[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 49 (Monday, March 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13605-13606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5789]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of Draft Waste Incidental to Reprocessing
Evaluation for the Vitrification Melter at the West Valley
Demonstration Project for West Valley, New York
AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of a
draft evaluation which shows that the vitrification melter (used to
vitrify waste from reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and certain
treatment material) at the West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP),
located at the Western New York Service Center in West Valley, New
York, is waste incidental to reprocessing and thus is not high-level
radioactive waste (HLW) and may be managed and disposed of offsite as
low-level waste (LLW). DOE prepared the draft evaluation pursuant to
DOE Manual 435.1-1, Radioactive Waste Management. DOE is consulting
with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before finalizing this
evaluation. Although it is not required by DOE Manual 435.1-1, DOE is
making the draft evaluation available for public and state review and
comment during the NRC consultative review period. DOE will make its
final evaluation and determination as to whether the vitrification
melter is HLW, or is waste incidental to reprocessing which can be
managed and disposed of as LLW, after consideration of any public,
state, and NRC comments on this draft evaluation.
DATES: The comment period will end April 28, 2011. Comments received
after that time will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: The draft waste evaluation is available on the Internet at
http://apps.em.doe.gov/wvdp/, and is publicly available for review at
the following locations: U.S. Department of Energy, Public Reading
Room, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, phone: (202)
586-5955, or fax: (202) 586-0575; and U.S. DOE, West Valley
Demonstration Project Public Reading Room located at the Town of
Concord Hulbert Library, 18 Chapel St., Springville, New York 14141,
phone: (716) 592-7742. Written comments should be submitted to: Mr.
Daniel Sullivan, U.S. Department of Energy, West Valley Demonstration
Project, 10282 Rock Springs Road, West Valley, New York 14171-9799.
Alternatively, comments may also be filed electronically by e-mail to
[email protected] or by fax at (716) 942-4703.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this
draft waste evaluation, please contact Mr. Daniel Sullivan at the
mailing address or Web site listed above.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The vitrification melter is a box structure,
approximately 10 feet on each side, with a stainless steel outer
structure and an interior lined with refractory materials. It was used
to solidify high-level waste which had been generated by commercial
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at the Western New York Nuclear
Service Center in West Valley, New York by Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.
from 1966 through 1972. DOE undertook the solidification activities
pursuant to DOE's responsibilities under the West Valley Demonstration
Project Act. To solidify the waste, DOE vitrified the waste (combined
it at a high temperature with borosilicate glass) and transferred the
molten glass-waste mixture into specially developed
[[Page 13606]]
stainless steel canisters where the mixture hardened into a solid glass
waste form. DOE used the vitrification melter as part of this process,
specifically to melt glass frit (material used in making glass)
together with reprocessing waste sludge and treatment material (spent
ion removal resin).
DOE operated the vitrification melter between 1996 and 2002. In
2002, prior to shut down, the vitrification melter was flushed three
times with decontamination solutions and emptied using an evacuated
canister process so as to remove key radionuclides to the maximum
extent technically and economically practical. After completing this
decontamination, a small amount of hardened residual radioactive glass
material that could not be removed remained inside the vitrification
melter. The vitrification melter with the remaining residual waste was
characterized for radioactivity and determined to have radionuclide
concentrations that do not exceed concentration limits for Class C low-
level waste. It was removed from the vitrification cell in 2004 and is
presently safely stored at the West Valley Demonstration Project in a
Department of Transportation-certified Industrial Package-2 steel
transportation container. DOE plans to further stabilize the
vitrification melter waste package by filling the melter and the waste
package with cement grout before shipment offsite. It will be disposed
of at a suitable off-site low-level waste disposal facility, either the
Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site at DOE's Nevada National
Security Site (NNSS) in Nevada or the Waste Control Specialists Federal
Facility Waste Disposal Facility near Andrews, Texas. DOE intends to
dispose of the vitrification melter waste package in accordance with
applicable waste acceptance criteria using specific waste profile
documentation.
DOE Manual 435.1-1, which implements DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive
Waste Management, contains a rigorous evaluation process which DOE uses
to determine whether or not certain waste from the reprocessing of
spent nuclear fuel is incidental to reprocessing and therefore is not
high-level waste and can be managed as low-level waste. This process,
in relevant part, requires demonstrating that:
(1) Key radionuclides have been removed to the maximum extent that
is technically and economically practical;
(2) The waste will be managed to meet safety requirements
comparable to the performance objectives set out in 10 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) Part 61, Subpart C, Performance Objectives; and
(3) The waste will be managed, pursuant to DOE's authority under
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and in accordance with the
provisions of Chapter IV of DOE Manual 435.1-1, provided the waste will
be incorporated in a solid physical form at a concentration that does
not exceed the applicable concentration limits for Class C low-level
waste as set out in 10 CFR 61.55, Waste Classification.
The draft waste-incidental-to-reprocessing evaluation summarizes
DOE's analysis and shows that the vitrification melter:
(1) Has had key radionuclides removed to the maximum extent
technically and economically practical;
(2) Will be managed to meet safety requirements comparable to the
NRC performance objectives at 10 CFR part 61, subpart C; and
(3) Will be in a solid physical form that does not exceed
concentration limits for Class C low-level waste and will be managed
and disposed of pursuant to DOE's authority under the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954, as amended, and in accordance with applicable provisions of
Chapter IV of DOE Manual 435.1-1.
Accordingly, the draft evaluation demonstrates using the waste-
incidental-to-reprocessing evaluation process that the West Valley
vitrification melter waste package may be managed and disposed of as
low-level waste. The vitrification melter waste package will meet the
applicable waste acceptance criteria for the selected offsite low-level
waste disposal facility, either the NNSS Area 5 Radioactive Waste
Management Site or the Waste Control Specialists Federal Facility Waste
Disposal Facility in Texas. The vitrification melter waste package has
been approved for disposal by the NNSS in case a final decision is made
to send the waste package to that site for disposal.
DOE is consulting with the NRC before finalizing this evaluation.
Although not required by DOE Manual 435.1-1, DOE is making the draft
evaluation available for public and state review and comment during the
NRC consultative review period. DOE plans to issue a final
determination as to whether the vitrification melter is high-level
waste or can be managed and disposed of as low-level waste following
review and consultation with the NRC and consideration of public and
state comments.
DOE's decision on the disposal site to be used is not within the
scope of this draft evaluation. Any DOE decision on the facility to
which the Vitrification Melter waste package would be sent would be
made after the final DOE evaluation and determination, following
consideration of NRC and public comments on this draft evaluation, and
after DOE confers with appropriate State officials in the state where
the waste package may be disposed.
Issued in Washington, DC, on March 8, 2011.
Frank Marcinowski,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technical and Regulatory Support, Office
of Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 2011-5789 Filed 3-11-11; 8:45 am]
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