ML20127J279
| ML20127J279 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/29/1985 |
| From: | Dircks W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | National Resources Defense Council |
| References | |
| FRN-50FR20306, RULE-PRM-20-7 NUDOCS 8505210429 | |
| Download: ML20127J279 (12) | |
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IIOCKET NUMBER 1
PETITION RULE PRM J8-7
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMilSSION -
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10 CFR Part 20 (DocketNo.PRM-20-7) h Natural Resources Defense Council,-Inc.;
to Action on Petition for Rulemaking m
. AGENCY:
Nuclear Regulatory Connission.
ACTION:
Denial-of petition for rulemaking.
SUMMARY
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for
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ruler.aking Tsubmitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. The petitiences requested that the Commission adopt interim regulations for shallow
.. iand disposal of low-level radioactive waste. The petition is being denied on the grour.ds that the promulgation of the final rule creating 10 CFR.Part 61 1
1(entitled " Licensing Requiretents for Lano Disposal of Radiccctive Waste")
provides the means of ensuring consistent and safe practices for near-surface disposal of radioactive wastes. Thus, the.seven issues raised in the petition were encompassed in the Part 61 requirements.
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ADDRESSES: Copies of correspondence and documents cited below are available
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for public inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room at 1717 H Street, NW,
, Washington, DC.
.i FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth C. Jackson, Sr. Section Leader, Low-Level Waste and Uranium Recovery Projects Branch, Division of Waste 1
Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission, Washington, DC 20555, Telephone: 301-427-4500.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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EE.ckground B
On August 6,1976, Richard Cotton and Terry Lash submitted to the Corriission a petition 'for ruid, making on behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. A notice of receipt of the petitier. for rulemaking was published in the Fedir:0 Fer'istf r en Septe&r T'
'94 f a: FR 41759).
T R petitiorfrs requested that the Commissicn adopt the following provisions as interirr L
standards for shallow land disposal of low-level radioactive wastes.
A.
Long-Lived, Transuranic-Contaminated Wastes
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The transfer of regulatory authority over long-lived a
transuranic wastes from the states to NRC.
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[7590-01] 2.
An imediate end to burial of long-lived transuranic wastes with only retrievable storage permitted.
3.
Payment of fees by persons that produce transuranic wastes to finance adequately safe permanent disposal.
4.
Establishment of a reporting and inspection system operated by NRC (with on-site, unannounced inspection by NRC inspectors) to assure accurate classification of transuranic wastes.
B.
Other Low-Level Radioactive Wastes 5.
The suspension of licensing of new or enlarged burial sites i
until NRC establishes site selection criteria, radioactive release standards setting maxiraum permissible migration riu s for redictuclide u.?y ' rom digtsai situ, ninimum standards for environrrental monitoring programs, and standards for long-term care with mechanisms to finance such care.
6.
Establishment of minimum fees to be paid effective imediately for each cubic foot of waste buried at existing sites to assure adequate funds for long-term care.
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[7590-01]
-4 C.
Solidification of Low-Level Radioactive Wastes Before Shipment 7.
The solidification of all radioactive wastes before shipment to reduce the potential for release to the environment either through accident or sabotage.
In an accompanying document (entitled " Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Petition for Rulemaking and Request for a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement"), the petitioners also requested ths the Commission undertake the preparation of a programatic generic environmental impact statement (GEIS) on low-level waste disposal.
II. Partial Denial of Petition Following an analysis by the NRC staff of the issues and points raised by the petition and of the coments received in response to the filing of the retitiu, the MC put'irbed e per'.ici dcaici cf the petit:u.; spei'ictliy, th request for the preparation of a separate programatic GEIS on the grounds that the Commission believed that a separate GEIS for low-level waste disposal was neither required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) nor necessary for the development of the NRC program. This denial was included in a Federal Register notice that was published on July 25, 1979 (44 FR 43541) and included a lengthy discussion of the petition, the public coments received on the petition, the NRC staff position on the petition, and a discussion of the a
[7590-01] regulations development program which the NRC staff had begun in 1977. The NRC staff indicated that when complete, the regulations under development would address the issues of disposal site selection, financing arrangements for closure and long-term maintenance and surveillance of disposal sites, waste fom and classification, and. waste disposal citernatives.
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III. Development of 10 CFR Part 61 The regu!ations that the NRC staff had under development became the new 10 CFR Part 61, " Licensing Requirements for Land Disposal of Radioactive Waste." Part 61 includes licensing procedures, performance objectives and technical reouirements for land disposci of radicactive waste. The Draf t Environtrental Impact. Statement was published on October 22, 1981 (46 FR 51776) following the publication of the notice of proposed rulemaking for Part 61 on July 24, 1981
.(46FR38081). Following the NRC staff's evaluation of a broad range of public corrents, the final EIS was published on November 26, 1982 (47 FR 53829) and the f hal rule for D.r+
61 wn p+1ished en Dccerber 2', :EU (47 FE 5V/O.
Part 61 establishes a classification scheme which divides waste intended for
-land disposal into three classes based on radiological hazard: Class A, B, and C.
Class A waste contains the lowest concentrations of radionuclides and must meet only minimum waste form requirements. Class B and Class C wastes contain higher concentrations and must meet both the minimum and stability waste form requirements. Additionally, Class C waste must be disposed of by the disposal
[7590-01] site operator using methods that provide additional protection against inadvertent intrusion.
IV. Resolution of petition issues in 10 CFR Part 61
. Issue 1.
The transfer of regulatory authority over long-lived transuranic wastes from the states to NRC.
Part 61: Agreement States have made changes in their license conditions for the operating comercial disposal sites to effect compatibility with Part 61 (See 5 61.2, Definitions; Subpart C, Performance Objectives; Subpart D, Technical Requirements for Land Disposal Facilities; portions of Subpart B necessary to implement Subparts C and D; 5 20.311, Transfer for Disposal and manifests; and that portion of Subpart E requiring closure funding arrangements). See issue 2, below, regarding transuranic waste disposal.
Issue 2.
An imr:ediate end to burial of 1crg-lived transuranic wastes with only retrievable storage permitted.
Part 61: The Part 61 classification system (5 61.55) limits the disposal of long-lived transuranic contaminated waste to 100 nanocuries per gram (Class C maximum concentration). Wastes exceeding Class C are currently being stored by waste generators at their sites.
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[7590-01] The NRC staff is currently developing criteria for evaluating disposal of waste which exceeds Class C concentrations. The results of the criteria development will help accomplish two objectives:
c expansion of the 10 CFR Part 61 impact analysis methodology (on a generic rather than site-specific basis) and provision for supporting information for case-by-case evaluations of the impacts of individual waste and variations on disposal methods. The methodology will 61so enable' a limited independent check of site-specific proposals.
Efforts to define requirements for disposal of waste that exceed Class C. concentrations are expected to take several years. However, the staff believes that generic guidance for evaluating disposal requests for a wide spectrum of these waster will be available by ci? 1985.
Issue 3.
Payment of fees by persons that produce transuranic wastes to finance adequately safe permanent disposal.
Part 61: Subpart E, Financial Assurances, s61.61 - Each applicant for a disposal site license shall show that it possesses the necessary funds to cover the estimated costs of conducting all licensed activities; $ 61.62 - Applicants shall provide assurance of funds to carry out disposal site closure and stabilization; and 5 61.63 -
Applicants shall provide assurances that arrangements are in place to provide sufficient funds to cover the cost of monitoring and any e'
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=[7590-01] required maintenance during the institutional control period (i.e.,
up to 100 years).
Radioactive waste which exceeds the Class C concentration limits is not generally acceptable for near-surface disposal (in the case of transuranic waste, the Class C upper limit is 100 nanocuries per gram ofwaste). However, the Commission may, upon request or its own initiative, authorize other provisions for the classification and characteristics of waste on 'a specific basis, if, after evaluation of the specific characteristics of the waste, disposal site, and method of disposal, it finds reasonable assurance of compliance with the Part 61 performance objt.ctives (sec 561.58).
The matter of special fees being charged to waste generators for disposal of above Class C wastes is currently moot since,.in the absence of a repository or. other method for disposal, these wastes are cu'".r tly Nirt titred by bc v;aste ;ct ;rcters.
tien these facilities becerte available, the matter of fees will be considered.
Issue 4.
Establishment of a reporting and inspection system operated by NRC (with on-site, unannounced inspection by NRC inspectors) to assure adequate classification of transuranic waste,
[7590-01]
.g-Part 61: Subpart G. Records, Reports, Tests, and Inspections, il 61.80, 61.81, 61.82, and 61.83 - The consnercial operating disposol sites are all under Agreement State jurisdiction, and requirements compatible to Subpart G are required by license conditions at the sites.
Issue 5.
.The suspension of licensing of new or enlarged sites until NRC establishes site selection criteria, radioactive release standards setting maximum permissible migration rates for radionuclides.away from disposal sites, minimum standards for environmental monitoring programs, and standards for long-term care with mechanisms to finance such care.
Part 61: Subpart D, Technical-Requirements for Land Disposal Facilities-
@ 61.50 specifies the minimum characteristics a disposal site must have to be acceptable' for use as a near-surface disposal facility; !
61.53 (b),~(c), and (d) require a licensee to have plans for ccrrective rrw res if rigretion of rtdiu ucli6e: vould irdic6te that the performance objectives of Subpart C may not be ret, require maintenance of a monitoring program during the disposal facility construction and operation, and requires maintenance of a monitoring system after disposal site closure based on the operating history and the closure and stabilization experience of the disposal site; also Subpart C, 9 61.41 provides limits for annual dose rates to members of the public from releases of radioactive material to the general
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[7590-01] environment..The requirements of Subpart E, Financial Assurances, are discussed under Issue 3.
Issue 6.
Establishment of minimum fees to be paid effective immediately for each cubic foot of waste buried at existing sites to assure adequate funds for long-term care.
Part 61: Subpart E, Financial Assurances, is not incumbent on the existing sites, since they operate under Agreement State regulations.
However, the Agreement States routinely assess a charge for waste disposal which is placed in a fund to finance long-tenn care of the site.
Issue.7. The solidification of all radioactive wastes before shipment to reduce the potential for relcase to the environment either through accident or sabotage.
Part 61: Subpart D, E C1.56, peragraphs (a)(?) and (b)(2) assure that wastes will not be shipped as liquids.
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[7590-01] The foregoing discussion of NRC actions, coupled with the earlier partial denial of the NRDC petition, completes the NRC's response to this NRDC.
petition. The Commission believes that implementation of 10 CFR Part 61 provides the means of ensuring consistent and safe practices for near-surface disposal of wastes. Accordingly, the petition is denied.
p Dated at Bethesda, Maryland this 2.9 day of M41C/P,1985.
FOR THE-NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION William J. Dircks Executive Director for Operations i
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[7590-01] The foregoing discussion of NRC actions, coupled with the earlier partial denial of the NRDC petition, completes the NRC's response to this NRDC petition. The Commission believes that implementation of 10 CFR Part 61 provides the means lof ensuring consistent and safe prcctices for near-surface disposal of wastes. Accordingly, the petition is denied.
o Dated at Bethesda, Maryland this 3.f day of /147C/P,1985.
8 FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WilliamI.Dircks Executive Director for Operations 5
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