Environment, Energy and Transportation Program

High-Level Radioactive Waste Newsletter

25 Page Document

Vol. 15, No. 3
January 1999

In This Issue

Federal Activity

DOE issues Yucca Mountain viability assessment report

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued the Yucca Mountain, Nev., viability assessment report (VA) on Dec. 18; the report indicated that the department has not found any "show stoppers" that would require DOE to discontinue study of the site as a potential host for a deep geologic repository. Technical uncertainties about the site still exist, however. DOE has spent 15 years and $2 billion studying the Yucca Mountain site. Department personnel are scheduled to complete an environmental impact statement, geologic studies and design work for the site by 2001 at a cost of $1.1 billion. These studies will focus on remaining uncertainties, such as water flow conditions and how the repository design and geologic conditions will impede a release of radioactivity into the environment.

The VA assumed that 86,000 metric tons of spent fuel (the entire inventory of spent fuel generated by existing nuclear power plants) would be buried in 100 miles of repository tunnels at Yucca Mountain. This calculation would require Congress to lift the 70,000-metric-ton cap currently in place for the repository. DOE made this calculation under the assumption that a Yucca Mountain repository would be the country’s only high-level waste disposal facility.

The state of Nevada is considering petitioning Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson to reconsider the VA finding. The state argues that waste packages will fail earlier than DOE has calculated and that radiation would reach the accessible environment in 500 years, not the 1,000 years required by federal regulation.

Federal court: DOE breached contract

The U.S. Federal Court of Claims has found the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) liable for breach of contract for its failure to accept spent fuel from three suing utilities by the Jan. 31, 1998, deadline. Judge James Merow ruled in favor of Yankee Atomic (Yankee Rowe) and Connecticut Yankee (Haddam Neck) on October 30, and issued an identical ruling in favor of Maine Yankee (Maine Yankee) on Nov. 4. In his ruling, Merow said the contractual remedy available to the utilities is not exclusive and does not preclude the utilities from seeking breach of contract damages. Merow also stated that "the statutory restrictions on the use of contract (Nuclear Waste Fund fee) payments preclude DOE from retroactively adjusting Yankee’s charges to reflect its on-site storage costs." His statement seems to preclude DOE from using Nuclear Waste Fund money to pay the claims. Acting Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Director Lake Barrett also has stated that money for an award from the Court of Claims would come from the federal judgment fund, not from the Nuclear Waste Fund.

The three utilities had sought $238 million in damages from DOE; Judge Merow has not yet scheduled a hearing to decide the damages amount. With this decision, other utilities may bring similar lawsuits for damages. Utilities—including Northern States Power, Florida Power and Light, Duke Power Co., Indiana Michigan, Sacramento Municipal Utilities, Southern Companies and Commonwealth Edison—filed suit in June in the Court of Claims and are seeking damages from DOE’s failure to take possession of their spent fuel. Northern States Power ratepayers also have filed a class-action suit in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, seeking more than $1 billion in damages for additional storage costs at the Prairie Island and Monticello (Minn.) plants.

DOE has characterized the ruling as limited to circumstances surrounding shut down reactors that no longer generate money for the Nuclear Waste Fund. Twelve shut down reactors in the United States currently contain spent fuel in their storage pools.

DOE reaches cleanup settlement

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has entered into a legal settlement with 39 environmental organizations that will provide new tools for public participation in cleanup decisions for the former nuclear weapons complex (Natural Resources Defense Council v. Richardson). The settlement ends nine years of litigation between the environmental groups and DOE. Federal District Judge Stanley Sporkin signed the agreement on December 14. The three major features of the settlement are:

• DOE will establish a central information database—available to the public through the Internet—that will contain information about DOE sites

• DOE will establish a $6.25 million fund to assist citizen groups and Indian tribes to conduct scientific and technical reviews of DOE environmental management activities

• DOE will prepare and invite public comment regarding a study on long-term stewardship of DOE sites following cleanup.

OCRWM: Dual track waste program could cost $1 billion

The Department of Energy’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) projects that conducting a dual track nuclear waste program (a repository and a centralized interim storage facility) could cost $1 billion in the near future. Postponing the opening of a geologic repository would only delay the point at which the program budget increases to $1 billion. Members of Congress are concerned about whether funds would be available to work on both facilities at the same time. Decisions about the budget depend upon the results of the viability assessment for the Yucca Mountain, Nev., site. If the site proves viable, Congress may decide to proceed with the repository and not require development of an interim storage facility. Although the House of Representatives seems to favor focusing on the repository, the Senate has emphasized the need for a centralized interim storage facility. Budget constraints also are a key factor; in recent years, the program’s spending has been capped at no more than $400 million per year. Deposits into the Nuclear Waste Fund (made by ratepayers that use nuclear power) total $600 million per year plus interest payments of $400 million, for a total of $1 billion. DOE would possibly develop an on-site storage facility at Yucca Mountain that would handle the reloading and preparation of spent fuel for disposal in the repository.

NRC presents Yucca Mountain report to commissioners

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff presented its "Draft Proposed Rule for Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste at a Proposed Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada," to the commissioners in late September. The draft rule proposes licensing criteria for disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes at the proposed geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. The draft rule would replace the existing generic requirements for repositories with a risk and performance-based criterion for the site. The criteria focus on the overall multibarrier repository system without providing specific criteria for individual barrier systems. In addition, the regulations would use a single pathway, individual dose limit for exposures that would be easier for the public to understand. The draft rule requires an analysis of a human intrusion into the repository some 100 years after permanent closure. DOE must demonstrate that the repository will still meet regulatory requirements if this occurs.

The commission now will decide whether to modify the draft or publish it as a proposed rule. The NRC released the draft rule despite the fact that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not issued its radiation protection rule for Yucca Mountain; the EPA rule will set a dose standard for the repository. The rule—which EPA was supposed to finalize by August 1996—has been the source of a debate between the two regulatory agencies. The NRC contends that a standard of 25 millirem per year would protect public health and safety, while EPA maintains that a 15 millirem standard—plus separate standards for ground water exposures—is necessary. Congress may have to resolve the dispute between the agencies. Copies of the proposed rule are available from either the NRC’s Public Document Room, 2120 L St., N.W. (Lower Level), Washington, D.C. 20555, (202) 634-3273, fax (202) 634-3343, or through the internet at http://techconf.llnl.gov/cgi-bin/topics.

Separate groundwater requirement in EPA Yucca Mountain draft

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to include a separate groundwater protection requirement in an overdue draft of the agency’s radiation protection standards for a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. EPA staff plan to deliver the draft to the Office of Management and Budget for interagency review by the end of 1998 or early 1999. EPA Administrator Carol Browner has asked the NRC commissioners to delay voting on whether to formalize the NRC’s draft licensing criteria on the grounds that the NRC was confusing the public by moving ahead of EPA. The NRC argues that EPA’s separate groundwater protection requirement duplicates part of an all-pathways standard (air, water, groundwater) that the commission supports.

The issue focuses on whether an all-pathways standard sufficiently protects the public, or whether a separate groundwater protection requirement is needed (as EPA is proposing). The NRC has released a draft site-specific implementing regulation that includes an all-pathways standard of 25 millirem (MR) per year to 30 MR per year exposure to an average member of a critical group.

Department of Justice creates new office to address terrorist incidents

The Department of Justice has created a new office for State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support to assist state and local responders to handle crises related to terrorist incidents. The department’s program will address radiological incidents. The new office will provide financial assistance to state and local governments to purchase equipment, offer training to respond to domestic terrorism incidents, and offer technical assistance to make critical decisions regarding domestic emergency preparedness. For more information, call the Office for State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support at (202) 305-9887.

NRC reinstates Safeguards program

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reinstating its program for Operations Safeguards Response Evaluations at nuclear power plants, effective immediately. The program provides response capability should a nuclear power plant be attacked by terrorists.

OCRWM defines role regarding DOE SNF and HLW naval spent fuel

DOE’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management has entered into two memoranda of agreement with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program and DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM). The agreements address the roles and responsibilities of OCRWM, the Navy and EM regarding the acceptance, transportation, storage and ultimate disposal of Navy spent fuel (from nuclear powered ships and submarines) and EM-managed, DOE-generated spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The agreements are in response to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, which requires that a transfer of funds equivalent to Nuclear Waste Fund fees be paid by federal agencies that own spent fuel and high-level waste that will be disposed of in a deep geologic repository constructed and operated by OCRWM. Copies of the agreement are available from Jeff Williams, Systems Engineering and International Division, DOE/OCRWM, , Room 7F-085, 1000 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585, (202) 586-9620, or from the OCRWM internet home page, www.rw.doe.gov.

State Department official suggests multinational repository

A State Department official, Richard Stratford, has suggested that a multinational high-level radioactive waste repository program might be needed. "I don’t think there will be a repository for every nuclear power program," said Stratford during a United States-Ukraine nuclear trade conference in Washington, D.C. Although the State Department is not officially pursuing the idea of a multinational repository, Stratford is attempting to lay the groundwork for the concept. Stratford is not suggesting that the United States and Ukraine make plans for a joint repository, but, rather, that such a program could be beneficial in certain areas of the world—e.g., the Far East or Eastern Europe.

Federal agency appropriations

Congressional conference committee members have agreed to fund the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management’s cleanup projects at a level of $6.2 billion. The bill provides $186.6 million for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, $29.9 million for worker and community transition, $1.052 billion for site closure projects and $12 million to determine cellular and biological effects of low-level radiation.

The fiscal year 1999 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill provided $358 million to the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management; $169 million was appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund—of which $4 million was appropriated for the accelerator transmutation program—and $189 million came from the Defense Nuclear Waste disposal appropriation. Congress provided $500,000 to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to manage data from scientific studies of Yucca Mountain. The House-Senate conference committee reduced the appropriation for state of Nevada oversight activities from $4,875,000 to $250,000; the report stipulates the money can be spent only for scientific activities, not for salaries or expenses for state employees in the oversight office.

The state office received a $240,000 appropriation from the Nevada Legislature for salaries and office expenses on September 24 and an additional $228,000 on December 14. The state agency plans to use the money to maintain a minimal staff through May 31. The Legislature convenes February 1 and will consider additional appropriations at that time.

Personnel

Elwood (Elgie) Holstein, chief of staff for former Secretary of Energy Federico Peña, has accepted the position of associate director of the Office of Management and Budget’s natural resources, energy and science division. T.J. Glauthier, who previously served in that position, has been nominated to replace Elizabeth Moler as deputy secretary of energy. Glauthier’s appointment was not confirmed by the Senate before its October adjournment; he began work at DOE on Nov. 9 as an advisor to Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Secretary Richardson has named Undersecretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz as acting deputy secretary. President Clinton will have to renominate Glauthier as deputy secretary when the 106th Congress convenes.

Secretary Richardson named Gary Falle to be his chief of staff on Sept. 24. Falle has served as the principal deputy assistant secretary of energy for congressional and intergovernmental affairs since June 1997.

Secretary Richardson has selected Lawrence Sanchez to direct DOE’s office of intelligence; he will be responsible for foreign intelligence analysis and will work closely with DOE’s nuclear weapons, stockpile stewardship, nonproliferation and counterintelligence program.

Secretary Richardson has named David Goldwyn as counselor to the secretary. He will conduct special negotiations and consultations with foreign, state and local government officials as well as industry leaders and experts. Goldwyn previously served as a senior advisor and counsel to Richardson at the United Nations.

President Bill Clinton has nominated David Michaels to serve as DOE assistant secretary for environment, safety and health. Michaels will be responsible for ensuring that DOE sites conform to all environmental laws and regulations.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Shirley Jackson announced December 11 that she will resign from the commission—effective at the end of her term June 30—to become president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

Keith Klein, deputy manager for the DOE’s Rocky Flats Field Office, has been named acting manager for the Carlsbad Area Office, which oversees the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Following a reorganization, William D. Magwood now directs the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology. Magwood has served in the position in an acting capacity since May when Terry Lash was removed as director. Lash now serves as head of the Office of International Nuclear Safety in the Office of Nonproliferation and National Security.

The Senate has confirmed Jeffrey Merrifield and Greta Dicus to serve on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Merrifield has served as counsel and staff director to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Control and Risk Assessment. Dicus was renominated to the commission; she was a commissioner from February 1996 through June 1998, when her initial term expired.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (Miss.) has established a Senate task force on plutonium disposition to focus on preventing terrorists from acquiring the material for use in nuclear weapons. Senators Pete Domenici (N.M.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Richard Lugar (Ind.), Frank Murkowski (Alaska), Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), Carl Levin (Mich.) and Patty Murray (Wash.) will serve on the task force.

Kathleen (Katie) McGinty has resigned as chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. George Frampton will be nominated by President Clinton to fill the post; he will serve as acting director until confirmed by the Senate. Frampton has served as assistant secretary of interior for fish and wildlife and parks and as president of the Wilderness Society.

Mike Walker has been confirmed by the Senate as deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Walker is the former undersecretary of the Army.

State/Local/Tribal

DOE rejects Nevada request for Yucca Mountain comment period

The Department of Energy rejected a request from the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects for a public review and comment period before release of the Yucca Mountain (Nev.) viability assessment (see related story on page 1). Lake Barrett, acting director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, stated the viability assessment is a status report, not a decision document requiring a comment process.

New Mexico: No WIPP hazardous waste permit until at least mid-1999

New Mexico’s Environment Department has stated that it will not issue a hazardous waste permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant until summer 1999, at the earliest. DOE has announced plans to begin shipping waste from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) on April 30, 1999, as well as from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (N.M.) and the Rocky Flats Environmental Site (Colo.). The Los Alamos shipment contains only transuranic (TRU) waste, not mixed (radioactive and hazardous) waste. New Mexico inspectors will determine whether the Rocky Flats and INEEL waste contains only TRU waste and not mixed waste. The shift in personnel will slow the completion of the RCRA Part B permit paperwork.

If New Mexico does not agree to the classification of the waste, DOE may ship the TRU waste to another site within the DOE complex. DOE has an agreement with the state of Idaho to ship 15,000 drums of TRU waste from Idaho by 2003. INEEL current holds 30,000 drums of TRU waste that was generated at both the lab and the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site during the years of weapons production. If DOE cannot meet its agreement, it must stop shipping Navy spent fuel to Idaho for temporary storage.

Susan McMichael, WIPP project manager and lead counsel for the state of New Mexico, testified on October 5 before the New Mexico Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee that the state now has reversed its position on whether DOE should be allowed to ship "pure" (nonhazardous) transuranic waste to WIPP while awaiting the state’s issuance of a RCRA Part B permit for mixed waste. McMichael stated that the state now is concerned that DOE’s decision to dispose of radioactive waste without a RCRA Part B permit sets precedent and has significant implications for the state’s jurisdictional authority to regulate DOE. McMichael is concerned that DOE will be able to operate WIPP without state external regulation.

The state Environment Department released a revised draft RCRA Part B permit in November. The state will hold public hearings about the revised draft on February 22 and March 8 and will accept public comments on the draft through January 18. The draft permit is available at http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/wipp or can be obtained by calling (505) 827-2855. The state still intends to issue a RCRA Part B permit next summer.

DOE has again submitted a report to the New Mexico Environment Department, in which the agency declares the first shipment of transuranic waste from the Los Alamos (N.M.) National Laboratory—scheduled for transfer and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant—is not subject to RCRA regulation and can be disposed of before the state issues its Part B permit.

Richardson responds to PUCs

On October 14, Secretary of Energy Richardson responded to the September 8 letter from a consortium of public utility commissioners regarding deferment of payments into the Nuclear Waste Fund. Richardson responded that DOE is willing to defer payments only if the utilities agree not to sue DOE over its handling of the civilian waste program. Richardson indicated he would like to postpone discussions with commissioners until the Yucca Mountain, Nev., viability assessment has been submitted to the president and Congress.

Minnesota: Escrow all NWF fees

The Minnesota Department of Public Service now is recommending that all Nuclear Waste Fund fees paid by ratepayers be escrowed. If the Minnesota Public Utility Commission agrees, Minnesota would be the first state to withhold ratepayer money from the Nuclear Waste Fund. Annual payments by Northern States Power Co. customers total $16 million; the fund receives nationwide deposits of approximately $600 million per year. The Minnesota Legislature passed a bill in 1997 that grants the PUC authority to escrow the funds. The PUC now may hold public hearings on the escrow question or it make a decision based on the evidence it currently has available.

Lake Barrett, acting director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, has stated in the past that a unilateral withholding of payment would constitute a breach of contract. To obtain a copy of the Richardson letter and the Minnesota press release, contact Scott Liddell at NCSL, (303) 364-7700.

An additional 28 state public utility commissioners have joined the original 68 commissioners to request that Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson defer $6.5 billion in payments into the Nuclear Waste Fund until DOE can provide either an interim storage facility or a repository for the disposal of spent fuel.

Hanford agreement reached

On October 14, Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, Washington Governor Gary Locke and state Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced an agreement in principle to resolve the state’s threatened lawsuit regarding the Hanford Reservation tank cleanup lawsuit. The agreement recognizes anticipated technical or safety issues as good cause for amending the milestone schedule for the cleanup of Hanford. DOE and Washington were to finalize the tank cleanup schedule within 60 days of the announcement.

Hanford health hotline debuts

People living near the Hanford (Wash.) Nuclear Reservation during the 1940s and 1950s now can receive estimates of their individual radiation doses from exposure to the radioisotope iodine-131. The Washington Department of Health will provide a dose estimate to anyone who lived or spent time in the study area (eastern Washington, northeastern Oregon and parts of northern Idaho) between Dec. 26, 1944, and Dec. 31, 1957. The dose estimate uses computer models and individuals’ information about age, diet and location in the study area. At least 3,300 people responded to the program in its first two weeks; the callers included residents of 35 states and Canada. The health departments in Washington, Oregon and Idaho have developed the estimation model with the assistance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information, contact the department by Feb. 15, 1999, at (800) 432-6242.

Personnel

Representative Gary King (N.M.) has accepted a position with the U.S. Department of Energy, first to serve as a consultant and later as a senior advisor to the assistant secretary of energy for environmental management.

On-Site Storage

Private Fuel Storage transportation routes face opposition

Private Spent Fuel Storage LLC (PFS), a project to construct a spent fuel storage facility on land owned by the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians, faces opposition from Utah state officials and other project opponents to proposed changes in transportation routes to the site. PFS is proposing to move a rail spur and train-to-track transfer station off state land to "avoid any regulatory scheme by the state," according to Bill Sinclair, the director of the Division of Radiation Control in the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

This is an interesting development because the state did not approve of the original proposal—construction of an intermodal transfer point at Rowley Junction, near Interstate 80, and building a 24-mile rail spur along an existing road in Skull Valley that would serve as a connector to the Union Pacific Railroad main line. The state, in fact, had decided to take over the county road that the proposed route followed. To avoid a conflict with the state, PFS moved the rail spur onto Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public land. In late August, PFS submitted a license amendment application in which they moved the rail spur to the west side of Skull Valley and the truck transfer point about two miles west of its original site. These route modifications would mean PFS would need approval from the BLM, not the state. PFS is attempting to obtain a right-of-way to use the BLM land for a 50-year period.

Although the proposed new rail spur option may remove some of the state’s objections to the Rowley Junction intermodal station, the substitute route raises another set of problems.

Late filings to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) by the state, the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation and Ohngo Gaudadeh Devia are being reviewed. According to the state claim, potential fire hazards, noise pollution and environmental effects of the new route had not been analyzed in the PFS environmental report. The ASLB has not decided if it will allow the environmental contentions to be aired in a hearing, but the NRC staff believe that such a move could delay the schedule.

PFS attorney Jay Silberg contends that the state’s and other groups’ contentions should be dismissed because they do not raise any new issues and were submitted late. In a late October filing to the ASLB, NRC staff agreed that the contentions should be rejected because there was neither a good reason why they were submitted late nor a valid argument raised that merited further consideration. According to the filing, "Informal discovery is in progress; formal discovery will commence in 10 months." It further stated, "The admission of these contentions would require some adjustment of the hearing schedule, would broaden the issues to be heard and would cause delay in the completion of the hearings."

Mark Delligatti, senior project manager in the NRC Spent Fuel Project Office, commented that the agency’s role is limited when examining the proposed rail spur in its environmental impact statement (EIS). "NRC doesn’t license railroads. We license casks that will be hauled over rails or roads." Delligatti did indicate that the creation of a new rail spur probably would raise issues that would be covered in an EIS.

The state is considering issuing an advanced notice of rulemaking on legislation passed earlier this year to impose a $5 million licensing fee on PFS. The legislation also requires a $2 million cash bond to be posted before spent fuel is transported through the state. It is expected that state officials then will move directly to a final rulemaking, completing the entire rulemaking process in about six months.

NRC releases spent fuel storage cask interim guidance

In late October, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff released a series of interim staff guidance (ISG) papers to supplement its standard review plan (SRP) for spent fuel storage casks, known as Nureg-1536.

Damaged fuel. Any fuel with damage larger than a hairline crack or pinhole leak should be canned for storage and transportation. According to the ISG, canning will confine gross fuel particles and facilitate handling and retrievability. When transporting spent fuel, debris, loose pellets or particles involving plutonium in excess of 20 curies, double containment is required. A review of records that verify that the fuel is undamaged and a visual check of the fuel are required to ensure the spent fuel is not damaged before being loaded into a cask.

Fuel retrievability. It is recommended that Chapter 1 of Nureg-1567 be modified to clearly state that an independent spent fuel storage installation is not a de facto repository. The spent fuel loaded into storage casks at such an installation is retrievable and meets 10 CFR 72.122(1) retrievability requirements.

Post accident recovery and compliance with 10 CFR 72.122(1). Standard review plans (SRPs) must be changed to distinguish the difference between retrievability and post-accident recovery. SRPs should have no references to non-credible accidents such as non-mechanistic failures of the confinement boundary. Changes to the accident analysis chapters should include requiring that staff evaluate all credible accidents and focus review on accidents with potential consequences that result in the failure of the confinement boundary. The event should be evaluated against requirements under 10 CFR 72.106(b). The need for overpacks or dry transfer systems to maintain safe storage conditions then would not be considered and evaluated as a part of the licensing process.

Emergency planning and detection of events. Nureg-1667, Chapter 10, Section 10.4.5, and Nureg-1536, Chapter 11, Section V.2 should be changed "to ensure that the licensee will have the ability to identify an accident or noncompliance situation."

Cask closure weld inspections. Either dye penetrant (PT) or ultrasonic (UT) examinations may be used to inspect the closure weld for the outer cover plate for austenitic steel cask designs. PT is adequate for safety and identifies only surface flaws—it can provide reasonable assurance that flaws of interest will be identified. UT has not yet been proven acceptable for austenitic stainless steels.

Dose calculations. Storage cask applications should address potential leaks of gases, volatiles, fuel fines and crud. According to the ISG, "the analysis should be based on a source term that includes all radionuclides that are greater than 0.1 percent of the total activity present in the fuel plus iodine (this would result in approximately 95 percent of the dose if the total inventory were included)." Nureg 1536 Chapter 7, Sections 3 and 4; Chapter 10, Section V, 3; and Chapter 11, Section V; and Nureg 1567 should be updated to reflect this new position.

Generic issues concerning cask heat transfer in a transportation accident. Following a transportation accident, there may be adverse effects of fission gases on the gas-mixture thermal conductivity inside a spent fuel cask. Failed fuel pins would cause fission gases to be expelled, which would cause an increase in the cask’s internal pressure and reduce the thermal conductivity of the gas already inside the canister. Nureg-1617 and Nureg-1536 will have revisions that require applicants to consider the possible effects of fission gas on the cask component temperature limits and the internal cask pressure when cask component temperature limits and the cask internal pressure when cask component temperatures are within 5 percent of their limiting values during an accident or the maximum normal operating pressure is within 10 percent of its design basis pressure.

The complete ISGs are available on the NRC website (www.nrc.gov/OPA), under Selected Reports.

NRC: Arkansas Nuclear met VSC-24 cask loading commitments

Following cracking-related weld problems during closure of Sierra Nuclear’s VSC-24s in 1997, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) restricted Entergy Operations Inc.’s loading activities at Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO). Sierra Nuclear spent more than a year identifying the causes of the welding problems and developing adequate corrective actions to prevent recurrences.

NRC inspected the loading operations and was confident that the procedures were complete and the staff were knowledgeable of and understood the need for the changes. NRC staff watched the loading of a cask, the welding of the lids and the implementation of the new ultrasonic testing technique. Careful examination of the ultrasonic test data demonstrated that the structural lid weld was secure. Following the inspection, NRC confirmed that the utility complied with commitments for loading the VSC-24 cask after and gave permission for ANO to begin loading spent fuel into storage casks as of September 4. ANO has loaded three additional casks for a total of eight, and has six more on site that it plans to load next year.

The VSC-24 casks also are used at Wisconsin Electric Power Co.’s Point Beach plant and Consumers Energy’s Palisades (Mich.) plant. Wisconsin Electric Power has loaded three casks after the confirmatory action letter NRC issued to it was lifted. Consumers Energy plans to load five casks in spring 1999.

The complete inspection report can be found on NRC’s website at (www.nrc.gov/OPA/reports).

NRC approves shipping casks for pressurized-water reactor fuel types

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has certified the GA-4 Legal Weight Truck Spent Fuel Shipping Cask (GA-4) to ship spent fuel from nuclear reactors. General Atomics designed the cask for a variety of pressurized-water reactor fuel types. The stainless steel GA-4 is about 188 inches long and 40 inches in diameter and can ship up to four irradiated assemblies, each holding from 176 to 208 fuel rods ranging from 128 inches to 145 inches in length.

Carolina Power asks to open additional spent fuel pools

Carolina Power & Light Co. is prepared to ask the Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) to allow it to open two additional spent fuel storage pools at its Harris Plant in New Hill, N.C. If approved, the Harris plant would be one of the largest commercial spent fuel storage sites in the country. Currently, Harris has sufficient storage space. Given the delays in establishing a federal repository, however, the company is trying to plan for the future.

Carolina Power plans to use spent fuel pools—not dry storage—primarily because they have the space to house the pools and they are less expensive than dry storage. Two of Carolina Power’s four storage pools were put into service in 1987 and the other two were held in reserve. The pools already have been built at Harris. Now, Carolina Power needs NRC approval to place spent fuel in them. The NRC review is estimated to take approximately one year.

Carolina Power’s plans would require Pool C to accept 927 pressurized-water reactor (PWR) assemblies and 2,763 boiling-water reactor (BWR) assemblies. Pool D could accept up to 1,025 PWR assemblies and no BWR assemblies. Racks will be placed in the pools in phases. Combined, they offer enough storage capacity for the 25 years remaining on the plant license.

Carolina Power expects to receive NRC approval and have Pool C operating by 2000. It expects to begin using Pool D around 2006. The cost for bringing the pools into operation, including the initial set of racks for Pool C, is around $15 million.

Pools A and B—the two operating pools—are about 75 percent full. The company will retain full-core reserve and prudent pool reserve for operation of the Harris plant at Pools A and B, while it starts to load Pool C in 2002.

Low-Level Radioactive Waste

Nebraska denies Boyd County license

On December 21, Nebraska regulators announced the state’s decision to deny US Ecology’s license application for construction and operation of a regional low-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Boyd County, Neb. The announcement of the final decision cited six issues of objection, including the site’s insufficient depth to the water table, ground water discharges to the surface within the disposal site and a need for continuing active maintenance after the site is closed to further disposal. The final decision was made following a 90-day public comment period and a public hearing in Boyd County. State regulators will soon issue a Response to Comments that addresses the public comments, as well as a final Safety Evaluation Report and Final Environmental Impact Analysis.

S.C. governor-elect: Limit states that can use Barnwell

On December 17, South Carolina Senator Phil Leventis (D) pre-filed a bill to have South Carolina rejoin the Southeast Compact. The move is in agreement with the policy of governor-elect Jim Hodges (D), who stated during his recent campaign that South Carolina should consider limiting the number of states that can use the Barnwell (S.C.) low-level waste disposal site, or even restrict use of the facility to disposal of waste generated in-state. Leventis said he hoped the bill would revitalize efforts in North Carolina to establish a low-level nuclear waste facility to replace the Barnwell facility that was supposed to close in 1995.

In the November election, former governor David Beasley stood by his 1995 decision to reopen the disposal facility to all states except North Carolina, which had fallen behind in the creation and operation of a Southeast Compact site to replace Barnwell. The South Carolina Legislature had approved Beasley’s position on the grounds that the state would collect almost $140 million per year for college scholarships and school construction through a disposal surcharge (actual annual revenues have averaged $67 million). Low-level waste generators have avoided the additional tax by reducing the volume of waste disposed of at the Barnwell site.

The state of South Carolina has a projected budget surplus of $81 million during fiscal years 1998-1999. State legislators are concerned that Chem-Nuclear’s $13.3 million shortfall in payments to the state higher-education scholarship fund could be forgiven. It is uncertain whether the political will exists to provide Chem-Nuclear with a bailout for the shortfall because other policy actions—such as reducing automobile taxes—enjoy greater member support. Should it occur, such a bailout would be a one-time action.

Texas commission denies Sierra Blanca license application

The Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission voted 3-0 on October 22 to deny the license application from the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority for its Sierra Blanca site. The commission decided that the authority failed to adequately analyze the potential risk posed by an earthquake fault running beneath the Hudspeth County site. According to the commission chair, Barry McBee, "There was insufficient direct evidence about the fault. Without that, we cannot truly get a sufficient picture of how it would perform." The commission decision follows a recommendation from administrative law judges that the license be denied because of the earthquake issue and concern that the socioeconomic effect of the site’s location had not been adequately analyzed.

Rick Jacobi, general manager for the authority, stated that state geologists had agreed the fault would not pose a problem. Jacobi expected the commission to send the decision back to the judges and direct them to gather more information from the authority about the earthquake potential and the socioeconomic effects of the site. Under state law, the record is closed after the administrative law judges make their recommendation, meaning the authority could not provide additional information to the commission. The commission must base its decision on the record compiled by the judges and their final recommendation. The general counsel for the commission indicated that the commissioners would not act upon a motion for rehearing filed by the authority. The motion was automatically overruled by operation of law since December 11 was the last day for action on the motion.

In-state generators either will have to store low-level waste onsite or pay higher disposal costs at the Barnwell, S.C., disposal facility. The authority will ask Texas legislators whether they wish to change the law that limits the authority to a 400-square-mile area in southern Hudspeth County within which to locate a disposal facility and whether the authority should consider other counties that have volunteered to host a low-level waste disposal facility. Both Waste Control Specialists (WCS) and Envirocare are offering their properties in Andrews County as hosts for the waste facility. WCS already operates a hazardous waste site that it believes could be reviewed and operated as a low-level waste site in 18 months. Envirocare owns an 888-acre site in Andrews County, but has no infrastructure. Jacobi and authority officials toured both companies’ sites during Thanksgiving week to determine whether they would be suitable alternatives as disposal facilities.

Both WCS and Envirocare plan to challenge the state law that limits the commission to considering only sites that the authority has submitted. A successful challenge to the state law also would assist WCS and Envirocare as they seek to enter the DOE waste disposal market. Both Texas companies have been prevented from bidding on disposal contracts because state law prohibits them from holding a radioactive waste disposal permit (Envirocare of Utah, a sister company to Envirocare of Texas, holds a state permit and has a near-monopoly on private disposal of DOE waste).

Since the Sierra Blanca decision, Commission Chair Barry McBee has resigned; he begins work Jan. 12 as a member of the staff of Lieutenant Governor-elect Rick Perry.

Texas judge dismisses WCS suit against Envirocare

U.S. Western Texas District Court Judge Lucius Bunton dismissed Waste Control Specialists’ (WCS) $1.1 billion lawsuit against Envirocare in late August. WCS had sued Envirocare for intentionally interfering with its efforts to obtain low-level radioactive waste disposal contracts. The judge dismissed the case on the grounds that Envirocare’s activities were legally protected as political activity designed to influence policymaking decisions by DOE and state officials, as opposed to lobbying to affect adjudicatory proceedings. Earlier in the year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a WCS contention that DOE had acted improperly in rejecting its plan to have the federal agency provide regulatory oversight of its low-level waste disposal facility. WCS has returned to court to challenge DOE’s granting of the disposal contract to Envirocare on the grounds that the department violated due process provisions in awarding the contract to Envirocare.

Senate subcommittee examines opening DOE contract process

The Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee held hearings on September 3 about opening DOE low-level radioactive waste disposal contracts to companies that are not state-licensed. The hearings are an outgrowth of complaints by Waste Control Specialists (WCS) about DOE’s contract awards to Envirocare of Utah Inc. for low-level waste disposal; WCS believes Envirocare has a monopoly on waste disposal. (Envirocare is licensed by both Utah and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission—the NRC license is a special one that specifically pertains to nuclear materials; Texas statutes prohibit WCS from receiving a license to accept radioactive waste for disposal.)

Although WCS staff has pledged to work with the National Governors’ Association (NGA) to clarify the state oversight role for DOE facilities and private facilities that provide services to DOE, the company still argues that states lack the legal authority to directly regulate the disposal of DOE wastes. WCS argues that DOE should develop a formal program and agreement with states to provide a regulatory role. WCS argues that "individual states should not have veto power over the use by DOE of a commercial facility within their borders."

WCS is interested in contracting with DOE to dispose of low-level and mixed waste at its hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility in Andrews County, Texas. DOE’s current policy requires all commercial disposal facilities to comply with applicable federal, state and local requirements—including the necessary permits, licenses and approvals from the host state and the NRC. NGA and Envirocare—among others—argue that DOE is attempting to move from self-regulation to external regulation by independent state and federal authorities. To allow commercial facilities to accept federal waste without independent oversight would be a step backward for this policy.

DOE report: Waste storage costs more than disposal

The DOE inspector general (IG) has issued a report regarding storage of defense-generated low-level radioactive waste. The report states that DOE spent about $4 million per year to store low-level radioactive waste at the Rocky Flats plant when it could have spent a total of $5 million to dispose of the waste at the Nevada Test Site. The IG reports that DOE stored large amounts of low-level radioactive waste at five sites, even though it would have been less expensive to dispose of some of the waste. The IG does note that cost is not the only criterion for determining waste disposal policy; other factors include environmental effects, funding limitations, litigation and regulatory requirements.

The IG recommends that DOE revise its disposal strategy for low-level radioactive waste and mixed waste to require a cost-benefit analysis be conducted before additional on-site disposal facilities are built.

New DOE policy: Commercial sites are disposal option of last resort

DOE has completed its review of public comments regarding its policy about using commercial disposal sites for department-generated low-level and mixed waste. DOE’s new policy reiterates its current policy that commercial sites will be used as an option of last resort. DOE plans to continue to treat, store and dispose of low-level radioactive waste at the site where the waste is generated, if this is practical and cost-effective. If on-site disposal is not practical or cost-effective, it will be transported to another DOE facility. If DOE cannot dispose of low-level radioactive waste at a DOE facility or—in the case of mixed waste—cannot store, treat or dispose of the waste, it will be shipped to a non-DOE facility that complies with applicable federal, state and local requirements and has the necessary permits and licenses for treatment and disposal. Host states and state compacts will be notified of the use of non-DOE facilities for treatment and disposal.

Envirocare founder sentenced on tax charges

Envirocare of Utah Inc. founder Khosrow Semnani was sentenced at the end of November after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge for helping former Utah Radiation Control Bureau Director Larry Anderson falsify his federal income tax returns.

Utah renews Envirocare license

The state of Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality renewed Envirocare’s operating license for its low-level radioactive waste disposal site in Clive, Utah, in late October. The license includes changes that will allow the company to accept greater concentrations of some radionuclides and greater percentages of Class A wastes.

NTS ends container investigation

The Nevada Test Site has concluded its investigation of the leaking low-level radioactive waste containers that were shipped from the Fernald (Ohio) site in December 1997. Fernald has implemented corrective actions regarding the characterization (classification) of waste.

Washington governor: No additional waste at Richland

Washington Governor Gary Locke (D) has reaffirmed his position against allowing additional low-level radioactive waste into the Northwest Compact region for disposal at the Richland, Wash., facility. Nebraska Governor Benjamin Nelson (R) had approached Locke in the fall about an agreement between the Northwest Compact and the Central Interstate Low-Level Waste Compact; that proposal was rejected by Governor Locke.

Nebraska to examine withdrawal from Central Compact

The Executive Board of the Nebraska Legislative Council decided on September 16 to enter into a contract for an analysis of the legal consequences of withdrawing from the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact. The Washington, D.C., law firm of Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn was hired to conduct the analysis, and the executive board is expected to receive the report soon.

NCSL group meets in Hartford

NCSL’s High-Level Radioactive Waste Working Group met in Hartford, Conn., September 28 and 29. The group toured the Connecticut Yankee and Millstone plants. Topics discussed at the business meeting on September 28 included updates on current Department of Energy Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management activities, the status of nuclear waste legislation before Congress, the latest news on spent fuel transportation, and presentations from several Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials. For more information, call Sia Davis at NCSL, (303) 364-7700.

Interest Groups

LMITCO: No INEEL M&O contract bid

Lockheed Martin Idaho Technology Co. (LMITCO) will not enter a bid in the competition for the management and operations (M&O) contract at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. LMITCO has held the M&O contract for the past five years. The relationship between DOE and LMITCO has suffered during the cleanup of the Pit 9 Project and the subsequent lawsuits in which all involved parties currently are engaged. DOE issued a request for proposals for the O&M contract in November and hopes to have a new contractor in place by July 1999. The contract could be worth $700 million.

Lockheed Martin, LMITCO’s parent company, will continue to operate the Sandia National Laboratory. Lockheed’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory M&O contract expires March 31, 2000, and may be consolidated into a larger M&O contract for defense programs facilities.

New decontamination technology demonstrated at INEEL

Commodore Applied Technologies Inc. and Global Technologies Inc. will demonstrate new technologies at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory to dry and decontaminate spent fuel rods for dry cask storage. The process uses anhydrous liquid ammonia, which mixes with reactive metals and contaminated elements to neutralize organic compounds and dry the rods. Another process removes radionuclides from the spent fuel pool water. The demonstration is expected to last for six to nine months. The companies hope to transfer the technology to commercial nuclear power plants. For more information, contact Francis Tsang at GTI, (208) 523-6763.

DOE petitioned to abandon Yucca Mountain project

Public interest groups have petitioned the Department of Energy to abandon its proposed high-level radioactive waste repository project at Yucca Mountain (Nev.) on the basis that the groundwater conditions at the site are unsuitable. The groups claim that residues from rainwater less than 50 years old have been detected at the repository level and contradict earlier groundwater travel time models. The interest groups—Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Women Legislators Lobby, Sierra Club, U.S. 7, Alliance for Nuclear Accountability and the Committee to Bridge the Gap—argue that under the language in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act the site must be rejected when any disqualifying condition is discovered during the site characterization process.

Publications

The National Conference of State Legislatures recently has produced several publications of interest:

State Environmental Audit Laws and Policies: An Evaluation by Larry Morandi, director of NCSL’s Environment, Energy and Transportation Program. The report examines the effects of environmental audit laws and policies on the level of state audit activity.

Challenging Siting Projects: The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Experience, a State Legislative Report by Jeff Dale. The report examines the challenges of and possible solutions for siting low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities.

1999 State Legislative Forecast: A Look at State Legislative Issues in 1999. The publication summarizes issues likely to be considered in legislatures across the country, and includes a section on energy and the environment.

For more information on any of these publications, contact the NCSL Marketing Department at (303) 364-7700.

Connecticut Hazardous Waste Management has released a draft of its 11th annual report, Low-level Radioactive Waste Management in Connecticut—1997. The report includes names and locations of low-level waste generators within the state. A final version is expected to be adopted by January 20. For a copy of the report, contact Draft LLRW Management Report, Low-level Radioactive Waste Program, Conn. Hazardous Waste Management Service, 50 Columbus Blvd., 4th Floor, Hartford, Conn. 06106, (860) 244-2007, or e-mail ctllrw@aol.com.

Using Stakeholder Processes in Environmental Decision Making: An Evaluation of Lessons Learned, Key Issues and Future Challenges, by Terry Yosie and Timothy Herbst, is available from Ruder Finn Washington at (202) 466-7800. Yosie and Herbst are risk communication experts; they interviewed government, industry and environmental representatives to understand how stakeholder processes were used and where stakeholder input did or did not work.
The National Safety Council has published a guide to DOE’s program to accept foreign research reactor spent fuel for disposal. The publication, A Guide to Foreign Research Reactor Spent Fuel, explains the beginning of the program, the role in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, what U.S. ports of entry and storage sites are being used, transportation containers and emergency response measures. Copies are available from the National Safety Council, Environmental Health Center, 1025 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 11200, Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 293-2270 or via e-mail ehc@ncsl.org.
"Interstate Compacts to Bury Radioactive Waste: A Useful Tool for Environmental Policy?," by Anthony L. Dodson, appears in the Spring 1998 issue of State and Local Government Review (vol. 30, no. 2), published by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. For more information about the article, contact Richard W. Campbell, editor, State and Local Government Review, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, 201 North Milledge Ave., Athens, Ga. 30602-5482, (706) 542-2736.
The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board has released the publication, Report to the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Secretary of Energy. In the report, the board evaluates information about the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nev., repository system and considers some important connections between the site’s natural properties and current designs for the waste package, as well as other engineered features of the repository. The report is not a review of the forthcoming viability assessment of the site. The board will comment on the technical and scientific aspects of the viability assessment after it is issued by the Department of Energy. Copies of the report can be obtained from NWTRB at 2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 1300, Arlington, Va. 22201-3367, or through the board’s web site at www.nwtrb.gov.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Transportation Plan is available from the WIPP Information Center (800) 336-9477. The plan discusses procedures and requirements for persons involved in the transportation of waste shipments to the WIPP site in New Mexico.

Web Sites

The Envirocare of Utah Inc., web site includes a virtual tour of the company’s treatment and disposal facility for low-level radioactive and mixed (hazardous and radioactive) wastes. The web site is located at www.envirocareutah.com; click on the tour button.
The National Safety Council’s Environmental Health Center has established a Waste Isolation Pilot Plant home page at http:/www.nsc.org/ehc/wipp.htm. The site has informational background papers and fact sheets.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Federal Facilities Cleanup Compendium contains statutes, executive orders, interagency agreements and other agency documents that affect cleanups at DOE and Department of Defense sites; it is located at http://www.epa.gov/swerffrr/doc/ffcc.htm.
DOE’s Energy-Related Laboratory Equipment program has a website—updated daily—that allows universities to tag an item of equipment to use in research about nuclear waste, remediation and other DOE program areas. For a list of equipment and an on-line application, visit the homepage at http://erle.osti.gov/erle.

Meetings

On April 9, 1999, the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Low-level Radioactive Waste Working Group will present A National Summit to Assess the Federal Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act.

The session will be the first of a series of national meetings to assess the state of LLW management and disposal in the United States. Participants will include LLW generators, state and compact officials, waste disposal companies, environmentalists, and elected officials from local, state and federal government.

Participants will attempt to answer the following questions and others that arise throughout the Summit:

Is the Federal Act that governs LLW management and disposal working?
Are the principles and goals of the Federal Act still valid?
What factors are contributing to the successes and failures of the Federal Act?
If the current system for establishing disposal facilities is deemed inadequate for today’s world, what type of system should replace it?
Can various sectors that have an interest in or responsibility for providing LLW disposal (states and compacts, federal government and the private sector) be merged into a national system of LLW disposal that better meets the country’s waste management needs while it addresses issues of equity?

A preliminary meeting to formulate proceedings for the National Summit will be the focus of the next NCSL LLW working group meeting scheduled for April 8, 1999, in Jacksonville, Florida. The working group meeting will be held in conjunction with NCSL’s Assembly on State Issues, April 9-11, 1999. For more information, contact Cheryl Runyon or Jeff Dale of NCSL at (303) 364-7700.

GAO Reports

THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE (GAO) has produced the following reports of interest.

Department of Energy: Management of Excess Property (GAO/RCED-99-3, November 1998).

Department of Energy: Alternative Financing and Contracting Strategies for Cleanup Projects (GAO/RCED-98-169, May 1988).

Department of Energy: Clear Strategy on External Regulation Needed for Worker and Nuclear Facility Safety (GAO/RCED-98-163, May 1998).

Department of Energy: Clear Strategy on External Regulation Needed for Worker and Nuclear Facility Safety (testimony) (GAO/T-RCED-98-205, May 1998).

Environmental Protection: EPA’s and States’ Efforts to Focus State Enforcement Programs on Results (GAO/RCED-98-113, May 1998).

Hazardous Waste: Information on Potential Superfund Sites (GAO/RCED-99-22, November 1998).

Hazardous Waste: Unaddressed Risks at Many Potential Superfund Sites (GAO/RCED-99-8, November 1998).

Nuclear Waste: Management Problems at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Spent Fuel Storage Project (GAO/T-RCED-98-119, May 1998).

Nuclear Weapons: Key Nuclear Weapons Components Issues Are Unresolved (GAO/RCED-99-1, November 1998).

Radioactive Waste: Answers to Questions Related to the Proposed Ward Valley Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility (GAO/RCED-98-40R, May 1998).

Rail Transportation: Federal Railroad Administration’s Safety Programs (GAO/T-RCED-98-178, May 1998).

The first copy of each GAO report and testimony is free; additional copies are $2 each. To request copies of these reports, contact the General Accounting Office, P.O. Box 6015, Gaithersburg, Md. 20884-6015, (202) 512-6000, or fax your order to (301) 258-4066. GAO reports also are available on the Internet at www.gao.gov.