Casks to Bury Nuclear Waste 
DON'T Meet Federal Specs 
and Could Leak

A Nuclear Whistleblower at Home 

J. A. SAVAGE / Alternet 6jun03

Oscar Shirani just didn't understand when his former employer, Exelon, wouldn't stop its high-level nuclear waste container—Hi-Star 100 cask system—manufacturer. The containers, like the ones Shirani say headed for the Dresden plant in Illinois, are being filled with radioactive spent fuel and installed at nuclear plants around the country. Shirani fears the shoddy work will result in affecting the health of millions of people.

Despite their delicate and deadly cargo, the casks "are nothing but garbage cans" if their fabrication violates government specs, said Shirani.

Instead of giving him a medal for thorough work and dedication, Shirani says Exelon convinced him to transfer to another job and then, conveniently, laid him off. The self-described "company man," turned freshly minted whistleblower, might be able to do what anti-nuclear activists have been unable to accomplish—pounding nails into the nuclear casket, forcing old plants to shut down. Then again, the federal government could acknowledge the alleged sub-standard work and hope the casks don't leak anytime in the next few thousand years.

The nuclear industry has turned to on-site radioactive waste storage in what's called "dry casks" in order to keep nuclear plants humming. Commercial nukes all have spent fuel pools. When those are filled up—and most are at, or near, capacity already—environmentalists expected the industry would be forced to turn off the plants.

Like a clogged septic tank, you have to quit flushing when it's full. But environmentalists were out-flanked by industry when it figured out a new "sewage" storage plan.

Industry hoped that it would have a permanent waste site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, long before now. Nuclear plant owners, however, could see that a Yucca repository is a far off, if ever, possibility. They moved to simply build a new and different kind of above-ground septic tank.

What Shirani alleges is that those tanks (a company called Holtec designed them and uses U.S. Tool & Die to make them) are not being fabricated to Nuclear Regulatory Commission specs. While some believe NRC specs themselves don't provide much safety assurance, Shirani did.

"I thought the NRC was a big dog and a force," he said, but without the kind of oversight he maintains was thwarted, the safety of nuclear plants "is suspect."

Failure Points

Shirani's nuke casket story is akin to, say, ordering a new Hummer from the dealership. In the glossy brochure, the thick boxy steel can repel almost anything short of armor-piercing projectiles. But when you get the SUV home, you find it's made of glued fiberglass and spills passengers all over the sidewalk at every approaching pothole.

If the casks are shoddy, would they leak radioactivity and endanger public health? Shirani could only guess that it could affect "millions." Activists say they just don't know.

"Federal regulations should not make [Shirani], or us, or the NRC, or the cask owner guess about consequences," said David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists nuclear safety engineer. "The regulations require a certain level of performance and his findings were below that minimum level. It may not be that the cask will fail when challenged, but they are unnecessarily and illegally closer to the failure point."

Welds on the casks were performed by "unqualified welders" and materials control was inadequate for the casks, Shirani reported to Exelon in mid-2000. Fabrication engendered brittleness in materials, weakening them, Shirani notes. He maintains Holtec failed to report holes in the neutron shielding material. He alleges that Exelon "falsified" quality assurance documents and "misled" the NRC in last year's investigation of the problem. He found "hundreds of non-conformance items." Overall, he claims that what is being manufactured to hold nuclear waste is not what was approved in conceptual design by the federal government.

"I called my people in Washington and tried to get them to do something, but they didn't do anything," said Ross Landsman, NRC Region III inspector in a January deposition provided by Shirani. Landsman could not be reached for comment. Landsman added that the issues raised by Shirani on the casks headed for the Dresden plant had not been resolved, despite an August 2000 audit stating the problems had been fixed.

Cover Up?

Shirani had audited Holtec and its suppliers for the Nuclear Users Procurement Issues Committee, identifying what he calls "major design and fabrication issues" against Holtec in 1999 and 2000. He filed those with the NRC in November 2000. The NRC closed the allegations procedure a year later.

Shirani said he tried to put a "stop work" order on the casks' fabrication to no avail. Anti-nuclear activists have followed up on Shirani's claims, filing Freedom of Information Act requests to find out what the government did about these claims.

The activists are backing Shirani in his quest to get the NRC to look into the original allegations and their cover up through the NRC inspector general.

"The NRC has not contacted us," responded Brian Gutherman, Holtec manager of licensing. "The NRC did approve the design as a snapshot in time. We're allowed to make certain changes below the safety threshold." Gutherman said Holtec "is absolutely not concerned" about cask safety and potential leakage, and that between the NRC and Holtec's clients, "nowhere has anyone suggested such a thing." As for Shirani, Gutherman said, "He's just making things up."

If the casks are found to be fabricated below specifications, the NRC could simply let them be. "They could be accepted as is or get approval of the [changed] design. There could also be an exemption," said NRC spokesperson John Monninger. He added, though, there is a possibility the government won't let the casks be used at all.

Insider Information

Being a whistleblower isn't easy. You can be celebrated, like Jeff Wigand who revealed the dirt on tobacco purveyors Brown & Williamson and had a movie, "The Insider," made about him. Most likely, though, whistleblowers lose their livelihood, are mocked by their former peers and considered "eccentric" at best—all this for deciding to follow the muse of conscience instead of the dominant paradigm.

"It's ethical cleansing," of the nuclear industry, chided Union of Concerned Scientists' Lochbaum—a former industry man himself.

Shirani's former employer, Exelon, rejected the dust-up. "His case has been heard by numerous boards and agencies and it was dismissed. There is no substantiation for those claims," said Exelon spokesperson Ann Mary Carley She could, however, say that only the labor administrative review board has heard Shirani's complaints. The board's decisions are on appeal.

As a pro-nuclear power conservative company man, Shirani can't help still believing in the efficacy of the system—but now he believes that the system can be flawed.

"Without the enforcement [of NRC regulations] I believe that we allow these people to spit on the face of quality and safety. This would be my top priority in my life more than my financial damage—to see justice served."

J.A. Savage is an environmental economics reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area.

NMSS-C1HP-54 List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: 
Addition of the Holtec Dry Shielded Canister, Part 72--RM#529–AG17 

15jan99

OBJECTIVE-- The proposed rule will amend the Commission's regulations to amend NRC regulations to add the Holtec International Hi-Star 100 cask system (Hi-Star) to the List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks. This amendment will allow the holders of power reactor operating licenses to store spent fuel in the Hi-Star cask system under a general license.

The staff evaluated the Holtec International Safety Analysis Report (SAR) submittal and issued a preliminary Safety Evaluation Report (SER) on the Holtec International SAR and the Holtec International Hi-Star 100 cask systems. The NRC is proposing to approve the Holtec International Hi-Star 100 cask system, for storage of spent fuel under the conditions specified in the proposed certificate of compliance. This cask, when used in accordance with the conditions specified in the certificate of compliance and NRC regulations, will meet the requirements of 10 CFR Part 72; thus, adequate protection of the public health and safety will be ensured.

source: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/secys/1999/secy1999-036/attachment2.pdf 6jun03

Exelon Generation Company, LLC Dresden Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

[Federal Register: March 19, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 53)]

[Notices]

[Page 15507-15508]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr19mr01-109]

[[Page 15507]]

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket 72-37]

Exelon Generation Company, LLC Dresden Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is considering issuance of an exemption, pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, from the provisions of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i), and 72.214 to Exelon Generation Company, LLC (EGC). The requested exemption would allow EGC to deviate from the requirements of Certificate of Compliance 1008 (the Certificate), Appendix B, Items 1.4.6.a, 1.4.6.b and 1.4.6.d and place HI-STAR 100 Cask Systems, loaded with spent nuclear fuel, on a concrete storage pad with a concrete thickness of less than or equal to 28 inches, concrete compressive strength of less than or equal to 6,000 psi at 28 days, and soil effective modulus of elasticity of less than or equal to 16,000 psi at the Dresden Nuclear Power Station (Dresden) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI).

Environmental Assessment (EA)

Identification of Proposed Action

By letter dated January 11, 2001, EGC requested an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i), and 72.214 to deviate from the requirements of Certificate of Compliance 1008, Appendix B, Items 1.4.6.a, 1.4.6.b and 1.4.6.d. EGC is a general licensee, authorized by NRC to use spent fuel storage casks approved under 10 CFR Part 72, Subpart K.

EGC plans to use the HI-STAR 100 Cask System to store spent nuclear fuel, generated at the Dresden Nuclear Power Station, at an ISFSI located in Morris, Illinois, on the Dresden Nuclear Power Station site. The Dresden ISFSI has been constructed for interim dry storage of spent nuclear fuel.

By exempting EGC from 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i), and 72.214, EGC will be authorized to place loaded HI-STAR 100 Casks Systems on cask storage pads that include the following characteristics:

(1) Concrete Thickness: 28 inches
(2) Concrete Compressive Strength: 6,000 psi at 28 days
(3) Soil Effective Modulus of Elasticity: 16,000 psi

The storage pad characteristics specified above would be in lieu of those specified in Certificate of Compliance 1008, Appendix B, Items 1.4.6.a, 1.4.6.b, and 1.4.6.d, respectively. The proposed action before the Commission is whether to grant this exemption under 10 CFR 72.7.

On August 4, 2000, the cask designer, Holtec International (Holtec), submitted to NRC an application to amend Certificate of Compliance 1008. The requested amendment includes revision to the storage pad specifications in Item1.4.6 in Appendix B to the Certificate and requests approval of a second set of cask pad parameters. Item 1.4.6.a requires a concrete thickness of less than or equal to 36 inches; the analysis performed by Holtec demonstrates that this requirement can be revised to specify a concrete thickness of less than or equal to 28 inches. Item 1.4.6.b requires a concrete compressive strength of less than or equal to 4,200 psi at 28 days; the analysis performed by Holtec demonstrates that this requirement can be revised to specify a concrete compressive strength of less than or equal to 6,000 psi at 28 days. Item 1.4.6.d includes the requirement that the soil effective modulus of elasticity be less than or equal to 28,000 psi; the analysis performed by Holtec demonstrates that this requirement can be revised to specify that the soil effective modulus of elasticity be less than or equal to 16,000 psi. The NRC staff has reviewed the application and determined that placement of HI-STAR 100 Cask Systems on storage pads with the revised characteristics would have minimal impact on the design basis and would not be inimical to public health and safety.

Need for the Proposed Action

There are a number of Dresden Unit 1 spent fuel assemblies in the Dresden Unit 2 spent fuel pool. To maintain full core offload capability in the Dresden Unit 2 spent fuel pool once new fuel arrives in the Summer of 2001, EGC needs to begin loading spent fuel into storage casks in Spring of 2001. Unless the exemption is granted or the Certificate is amended, the storage pads at the Dresden ISFSI will not be in full conformance with the Certificate. Because the 10 CFR part 72 rulemaking to amend the Certificate will not be completed prior to the date that EGC plans to begin loading HI-STAR 100 Cask Systems, the NRC is granting this exemption based on the staff's technical review of information submitted by EGC and Holtec.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

The potential environmental impact of using the HI-STAR 100 Cask System was initially presented in the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Final Rule to add the HI-STAR 100 Cask System to the list of approved spent fuel storage casks in 10 CFR 72.214 (64 FR 171, 09/03/ 99). Furthermore, each general licensee must assess the environmental impacts of the specific ISFSI in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR 72.212(b)(2). This section also requires the general licensee to perform written evaluations to demonstrate compliance with the environmental requirements of 10 CFR 72.104, ``Criteria for radioactive materials in effluents and direct radiation from an ISFSI or MRS [Monitored Retrievable Storage Installation].''

The HI-STAR 100 Cask System is designed to mitigate the effects of design basis accidents that could occur during storage. Design basis accidents account for human-induced events and the most severe natural phenomena reported for the site and surrounding area. Postulated accidents analyzed for an ISFSI include tornado winds and tornado generated missiles, design basis earthquake, design basis flood, accidental cask drop, lightning effects, fire, explosions, and other incidents.

The HI-STAR 100 Cask System consists of a stainless steel multi- purpose canister and a steel overpack. The welded MPC provides confinement and criticality control for the storage and transfer of spent nuclear fuel. The overpack provides radiation shielding and structural protection of the MPC during storage and handling operations. Special design feature requirements for the cask and for the site are specified in Certificate of Compliance 1008, Appendix B. These include the storage pad design characteristics.

Considering the specific cask and site design requirements for each accident condition, the design of the cask would prevent loss of containment, shielding, and criticality control. Without the loss of either containment, shielding, or criticality control, the risk to public health and safety is not compromised.

The staff performed a safety evaluation of the proposed exemption and the Certificate amendment. The HI-STAR amendment requests a revision to Item 1.4.6 of Appendix B to the Certificate of Compliance (CoC), which defines some of the design requirements for cask pad. The CoC amendment requests specific approval for an additional set of cask pad parameters.

[[Page 15508]]

The exemption requests authorization to utilize the additional set of cask pad parameters presented in the CoC amendment.

The staff found that the proposed exemption is consistent with the cask drop and tipover analyses presented in the revised Safety Analyses Report for the HI-STAR 100 Cask System and do not reduce the safety margin. In addition, the staff has determined that placement of loaded HI-STAR 100 Cask Systems on storage pads with a (1) concrete thickness of less than or equal to 28 inches, (2) concrete compressive strength of less than or equal to 6,000 psi at 28 days, and (3) soil effective modulus of elasticity less than or equal to 16,000 psi does not pose any increased risk to public health and safety. Furthermore, the proposed action now under consideration would not change the potential environmental effects assessed in the initial rulemaking (64 FR 171, 09/03/99).

Therefore, the staff has determined that there is no reduction in the safety margin nor significant environmental impacts as a result of placing loaded HI-STAR 100 Cask Systems on storage pads with a concrete thickness of less than or equal to 28 inches, concrete compressive strength of less than or equal to 6,000 psi at 28 days, and soil effective modulus of elasticity less than or equal to 16,000 psi.

Alternative to the Proposed Action

Since there is no significant environmental impact associated with the proposed action, alternatives with equal or greater environmental impact are not evaluated. The alternative to the proposed action would be to deny approval of the exemption. Denial of the exemption request will have the same environmental impact.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

On February 9, 2001, Mr. F. Niziolek, Reactor Safety Section Head, Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety, was contacted about the Environmental Assessment for the proposed action and had no comments.

Finding of No Significant Impact

The environmental impacts of the proposed action have been reviewed in accordance with the requirements set forth in 10 CFR part 51. Based upon the foregoing EA, the Commission finds that the proposed action of granting an exemption from 10 CFR 72.212(a)(2), 72.212(b)(2)(i), and 72.214 so that EGC may place loaded HI-STAR 100 Cask Systems on concrete storage pads with a concrete thickness of less than or equal to 28 inches, concrete compressive strength of less than or equal to 6,000 psi at 28 days, and soil effective modulus of elasticity less than or equal to 16,000 psi at the Dresden ISFSI will not significantly impact the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the Commission has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed exemption.

The request for exemption was docketed under 10 CFR part 72, Docket 72-37. For further details with respect to this action, see the exemption request dated January 11, 2001, which is available for public inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, One White Flint North Building, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the publicly available records component of NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html  (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of March 2001.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. E. William Brach,
Director, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 01-6652 Filed 3-16-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

source: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2001/March/Day-19/i6652.htm 6jun03