Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC; Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility; and US Ecology, Inc.; Idaho Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Subtitle C Hazardous Disposal Facility Located Near Grand View, Idaho, 13915-13918 [2021-05094]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 46 / Thursday, March 11, 2021 / Notices
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proposed information collection request
can be obtained by contacting the
individual listed below in the
ADDRESSES section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be
submitted to the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section of this notice on or
before May 10, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora
Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
Division of Management Systems,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080,
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE,
Washington, DC 20212. Written
comments also may be transmitted by
email to BLS_PRA_Public@bls.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer, at
202–691–7628 (this is not a toll free
number). (See ADDRESSES section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Survey of Respirator Use and
Practices (SRUP) is a nationwide survey
that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
will conduct at the request of the
National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH). Data
collection for the SRUP will start in
early 2022.
In 2001, NIOSH partnered with BLS
to conduct the first voluntary Survey of
Respirator Use and Practices. This
survey revealed important insights into
respiratory use and hazards in the U.S.
used by researchers, policy advisors,
and regulators to further the mission of
protecting U.S. workers from airborne
hazards. Since then, there have been
major shifts in the U.S. economy
representing the potential for a drastic
change in how respirators are used and
the workers who may be at risk for
occupational respiratory disease across
a vast array of industrial settings. This
calls for a contemporary understanding
of the types of establishments,
industries, and occupations that use
respirators, why they use them, and
how they manage them.
In a 2007 assessment of the survey
conducted by the National Academies of
Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
(NASEM), both NIOSH and BLS were
applauded ‘‘for undertaking this
pioneering data collection in order to
improve understanding of respirator use
in industry.’’ The NASEM assessment
further suggested that the survey
fulfilled a necessary function of
NIOSH’s surveillance efforts. The
committee recommended that NIOSH
continue to address data needs to
evaluate and improve NIOSH’s
respirator approval program by
periodically updating the data to ensure
that a current understanding of
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respirator use in the U.S. is maintained
to inform accurate decision making in
this area. This survey thereby follows
the National Academies’ research
committee recommendations to provide
a current understanding of respirator
use in industry.
II. Current Action
Office of Management and Budget
clearance is being sought for the Survey
of Respirator Use and Practices.
NIOSH has a continuing need for
more in-depth usage data to evaluate the
approval of respiratory protective
devices under 42 CFR 84 CFR to
pinpoint areas of non-conformance and
where education and training efforts are
needed. The data collected from the
survey of Respirator use and Practices
will be used by NIOSH to (1) establish
prevalence of exposure to hazardous
atmospheres, (2) determine the
prevalence of respirator use, (3)
determine the type of respirators being
used and what types of contaminants
they are being used to mitigate, (4)
determine how respirators are used in
the workplace, (5) whether employers
optimally manage use for maximum
worker protection, and (6) determine
opportunities for improving respirator
technologies. The survey also has the
additional, newly added objective of
determining the impact of the COVID–
19 pandemic on respirator use in the
workplace.
Twenty years after the initial survey,
NIOSH again is collaborating with BLS
to administer a voluntary Survey of
Respirator Use and Practices, thereby
following the National Academies’
research committee recommendations to
provide a current understanding of
respirator use in industry. By
establishing the current state of practice,
high yield endeavors designed to reduce
fatalities, injuries and illnesses related
to occupational respiratory hazards in
the U.S. may be targeted for policy,
funding, outreach, and education by
NIOSH’s respirator approval program,
the programs of occupational safety and
health regulatory bodies within the U.S.
(OSHA and MSHA), U.S. employers,
and respiratory protection research and
development.
• Evaluate the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used.
• Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected.
• Minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology,
e.g., permitting electronic submissions
of responses.
Title of Collection: Survey of
Respirator Use and Practices.
OMB Number: 1220–0171.
Type of Review: Reinstatement, with
change.
Affected Public: Private Sector,
Business or other for-profits, Not-forprofit institutions, Farms.
Total Respondents: 90,000.
Frequency: One time collection.
Total Responses: 90,000.
Average Time per Response: 28.5
minutes.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 42,750
hours.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and/or
included in the request for Office of
Management and Budget approval of the
information collection request; they also
will become a matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, DC, on March 4,
2021.
Mark Staniorski,
Chief, Division of Management Systems.
[FR Doc. 2021–05043 Filed 3–10–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–24–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70–1151; NRC–2021–0062]
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC;
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility; and
US Ecology, Inc.; Idaho Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act
Subtitle C Hazardous Disposal Facility
Located Near Grand View, Idaho
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and
finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
AGENCY:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is
particularly interested in comments
that:
• Evaluate whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility.
SUMMARY:
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13915
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing an
environmental assessment (EA) and
finding of no significant impact (FONSI)
related to a request for alternate
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 46 / Thursday, March 11, 2021 / Notices
disposal, exemptions, and associated
license amendment for the disposition
of waste containing byproduct material
and special nuclear material (SNM)
from the Westinghouse Electric
Company, LLC’s (WEC) Columbia Fuel
Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in Hopkins,
South Carolina, under License Number
SNM–1107. The material will be
transported to and disposed consistent
with a previously granted exemption
granted to WEC and the US Ecology,
Inc. (USEI) disposal facility, located
near Grand View, Idaho, which is a
Subtitle C Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste
disposal facility permitted by the State
of Idaho to receive low-level radioactive
waste. The NRC is also considering the
related action of approving a
corresponding exemption to USEI.
Approval of the alternate disposal
request from WEC and the exemptions
requested by WEC and USEI would
allow WEC to transfer the specific waste
from CFFF for disposal at USEI.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in
this document are available on March
11, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2021–0062 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may obtain publicly available
information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2021–0062. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301–415–0624; email:
Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly
available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For
problems with ADAMS, please contact
the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR)
reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–
415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@
nrc.gov. For the convenience of the
reader, instructions about obtaining
materials referenced in this document
are provided in the ‘‘Availability of
Documents’’ section.
• Attention: The PDR, where you may
examine and order copies of public
documents, is currently closed. You
may submit your request to the PDR via
email at PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call
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1–800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737,
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST),
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Tiktinsky, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone:
301–415–8740, email: David.Tiktinsky@
nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
By letter dated February 8, 2021, WEC
requested an exemption and associated
license amendment to License SNM–
1107, issued for the operation of CFFF
located in Hopkins, South Carolina
pursuant to section 20.2002 of title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR). By letter dated February 25, 2021,
USEI incorporated the WEC application
in its request for a corresponding
exemption. The requests are for NRC
authorization for an alternate disposal of
specified NRC-licensed byproduct and
SNM from the CFFF. As required by 10
CFR 51.21, the NRC conducted an EA.
Based on the results of the EA that
follows, the NRC has determined that
pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, preparation
of an environmental impact statement
for the exemption request is not
required and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32,
issuance of a FONSI is appropriate.
Westinghouse had previously
requested and received an exemption
and license amendment, dated
December 9, 2020 to, among other
things, transfer approximately 1428 m3
(50,400 ft3) of solid contaminated
Calcium Fluoride (CaF2) sludge to the
USEI RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste
disposal facility near Grand View, Idaho
that was dredged from the Calcium
Fluoride Lagoons and subsequently
placed in a storage pile. USEI was
granted a corresponding exemption to
receive and dispose of this material on
December 9, 2020.
After Westinghouse moved the CaF2
sludge dredged from the Calcium
Fluoride Lagoons, WEC discovered that
the actual volume was less than the
1428 m3 (50,400 ft3) previously
estimated. The actual volume was 694
m3 (24,500 ft3). In its subsequent
application, WEC stated its intent to use
other, similar CaF2 material in order to
aggregate the waste for disposal as
requested and approved in the
December 9, 2020 authorization. In its
February 8, 2021 letter, WEC requested
an exemption and license amendment to
dispose of 733 m3 (25,900 ft3) of similar
CaF2 from another source, the
‘‘Operations’’ pile. The total amount of
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CaF2 material (from the previous
approval and that under consideration
here) would not exceed the previously
approved volume of 1428 m3 (50,400
ft3), nor would it exceed the parameters
of the radiological characterization that
formed the basis of the NRC staff’s
previous approvals, as documented in
the Safety Evaluation Report (SER).
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
WEC and USEI requested NRC
approval for a 10 CFR 20.2002 alternate
disposal request, exemptions to 10 CFR
part 70.3 and 10 CFR 30.3, and a
conforming WEC license amendment to
allow WEC to transfer specific waste
from CFFF for disposal at the USEI
disposal facility.
Waste being considered in this
request includes approximately 708 m3
(25,900 ft3) of previously dredged CaF2
sludge being stored on the operations
pile. WEC proposes to mix this material
with other waste and Portland cement to
stabilize the material for shipping. WEC
proposes to transport this aggregated
waste stream to USEI using a
combination of trucks and railcars. The
combined volume of CaF2 sludge
disposed of under the December 9, 2020
authorization and that under
consideration here would not exceed
the previously approved volume of
1,428 m3 (50,400 ft3) of CaF2.
The waste streams would be
transported from CFFF in South
Carolina to the USEI facility, Grand
View, Idaho in the Owyhee Desert. The
USEI facility is an RCRA Subtitle C
hazardous waste disposal facility
permitted by the State of Idaho. The
USEI site has both natural and
engineered features that limit the
transport of radioactive material. The
natural features include a low
precipitation rate [i.e., 18.4 cm/year (7.4
in./year)] and a long vertical distance to
groundwater (i.e., 61-meter (203-ft) thick
on average unsaturated zone below the
disposal zone). The engineered features
include an engineered cover, liners, and
leachate monitoring systems. Because
the USEI facility is not licensed by the
NRC, this proposed action requires the
NRC to exempt USEI from the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, and NRC licensing
requirements with respect to USEI’s
requested receipt and disposal of this
material.
Need for the Proposed Action
The need for the proposed action is to
authorize a safe and appropriate method
of disposal for the subject waste
material generated during day-to-day
activities and currently being stored at
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 46 / Thursday, March 11, 2021 / Notices
the CFFF. Specifically, the East Lagoon
is in the process of being closed in
accordance with a consent agreement
and regulations set by the South
Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control (SCDHEC).
Thus, material associated with the East
Lagoon must be removed from the site
in order to comply with regulatory
requirements. As was the case with the
May 8, 2020 request, the subject CaF2
material and Portland cement would be
used to stabilize this material for
transport and disposal. The proposed
alternate disposal would also conserve
low-level radioactive waste disposal
capacity at licensed low-level
radioactive disposal sites while
ensuring that the material being
considered is disposed of safely in a
regulated facility.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed
Action
The NRC staff reviewed the
information provided by WEC to
support their 10 CFR 20.2002 alternate
disposal request and for the specific
exemptions from 10 CFR 30.3 and 10
CFR 70.3 in order to dispose of the CaF2
waste. Under the 10 CFR 20.2002
criteria, a licensee may seek NRC
authorization to dispose of licensed
material using procedures not otherwise
authorized by NRC regulations. The
licensee’s supporting analysis must
show that the radiological doses arising
from the proposed 10 CFR 20.2002
disposal will be as low as reasonably
achievable and within the 10 CFR part
20 dose limits.
WEC previously performed a
radiological assessment in consultation
with USEI. Based on this assessment,
WEC concluded that potential doses to
members of the public, including
transportation workers and USEI
workers involved in processing and
disposing of the waste upon its arrival
at USEI, are less than 1 mrem/y, well
within the ‘‘few mrem’’ criteria that the
NRC established (see NUREG–1757,
Volume 1, Revision 2).
As documented in the SER, the NRC
staff reviewed scenarios and related
input parameters considered by WEC
and USEI and found that they are
appropriate for the scenarios
considered. The NRC staff also reviewed
the projected doses from the postclosure and intruder scenarios at USEI
and found them acceptable. NRC staff
did note that the inadvertent intruder
construction scenario had potential
doses that were larger than the other
inadvertent intruder scenarios
evaluated, but the NRC does not
consider this scenario to be feasible due
to the configuration of the disposal cells
and USEI’s waste disposal practices.
NRC staff also notes that the proposed
disposals are also subject to regulation
under RCRA. These conclusions are
consistent with the NRC’s findings in its
SER for the previous request, reflective
of the similar radiological
characteristics of the material from the
operations pile and that described in the
May 8, 2020 request.
Based upon its the previously noted
evaluation and its assessment of the
potential impacts of the proposed
action, in addition to focusing on the
potential radiological impacts as
previously discussed, this EA next
considers potential environmental
impacts from non-radiological materials.
With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the NRC staff
concludes that approval of the proposed
request to dispose of material with small
amounts of radioactive material would
not have significant environmental
impacts, including effects on nonradiological effluents, air quality, or
noise. In addition, approval of the
proposed action will not significantly
increase the probability or consequences
of accidents as well as occupational and
public radiation exposure because of the
quantities and forms of material
involved, as further evaluated in the
NRC’s SER.
Therefore, due to the very small
amounts of radioactive material
involved, the evaluation noted earlier,
and the NRC staff’s analysis in the SER
and its SER for the May 8, 2020 request,
the NRC staff finds that the
environmental impacts of the proposed
action are not significant.
Environmental Impacts of the
Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed
action, the NRC staff considered the noaction alternative in which the NRC
staff would deny the disposal request.
Denial of the request would require
WEC to find another disposal pathway
for this material, and would ultimately
only change the location of the disposal
site. All other factors would remain the
same or similar. Therefore, the no-action
alternative was not further considered.
NRC staff also notes that pursuing the
no-action alternative would result in the
licensee potentially violating the
SCDHEC requirements to remove the
material from the East Lagoon so that it
can be remediated while it identifies
another disposal option.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The proposed action consists of NRC
approval of (a) WEC’s and USEI’s
alternate disposal requests under 10
CFR 20.2002, (b) WEC and USEI’s
exemption request under 10 CFR
30.11(a) and 10 CFR 70.11(a), and (c) the
issuance of a conforming license
amendment to WEC. Based on this EA,
the NRC finds that there are no
significant environmental impacts from
the proposed action. Therefore, the NRC
has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR
51.31, that preparation of an
environmental impact statement is not
required for the proposed action and a
FONSI is appropriate.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the
following table are available to
interested persons through one or more
of the following methods, as indicated.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Document
ADAMS accession No.
Request for Alternate Disposal Approval and Exemption for Specific Columbia Fuel Fabrication Waste,
dated February 8, 2021.
Request for Exemptions under 10 CFR 30.11 and 10 CFR 70.17 for Alternate Disposal of Wastes from Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility under 10 CFR 20.2002, dated February 25, 2021.
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC—Amendment 25 to Material License SNM–1107, Exemption for Alternate Disposal of Specific Waste (Enterprise Project Identifier L–2020–LLL–0009), dated December 9,
2020.
Exemption for Alternate Disposal of Specific Waste from the Westinghouse Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility under 10 CFR 20.2002, 10 CFR 30.11 and 10 CFR 70.17, dated December 9, 2020.
Request for Alternate Disposal Approval and Exemption for Specific Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility
Waste (License No. SNM–1197, Docket No. 70–1151), dated May 8, 2020.
Request for Exemptions under 10 CFR 30.11 and 10 CFR 70.17 for Alternate Disposal of Wastes from Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility under 10 CFR 20.2002, dated May 11, 2020.
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 46 / Thursday, March 11, 2021 / Notices
Document
ADAMS accession No.
Response to Request for Additional Information—Alternate Disposal Approval and Exemptions for Specific
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility Waste (License No. SNM–1107, Docket No. 70–1151), dated October
13, 2020.
Response to Request for Additional Information—Alternate Disposal Approval and Exemptions for Specific
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility Waste (License No. SNM–1107, Docket No. 70–1151), dated September 22, 2020.
Safety Evaluation Report ...................................................................................................................................
NUREG–1757, Volume 1, Revision 2, ‘‘Consolidated Decommissioning Guidance’’ .......................................
Dated: March 8, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jacob I. Zimmerman,
Chief, Fuel Facility Licensing Branch,
Division of Fuel Management, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
Engagement and Research
Cooperation (Public Meeting)
(Contact: Marilyn Diaz Maldonado: 301–
415–7110)
Additional Information: Due to
COVID–19, there will be no physical
public attendance. The public is invited
to attend the Commission’s meeting live
by webcast at the Web address—https://
video.nrc.gov/.
[FR Doc. 2021–05094 Filed 3–10–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Week of April 19, 2021—Tentative
[NRC–2021–0001]
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of April 19, 2021.
Sunshine Act Meetings
Weeks of March 15, 22,
29, April 5, 12, 19, 2021.
PLACE: Commissioners’ Conference
Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland.
STATUS: Public.
TIME AND DATE:
Week of March 15, 2021
Monday, March 15, 2021
10:45 a.m. Affirmation Session (Public
Meeting) (Tentative)
Southern Nuclear Operating Co., Inc.
(Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Unit
3); Motion to Reopen (Tentative)
(Contact: Wesley Held: 301–287–3591)
Additional Information: Due to
COVID–19, there will be no physical
public attendance. The public is invited
to attend the Commission’s meeting
live; via teleconference. Details for
joining the teleconference in listen only
mode may be found at https://
www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg.
Week of March 22, 2021—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of March 22, 2021.
Week of March 29, 2021—Tentative
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of March 29, 2021.
Week of April 5, 2021—Tentative
There are no meetings scheduled for
the week of April 5, 2021.
Week of April 12, 2021—Tentative
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
9:00 a.m. Briefing on Advanced Reactor
Preparedness Through Regulatory
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CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:
For more information or to verify the
status of meetings, contact Wesley Held
at 301–287–3591 or via email at
Wesley.Held@nrc.gov. The schedule for
Commission meetings is subject to
change on short notice.
The NRC Commission Meeting
Schedule can be found on the internet
at: https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/
public-meetings/schedule.html.
The NRC provides reasonable
accommodation to individuals with
disabilities where appropriate. If you
need a reasonable accommodation to
participate in these public meetings or
need this meeting notice or the
transcript or other information from the
public meetings in another format (e.g.,
braille, large print), please notify Anne
Silk, NRC Disability Program Specialist,
at 301–287–0745, by videophone at
240–428–3217, or by email at
Anne.Silk@nrc.gov. Determinations on
requests for reasonable accommodation
will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Members of the public may request to
receive this information electronically.
If you would like to be added to the
distribution, please contact the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Office of the
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555, at
301–415–1969, or by email at
Tyesha.Bush@nrc.gov.
The NRC is holding the meetings
under the authority of the Government
in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b.
Dated: March 8, 2021.
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ML20287A545.
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ML20302A085.
ML063000243.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Wesley W. Held,
Policy Coordinator, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–05129 Filed 3–9–21; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
POSTAL SERVICE
Product Change—Priority Mail
Negotiated Service Agreement
Postal ServiceTM.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Postal Service gives
notice of filing a request with the Postal
Regulatory Commission to add a
domestic shipping services contract to
the list of Negotiated Service
Agreements in the Mail Classification
Schedule’s Competitive Products List.
DATES: Date of required notice: March
11, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sean Robinson, 202–268–8405.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
United States Postal Service® hereby
gives notice that, pursuant to 39 U.S.C.
3642 and 3632(b)(3), on March 2, 2021,
it filed with the Postal Regulatory
Commission a USPS Request to Add
Priority Mail Contract 688 to
Competitive Product List. Documents
are available at www.prc.gov, Docket
Nos. MC2021–71, CP2021–74.
SUMMARY:
Sean Robinson,
Attorney, Corporate and Postal Business Law.
[FR Doc. 2021–05011 Filed 3–10–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710–12–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–91260; File No. SR–
CboeEDGX–2021–013]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe
EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing
and Immediate Effectiveness of a
Proposed Rule Change To Amend the
Fee Schedule
March 5, 2021.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 46 (Thursday, March 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13915-13918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05094]
=======================================================================
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 70-1151; NRC-2021-0062]
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC; Columbia Fuel Fabrication
Facility; and US Ecology, Inc.; Idaho Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act Subtitle C Hazardous Disposal Facility Located Near Grand
View, Idaho
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact
(FONSI) related to a request for alternate
[[Page 13916]]
disposal, exemptions, and associated license amendment for the
disposition of waste containing byproduct material and special nuclear
material (SNM) from the Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC's (WEC)
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in Hopkins, South Carolina,
under License Number SNM-1107. The material will be transported to and
disposed consistent with a previously granted exemption granted to WEC
and the US Ecology, Inc. (USEI) disposal facility, located near Grand
View, Idaho, which is a Subtitle C Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA) hazardous waste disposal facility permitted by the State of
Idaho to receive low-level radioactive waste. The NRC is also
considering the related action of approving a corresponding exemption
to USEI. Approval of the alternate disposal request from WEC and the
exemptions requested by WEC and USEI would allow WEC to transfer the
specific waste from CFFF for disposal at USEI.
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
March 11, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0062 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0062. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: St[email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or
by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader,
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request
to the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Tiktinsky, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-8740, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
By letter dated February 8, 2021, WEC requested an exemption and
associated license amendment to License SNM-1107, issued for the
operation of CFFF located in Hopkins, South Carolina pursuant to
section 20.2002 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR). By letter dated February 25, 2021, USEI incorporated the WEC
application in its request for a corresponding exemption. The requests
are for NRC authorization for an alternate disposal of specified NRC-
licensed byproduct and SNM from the CFFF. As required by 10 CFR 51.21,
the NRC conducted an EA. Based on the results of the EA that follows,
the NRC has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, preparation of an
environmental impact statement for the exemption request is not
required and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, issuance of a FONSI is
appropriate.
Westinghouse had previously requested and received an exemption and
license amendment, dated December 9, 2020 to, among other things,
transfer approximately 1428 m\3\ (50,400 ft\3\) of solid contaminated
Calcium Fluoride (CaF2) sludge to the USEI RCRA Subtitle C
hazardous waste disposal facility near Grand View, Idaho that was
dredged from the Calcium Fluoride Lagoons and subsequently placed in a
storage pile. USEI was granted a corresponding exemption to receive and
dispose of this material on December 9, 2020.
After Westinghouse moved the CaF2 sludge dredged from
the Calcium Fluoride Lagoons, WEC discovered that the actual volume was
less than the 1428 m\3\ (50,400 ft\3\) previously estimated. The actual
volume was 694 m\3\ (24,500 ft\3\). In its subsequent application, WEC
stated its intent to use other, similar CaF2 material in
order to aggregate the waste for disposal as requested and approved in
the December 9, 2020 authorization. In its February 8, 2021 letter, WEC
requested an exemption and license amendment to dispose of 733 m\3\
(25,900 ft\3\) of similar CaF2 from another source, the
``Operations'' pile. The total amount of CaF2 material (from
the previous approval and that under consideration here) would not
exceed the previously approved volume of 1428 m\3\ (50,400 ft\3\), nor
would it exceed the parameters of the radiological characterization
that formed the basis of the NRC staff's previous approvals, as
documented in the Safety Evaluation Report (SER).
II. Environmental Assessment
Description of the Proposed Action
WEC and USEI requested NRC approval for a 10 CFR 20.2002 alternate
disposal request, exemptions to 10 CFR part 70.3 and 10 CFR 30.3, and a
conforming WEC license amendment to allow WEC to transfer specific
waste from CFFF for disposal at the USEI disposal facility.
Waste being considered in this request includes approximately 708
m\3\ (25,900 ft\3\) of previously dredged CaF2 sludge being
stored on the operations pile. WEC proposes to mix this material with
other waste and Portland cement to stabilize the material for shipping.
WEC proposes to transport this aggregated waste stream to USEI using a
combination of trucks and railcars. The combined volume of
CaF2 sludge disposed of under the December 9, 2020
authorization and that under consideration here would not exceed the
previously approved volume of 1,428 m\3\ (50,400 ft\3\) of
CaF2.
The waste streams would be transported from CFFF in South Carolina
to the USEI facility, Grand View, Idaho in the Owyhee Desert. The USEI
facility is an RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste disposal facility
permitted by the State of Idaho. The USEI site has both natural and
engineered features that limit the transport of radioactive material.
The natural features include a low precipitation rate [i.e., 18.4 cm/
year (7.4 in./year)] and a long vertical distance to groundwater (i.e.,
61-meter (203-ft) thick on average unsaturated zone below the disposal
zone). The engineered features include an engineered cover, liners, and
leachate monitoring systems. Because the USEI facility is not licensed
by the NRC, this proposed action requires the NRC to exempt USEI from
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and NRC licensing requirements with
respect to USEI's requested receipt and disposal of this material.
Need for the Proposed Action
The need for the proposed action is to authorize a safe and
appropriate method of disposal for the subject waste material generated
during day-to-day activities and currently being stored at
[[Page 13917]]
the CFFF. Specifically, the East Lagoon is in the process of being
closed in accordance with a consent agreement and regulations set by
the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
(SCDHEC). Thus, material associated with the East Lagoon must be
removed from the site in order to comply with regulatory requirements.
As was the case with the May 8, 2020 request, the subject
CaF2 material and Portland cement would be used to stabilize
this material for transport and disposal. The proposed alternate
disposal would also conserve low-level radioactive waste disposal
capacity at licensed low-level radioactive disposal sites while
ensuring that the material being considered is disposed of safely in a
regulated facility.
Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action
The NRC staff reviewed the information provided by WEC to support
their 10 CFR 20.2002 alternate disposal request and for the specific
exemptions from 10 CFR 30.3 and 10 CFR 70.3 in order to dispose of the
CaF2 waste. Under the 10 CFR 20.2002 criteria, a licensee
may seek NRC authorization to dispose of licensed material using
procedures not otherwise authorized by NRC regulations. The licensee's
supporting analysis must show that the radiological doses arising from
the proposed 10 CFR 20.2002 disposal will be as low as reasonably
achievable and within the 10 CFR part 20 dose limits.
WEC previously performed a radiological assessment in consultation
with USEI. Based on this assessment, WEC concluded that potential doses
to members of the public, including transportation workers and USEI
workers involved in processing and disposing of the waste upon its
arrival at USEI, are less than 1 mrem/y, well within the ``few mrem''
criteria that the NRC established (see NUREG-1757, Volume 1, Revision
2).
As documented in the SER, the NRC staff reviewed scenarios and
related input parameters considered by WEC and USEI and found that they
are appropriate for the scenarios considered. The NRC staff also
reviewed the projected doses from the post-closure and intruder
scenarios at USEI and found them acceptable. NRC staff did note that
the inadvertent intruder construction scenario had potential doses that
were larger than the other inadvertent intruder scenarios evaluated,
but the NRC does not consider this scenario to be feasible due to the
configuration of the disposal cells and USEI's waste disposal
practices. NRC staff also notes that the proposed disposals are also
subject to regulation under RCRA. These conclusions are consistent with
the NRC's findings in its SER for the previous request, reflective of
the similar radiological characteristics of the material from the
operations pile and that described in the May 8, 2020 request.
Based upon its the previously noted evaluation and its assessment
of the potential impacts of the proposed action, in addition to
focusing on the potential radiological impacts as previously discussed,
this EA next considers potential environmental impacts from non-
radiological materials. With regard to potential non-radiological
impacts, the NRC staff concludes that approval of the proposed request
to dispose of material with small amounts of radioactive material would
not have significant environmental impacts, including effects on non-
radiological effluents, air quality, or noise. In addition, approval of
the proposed action will not significantly increase the probability or
consequences of accidents as well as occupational and public radiation
exposure because of the quantities and forms of material involved, as
further evaluated in the NRC's SER.
Therefore, due to the very small amounts of radioactive material
involved, the evaluation noted earlier, and the NRC staff's analysis in
the SER and its SER for the May 8, 2020 request, the NRC staff finds
that the environmental impacts of the proposed action are not
significant.
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action
As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered
the no-action alternative in which the NRC staff would deny the
disposal request. Denial of the request would require WEC to find
another disposal pathway for this material, and would ultimately only
change the location of the disposal site. All other factors would
remain the same or similar. Therefore, the no-action alternative was
not further considered. NRC staff also notes that pursuing the no-
action alternative would result in the licensee potentially violating
the SCDHEC requirements to remove the material from the East Lagoon so
that it can be remediated while it identifies another disposal option.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The proposed action consists of NRC approval of (a) WEC's and
USEI's alternate disposal requests under 10 CFR 20.2002, (b) WEC and
USEI's exemption request under 10 CFR 30.11(a) and 10 CFR 70.11(a), and
(c) the issuance of a conforming license amendment to WEC. Based on
this EA, the NRC finds that there are no significant environmental
impacts from the proposed action. Therefore, the NRC has determined,
pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that preparation of an environmental impact
statement is not required for the proposed action and a FONSI is
appropriate.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Document ADAMS accession No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Request for Alternate Disposal Approval and ML21039A719.
Exemption for Specific Columbia Fuel
Fabrication Waste, dated February 8, 2021.
Request for Exemptions under 10 CFR 30.11 ML21061A273.
and 10 CFR 70.17 for Alternate Disposal of
Wastes from Columbia Fuel Fabrication
Facility under 10 CFR 20.2002, dated
February 25, 2021.
Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC-- ML20302A084.
Amendment 25 to Material License SNM-1107,
Exemption for Alternate Disposal of
Specific Waste (Enterprise Project
Identifier L-2020-LLL-0009), dated
December 9, 2020.
Exemption for Alternate Disposal of ML20304A341.
Specific Waste from the Westinghouse
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility under
10 CFR 20.2002, 10 CFR 30.11 and 10 CFR
70.17, dated December 9, 2020.
Request for Alternate Disposal Approval and ML20129J934 (Package).
Exemption for Specific Columbia Fuel
Fabrication Facility Waste (License No.
SNM-1197, Docket No. 70-1151), dated May
8, 2020.
Request for Exemptions under 10 CFR 30.11 ML20280A601.
and 10 CFR 70.17 for Alternate Disposal of
Wastes from Columbia Fuel Fabrication
Facility under 10 CFR 20.2002, dated May
11, 2020.
[[Page 13918]]
Response to Request for Additional ML20287A545.
Information--Alternate Disposal Approval
and Exemptions for Specific Columbia Fuel
Fabrication Facility Waste (License No.
SNM-1107, Docket No. 70-1151), dated
October 13, 2020.
Response to Request for Additional ML20266G551.
Information--Alternate Disposal Approval
and Exemptions for Specific Columbia Fuel
Fabrication Facility Waste (License No.
SNM-1107, Docket No. 70-1151), dated
September 22, 2020.
Safety Evaluation Report................... ML20302A085.
NUREG-1757, Volume 1, Revision 2, ML063000243.
``Consolidated Decommissioning Guidance''.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dated: March 8, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jacob I. Zimmerman,
Chief, Fuel Facility Licensing Branch, Division of Fuel Management,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2021-05094 Filed 3-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
