[Federal Register: April 15, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 72)]
[Notices]               
[Page 18459-18460]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15ap98-142]

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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]
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