Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation; Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-271]

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation; Vermont Yankee Nuclear

Power Station Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant

Impact

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering

issuance of an amendment to Facility Operating License No. DPR-28,

issued to Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation, (the licensee), for

operation of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (Vermont Yankee),

located in Windham County, Vermont.

Environmental Assessment

Identification of the Proposed Action

The proposed action would modify the spent fuel pool (SFP) by

installation of additional rack modules. The additional rack modules

will increase the Vermont Yankee SFP capacity from 2870 to 3353 fuel

assemblies.

The proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's

application for amendment dated September 4, 1998, as supplemented on

February 8, April 16, August 26, September 16, and November 17, 1999.

The Need for the Proposed Action

Vermont Yankee currently has full-core discharge reserve storage

capability in the SFP through the Spring 2001 refueling outage. Since

there are no immediate options for the shipment of spent fuel to a

permanent repository, the proposed action is required to maintain full-

core reserve discharge capability to the SFP through the Fall 2008

refueling outage.

[[Page 71156]]

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

The Commission has completed its evaluation of the proposed action

and concludes there are no significant environmental impacts. The

factors considered in this determination are discussed below.

Radioactive Waste Treatment

Vermont Yankee uses waste treatment systems designed to collect and

process gaseous, liquid, and solid waste that might contain radioactive

material. These radioactive waste treatment systems are evaluated in

the Final Environmental Statement (FES) dated July 1972. The proposed

SFP expansion will not involve any change in the waste treatment

systems described in the FES.

Radioactive Material Released to the Atmosphere

The storage of additional spent fuel assemblies in the SFP is not

expected to affect the releases of radioactive gases from the SFP.

Gaseous fission products such as Krypton-85 and Iodine-131 are produced

by the fuel in the core during reactor operation. A small percentage of

these fission gases is released to the reactor coolant from the small

number of fuel assemblies which are expected to develop leaks during

reactor operation. During refueling operations, some of these fission

products enter the SFP and are subsequently released into the air.

Since the frequency of refuelings (and therefore the number of freshly

offloaded spent fuel assemblies stored in the SFP at any one time) will

not increase, there will be no increase in the amount of radioactive

material released to the atmosphere as a result of the increased SFP

fuel storage capacity.

The storage of additional fuel assemblies in the SFP will not

increase the SFP bulk water temperature beyond the existing design

temperature. Therefore, radioactive material airborne release rates due

to evaporation from the SFP are not expected to increase.

Solid Radioactive Wastes

Spent resins are generated by the processing of SFP water through

the SFP Purification System. The licensee does not expect the resin

change-out frequency of the SFP purification system to be permanently

increased as a result of the storage of additional spent fuel

assemblies in the SFP. In order to maintain the SFP water as clean as

possible, and thereby minimize the generation of spent resins, the

licensee will vacuum the floor of the SFP to remove any radioactive

crud and other debris before the new fuel rack modules are installed.

The staff does not expect that the additional fuel storage made

available by the increased storage capacity will result in a

significant change in the generation of solid radioactive waste.

Liquid Radioactive Wastes

The release of radioactive liquids will not be affected directly as

a result of the modifications. The SFP ion exchanger resins remove

soluble radioactive materials from the SFP water. When the resins are

changed out, the small amount of resin sluice water which is released

is processed by the radwaste system. As stated above, the licensee does

not expect the resin change-out frequency of the SFP purification

system to be permanently increased as a result of the storage of

additional spent fuel assemblies in the SFP. The amount of radioactive

liquid released to the environment as a result of the proposed SFP

expansion is expected to be negligible.

Radiological Impact Assessment

The staff has reviewed the licensee's plan for the modification of

Vermont Yankee spent fuel racks with respect to occupational radiation

exposure. For this modification the licensee plans to add three new

fuel rack modules to the SFP. A number of facilities have performed

similar operations in the past. On the basis of the lessons learned

from these operations, the licensee estimates that the proposed fuel

rack installation can be performed for between 1.6 and 3 person-rem.

All of the operations involved in the fuel rack installation will

utilize detailed procedures prepared with full consideration of ALARA

(as low as reasonably achievable) principles. The Radiation Protection

Department will prepare Radiation Work Permits (RWPs) for the various

jobs associated with the SFP rack installation operation. These RWPs

will instruct the project personnel in the areas of protective

clothing, general dose rates, contamination levels (including potential

exposure to hot particles), and dosimetry requirements. Each member of

the project team will attend an ALARA Pre-Plan meeting and each team

member will be required to attend daily pre-job briefings on the scope

of the work to be preformed. Personnel will wear protective clothing

and will be required to wear personnel monitoring equipment including

alarming dosimeters.

Since this license amendment does not involve the removal of any

spent fuel racks, the licensee does not plan on using divers for this

project. However, if it becomes necessary to utilize divers to remove

any interferences which may impede the installation of the new spent

fuel racks, the licensee will equip each diver with radiation detectors

with remote, above surface, readouts which will be continuously

monitored by Radiation Protection personnel. The licensee will conduct

radiation surveys of the diving area prior to each diving operation and

following the movement of any irradiated hardware. In order to minimize

diver dose, the licensee will use visual barriers (such as streamers

fastened to rope, nets, or enclosure) as much as practical. The

licensee will monitor and control personnel traffic and equipment

movement in the SFP area to minimize contamination and to ensure that

exposure is maintained ALARA.

On the basis of our review of the Vermont Yankee proposal, the

staff concludes that the Vermont Yankee SFP rack modification can be

performed in a manner that will ensure that doses to workers will be

maintained ALARA. The projected dose for the project of 1.6 to 3

person-rem is in the range of doses for similar SFP modifications at

other plants and is a small fraction of the annual collective dose

accrued at Vermont Yankee.

Accident Considerations

On April 25, 1986, Vermont Yankee submitted an amendment request to

increase the SFP capacity from 2000 to 2870. The staff approved that

amendment request on May 20, 1988. The staff's safety evaluation

supporting the issuance of that amendment concluded that the licensee's

fuel handling accident dose analysis was acceptable. For this amendment

request (3353 storage locations), the licensee concluded that analysis

was still valid because no parameters of the analysis were affected by

the increase in storage capacity. After reviewing the licensee's

current submittal and the 1988 safety evaluation, the staff agrees with

the licensee's conclusion. Because the proposed SFP modification at

Vermont Yankee will not affect any of the assumptions or inputs used in

evaluating the dose consequences of a fuel handling accident, it will

not result in an increase in the doses from a postulated fuel handling

accident.

Conclusion

The proposed action will not significantly increase the probability

or consequences of accidents, no changes are being made in the types of

any effluents that may be released offsite, and there is no significant

increase in occupational or public radiation exposure. Therefore, there

are no significant radiological environmental

[[Page 71157]]

impacts associated with the proposed action.

With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed

action does not involve any historic sites. It does not affect

nonradiological plant effluents and has no other environmental impact.

Therefore, there are no significant nonradiological environmental

impacts associated with the proposed action.

Accordingly, the NRC concludes that there are no significant

environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

As an alternative to increasing the spent fuel storage capacity at

Vermont Yankee, the licensee considered shipment to another reactor

site or away-from-reactor storage facility, e.g. shipment of spent fuel

to a Federal fuel storage or disposal facility. This alternative was

determined not to be feasible due to the unavailability of an offsite

storage facility.

As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered

denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative).

Denial of the application would result in no change in current

environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of the proposed action

and the alternative action are similar.

Alternative Use of Resources

This action does not involve the use of any resources not

previously considered in the Final Environmental Statement for the

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

In accordance with its stated policy, on December 13, 1999, the

staff consulted with the Vermont State Official, William Sherman,

regarding the environmental impact of the proposed action. The State

official had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

On the basis of the environmental assessment, the NRC concludes

that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the

quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC has determined

not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed

action.

For further details with respect to the proposed action, see the

licensee's letter dated September 4, 1998, as supplemented on February

8, April 16, August 26, September 16, and November 17, 1999.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of December 1999.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Richard P. Croteau,

Project Manager, Section 2, Project Directorate I, Division of

Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 99-32881 Filed 12-17-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590-01-P