ML20151L706
| ML20151L706 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/10/1997 |
| From: | Rogers K NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Magaffigan E NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9708070157 | |
| Download: ML20151L706 (1) | |
Text
-
Od M,._
\\
g rag'o UNITED STATES
<,9 t
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION CoMEXM-97-002
. E W AS HIN GTON. D.C. 20555 97 MU 2a "; 9 h
OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONE R May 28, 1997
- 4. k %
00 MEMORANDUM TO:
Chairman Jackson
(*
99 8 mmissioner Roaers Commissioner Dicus fELEASED TO THE POR j
Commissioner Diaz 9/M/W
[pu FROM:
Edward McGaffigan. Jr. ; /L '.4 1,
date initia!
- .......,,,,,s
SUBJECT:
NRC ACTION WITH REGARD TO WARD VALLEY LOW LEVEL WASTE (LLW)
DISPOSAL SITE In recent separate meetings with Carl Lischeske. Manager of the Low Level Radioactive Waste Program for the California Department of Health, and the NMSS staff. I was made aware of a " Fact Sheet" related to the proposed Ward Valley LLW disposal site that was published by the U.S. Deartment of the Interior (DOI) and of an informal recuest from Mr. Lischesce that the NRC seek to become a " cooperating agency"' wit, regard to DOI's preparation of a second Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on Ward Valley.
One basis for the recuest from Mr. Lischeske is that many of the issues that DOI proposes to readcress in its second SEIS involve technical radiological matters particularly within the scope of NRC's special expertise and outside DOI's areas of expertise.
Illustrative of D01's lack of expertise is DOI's
" Fact Sheet" (copy attached) which according to the NMSS staff, is rife with errors and misleading statements. is critical of current law and NRC definitions of low level waste, and needs to be corrected.
To an extent, I have explored with the NMSS staff the issue of a more active role for the NRC in the ongoing DOI work on Ward Valley.
From these discussions. I believe that there are several approaches that might reasonably be considered to lend NRC's assistance and expertise to the efforts to resolve the technical and environmental issues on Ward Valley that DOI seems intent on pursuing. Specifically, we might ask the staff to --
(1) Assess the DOI " Fact Sheet" and send a letter to DOI correcting the 2
errors in the " Fact Sheet" and offering to assist DOI. within NRC's Under CEO regulations, a " cooperating agency" is "any Federal agency other than a lead agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved in a proposal for major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment." 40 CFR 1508.5.
An agency may be designated as a " cooperating agency" upon the request of the lead agency.
40 CFR 1501.6.
The NMSS staff noted that DOI has informally indicated in the past that I
2 it would not seek NRC's assistance.
Ih 9708070157 970610
< ;i PDR COMMS NRCC 7
I CORRESPONDENCE PDR g,g e
L LJ l