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Suggested Citation:"Appendix G Acronyms and Glossary." 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 G Acronyms and Glossary." 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 231
Suggested Citation:"Appendix G Acronyms and Glossary." 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 232

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G Acronyms and Glossary ACRONYMS AEA Atomic Energy Act of 1948, as amended in 1954 AEC U.S. Atomic Energy Commission ALARA as low as is reasonably achievable ANS American Nuclear Society ANSI American National Standards Institute ARMR Association of Radioactive Metals Recyclers ASTSWMO Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials BEIR Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation BRC below regulatory concern BSS Basic Safety Standards (EC) BWR boiling water reactor CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act CFR U.S. Code of Federal Regulations CNWRA Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses CRCPD Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors DCGL derived concentration guideline level DoD U.S. Department of Defense DOE U.S. Department of Energy dpm disintegrations per minute DU depleted uranium 230

APPENDIX G 231 EC European Commission EMC elevated measurement comparison EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ERDA U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration EU European Union GM Geiger-Muller GSD geometric standard deviation HPGe high-purity germanium HPS Health Physics Society IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency ICRP International Commission on Radiological Protection IE Office of Inspection and Enforcement (USNRC) INSC International Nuclear Societies Council ISFSI independent spent fuel storage installation LLRW low-level radioactive waste LLWPAA Low Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 MARSSIM Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual MDC minimum detectable concentration NARM naturally occurring and accelerator-produced radioactive material NAS National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) NCRP National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NESHAP National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants NORM naturally occurring radioactive material NPL National Priorities List NRC National Research Council NRDC Natural Resources Defense Council OAS Organization of Agreement States ppm part per million PRA probabilistic risk assessment PWR pressurized water reactor RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act SAIC Science Applications International Corporation SCA Sanford Cohen & Associates, Inc. SDMP Site Decommissioning Management Plan SI international system of units SRSM slightly radioactive solid material

232 APPENDIX G TEDE total effective dose equivalent TENORM technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials technical support document USACE USNRC United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation U.S. Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission GLOSSARY agreement state Section 274 of the AEA authorizes the Commission to enter into an effective agreement with the governor of a state to allow that state to assume the USNRC's authority to regulate certain types of materials licensees only. Reactor licensees remain the exclusive domain of the USNRC. Today there are 32 agreement states, which have implemented state regula- tions that are equivalent and compatible with the USNRC's regulations, as required by section 274(d) of the AEA. The materials licensees that a state can regulate include those that use or possess source material, byproduct material or special nuclear material in quantities not sufficient to form a critical mass (less than 350 grams for uranium-235. de minimis Shortened form of de minimis non curat lex, which is Latin for the common law doctrine stating, in free translation, that "the law does not concern itself with trifles." A de minimis amount of something (e.g., a dose) is one at or below which statutory or regulatory controls on larger amounts would not apply. ll~e)2 materials Materials defined in section ll~e)~2) of the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) of 1954, as amended to be the tailings or waste produced by the concentration or extraction of uranium or thorium ore processed primarily for its source content. This definition was added in a 1978 by section 201 of the Ura- nium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act, which amended the AEA.

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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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