Improving the Regulation and Management of Low-Activity Radioactive Wastes (2006) / Chapter Skim
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2 Current Initiatives for Improving Low-Activity Waste Regulation and Management
2 Current Initiatives for Improving Low-Activity Waste Regulation and Management
Pages 19-42
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From page 19... ...
The second section summarizes international practices and initiatives for managing LAW.2 The last section of this chapter addresses near- and longer-term issues regarding disposal capacity in the United States. Along with the interim report, the three sections of this chapter provide the basic picture of LAW regulation and management that led the committee to its views on how the present system might be improved.
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From page 20... ...
Slightly Radioactive Low-Level Wastes A previous National Academies' committee reviewed disposition options for slightly radioactive solid wastes from decommissioning the nation's existing power reactors. That committee estimated costs of $4.5 billion to $11.7 billion for disposing of 10 million tons of concrete and metal debris in Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC)
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From page 21... ...
Other states, such as Texas, have determined that municipal landfills offer sufficient protection for certain types of radioactive material, for example, materials with very short halflives, and have defined in their state regulations the kinds and amounts of radioactive wastes that may be so disposed.7 Limited or Free Release for Reuse Since 1999 the USNRC has sought to develop a rule that would provide alternatives to disposing of slightly radioactive solid materials in licensed LLW facilities. On June 1, 2005, the commissioners of the USNRC disapproved the proposed rule "Radiological Criteria for Controlling the Disposition of Solid Materials" (USNRC, 2005)
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From page 22... ...
low-level wastes.8 As noted in the interim report, DOE is responsible for managing and disposing of its own AEA wastes and regulates wastes at its sites according to DOE guidelines and orders. DOE wastes become subject to USNRC regulations only if they are shipped to a commercial LLW facility.
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From page 23... ...
Fernald waste provides a good example of DOE's preference for using its own sites, but to use commercial disposal when necessary due to lack of on-site capability or when commercial disposal provides economic advantages. Because the Fernald site is being decommissioned and closed, DOE disposed on-site only the materials with the lowest concentration of radioactive material -- mostly soils and foundations.
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From page 24... ...
, DOE's LLW disposal practices contain important elements of a risk-informed system. Highly Radioactive Low-Level Wastes In examining wastes legally defined as LLW, the committee in its interim report noted that "low-level" does not describe the quantity or concentration of radioactive materials in LLW, rather it is an artifact of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA)
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From page 25... ...
. Control of Orphan Radioactive Sources National and international initiatives are in place to control, recover, and properly dispose of orphaned12 and no longer useful radioactive sources.
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From page 26... ...
. Greater-than-Class C Low-Level Radioactive Waste LLW that contains concentrations of radioactive material that exceed USNRC Class C can include discrete sources, reactor components, and 13 See http://osrp.lanl.gov.
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From page 27... ...
In a notice published in the Federal Register on May 11, 2005, DOE announced its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the disposal of GTCC LLW, pursuant to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985.
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From page 28... ...
. Uranium mining wastes are excluded from the AEA, but waste from milling uranium ore for nuclear energy applications is federally controlled by the AEA, as amended by the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (UMTRCA)
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From page 29... ...
The CRCPD has taken a significant step toward a regulatory framework for NORM wastes by developing suggested state regulations for these wastes and a guide to implementing the regulations.19 Wastes from the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) On legal grounds, the USNRC determined that it has no authority over uranium milling wastes at sites that were not licensed by the commission before UMTRCA was enacted.20 Pre-UMTRCA wastes that are not subject to federal regulation under the AEA are subject to regulation under state authorities.
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From page 30... ...
EPA radioactive waste disposal standards for phosphogypsum stacks have been adopted for use internationally. Greece's Atomic Energy Com mission, Department of Environmental Radioactivity, recently developed standards for disposal of phosphogypsum into stacks that were closely based on EPA's requirements promulgated under the U.S.
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From page 31... ...
In comparing FUSRAP and NORM wastes, it is notable that the annual production of NORM wastes is about the same as the total volume of FUSRAP wastes, and the radiological hazards of NORM and FUSRAP wastes are comparable. Estimates of the total cost for disposal of FUSRAP are approximately $2 billion.21 NORM and Other LAW Disposal in UMTRCA Mill Tailings Impoundments In 2004, the National Mining Association and the Fuel Cycle Facilities Forum submitted a white paper for consideration by the USNRC that proposes UMTRCA impoundments as a potential disposition path for NORM and other low-activity materials.22 The white paper argues that the USNRC's 10 CFR Part 40, Appendix A criteria, including tailings impoundment design and site closure requirements, can ensure safe containment of a wide range of potential radiological and/or chemically hazardous nonradiological wastes in addition to those defined by statute as 11e.(2)
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From page 32... ...
These groups recognize that consistent, uniform regulation of all radioactive materials is needed, especially for sources that present significant radiation hazards and could potentially be used as "dirty bomb" material.23 Uniform federal regulation of accelerator-produced radionuclides was also sought by the radiopharmaceutical industry. The USNRC included a similar proposal in a suggested draft bill to amend the AEA.
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From page 33... ...
Spain has recently begun operating special disposal cells for very low activity wastes at its El Cabril facility. The cells are constructed according to hazardous waste requirements (Zuloaga, 2003)
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From page 34... ...
Clearance of slightly radioactive materials, which allows them to be removed from regulatory control. Practices that might produce radiation exposures must be justified, and further, they must be optimized to ensure that radiation exposures are kept as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)
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represent the culmination of these and similar efforts to provide guidance on how IAEA member countries can safely and securely manage radioactive sources that pose significant risk.
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European Commission directive 96/29 enforces the IAEA and ICRP recommendations on justification of practices, exemption, optimization, and dose constraint. The directive covers all activities involving radioactive material.
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International regulations are converging on a value of 1 mSv of added annual dose to the public as an appropriate limit for normal exposures arising from applications of radioactive materials, including waste management practices. The USNRC and DOE also use 1 mSv per year as the
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From page 38... ...
THE CURRENT U.S. DISPOSAL SITUATION AND POST-2008 ISSUES The committee's interim report noted that no new LLW disposal sites have been developed by the states or interstate compacts as intended by Congress in the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980.
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From page 39... ...
represents the interstate compacts, states that are designated by a compact to host -- or that currently host -- a commercial LLW disposal facility, and unaffiliated states. Voting members of the Board of Directors are appointed by governors or compact commissions and are authorized to speak for their states and compacts with regard to LLW policy.
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From page 40... ...
. Lastly, if a generator were in a crisis situation because of lack of access to disposal, the generator could seek relief through USNRC action under 10 CFR Part 62, which provides criteria and procedures for emergency access to nonfederal LLW disposal facilities.
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From page 41... ...
International standards provide dosebased exemption or clearance of very low activity wastes from control as radioactive materials. Several countries have special provisions for disposing of LAW that cannot be cleared from controls, but pose little radiation risk.
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