ML20196B626
| ML20196B626 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 10/25/1988 |
| From: | Chilk S NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY) |
| To: | NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY) |
| References | |
| FRN-53FR43896, RULE-PRM-20-18 NUDOCS 8812060323 | |
| Download: ML20196B626 (5) | |
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10 CFR PART 20 Y3 (Docket No. PRM-20-18]
The Rockefeller University; Receipt i'F /
.g of Petition for Rulemaking
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Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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ACTION:
Petition for rulemaking:
Notice of receipt.
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SUMMARY
The Commission is publishing for public comment a notice of receipt of a petition for rulemaking dated August 16, 1988, which was filed with the Commission by The Rockefeller University.
The petition was docketed by the Commission on September 13, 1988, and has been assigned Docket No. PRM-20-18.
The petitioner requests that the Commission amend its regulations to permit a licensee to dispose of solid biomedical waste containing small amounts of radioactivity by on-site incineration.
The petitioner believes this to be a reasonable alternat e to burial of the wastes.1tt a commercial low-level radioacti a waste site.
DATE:
Submit comments by (60 days after publication in the Federal Register).
Concents ceceived af ter this date will be considered if Lt is practial re de rc Ntt tho % nission is able to an.u.e unsideration only for comments received on or before this dat.:.
0812060323 00102D PDR PHM PDH 20-10 b d/C
2 ADDRESSES:
Submit written comments to the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Docketing and Service Branch.
For a copy of the petition, write the Regulatory Publications Branch, Division of Freedom of Information and Publications Services, Office of Administration and Resources Management, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
The petition and copies of comments received may be inspected and copied for a fee at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW., Lower Level, Washington, DC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael T. Lesar, Acting Chief, Rules Review Section, Regulatory Publications Branch, Division of Freedom of Information and Publications Services, Office of Administration and Resources Management, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory commission, Washington, DC 20555, Telephone: 301-492-7758 or Toll Freer 800-368-5642.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Nuc1 car Regulatory Commission (NRC) has established regulations that permit a licensee to dispose of certain materials contaminated with small amounts of certain radioactive isotopes without regard to its radicactivity (10 CFR 20.306).
The petitioner requests that the NRC expand this regulation by classifying the disposal of solid biomedical wastes such as paper,
3-glass, and plastic trash containing small amounts of hydrogen-3 and carbon-14 as.below regulatory concern.
'i'he petitionec would then be able to dispose of the material by on-site incineration.
To accomplish the desired amendment, the petitioner suggests that the following specific language be added to 10 CFR 20.306:
"Any licensee may dispose of the following licensed material by incineration on site.
0.05 microcuries or less of hydrogen-3 or carbon-14, per gram of solid waste up to 1 Ci of hydrogen-3 and 0.1 Ci of carbon-14 per year," with the application of a summation rule for radionuclide mixtures.
The petitioner believes that the classification of this type of waste as below regulatory concern is a reasonable alternative to burial of the waste at a commercial low-level radioactive waste site.
According to the petitioner, a generic rulemaking of the type suggested would reduce the number of waste generators and the amounts of unstable class A radioactive material that is now i
l shipped for burial.
The petitioner believes that the reduction in i
volume and number of shipments would facilitate better management of remaining radioactive wastes and reduce the potential exposure i
to waste handlers and individuals along transit routes.
The l
l petitioner believes that the suggested amendment would save l
biomedical institutions significant cost expenditures and that the 1
funds could be better used for basic and clinical research.
According to the petitioner, 90 percent of the radioactive material which must be shipped to commercial low-level radioactive
4 waste sites for burial contains hydrogen-3 and carbon-14.
The petitioner asserts that most of the hydrogen-3 and carbon-14 eventually escapes into the atmosphere whether it is buried or incinerated.
Furthermore, the petitioner states that incineration results in a monitored, controlled release of basic compounds while releases from burial sites are r.at monitored.
The petitioner states that, in relation to the amounts of hydrogen-3 and carbon-14 present
.'.n the environment, the amounts that would be added through the incineration of biomedical waste would be infinitesimal.
The petitioner would incinerate the biomedical wast.e in an on-site, operating, controlled air incinerator which is permitted to burn 300 pounds of animal tissues and 100 pounds of plastics and hospital wastes por hour.
If the petitioner's request is granted, the petitioner anticipates incinerating approximately 5000 pounds of radioactively contaminated solid wastes yearly.
Based on inventory and disposal manifests, the incinerated waste vould contain less than 500 millicuries of hydrogen-3 and 10 millicuries of carbon-14.
According to the disposal manifests of all institutions in New York City for 1987, 10,000 cubic feet of solid waste, containing a total of 5.4 curies of hydrogen-3 and 0.2 curie of carbon-14, were shipped to commercial disposal facilities.
The average concentration of radioactivity in thoce materials was 0.02 microcurie per gram.
Using the IMPACTS-BRC meth6dology in which all of the material containing hydrogen-3 and carbon-14 from New
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l York City is disposed of through on-site incineration, the maximum dose to an off-site individual would be 0.0085 millirem per year.
Thus, the petitioner contends that the total amounts of radioactivity that would be released as a result of the requested action creates no adverse health effects.
The petition has been reviewed in relation to the Commission's policy statement on petitions for disposal of radioactive waste streams below regulatory concern, Appendix B to 10 CFR Part 2 (51 FR 30839; August 29, 1986).
It has been found that the petition does not contain sufficient information to qualify for expedited handling in accordance with this policy statement and its staff implementation plan (51 FR 30840; August 29, 1986).
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27 th day of((dh,
1988.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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'v Secretasi si the Commission.
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