ML19263D798
| ML19263D798 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/22/1979 |
| From: | Hendrie J NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Addabba J HOUSE OF REP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19263D799 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7904130267 | |
| Download: ML19263D798 (4) | |
Text
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UNITED STATES
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION c~~'"*
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g WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 J
jV March 22, 1979 OFFICE OF THE CH AIRMAN The Honorable Joseph P. Addabbo United States House of Representatives Washingtoh, D. C.
20515
Dear Congressman Addabbo:
In response to the letter to you from Mr. G. Powell, concerning the disposal of radioactive wastes in the Atlantic Ocean, I am pleased to provide the following information.
During the early decades of U.S. nuclear development, disposal at sea of low-level radioactive wastes was permitted under license by the U.S.
Atomic Energy Comission (AEC), the predecessor of the NRC.
Between 1946 and 1970 the former AEC licensed the dumping of low-level radio-active wastes into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
On August 12, 1957, Crossroads Marine Disposal Corporation, a private salvage and disposal firm, was issued a license by the AEC to dispose of low-level radioactive waste in the Massachusetts Bay at map coordinates 42.25N and 70.35W,12 to 15 miles off the coast at a depth of 50 fathoms.
By August,1959, the licensee had disposed of about 2400 curies of radioactive waste at this site.
In 1959,.the AEC adopted a policy of requiring sea disposal to be conducted at depths of 1000 fathoms or greater.
Consequently, the license to dispose of radioactive material in Massachusetts Bay was amended, permitting Crossroads Marine to dispose of radioactive wastes at map coordinates 41.33N and 65.30W off Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Although approved, this site was not used by Crossroads Marine for radioactie waste disposal.
Shortly thereafter, the firm changed its disposal procedures and sent all contaminated material to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho for land burial.
During the period when sea disposal of radioactive waste was practiced, greater than 90 percent of the wastes were disposed of at the four sites shown in Table I.
The two sites in the Atlantic Ocean are located 190 and 320 kilometers (approximately 120 and 210 miles) from land.
In June,1960, the AEC discontinued issuance of new licenses for sea
. disposal.
The then existing licenses authorizing sea disposal were pemitted to remain in effect and licensees were permitted to continue O
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7904130 $ 7
-ionorable Joseph P. Addabbo waste disposal operations at sea until the expiration of those licenses.
Early in 1950 the AEC also authorized licensees to use, on an interim basis, AEC land ourial sites in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
In September,1962, the first commercial land burial facility, located in Nevada, was licensed and became available for use by private organizations.
Shortly thereafter, the AEC withdrew the use of the land burial sites at national laboratories by licensees.
Since that time, licensed commercial land burial facilities have been established in the States of Kentucky, New York, Washington, Illinois, and 'auth Carolina.
There has been very little interest in sea disposal in the last few years, due primarily to the availability of land burial sites.
At the time the AEC stopped issuing new licenses, there were seven comercial firms licensed by the AEC to collect radioactive waste from other persons and to dispose of the waste at sea.
In addition, there were eight organizations licensed by the AEC to dispose of waste generated in their own laboratories.
Since 1965, less than 200 curies of radioactive waste have been disposed of at sea.
The last disposal at sea under an AEC license was made in June,1970.
At this time, no NRC licenses exist which allow ocean disposal of radioactive wastes.
In December,1971, the AEC published an amendment to its regulations (10 CFR Part 20) directed at ocean disposal of radioactive wastes.
The exact words of 10 CFR Part 20.302(c) are:
"The Comission will not approve any application for a license for disposal of licensed material at sea unless the applict.nt shows that sea disposal offers less harm to man or the environ-ment than other practical alternative methods of disposal."
This rule imposes on licensee operations a policy which already existed for the AEC's own operations.
No license applications have been received for review under these provisions of the regulations for sea disposal.
- . urther, the rule is consistent with the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) reconraendations of October,1970, to establish a "com-prehensive national policy on ocean dumping to... strictly limit ocean disposal of any materials harmful to the marine environment."
Thus, over a period of approximately a decade, disposal of radioactive waste at sea has been phased out as a waste disposal system, although sea disposal is not precluded by regulation.
This shift in disposal cethods was driven by (1) international objection to sea disposal on environmental grounds, (2) a change in AEC disposal philosophy to contain wastes (as in land burial) rather than disperse wastes (as in sea dumping), and (3) the fact that land burial was more economically attractive to the commercial industry.
Honorable Joseph P. Addabbo Under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (M?P.SA), da= ping of nuclear wastes in the ocean, where such acts are subject to U.S. jurisdiction, requires a permit issued by the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Permits may only be issued in the light of criteria defined by statute.
MPRSA gives the NRC no formal regulatory role except to the extent that EPA may be required to consult under the following clauses:
"in establishing or revising such criteria, the Administrator shall consult with Federal, State, and local officials, and interested members of the general public, as may appear appropriate to the Administrator.
"in reviewing applications for permits, the Administrator shall make such provision for consultation with interested Federal and Sta e agencies as he ceems useful or necessary."
Ocean dumping activities regulated under the Act are not subject to NRC regulation, in view of the fact that " licenses...other than those issued (by EPA)...shall be void and of no legal effect, to the extent that they purport to authorize any activity regulated by (MPRSA)."
It appears that NRC would nonetheless becote involved because no one would be authorized, except under NRC license, to receive and possess the waste on high seas. That is, while NRC would not l' cense the act of dumping, the Atocic Energy Act of 1954 requires all persons to have a license for the possession and use of such material.
In summary, in the United States, radioactive w:astes are not currently being disposed of at sea, and have not been disposed of in the Massachusetts Bay since 1959.
I hope this infonnation is responsive to your request and appreciate the opportunity to make this information cvailable to you.
Sincerely, d
" M, g
Jo eph M. Hendrie J
Chairman
Enclosure:
Table I.
Primary U.S. Radio-active Waste Du=psites
it Table I.
Primary U.S. Radioactive Waste Dumpsites Distance Years Estimated flo.
Estinated Activity Depth from Land Dunpsite Of SS-Gallon in Druns at Time of Site Coordinates (m)
(km)
Used
' Drums ' Duitipe d
'Packagtnc (ct)
At'lan tic 38* 30 ' il 2000 190 1951-56 14,300 41,400a 72*06'W 1959-62 Atlantic 37* 50 'll 3000 320 i',7-1959 14,500 2,100
~
70*35'W
' Paci fic Farallon Island 37*38'll 900 66 1951-1953 3,500 1,100 (Site A) 123 08'W Farallon Island 37*37'll 1700 77 1946-1950 44,000 13,400 1954-1965 (SiteB) 123*18'W aThis does not include the pressure vessel of the fl/S Seawolf reactor with an estimated induced activity of 33,000 Cf.
Dyer, R.S., " Environmental Surveys of Two'Deepsea Radioactive Waste Disposal Sites Using Submersibles,"
Mana9ement of Radioactive Wastes from the lluclear Fuel Cycle, IAEA, Vienna (1976).
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