ML20127C018
| ML20127C018 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/23/1984 |
| From: | Dircks W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19292E725 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-85-170, TASK-PII, TASK-SE SECY-84-338, NUDOCS 8409040293 | |
| Download: ML20127C018 (2) | |
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l August 23, M4 A1!.; 30 A10:55 SECY-84-338 POLICY ISSUE -
For: The Commissioners (InfOrmation)
From: William J. Dircks Executive Director for Operations
Subject:
PROGRESS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S l ADVISORY PANEL ON ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF FINANCING AND MANAGING RADI0 ACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
Purpose:
To inform the Commissioners on the activities of the Advisory Panel and the schedule for receiving DOE's draft report for review.
Discussion: Section 303 of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires the Secretary of Energy to " undertake a study with respect to alternative approaches to managing the construction and operation of all civilian radioactive waste facilities, including the feasibility of establishing a private corporation for such purposes." The Act directs the Secretary to " consult" with the Chairman of the Commission in conducting the study, which was to have been reported to Congress by January 7, 1984.
In carrying out these provisions, DOE elected to establish an Advisory Panel pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The background on the establishment of the Panel and a listing of Panel members was provided to the Commissioners in SECY-84-118. To date the Panel has met six times, and a draft report making recommendations to the Secretary has been partially completed. An NRC staff observer has attended each of these meetings. The Panel has been briefed l by State and Tribal officials, Congressional staff, industry and environmental representatives, and Federal agency officials, including the Director of DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management and the Director of NRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. In addition, the Panel has toured radioactive waste facilities in the United States and met
@ with officials from waste management organizations in European
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Contrct: VMEd~r e WM Project Neil Numark, NMSS (
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Docket No.
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Issues relating to NRC's regulatory role arose in the most recent meeting, during which the Panel focused on evaluating the suitability of selected government and corporate entities for waste management purposes. Members of the Panel indicated that they are willing to recommend organizational changes which would require legislation to implement. Most members appear to be favoring either an independent federal agency or commission or some type of government corporation. Several men,bers felt that different types of organizations shoulo be considered for the different phases of the program. Further Panel efforts will include attention to financing options, involving meetings with investment bankers to discuss possible alternatives to the 1 mill per kilowatt hour fee charged to nuclear utilities and how such alternatives would fit in with the various organization options being considered.
The Panel plans to submit its final report to the Secretary by October 15, 1984. DOE will then use the Panel's recommendations to develop the report to Congress required under NWPA, which it estimates will be submitted to Congress by December 31, 1984.
DOE intends to satisfy the requirement for consultation with the Chairman by giving NRC an opportunity to review and comment on a draft of the DOE report.
We will keep you informed regarding the NRC review prior to receipt from DOE of the formal draft. Until that time, the staff will be reviewing drafts of the Panel's report, which are available at each of the Panel meetings, to examine the potential impacts on NRC regulatory responsibility which would flow from any recommended alternative management proposals.
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William J. Dirck Executive Director for Operations
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0ctober 31, 1984 POLICY ISSUE Szcv-84-42s (Information)
For: The Commissioners From: William J. Dircks Executive Director for Operations
Subject:
STATUS OF ACTIVITIES UNDER THE NUCLEAR WASTE
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POLICY ACT OF 1982
Purpose:
To provide the Commissioners with background information in preparation for a meeting with the Director of DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management.
Background:
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (P.L.97-425) was signed into law on January 7,1983. On March 18, 1983 the staff met with the Commission to discuss the principal provisions of the new legislation and their effects on NRC (see SECY-83-107, March 16, 1983). A second staff meeting was held on June 17, 1983 regarding approval of additional resources for timely implementation of NWPA (see SECY-83-163, May 2, 1983).
In May of 1984, Benard C. Rusche was appointed Director of DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. The Com'miss. ion first met with Mr. Rusche on June 22, 1984 to discuss and cohiu'r on DOE's final repository siting guidelines. Mr. Rusche again appeared before the Commission on June 27, 1984 to present DOE's draft Mission Plan for the Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program. .
Discussion: The purpose of the subject meeting is to be briefed by DOE's waste office director on his current thinking on the national high level waste program. To prepare the Commission for this discussion, background information is provided in Enclosure 1, which lists and briefly describes federal actions taken to date under NWPA, actions currently in progress, and future actions.
Contact:
N. J. Numark, WM l 427-4328 l
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The Commissioners l l
In brief, both NRC and 00E have made significant progress in implementing the provisions of NWPA since its passage. NRC promulgated its technical requirements and criteria for licensing a high-level waste repository in June of 1983, and is currently developing other regulations and criteria required by the Act. DOE submitted final siting guidelines to the
, Commission in May of 1984 and received the Commission's concurrence in June. DOE is now expected to publish the final guidelines in November. The draft Mission Plan was issued by i DOE in May of 1984, and NRC's comments were submitted to DOE in July. DOE's present schedule is to submit a final Mission Plan to Congress in February or March of 1985.
Current efforts in the DOE waste office center on the production of draft Environmental Assessments of nine potential repository sites, now scheduled to be issued in late December for 90 day public comment. After recommending 3 or more sites to the President for characterization, DOE is expected to issue its first Site Characterization Plan in the second half of FY85.
The Chairman stated in his July 31, 1984 letter to Mr. Rusche, providing staff comments on the draft Mission Plan, that an evaluation on the preliminary determination of site suitability required under Section 114(f) of the Act was being considered by the Commission.
The Department is also currently preparing a report for the President to submit to Congress regarding defense waste disposal. The draft of this report, which the staff recently commented on, recommends disposal of d'efense high-level waste in commercial repositories. In addition, 00E is developing the Project Decision Schedule, which may be issued in draft for comment as early as December and will specify DOE's proposed deadlines for agency actions in the development of waste repositories.
i Finally, DOE's Advisory Panel on Alternative Means of Financing and Managing Radioactive Waste Facilities is completing its work and expects to submit its recommendations to the Secretary by mid-November. The staff has been observing the Panel's meetings (see SECY-84-118, March 15, 1984, and SECY-84-338, August 23, 1984). Section 303 of the Act requires the Secretary to consult with the Chairman in conducting the study. The Secretary has stated that this requirement cannot be met until the Chairman is given the opportunity to review and comment on the Department's
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draft report to Congress (letter from Hodel to Palladino, February 16, 1984). The staff will prepare a separate information paper on the Panel's recommendations.
The Environmental Protection Agency is developing its final high-level waste standards and is expected to issue them by January 1985. The staff stands ready to review the Commission's final high-level waste criteria for conformance after the final standards are published.
The staff notes that these actions involve no new resource requirements.
Schedule: Mr. Rusche is currently scheduled to meet with the Commission on November 15, 1984 at 2 p.m.
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k.p-i.I , ~ k_ (s William J. Dircks Executive Director for Operations
Enclosure:
As Stated DISTRIBUTION:
>. Commissioners OGC OPE OI ACRS SECY i
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1 ENCLOSURE 1 BACKGROUND PAPER ON FEDERAL NWPA ACTIONS I. Actions Taken to Date
- 1. Section 112(a)- DOE submitted final repository siting guidelines to NRC for concurrence on May 15, 1984. The Commission voted to concur in the guidelines on June 22, 1984. (SECY-84-233, June 11, 1984).
- 2. Section 121(b)- NRC's technical requirements and criteria for licensing a high-level waste repository were published in the Federal Register on June 21, 1983. (SECY-83-598, April 11, 1983).
- 3. Section 134- A proposed rule establishing procedures for expansion of onsite spent fuel storage capacity or transshipment of fuel was published by NRC on December 5, 1983. (SECY-83-214, June 2, 1983).
- 4. Section 135(g)- Proposed criteria for determining the adequacy of available spent fuel storage capacity were published by NRC on April 29, 1983. SECY-83-112, March 23, 1983). '
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- 5. Section 223(b)- NRC and DOE published a joint notice in the Federal Register on March 30, 1983 offering technical assistance to non-nuclear weapon states in the field of spent fuel storage and disposal. The first annual update of the notice was published on April 6, 1984.
- 6. Sections 301(b) and 216(a)- NRC provided comments to DOE on the preliminary draft Mission Plan on February 8, 1984 and on the formal draft Mission Plan on July 31, 1984. (00E distributed the draft Mission Plan for public comment on May 8, 1984). (SECY-84-270, July 2,1984).
- 7. Section 302- The final waste disposal contract was published by DOE in the Federal Register on April 18, 1983. All necessary contracts were signed and received by DOE by June 30, 1983.
II. Actions in Progress ,
- 1. Section 8- DOE has issued a draft of a report to the President, for i
.. transmission to Corgress, recommending disposal of defense high-level 4
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2 waste in commercial repositories. NRC submitted comments to DOE on the draft on October 15, 1984.
- 2. Section 112(a)- DOE is expected to publish the final repository siting guidelines in November 1984.
- 3. Section 112(b)- 00E is expected to issue draft Environmental Assessments of nine potential repository sites in late December 1984.
- 4. Section 114(e)- DOE is preparing a draft Project Decision Schedule which may be issued for public comment as early as December 1984.
- 5. Section 121- EPA's final high-level waste standards are under development and are expected by January 1985. NRC will review its high-level waste criteria for conformance after the final standards are published. (See SECY-84-320, August 9, 1984).
- 6. Section 134- A final rule establishing procedures for expansion of onsite spent fuel storage capacity or transshipment of fuel is scheduled to be submitted to the Commission in December 1984.
- 7. Section 135(g)- Final criteria for determining the adequacy of available spent fuel storage capacity are schedule to be submitted to the Commission in October 1984.
- 8. Section 301- 00E is currently revising the draft Mission Plan in response to comments received and is expected to submit the final Mission Plan to Congress in February or March of 1985.
- 9. Section 303- 00E's Advisory Panel on Alternative Means of Financing and Managing Radioactive Waste Facilities is completing its work and is expected to submit its recommendations to the Secretary by mid-November 1984. The NRC staff has observed the meetings. The Secretary is required to consult with the Chairman on this study before submitting a report to Congress. DOE's target date for reporting to Congress is December 31, 1984. (SECY-84-118, March 15, 1984; SECY-84-338, August 23, 1984).
- 10. Section 306- The Commission has decided to publish proposed amendments dealing with simulator training requirements and issue a policy statement on training and qualification requirements of plant personnel. (October 12 and 17, 1984 Commission meetings; see also SECY-84-76, February 13, 1984; SECY-84-76A, June 20, 1984; SECY 84-768, September 6, 1984; SECY-84-348, September 4, 1984).
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III. Future Actions ,_
- 1. Section 112(b)- DOE is expected to nominate 5 or more sites for characterization for the first repository in the Spring of 1985, and recommend 3 or more of these to the President shortly thereafter.
The site nominations will be acccmpanied by Environmental Assessments of each site. DOE will issue draft Environmental Assessments of nine potentially acceptable sites for 90-day public comment in December.
- 2. Section 113(b)- DOE is expected to issue at least three site characterization plans during FY85 to 86.
- 3. Section 114(a)(1)(d)- DOE's schedule is to issue a Final EIS on recommendation of a repository for development in the first half of 1990.
-4. Section 141- DOE plans to submit the MRS proposal to Congress by June, 1985. NRC's comments on the proposal must also be submitted by DOE to Congress.
- 5. Section 217(f)- DOE reported to Congress in April, 1984 that the decision on the need for a Test and Evaluation Facility was being delayed until late 1987, when the program's data needs are better established. A written agreement between NRC and DOE on procedures for the TEF would then be developed if DOE decides to construct the facility.
- 6. Section 223(b)- NRC and DOE will publish four more annual updates of a joint notice offering technical assistance to non-nuclear weapon states in the field of spent fuel storage and disposal.
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