental Assessment in support of this action.
Environmental Assessment
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has evaluated the
environmental impacts of the exemption of Westinghouse Electric Company
from the fissile material package standards
[[Page 17473]]
for shipment of certain bulk materials (e.g. soils) containing low
concentrations of uranium-235 contamination, with limits placed on the
shipments to ensure adequate controls for nuclear criticality safety.
This Environmental Assessment (EA) has been prepared pursuant to the
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-
1508) and NRC regulations (10 CFR part 51) which implement the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969.
The purpose of this document is to assess the environmental
consequences of the proposed license amendment.
The Westinghouse facility in Hematite, MO, was authorized under NRC
Materials License SNM-33 to manufacture nuclear reactor fuel utilizing
Special Nuclear Material (SNM), specifically low-enriched uranium, and
to receive, possess, use, store and transfer source material. On June
29, 2001, all activities under NRC Materials License SNM-33 related to
the possession and use of low-enriched uranium for fabrication of power
reactor fuel ceased in their entirety. Activities at the Hematite site
are now solely limited to those necessary to remove the facility and
site safely from service and to reduce the residual radioactivity to a
level that permits the eventual release of the site.
1.2 Review Scope
In accordance with 10 CFR part 51, this EA serves to (1) present
information and analysis for determining whether to issue a Finding of
No Significant Impact (FONSI) or to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS); (2) fulfill the NRC's compliance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when no EIS is necessary; and (3)
facilitate preparation of an EIS if one is necessary. Should the NRC
issue a FONSI, no EIS would be prepared and the license amendment would
be granted.
1.3 Proposed Action
The proposed action is to amend NRC Materials License SNM-33 to
exempt the licensee from the fissile material package standards for
shipment of certain bulk materials containing low concentrations of
uranium-235 contamination and to impose limiting conditions to ensure
adequate controls for nuclear criticality safety. These materials would
be exempt from fissile material classification and the fissile material
package standards of 10 CFR 71.55 and 71.59, but subject to other
requirements of 10 CFR part 71 and the further limiting conditions. A
Safety Evaluation Report (SER) has been prepared by the NRC staff and
contains a discussion of the safety considerations for approval of the
amendment. The SER will be included in the license amendment when it is
issued.
1.4 Need for Proposed Action
Westinghouse is currently decommissioning the Hematite site and one
of the near term goals is to reduce the site inventory of SNM by
removing materials currently on-site to other appropriate licensed
facilities.
On February 10, 1997, the NRC issued an emergency direct final rule
(62 FR 5913) changing the fissile material exemption specifications of
10 CFR part 71. The revised rule limits the fissile-material mass in a
consignment and restricts the presence of select moderators with very
low neutron-absorption properties (i.e., special moderators). Under
this rule, specifically 10 CFR 71.53(a), Westinghouse would be limited
to 400 grams of U-235 per consignment. The imposition of this 400-gram
U-235 limit per consignment will increase the number of shipments
required to decommission the Westinghouse facility. Therefore,
Westinghouse submitted this license amendment request for a specific
exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 71.55 and 71.59 for specified
SNM shipments with greater than 400 grams U-235 per consignment.
1.5 Alternatives
The alternatives available to the NRC are:
1. Approve the license amendment request as submitted; or
2. Deny the amendment request.
2.0 Affected Environment
The affected environment for Alternative 1 would be the immediate
vicinity of the vehicle used to transport the material to a licensed
disposal facility.
The affected environment for Alternative 2 is the Westinghouse
site. A full description of the site and its characteristics is given
in the 1994 Environmental Assessment for the Renewal of the NRC license
for Westinghouse. The Westinghouse facility is located on a site of
about 228 acres in Jefferson County, Missouri, approximately 3/4 mile
northeast of the unincorporated town of Hematite, Missouri and 35 miles
south of St. Louis, Missouri.
3.0 Environmental Impacts of Proposed Action and Alternatives
3.1 Occupational and Public Health
Alternative 1
The risk to human health from the transportation of all radioactive
material in the U.S. was evaluated in the Final Environmental Impact
Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and
Other Modes (NRC, 1977). The principal radiological environmental
impact during normal transportation is direct radiation exposure to
nearby persons from radioactive material in the package. The average
annual individual dose from all radioactive material transportation in
the U.S. was calculated to be approximately 0.5 mrem, well below the 10
CFR part 20 requirement of 100 mrem for a member of the public.
Occupational health was also considered in the Final Environmental
Impact Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air
and Other Modes (NRC, 1977). The average annual occupational dose to
the driver(s) is estimated to be 8.7 mSv (870 mrem), which is below the
10 CFR Part 20 requirement of 50 mSv (5000 mrem). The Department of
Transportation (DOT) regulations in 49 CFR 177.842(g) require that the
radiation dose may not exceed 0.02 mSv (2 mrem) per hour in any
position normally occupied in a motor vehicle.
The NRC staff evaluated the possibility of a criticality accident
due to transportation of this material. Based on the statements and
representations in the application, the staff concluded that limiting
the contents as described in the application will provide adequate
assurance that an inadvertent criticality cannot occur if the materials
are exempt from the fissile material classification and fissile
material package standards of 10 CFR 71.55 and 71.59. A detailed
discussion of this analysis can be found in the Safety Evaluation
Report for this amendment.
Under Alternative 1, the doses to the public and to the workers are
not increased beyond those considered in the Final Environmental Impact
Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and
Other Modes (NRC, 1977). Therefore, shipment of these materials would
not affect the assessment of environmental impacts or the conclusions
in the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Transportation of
Radioactive Material by Air and Other Modes (NRC, 1977).
Alternative 2
The risk to the public health from radiological materials is not
expected to
[[Page 17474]]
increase as a result of denying this amendment request. If this
amendment request was denied, the licensee would be required to ship
the contaminated soils in smaller containers. Increasing the number of
shipments would not affect the assessment of environmental impacts or
the conclusions in the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the
Transportation of Radioactive Material by Air and Other Modes (NRC,
1977).
Denial of this amendment will result in a larger number of
shipments, therefore, a slight increase in nonradiological truck
emissions from transportation would be expected.
The occupational health impacts would not change significantly as a
result of denial of this amendment request. The workers at the facility
will have the same dose regardless of how the material is transported.
Occupational doses at the facility may change slightly as a result of
the increase in the number of packages that workers must prepare and
handle; however, the facility will continue to implement NRC-approved
radiation safety procedures for handling radioactive materials.
3.2 Effluent Releases, Environmental Monitoring, Water Resources,
Geology, Soils, Air Quality, Demography, Biota, Cultural and Historic
Resources
Alternative 1
The NRC staff has determined that the approval of the proposed
amendment will not impact effluent releases, environmental monitoring,
water resources, geology, soils, air quality, demography, biota, or
cultural or historic resources under normal transport conditions.
Alternative 2
The NRC staff has determined that denial of the proposed amendment
will not impact effluent releases, environmental monitoring, water
resources, geology, soils, air quality, demography, biota, or cultural
or historic resources at or near the Westinghouse site.
3.3 Conclusions
Based on its review, the NRC staff has concluded that the
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action are not
significant and, therefore, do not warrant denial of the license
amendment request. The staff has determined that Alternative 1,
approval of the license amendment request as submitted, is the
appropriate alternative for selection. Based on an evaluation of the
environmental impacts of the amendment request, the NRC has determined
that the proper action is to issue a FONSI in the Federal Register.
4.0 Agencies and Persons Contacted
The NRC provided the draft Environmental Assessment and FONSI to
staff from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on
November 21, 2001. NRC staff provided the licensee's exemption request
and NRC's Safety Evaluation Report supporting the exemption. NRC staff
also participated in a conference call with the DNR staff on February
15, 2002. No comments were received from DNR on the Environmental
Assessment and FONSI.
Because the proposed action is entirely within existing facilities
or existing roadways, the NRC has concluded that there is no potential
to affect endangered species or historic resources, and therefore
consultation with the State Historic Preservation Society and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service was not necessary.
5.0 References
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), December 1977, ``Final
Environmental Impact Statement on the Transportation of Radioactive
Material by Air and Other Modes.''
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), March 1994,
``Environmental Assessment for Renewal of Special Nuclear Material
License SNM-33.''
Finding of No Significant Impact
The Commission has prepared the above Environmental Assessment
related to the amendment of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-33. On
the basis of the assessment, the Commission has concluded that
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action would not be
significant and do not warrant the preparation of an Environmental
Impact Statement. Accordingly, it has been determined that a Finding of
No Significant Impact is appropriate.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's ``Rules of Practice,''
the Environmental Assessment and the documents related to this proposed
action will be available electronically for public inspection from the
Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system
(ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://
www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).
The NRC contact for this licensing action is Mary Adams, who may be
contacted at (301) 415-7249 or by e-mail at mta@nrc.gov for more
information about the licensing action.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of March, 2002.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael F. Weber,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 02-8608 Filed 4-9-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P