Supplement to safety analysis report for the 325 Radiochemistry Building

The Waste Preparation Task (Task 6) of the Commercial Nuclear Waste Vitrification Project (CNWVP) includes the design, installation and operation of small scale (1 MTU LWR fuel/month) equipment to prepare high-level liquid waste (HLLW) from commercial LWR spent fuel. The HLLW will be used in Task 5, the radioactive demonstration of waste vitrification. The operational aspects of this task include the procurement of irradiated LWR fuel; the processing operations to prepare HLLW; and other necessary operations associated with the disposition of the uranium waste and other fuel residues, including the plutonium associated with the fuel. The processing operations in the 325-A Building will require handling in excess of 45 percent of a Minimum Critical Mass (MCM), use of an organic solvent to extract uranium and plutonium away from the fission products, and ion exchange resin for plutonium purification. An analysis of the environmental consequences and probability of conceivable accidental conditions that may result from this operation indicates no undue consequences to the environment. The calculated maximum environmental consequences of postulated accidents would be low radiotoxic doses of 0.3 rem whole body 50-yr dose commitment to a maximum individual and 20 man-rem whole body 50-yr dose commitment to the surrounding population. The individual radiological exposures are much below the permissible exposure guidance levels in 10CFR100 of 25 rem whole body and 300 rem thyroid doses for nuclear reactor accidents of very low probability of occurrence. The calculated relative dose risk to individuals from accidental conditions (1.6 x 10/sup -6/ rem/yr) is very low compared to regulatory guidance for routine releases from nuclear reactors (5.0 x 10/sup -3/ rem/yr). Therefore, the design and operational plans for the CNWVP are judged not to represent an undue environmental risk from accidental conditions