B,babcock&wilcoxnuclearoperationsgroup‘Ip.o.box785ynchburg,Va24505-0785usaIphone434.522.6000www.babcockcornOctober28,2009Mr.DavidFriedmanU.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgency,RegionliiLand&ChemicalDivision3LC201650ArchStreetPhiladelphia,PA19103-2029Ref:(1)LetterdatedFebruary21,2003fromB&WtoEPARegionIll,“PetitiontoDelistHazardousWastes(Petition)”(2)E-maildatedOctober1,2009fromEPARegionIll(Friedman)toB&W(Storton)“EPARegionIllDelistingIssues”DearMr.Friedman:Babcock&WilcoxNuclearOperationsGroup,Inc.(B&WNOG)isprovidingitsresponsetoaddressEPARegionIll’sPetitionquestionsinthereferencede-mail(Reference2).TheseissueswerediscussedinourOctober22,2009teleconference(B&WparticipantsJeffreyHowardandIwithEPAparticipantsCynthiaJ.Nadoiskiandyourself).AfteryouhavehadanopportunitytoreviewB&W’sresponse,wewouldlikeforEPAtoconsiderthepossibilityofanon-sitemeetingtofurtherreviewanyremainingconcerns.Shouldyouhaveanyquestions,pleasegivemeacallat(434)522-6677or(434)382-8447(celI).Sincerely,d’ohnM.StortonSeniorAdvisoryEngineerBabcock&WilcoxNuclearOperationGroupcc(e-mail)DCWardRLCoatsNWhittenLRMorrellWHAndersonRHSedgleyFile3-3.3473babcock&wilcoxnuclearoperationsgroup,inc.,aBabcock&WilcoxcompanyEPARegionIIIFinalEffluentPondsDelistingIssues(October1,2009)1.RadiologicalIssue—Doesthecurrentlygeneratedsludgehavearadiologicalcomponent(i.e.,isthissludgeamixedwaste)?IntheFRnoticefortheproposeddelistingofthecurrentlygeneratedsludge(64FR42320)wewrote,basedoninformationthatyousubmitted,that“InJune1990,thefiltercakewasfoundtocontaintracelevelsofspecialnuclearmaterial(i.e.,uraniumattypicallylessthan30picocuriespergram).AsofOctober1991,thisspecialnuclearmaterialcontaminationwaseliminatedfromthefiltercake.”Inthedescriptionofwastestreamsinthedelistingpetition,thelowlevelradioactivetreatmentsystemreceivessmallquantitiesofradioactivematerialsincludinguraniumandradioactivematerialscontainedinstormwaterfrombuildingroofs.Doesprecipitationandmicrofiltrationsufficientlyremovetheradioactivecomponentinthiswastesothatsubsequentsludgeformationisnotamixedwaste?B&WResponse:TheFinalEffluentPonds(FEP5)havereceivedsuspendedsolidsfromboththelow-levelradioactive(LLR)andnonradioactivePickleAcidwastewatertreatmentsystems.Thereferenced1990statementrelatestoaninadvertentradiologicalcontaminationofthePickleAcidwastewatersystem.B&WsuccessfullysegregatedthesourcesofradiologicalcontaminationfromthePickleAcidwastewatersystemandroutedthemtotheLLRsystemin1991.ThetreatedwastewatercontainingthesuspendedsolidsfrombothsystemsiscombinedpriortoitsintroductionintotheFEPs.ThereforethecomingledsuspendedsolidsthataredischargedintotheFEPsareradiologicallycontaminated.2.Howisthecurrentdelistednon-radioactivefiltercakedisposedof?ThedelistingforthiswasteincludesaconditionrequiringitbedisposedinaSubtitleDlandfill.B&WResponse:B&WdisposesofthePickleAcidfiltercakeatWasteManagement’sMaplewoodSubtitleDLandfillinAmelia,VA.3.AllFederaldelistingsgrantedareconditionalexclusionswhichincludeseveralconditionsincludingaconditionprescribingpermissibledisposal.Foratypicaldelistedwaste,thisconditionhasbeendisposalinaSubtitleDlandfill.WhatdisposaloptionsareavailableformanagementofthismaterialunderNRCregulations?DoesNRCregulationofthesludgecontinueindefinitely,ordoesitendiftheradiationlevelsdropbelowsomelimit?We’vebeenassumingthatdisposalinaSubtitleDlandfillisnotanoption.Babcock&Wilcox110/16/09B&WResponse:TheEPARegionIII’sassumptioniscorrectthatdisposalofthesludgeandsoilfromtheFEPsinaSubtitleDlandfillisnotanoption.B&WdisposedofthesludgefromthesludgeremovalprojectatFinalEffluentPondsasaMixedWaste(hazardousandradioactive)atEnergySolutionsCliveFacility.TheCliveFacilityistheonlycommercialoptionavailabletoB&Wforthedisposaloflow-levelradioactivewasteanditisalsotheonlycommercialfacilityinthenationthatcandisposeofClassARadioactiveMixedWaste.Althoughthelevelsofradioactivecontaminationarelow,thehalf-lifeoftheuraniumisotopesisontheorderofhundredsofthousandsofyears.AtthefinalNRCdecommissioningoftheFinalEffluentPonds,thewastecouldbedisposedofasalowlevelradioactivewaste.However,becauseitwasclassifiedasamixedwaste,itsdisposalattheCliveFacilitywillbeasamixedwastebecauseofthefacility’slicense.Theremaybeotherdisposaloptionsavailableforthewasteinthefuturethatcouldallowforitsdisposalwithoutregardingtoitsprevioushazardouswastelisting.4.Fluorideingroundwater—BasedonrecentanalysisofFinalEffluentPond(FEP)groundwatermonitoringsamples,hastheconcentrationoffluorideinthegroundwaterchangedsincethesamplingeventsofthe2001/2002timeframe?B&WResponse:B&Wdoesnotroutinelymonitorforfluorideinthegroundwatermonitoringwells.However,B&WsampledthedowngradientFEPgroundwatermonitoringwellsFEP-landFEP-2twicein2009insupportofanotherprogram.Thefluorideanalysesforthesesampleswerecompletedoutsidethe28dayholdtime.ThefluoridelevelinFEP-lwas4.3mg/LandinFEP-2wasanaverageof10.3mg/L.Incomparison,thefluorideconcentrationsingroundwatersamplescollectedfromFEP-1andFEP-2duringthe2001-2002samplingeventsrangedfrom2.7to4.0mg/LforFEP-1and8.37to18.1mg/LforFEP-2.5.Fluorideinsludge—Fluorideconcentration(bothtotalandleachate)weredeterminedonfiltercakefortheJanuary14,2000delistingofthe(then)currentlyproducedsludge.Fluorideconcentrationsweredeterminedonsludgesamples(notdewateredfiltercake)collectedfromtheFEPsforthependingdelistingpetition.DoyouhaveanalyticalresultsthatshowtotalandleachablefluorideconcentrationsfordewateredFEPsludge?PerhapsyoucollectedsomefluoridedataonfilteredsampleswhenyoudidtherecentFEPsludgeremovalproject.Babcock&Wilcox10/16/09B&WResponse:B&WdidnotrunafluorideanalysisonthesamplesofthedewateredFEPsludgegeneratedduring2008FEPsludgeremovalproject.FluorideisnotaRCRAAppendixVIIIhazardousconstituentanditsanalysiswasnotrequiredtocharacterizethewastefordisposalatEnergySolutions’CliveFacility.B&WsampledandanalyzedthewetsludgefortheFEPsforfluorideaspartofthePhase2ChemicalCharacterization(BWXT2006).FEPsludgesamplescollectedduringthiseffortwereanalyzedforbothtotalandextractableconcentrationsoffluorideaswellasotherparameters.Thetotalfluorideconcentrationsrangedfrom23to722milligramsperkilogramofwetsludge,withanaverageof222milligramsperkilogram.ThefluorideconcentrationsinthepH10TCLPextractsrangedfrom7.8to184milligramsperLiter(mg/L)withaveragesforFEP2of142mg/LandforFEP1of36mg/L.TCLPextractionswererunatpH10duringthePhase2FEPsludgecharacterizationbecausethisconditionresultedinhigherextractablefluorideconcentrationsincomparisontothestandard(slightlyacidicpH)TCLPextractionsolutionandadeionizedwater(pH7)extractionsolution,asdemonstratedinthePhase1characterizationtests(BWXT2005).UsingthedeionizedwaterastheextractionsolutionthefluorideconcentrationsfortheFEPsludgesamplesrangedfrom8.25to14mg/L.6.ActivelifeoftheFEPs—DoyouhavearevisedestimateofhowmanyyearsyouexpecttoutilizetheFEPsuntiltheyaredecommissionedandclosed?B&WResponse:B&WexpectstocontinuetoutilizetheFEPsasanintegralpartofitsWastewaterTreatmentoperationwellintothefuture.ItisanticipatedthattheFEPswouldbedecommissionedattheendofplantlife,whichshouldbedecadesintothefuture.References:BWXTechnologies,Inc.,(BWXT)2006,Phase2ChemicalCharacterizationforDelistingoftheFinalEffluentPondSludges,Mt.AthosSite,Lynchburg,VA,July.BWXTechnologies,Inc.,(BWXT)2005,ResultsofthePhase1ChemicalCharacterizationforDelistingoftheFinalEffluentPondSludges,Mt.AthosSite,Lynchburg,VA,May.Babcock&Wilcox310/16/09