The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of the Phase 1 Final Status Survey (FSS) Final Report results and overall conclusions which conduct that the Zion Nuclear Power Station (ZNPS) facility and site meets the 25 mrem(0.25 mSv)per year release criterion as established in Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulation (NRC) 10 CFR 20.1402 “Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use”. The FSS results provided assessment and summarize that any residual radioactivity results in a Total Effective Dose Equivalent (TEDE) to an Average Member of the Critical Group (AMCG) that does not exceed 25 mrem per year, and the residual radioactivity has been reduced to levels that are as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). The release criterion is translated into site-specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGLs) for assessment and summary. ZionSolutions, a decommissioning service provider, estimates that a total of four (4) FSS Final Reports be generated and submitted to the NRC during the decommissioning project. ZionSolutions established the Characterization/License Termination (C/LT) Group, within the Radiation Protection division, with sufficient management and technical resources to fulfill project objectives. The C/LT Group is responsible for the safe completion of all surveys related to characterization and final site closure. Approved site procedures and detailed Technical Support Documents (TSD) direct the FSS process to ensure consistent implementation and adherence to applicable requirements. The development and planning phase was initiated in 1999 by the “Zion Station Historical Site Assessment” (HSA) and the initiation of the characterization process for FSS. Develop the information necessary to support FSS design, including the development of Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) and survey instrument performance standards. DQOs are qualitative and quantitative statements derived from the DQOs process that clarify technical and quality objectives. The next step, FSS design utilizes the combination of traditional scanning surveys, systematic sampling protocols and investigative/judgmental methodologies to evaluate survey units relative to the applicable release criteria for open land sample plans. To aid in the development of an initial suite of potential radionuclides of concern for the decommissioning of ZNPS, the analytical results of representative characterization samples collected at the site were reviewed. At this FSS design step, the Radionuclides of Concern (ROC) are determined. As Co-60 and Cs-137 account for 99.5% of the analysis results of concrete core sampling data form ZNPS’s Containment Building and Auxiliary Building, they are determined and used as the basic ROC in the survey design. Additionally, site information is described and Historical Site Assessment (HSA) is performed. Data collected for the initial HSA will be used to establish the initial regional survey unit and corresponding MARSSIM classification. Next, an assessment of the collected data is performed using the DQO process, and a survey methodology is established by selecting a sampling method and measuring instrumentation. These result judgments provide guidance for C/LT Engineer to interpret findings using the Data Quality Assessment (DQA) process, which analysis Recorded data, Missing values, Deviation from established procedure, and Analysis flags. In conclusion, FSS is the process used to demonstrate that the ZNPS facility and site comply the radiological criteria for unrestricted use specified in 10 CFR.20. The purpose of FSS Sample Plan is to describe the methods to be used in planning, designing, conducting, and evaluating the FSS.
The decommissioning of nuclear power plant (NPP) consists of various activities, such system decontamination, take out of activated components, segmentation of the activated components, site remediation, etc. During various activities, the generation of radioactive wastes and radiation exposure to workers is expected. The systematic waste management during the activities is important to implement the decommissioning. The inefficient waste management usually bring significant delay in decommissioning process and results in increase of decommissioning cost. The radiation exposure management is also an important issue. It is generally accepted that the hot spot, generated from operation and decommissioning of NPP, is observed in many places within containment building. Although the health physicists measure the radiation in various points, the unintended hot spots are sometimes generated and observed. The effective radiation exposure management also requires the control of personnel and space during various activities. In this study, the radiation exposure and waste management experiences of Zion NPP is reviewed. The primary nuclides and radiation exposure during various activities are systematically studied to achieve the main objectives of this paper.
Kori unit 1 was permanently shut down in 2007 and is currently awaiting approval for decommissioning and dismantling (D&D). The wastes generated during decommissioning is estimated to be approximately 14,500 of 200 L drums. In this study, the treatment process of decommissioning wastes will be reviewed through the case of the US Zion nuclear power station (ZNPS). Zion unit 1 and 2 received an operating license in 1973 and were permanently shut down and the spent nuclear fuel was transferred to the pool in 1998. The decommissioning was carried out according to the following five steps; (1) safe storage (SAFSTOR) dormancy, (2) preparation for decommissioning, (3) establishment of independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) and transfer of the spent fuel and greater than class C radioactive materials, (4) decommissioning operations and (5) site restoration. The total volume of waste generated during decommissioning was expected to be approximately 1.7×105 m3. This is far above the Kori unit 1 waste estimation because ZNPS has a history of accidents and includes soil waste. Wastes were treated differently according to their properties and locations.