Press Release-92-058, NRC Proposes Changes on Manifests for LOW-LEVEL Radioactive Waste Shipments
| ML003702455 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 04/21/1992 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs |
| To: | |
| Category:Press Release | |
| References | |
| Press Release-92-058 | |
| Download: ML003702455 (2) | |
Text
No.
92-58 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tel. 301-504-2240 (Tuesday, April 21, 1992)
NRC PROPOSES CHANGES ON MANIFESTS FOR LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE SHIPMENTS The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering amending its regulations to improve the quality and usefulness of information contained on shipment manifests associated with the transportation of low-level radioactive waste.
Manifests are large, multi-copy detailed invoices of cargo currently required by the NRC and others to accompany and track transfers of low-level radioactive waste intended for disposal in the United States at low-level waste disposal facilities.
The NRC believes that the existing manifest and recordkeeping system needs improvement because information in current manifests is inconsistent and does not meet all regulatory needs as presently envisioned.
Information storage at existing low-level waste disposal facilities (located at Barnwell, SC; Richland, WA; and Beatty, NV) is similarly inconsistent, and the information cannot be readily accessed and evaluated.
These problems could become worse with the expected increase in the number of disposal sites nation-wide.
The proposed uniform manifest would help solve these problems by clarifying, standardizing, reorganizing and, to a limited degree, expanding the information contained on existing manifests.
Current NRC control and tracking requirements for low-level waste shipments would remain unchanged, but the capability of tracing the origin of low-level waste back from the disposal site to the generator would be improved.
The changes would also require low-level radioactive waste disposal facility operators to store information electronically and be capable of transmitting the stored information on machine-readable media, such as magnetic discs or tapes.
In addition, one part of the manifest would meet the Department of Transportation's requirements for shipping papers.
2 Further details of the proposed changes, which are to Parts 20 and 61 of the Commission's regulations, are contained in a Federal Register notice published on April 21, 1992. Copies of the proposed new uniform low-level radioactive waste manifest are available from Mark Haisfield, Office of Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, telephone:
301/492-3877.
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments by July 20, 1992, to the Secretary, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention:
Docketing and Service Branch.