Information Notice 1991-65, Emergency Access to Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities

Emergency Access to Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities
	ML031190488
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley, Millstone, Hatch, Monticello, Calvert Cliffs, Dresden, Davis Besse, Peach Bottom, Browns Ferry, Salem, Oconee, Mcguire, Nine Mile Point, Palisades, Palo Verde, Perry, Indian Point, Fermi, Kewaunee, Catawba, Harris, Wolf Creek, Saint Lucie, Point Beach, Oyster Creek, Watts Bar, Hope Creek, Grand Gulf, Cooper, Sequoyah, Byron, Pilgrim, Arkansas Nuclear, Three Mile Island, Braidwood, Susquehanna, Summer, Prairie Island, Columbia, Seabrook, Brunswick, Surry, Limerick, North Anna, Turkey Point, River Bend, Vermont Yankee, Crystal River, Haddam Neck, Ginna, Diablo Canyon, Callaway, Vogtle, Waterford, Duane Arnold, Farley, Robinson, Clinton, South Texas, San Onofre, Cook, Comanche Peak, Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, Quad Cities, Humboldt Bay, La Crosse, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Zion, Midland, Bellefonte, Fort Calhoun, FitzPatrick, McGuire, LaSalle, Fort Saint Vrain, Shoreham, Satsop, Trojan, Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant
Issue date:	10/16/1991
From:	Bangart R; NRC/NMSS/DWM
To:	;
References
	FOIA/PA-2009-0209 IN-91-065, NUDOCS 9110100249
	Download: ML031190488 (11)
	v • d • e

UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555 October 16, 1991 NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 91-65: EMERGENCY ACCESS TO LOW-LEVE

WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES K RADIOACTIVE

Addressees

All NRC licensees.

Purpose

notice

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information

to licensees who generate or who may potentially generate low-level radioactive

waste (LLW) for shipment to LLW disposal facilities. This notification is

intended to inform licensees of the strict requirements governing implementa- Waste

tion of the emergency access provision of the Low-Level Radioactive of

Policy Amendments Act of 1985 (LLRWPAA), and to discourage any consideration

reliance on emergency access as a means of LLW disposal. This notification

does not constitute a complete review of the rules, regulations, and statutes

referenced herein, and should not be considered a substitute for these

requirements. No specific action or written response is required.

Description of Circumstances

for

The LLRWPAA established a series of milestones, penalties, and incentives capacity

States or regional compacts to progress toward development of disposal by which, by 1993. The Act contains an emergency access provision (Section 6) request

"Any. generator of low-level radioactive waste, or any Governor to... a may regional

that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission grant emergency access a

As

disposal facility ... for specific low-level radioactive waste." NRC, a LLW

precondition to requesting an emergency access determination from

generator or governor must be denied access to all existing LLW disposal

facilities.

Congressional concern that a serious and immediate threat to the facilitypublic health

disposal led to

and safety could result from denial of access to a LLW 3, inclusion of the emergency access provision in the LLRWPAA. On February

defines the

1989, NRC published an emergency access rule (10 CFR Part 62) thatand regional

criteria and procedures used for emergency access to non-Federal

regulations

LLW disposal facilities. As the Commission stated in issuing its Section 6 of

governing emergency access decisions, Congress did not intend that

of new

the LLRWPAA be an alternative to the pursuit of the development

strongly opposed to

low-level waste disposal capacity. The Commission remains for those

implementation of the emergency access provisions as an alternative

accordingly, has no

States not meeting the milestones in the LLRWPAA and, Emergency

intent to implement these provisions to address such situations.

1101 XA4

4 IN 91-65 October 16, 1991 access is to be used only under very limited and rare circumstances. Instances

where such action is necessary to eliminate a serious and immediate threat to

the public health and safety or the common defense and security and where there

are no other mitigating alternatives available to emergency access, would be

unlikely. The emergency access provision provides a mechanism for federal

involvement only as a vehicle of last resort. The rule sets strict require- ments for granting emergency access, and places the burden on the party

requesting emergency access, to demonstrate that the criteria in the rule have

been met and that emergency access is needed.

Denial of LLW disposal access for generators from the State of Michigan by the

three sited States with existing LLW disposal facilities on November 10, 1990,

focused attention on the emergency access provision. Recent questions about

the licensing and operation of new LLW disposal facilities in California and

Nebraska have also raised concern about possible requests for, and implementa- tion of, emergency access determinations by NRC.

Discussion

An emergency access determination can be made only by NRC. Information that

NRC requires to reach a determination is to be provided by the LLW generator, or governor, who has been denied access to all LLW disposal facilities.

Information to be submitted would include the need for access to LLW disposal

sites, the quantity and type of material requiring disposal, impacts on health

and safety or common defense and security if emergency access were not granted, and consideration of available alternatives to emergency access. The Commis- sion will decide whether the requestor has considered all factors in the

evaluation of alternatives and the impacts of these alternatives on public

health and safety.

The requestor will be expected to: (1) demonstrate that all pertinent alterna- tives have been considered; (2) provide a detailed analysis comparing each of

the alternatives considered; (3) demonstrate that consideration has been given

to combining alternatives in some way or in some sequence either to avoid the

need for emergency access, or to resolve the threat, even on a temporary basis, until other arrangements can be made; (4) evaluate the societal costs, techni- cal and economic feasibility and benefits to the public health and safety of

the potential alternatives; and (5) incorporate the results into the request.

Applicants for emergency access will have to provide clear and convincing

evidence that they have exhausted all other options for managing their LLW.

Alternatives which, at a minimum, a requestor must evaluate include:

1) storage of LLW at the site of generation-or at a storage facility;

2) obtaining access to a disposal facility by voluntary agreement;

3) purchasing disposal capacity available for assignment pursuant to

Section 5(c)(4) of the LLRWPAA; and (4) ceasing activities that generate LLW.

NRC staff has provided the following guidance to waste generators on how to

manage the accumulation of waste in the event ot denial of access to waste

disposal facilities:

IN 91-65 October 16, 1991 1. Information Notice No. 90-09: Extended Interim Storage of Low-Level

Radioactive Waste by Fuel Cycle-and

Materials Licensees..

2. Information Notice No. 89-13: Alternative Waste Management Procedures

in Case of Dehial'of ccess to Low-Level

Waste Disposal Sites.

3. Generic Letter 85-14: Commercial Storage at Power Reactors of

Low-Level Radioactive Waste Not Generated by

the Utility.

4. Generic Letter 81-38: Storage of Low-Level Radioactive Waste ati

Power Reactors.

Upon receipt of a request for emergency access, NRC will publish a notice in

the Federal Register informing the public that Commission action on the request

is pending and coordination with potentially involved or impacted States would

begin. The LLRWPAA limits NRC-to 45 days from the time a request'is'received -

to determine whether emergency access will be granted. Information submitted

by the requestor will enable the Commission to determine:

(a) whether a serious and immediate threat to the public health'and

safety or the common defense and security might exist; ' -

(b) whether alternatives exist that could mitigate the threat; and'

(c) which non-Federal disposal facility or facilities should provide

the-required disposal capacity.'

If NRC determines that an alternative exists that ensures the public-health and

safety, does not jeopardize the common defense and security, and is technically

and economically feasible, the request for emergency access will be denied.

Only if all alternatives prove to be unreasonable can NRC grant access.

If emergency access is granted, the Commission will select a disposal facility

to receive the LLW based on waste characteristics and disposal site compatibil- ity, capacity limits determined by the LLRWPAA, licensing criteria, and other

related considerations The disposal facility determination would be coordi- nated with appropriate State authorities. A LLW disposal facility will be

selected to receive only those classes of waste that it normally handles and

disposes of pursuant to its license under non-emergency access operating

conditions. In addition, emergency access is limited in.time and amount. -It

cannot exceed 180 days, with the possibility of one 180-day extension. If the

serious threat ceases, access can be terminated sooner. Further, in deciding

1This information notice specifically addresses this concern and outlines

actions such as making license amendments to increase possession limits, using

volume reduction techniques, and using alternative management and disposal

techniques.

IN 91-65 October 16, 1991 which site to designate to receive the emergency access waste, the Commission

would exclude a disposal facility if the volume of emergency access waste

received by the facility exceeds 20 percent of the total volume of LLW accepted

for disposal during the previous calendar year.

The Commission does not anticipate any.situation where the lack of access would

create a serious and immediate-threat to the public health and safety.

Furthermore, it was the intent of Congress that the emergency access provision

neither be used to circumvent other provisions of the Act nor be viewed by

unsited States as- an alternative to the development of new LLW disposal

capacity. The emergency access rule sets a very high threshold for granting

emergency access andshould serve to encourage potential requestors to seek

other means for resolving difficulties created by denial of access to LLW

disposal facilities. It is difficult to envision, for example, any set of

circumstances under which a nuclear power plant could justify a request for

emergency access.

Licensees are encouraged to monitor the status of current siting and disposal

developments in their low-level radioactive waste.compacts or States to better

foresee potential LLW management difficulties. Licensees in States. for which

it appears milestones of the LLRWPAA will not be met should prepare for the

possibility of restrictions on disposal of radioactive waste.

Questions about emergency access should be addressed to:

Paul Lohaus, Chief, Low-Level Waste Management Branch, Division of

Low-Level Waste Management and Decommissioning, 301 492-0553.

This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If

you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact the

technical.contact listed below.

Richard L. Bangart, Directo 6 '

Division of Low-Level Waste Management

and Decommissioning

Office of.-Nuclear Material Safety

and.Safeguards.

Technical contact: Richard H. Turtil, NMSS

301 492-3447 Attachments:

1. List of Recently Issued NMSS Information Notices

2. List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

Attachment 1 IN 91-65 October 16, 1991 LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED

NMSS INFORMATION NOTICES

Information Date of

Notice No. Subject Issuance Issued to

Ax en - C-- - Do -----_ -- -- E_ . _ .. _

L-uu rdlie Aldarins OT Alarm UY/Z4/91 All Nuclear Regulatory Com- Ratemeters Because of mission (NRC licensees

Radiofrequency Interference authorized to use sealed

sources for industrial

radiography)

91-49 Enforcement of Safety 08/15/91 All Nuclear Regulatory Com- Requirements for Radiographers mission (NRC) licensees

authorized to use sealed

sources for industrial radi- ography.

91-44 Improper Control of Chemicals 07/07/91 All nuclear fuel facilities.

in Nuclear Fuel Fabrication

91-39 Compliance with 10 CFR 06/17/91 All Nuclear Regulatory

Part 21, "Reporting of Defects Commission (NRC) material

and Noncompliance" licensees.

91-35 Labeling Requirements for 06/07/91 All Nuclear Regulatory

Transporting Multi-Hazard Commission (NRC) licensees.

Radioactive Materials

91-30 Inadequate Calibration of 04/23/91 All fuel cycle licensees

Thermoluminescent Dosimeters routinely handling unshield- Utilized to Monitor Extremity ed uranium materials.

Dose at Uranium Processing and

Fabrication Facilities

91-26 Potential Nonconservative 04/02/91 All fuel cycle licensees

Errors in the Working Format. and other licensees, in- Hansen-Roach Cross-Section cluding all holders of

Set Provided with The Keno operating licenses for

and Scale Codes nuclear power reactors, who use physics codes to

support criticality

safety in the use of

fissile material.

-

Attachment 2

- .

IN 91-65 October 16, 1991 LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED

NRC INFORMATION NOTICES

Information Date of

Notice No. SubJect Issuance Issued to

91-64 Site Area Emergency 10/09/91 All holders of OLs or CPs

Resulting From a Loss for nuclear power reactors.

of Non-Class lE

Uninterruptible Power Supplies

91-63 Natural Gas Hazards 10/03/91 All holders of OLs or CPs

at Fort St. Vrain for nuclear power reactors.

Nuclear Generating Station

91-62 Diesel Engine Damage 09/30/91 All holders of OLs or CPs

Caused by Hydraulic for nuclear power reactors.

Lockup Resulting from

Fluid Leakage Into

Cylinders

91-61 Preliminary Results of 09/30/91 All holders of OLs or CPs

Validation Testing of for nuclear power reactors

Motor-Operated Valve and motor-operated valve

Diagnostic Equipment (MOV) diagnostic equipment

vendors identified herein.

91-60 False Alarms of Alarm 09/24/91 All Nuclear Regulatory Com- Ratemeters Because of mission (NRC) licensees

Radiofrequency Inter- authorized to use sealed

ference sources for industrial

radiography.

91-59 Problems with Access 09/23/91 All holders of OLs or CPs

Authorization Programs for nuclear power reactors.

91-58 Dependency of Offset 09/20/91 All holders of OLs or CPs

Disc Butterfly Valve's for nuclear power reactors.

Operation on Orientation

with Respect to Flow

91-57 Operational Experience 09/19/91 All holders of OLs or CPs

on Bus Transfers for nuclear power reactors.

OL = Operating License

CP = Construction Permit

IN 91-65 October 16, 1991

- which site to designate to receive the emergency access waste, the Commission

would exclude a disposal facility if the volume of emergency access waste

received by the facility exceeds 20 percent of the total volume of LLW accepted

for disposal during the previous calendar year.

The Commission does not anticipate any situation where the lack of access would

create a serious and immediate threat to the public health and safety.

Furthermore, it was the intent of Congress that the emergency access provision

neither be used to circumvent other provisions of the Act nor be viewed by

unsited States as an alternative to the development of new LLW disposal

capacity. The emergency access rule sets a very high threshold for granting

emergency access and should serve to encourage potential requestors to seek

other means for resolving difficulties created by denial of access to LLW

disposal facilities. It is difficult to envision, for example, any set of

circumstances under which a nuclear power plant could justify a request for

emergency access.

Licensees are encouraged to monitor the status of current siting and disposal

developments in their low-level radioactive waste compacts or States to better

foresee potential LLW management difficulties. Licensees in States for which

it appears milestones of the LLRWPAA will not be met should prepare for the

possibility of restrictions on disposal of radioactive waste.

Questions about emergency access should be addressed to:

Paul Lohaus, Chief, Low-Level Waste Management Branch, Division of

Low-Level Waste Management and Decommissioning, 301 492-0553.

This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If

you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact the

technical contact listed below.

Aic (toct* ~t Z

Richard L. Bangart, DirectJ

Division of Low-Level Waste Management

and Decommissioning

Office of Nuclear Material Safety

and Safeguards

Technical contact: Richard H. Turtil, NMSS

(301) 492-3447 Attachments:

1. List of Recently Issued NMSS Information Notices

2. List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

TEditor* :NRR

SUBJECT ABSTRACT: NRC IN: EMERGENCY ACCESS TO LLWDF :EKraus :FCongel

See Previous Concurrence :10/02/91 : / /91 OFC :LLWB* :LLWB* :LLWB* :NMSS* :SP* :OGC* :LLWM* LLWM1_ > -

_--__-_-__-_____---------------------------------------------------

NAME:RTurtil/jj:JKennedy:PLohaus :RCunningham:CKammerer:RSmith :LTen ck:RBangart

-_--_--_----______--________--_--_--________ - _-- _ -- ____

-- -___--________

DATE:10/04/91 :10/04/91:10/23/91:10/07/91 :10/07/91 :10/04/91 :0/2S/91:10/17/91 RT/INFO NOTICE/1 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY