On April 28, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) issued comments concerning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Westinghouse Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF). The letter provides SCDHEC’s comments on the NRC draft EA and its proposed Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) concerning the 40-year license renewal for operations at CFFF. It includes a request for the NRC to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and raises topics typically not addressed in NRC environmental reviews. Westinghouse is working with SCDHEC and NRC to minimize environmental impacts, protect public health and safety, and meet regulator expectations.
Westinghouse has developed and is implementing an extensive and robust environmental improvement plan linked to its Consent Agreement (CA) with SCDHEC. This effort is designed to de-risk the site from past environmental issues by fully exploring and cataloging the actual and potential impact of known legacy issues on-site.
Under the plan, Westinghouse is developing appropriate remediation strategies to prevent any adverse effects on the environment. This effort also introduces new processes, tools, sampling regimes, and programs designed to avoid future environmental issues. SCDHEC’s feedback about recently-reported environmental data collected by Westinghouse under the CA supports the conclusion that contamination from environmental releases is confined within the property controlled by Westinghouse. There is no known off-property contamination.
Because of the additional extensive sampling and monitoring being performed, Westinghouse is finding results that better define the on-site impact of past issues. The previous challenges are being further explored in Westinghouse’s Remedial Investigation Work Plan (RIWP) process to ensure understanding of how to mitigate and prevent any potential sources or increased risks of off-site spread. Westinghouse is awaiting a meeting with SCDHEC to review the updated Conceptual Site Model (CSM), discuss additional research to improve knowledge about Tc-99 contamination on-site, and explore an additional investigation to refine the understanding of sediment quality and the volatile organic contaminants (VOC) plume in the next phase of the Remedial Investigation.
SCDHEC’s general feedback demonstrates Westinghouse is taking the necessary actions to protect public health and safety and prevent adverse environmental impacts by employing programs with regulatory controls. Westinghouse has processes that monitor critical infrastructure, utilize designated items relied on for safety, and maintain material integrity programs; while investing capital to address long-term safe and sustainable operations to ensure quality production.