ABB Inc. (Formerly C.E. Windsor)

1.0 Site Identification

Type of Site:	Complex Decommissioning Site
Location:	Windsor,CT
License No.:	06-00217-06; SNM-1067
Docket No.:	030-03754; 070-01100
License Status:	Decon
Project Manager:	John Nicholson

2.0 Site Status Summary

The ABB , Inc. (ABB), formerly Combustion Engineering-Windsor, site consists of soils and building and equipment surfaces contaminated with uranium and by-product material from operations that occurred from the late 1950s until 2001.

A site-wide decommissioning plan (DP), which included all site areas except for those being remediated under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), was received by NRC on April 7, 2003. A revised DP, which included dose modeling information for eventual release of the entire site, was received on October 15, 2003. The NRC amended License No. 06-00217-06 on June 1, 2004, to allow decommissioning activities to proceed as stipulated in the revised DP. ABB submitted a site-wide final status survey plan (FSSP) on June 30, 2004, that will be used to demonstrate that the activities meet the decommissioning objectives.

ABB completed remediation of the site areas known as Building Complexes 2, 5/6A, and 17 in July 2005. These activities included removal of building equipment, demolition of buildings, removal of building slabs, removal of underground piping, and removal of soil and debris. Equipment and material were released from the site using Regulatory Guide 1.86 criteria as permitted by the NRC license. Surface contaminated waste materials and volumetrically contaminated soil and debris were packaged and shipped off site to a licensed disposal facility. The final status survey reports (FSSRs) for the land area footprints of the former Building 2, 5/6A, and 17 Complexes were submitted to the NRC on October 31, 2005, February 7, 2006, and May 2, 2006, respectively. These surveys were found acceptable by the NRC on April 13, 2007. ABB submitted the remaining Windsor Site FSSRs, excluding the FUSRAP areas to be remediated by the USACE, to the NRC on September 13, 2007.

On August 2, 2007, USACE submitted a proposal to the NRC which supported allowing the ABB to provide cleanup and decommissioning under the oversight of the NRC for the FUSRAP areas. The bases for this recommendation was that the site areas in question were areas where FUSRAP and NRC licensed materials were comingled, ABB agreed to remediate the FUSRAP areas, and use of a single point of oversight would best facilitate an efficient and effective decommissioning of the site. The NRC concurred with this recommendation on August 15, 2007. Under this agreement, the NRC will oversee FUSRAP area decommissioning activities conducted by ABB to meet the requirements of 10 CFR 20 Subpart E and the site NRC license will be terminated after the USACE is satisfied that the CERCLA requirements have met. NRC License No. 06-00217-06 was amended on December 11, 2007, to include possession of the FUSRAP materials to be remediated.

On September 14, 2007, a public meeting to discuss ABB's plans regarding upcoming decommissioning activities for the Windsor site considering the changing NRC and USACE roles was conducted at the NRC Region I King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, office. A second public meeting to inform the public regarding this change was held on December 12, 2007 in Windsor, Connecticut. No concerns from external stakeholders were identified.

On December 27, 2007, ABB submitted a request for unrestricted release of approximately 365 acres of the 612 acre Windsor site. The licensee's FSSRs have been accepted by the NRC and confirmatory surveys by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) and the NRC staff have been completed and documented in NRC Inspection No. 03003754/2008001 completed in September 2008. NRC approval for the partial site release was granted on January 22, 2009. A public meeting was held in Windsor on March 25, 2009, to discuss the partial site release and future NRC oversight activities for the Windsor site.

On January 29, 2008, ABB submitted a revised DP which detailed the proposed decommissioning activities for the Windsor site FUSRAP areas. This revised DP was resubmitted on December 31, 2008, and is currently under review by the NRC staff. Following approval of the DP, ABB will be authorized to complete additional decommissioning activities for the site. The final decommissioning cost estimate for these activities has been submitted by ABB and accepted by the NRC. The ABB,Inc., Windsor, Connecticut site was used to manufacture comercial and Navy nuclear fuels, and at various times, was used to conduct and support research and development.

The site's activities started in 1955 with an Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) contract to begin research, development, and manufacturing of nuclear fuel for the United States Navy. These activities included the construction, testing, and operation of the SIC facility, a U.S. Naval test reactor.

3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues

Effective August 15, 2007, USACE suspended its FUSRAP activities for the ABB site until ABB has completed its FUSRAP area decommissioning under NRC jurisdiction.