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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Presenations and Committee Activities." National Research Council. 2002. The Disposition Dilemma: Controlling the Release of Solid Materials from Nuclear Regulatory Commission-Licensed Facilities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10326.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Presenations and Committee Activities." National Research Council. 2002. The Disposition Dilemma: Controlling the Release of Solid Materials from Nuclear Regulatory Commission-Licensed Facilities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10326.
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Page 193
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Presenations and Committee Activities." National Research Council. 2002. The Disposition Dilemma: Controlling the Release of Solid Materials from Nuclear Regulatory Commission-Licensed Facilities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10326.
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Page 194
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Presenations and Committee Activities." National Research Council. 2002. The Disposition Dilemma: Controlling the Release of Solid Materials from Nuclear Regulatory Commission-Licensed Facilities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10326.
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Page 195

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B Presentations and Committee Activities 1. Committee Meeting, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., January 3-5, 2001 Controlling the Release of Solid Materials Richard A. Meserve, Chairman, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission EPA's Clean Materials Program Craig Conklin, Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Revision of DOE Requirements for Control of the Release of Materials for Re-use and Recycle Andrew Wallo, Office of Environmental Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Energy Controlling Release of Solid Materials Current Approach Anthony Huffert, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Controlling Release of Solid Materials Public Input Frank Cardile, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Controlling Release of Solid Materials International Status Robert Meck, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Controlling Release of Solid Materials Technical Bases Robert Meck, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 192

APPENDIX B 193 2. Committee Meeting, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., March 26-28, 2001 Radiological Clearance: An Industry Perspective Paul Genoa, Nuclear Energy Institute NAS Release of Radioactive Material George Vanderheyden, Exelon Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company: Decommissioning Update William O'Dell, Entergy Corporation Big Rock Point Restoration Project Kurt Haas, Consumers Energy Release of Solid Materials Ellen Heath, Duke Engineering Envirocare of Utah, Inc.: The Safe Alternative Charles Judd, Envirocare Vehicle Radiation Monitoring Systems Jas Devgun, American Nuclear Society Presentation to National Research Council Committee on Alternatives for Controlling the Release of Solid Materials from NRC-Licensed Facilities Gary Visscher, American Iron and Steel Institute Radiation and Steel Anthony LaMastra, Health Physics Associates Restricted Recycling of Metals Gordon Geiger, University of Arizona National Academy of Sciences Presentation Eric Stuart, Steel Manufacturers Association Washington State's Perspective on Controlling the Release of Solid Materi als from Nuclear Facilities John Erickson, State of Washington, Division of Radiation Protection Presentation to National Academy of Sciences Henry Porter, S. C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Comments on Clearance Rules John Erickson, Organization of Agreement States . Position Statement of CRCPD Kathleen McAllister, Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors

194 APPENDIX B Radioactivity in Solid Waste David Alla rd. State of Pennsylvania Bureau of Radiation Protection Federal Solid Waste Disposal Regulations Bob Dellinger, US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste Radioactive Materials Found in Municipal Waste and Recycle Materials Greg Smith, Radiation Service Organization Statement to the Committee Dan Guttman, Attorney-at-law Committee Must Safeguard Public Health and Allow More Public Interest Input David Ritter, Public Citizen Radioactive Waste and Materials Release and Recycling Diane D'Arrigo, Nuclear Information and Resource Service Presentation to Committee on Alternatives for Controlling the Release of Solid Materials from NRC-Licensed Facilities Jens Hovgaard, Exploranium G.S. Ltd. Radioactive Waste Management at Stanford Linear Accelerator Steven Frey, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Brokering, Assaying, and Releasing "Potentially Clean" Waste Al Johnson, Duratek, Inc. Demolition Waste and Metals Recycling Al Johnson, Duratek, Inc. Comments of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Robert Garbini, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association 3. Committee Subgroup Site Visit to ATG, Richland, Washington, April 16, 2001 4. Committee Subgroup Site Visit to Duratek Inc., Oak Ridge, Tennessee,,June 1, 2001 5. Committee Meeting, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., June 12-15, 2001 Discussion of EPA Technical Support Document Robert Anigstein, Sanford Cohen & Associates

APPENDIX B Discussion of NUREG- 1640 Robert Meck, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Recyclable Metallurgical Scrap Metal for the Steel Industry Ray Turner, Health Physicist, David J. Joseph Company Scope of International Regulations Gordon Linsley, Waste Safety Section, International Atomic Energy Agency Application of the Concepts of Clearance in the European Union Augustin Janssens, Environment Directorate-General, European Commission A Nuclear Decommissioner's Views on Clearance Levels Shankar Menon, OECD/NEA Cooperative Programme on Decommissioning Stakeholder Involvement Strategies for Highly Technical and Controversial Issues Janesse Brewer, Senior Facilitator, The Keystone Center SAIC Organizational Conflict of Interest Dan Guttman, Attorney-at-Law 195 A Histoncal Perspective on the NRC Public Participation Process After the BRC Policy Francis Cameron, Special Counsel for Public Liaison, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 6. Committee Subgroup Meeting, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., July 16-18, 2001 7. Committee Subgroup Meeting, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., July 30-August 1, 2001 8. Committee Meeting, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, August 29-31, 2001 9. Committee Meeting, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., November 19-20, 2001

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The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) and its predecessor, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), have attempted since the 1970s to give greater uniformity to the policy and regulatory framework that addresses the disposition of slightly radioactive solid material. The issue remains unresolved and controversial. The USNRC has tried to issue policy statements and standards for the release of slightly radioactive solid material from regulatory control, while such material has been released and continues to be released under existing practices. In 1980 the USNRC proposed regulatory changes to deregulate contaminated metal alloys but withdrew them in 1986 and began work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop more broadly applicable federal guidance. In 1990 the USNRC issued a more sweeping policy, as directed by the Low Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 (LLWPAA), declaring materials with low concentrations of radioactivity contamination "below regulatory concern" (BRC) and hence deregulated. Congress intervened to set aside the BRC policy in the Energy Policy Act of 1992, after the USNRC's own suspension of the policy. Subsequent attempts by USNRC staff to build consensus among stakeholder groups as a basis for future policy articulations were met by boycotts of stakeholder meetings, both in the immediate aftermath of the BRC policy and again in 1999 during public hearings on a new examination of the disposition of such materials. The only USNRC standard addressing the disposition of slightly radioactive solid material is a guidance document published in June 1974 by the AEC, whose regulatory authority over civilian nuclear facilities the USNRC assumed upon its creation a few months later in January 1975.

In August 2000, with another examination of this issue under way, the USNRC requested that the National Research Council form a committee to provide advice in a written report. The National Research Council established the Committee on Alternatives for Controlling the Release of Solid Materials from Nuclear Regulatory Commission-Licensed Facilities to address this task. The committee's task involved evaluating and providing recommendations on the history of the technical bases and policies and precedents for managing slightly radioactive solid material from USNRC-licensed facilities; the sufficiency of technical bases needed to establish standards for release of solid materials from regulatory control ("clearance standards") and the adequacy of measurement technologies; the concerns of stakeholders and how the USNRC should incorporate them; and the efforts of international organizations on clearance standards. The committee was also asked to examine the current system for release of slightly radioactive solid material from regulatory control, to recommend whether the USNRC should continue to use this system and to recommend changes if appropriate. The committee's fact-finding process included two site visits to waste brokering facilities and nearly 40 invited presentations from the USNRC, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and EPA staff; stakeholder organizations; nuclear industry organizations; and other interested parties.

In conducting its study, the committee first examined the current system of standards, guidance, and practices used by the USNRC and agreement states to determine whether to release slightly radioactive solid material from further regulatory control under the Atomic Energy Act. The committee found that the current, workable system allows licensees to release material according to pre-established criteria but contains inconsistencies such that nuclear reactor licensees can release materials only if there is no detectable radioactivity (above background levels), whereas materials licensees can do so if small detectable levels are found. The committee evaluated technical analyses of the estimated doses of the final disposition of slightly radioactive solid materials. These analyses were conducted by federal agencies and international organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the European Commission, and other groups. The Disposition Dilemma:Controlling the Release of Solid Materials from Nuclear Regulatory Commission-Licensed Facilities explains the committee's findings and recommendations.

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