Overview and Discussion of NRCs Issue Paper Considering Requirements for Release of Solid Materials

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Radiation Safety Support Team Topical Meeting
Chicago, Illinois
Overview and Discussion of NRCs Issue Paper
Considering Requirements for Release of Solid
Materials from Licensed Facilities
Brian Hearty
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Nuclear Regulatory Commission Enhanced Public
Participation

• Issues Paper
• June 30, 1999, 64FR125 35090-35100

• Facilitated Public Meetings
• September 15-16, San Francisco
• October 5-6, Atlanta
• November 1-2, Rockville, MD

• Written and Electronic Comments
• Comments received by November 15, 1999 will be
  assured of consideration

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Regulatory Inconsistency

• 10 CFR 20
• Public Dose Limit and Decommissioning Criteria Do
  Not Address Release of Solid Material

• 10 CFR 20 Appendix B, Table 2
• Only Gaseous and Liquid Release Limits

• 10 CFR 40.51 and 40.13
• Contain transfer or unimportant quantity
  provisions, respectively, which are the subject
  of a separate Commission-directed initiative on
  Part 40 and are outside the scope of this effort

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Solid Material

• Metals, Building Concrete, Onsite Soils,
  Equipment, Furniture, etc.
• Present at, and/or used in, licensed nuclear
  facilities during routine operations

• Surface Contamination

• Volumetric Contamination
• Porous material, such as soils
• Activated
• Recycling process

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Current NRC Review Practice

• Requests for Release of Solid Material Reviewed
  on a Case-By-Case Basis
• Regulatory Guide 1.86
• No detectable levels above background
• Use of 10 CFR 20.2002 to allow disposal in other
  than a licensed low-level waste disposal site

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Potential Courses of Actionfor Release of Solid
Materials

• Continue Current Practice

• Proceed with Rulemaking

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Current Policies of Other Agencies

• IAEA and CEC
• Draft standard based on 1 mrem/yr dose

• EPA
• No generally applicable standard but dose from
  exempt coal ash could be benchmark
• Developing screening guidelines for import of
  material cleared for other countries

• DOE
• Order 5400.5
• NRC would have to consider licensing material
  released from DOE site if consistent standard not
  adopted

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Current Policies of Other Agencies

• State Governments
• CRCPD Committee
• Energy Policy Act of 1992 allows any State to
  regulate NRC exempted low-level radioactive waste

• NCRP, ANSI etc.
• NCRP 116 recommends acceptable levels of
  radiation exposure to the public
• NRC required to use technical standards adopted
  by voluntary consensus standards bodies such as
  ANSI

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Previous NRC Efforts

• Below Regulatory Concern Policy Statement of 1990
  
• Envisioned setting a standard for release of
  solid materials for recycle
• Revoked by Congress in 1992
• NRC careful not to make the same mistake
• Rulemaking not policy statement
• NRC will evaluate implications of a rule in
  accordance with NEPA as specified in 10 CFR Part
  51

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Issues for Discussion

• Four Main Issues Currently Identified
• Each discussion question considers alternatives
  and includes specific items of discussion

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Issue Number One

• Should the NRC Address Inconsistency in its
  Release Standards by Considering Rulemaking on
  Release of Solid Materials?
• Alternative (1) No NRC Rulemaking
• Alternative (2) Develop a Proposed Rule

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Specific Item for Discussion (1)

• Does current case-by-case review, using existing
  guidance, provide an adequate regulatory
  framework?
• Can volumetric contamination be addressed similar
  to surface contamination is in RG 1.86?
• If no rule is issued, should RG 1.86 be updated
  with a set of dose-based values?

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Specific Item for Discussion (2)

• Should NRC develop a dose-based rule?
• Would a rule address volumetric contamination in
  a more consistent manner?
• Would a rule meet specific regulatory needs such
  as type of material to be covered, restricted vs
  unrestricted use?

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Specific Item for Discussion (3)

• Would a rule contribute to maintaining public
  safety, enhancing NRC effectiveness and
  efficiency, building public confidence, and
  reducing unnecessary regulatory burden?

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Specific Item for Discussion (4)

• Would NRC issuance of a rule definitively resolve
  licensee questions regarding finality of NRC
  release decisions if EPA promulgates a rule at a
  later date?

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Specific Item for Discussion (5)

• Would potential savings in resources by having a
  regulation in place offset the resources spent on
  rulemakings?

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Issue Number Two

• If NRC Decides to Develop a Proposed Rule, What
  are the Principal Alternatives for Rulemaking
  that Should be Considered, and What Factors
  Should be used in Making decisions Between
  Alternatives?
• Alternative (1) Permit release for unrestricted
  use if potential dose less than specified level
• Alternative (2) Restrict release to only certain
  authorized uses with low potential for public
  exposure
• Alternative (3) Require all such materials to be
  disposed of at a licensed low-level waste
  facility
• Other Alternatives may be identified

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Health and EnvironmentSpecific Item for
Discussion (A1)

• What individual dose is acceptable regarding
  release of solid material for unrestricted use?
• Or, should release not be permitted if the
  materials are potentially contaminated?

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Specific Item for Discussion (A2)

• How should environmental impacts be balanced?
• What types of impacts should be considered in
  decisionmaking?
• Radiological impacts are considered in
  NUREG-1640. Should these and other pathways of
  exposure to people should be considered?
• Should non-radiological impacts such as the need
  to mine new metals to replace metals that could
  have been released but were disposed of at a LLW
  site?

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Specific Item for Discussion (A3)

• What is potential for exposure to multiple
  sources of material released for unrestricted
  use, and what are the ways in which persons could
  be exposed to multiple sources?
• To what extent is there a potential that a single
  scrap facility would handle inputs of released
  material from several licensed facilities?

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Specific Item for Discussion (A4)

• How should societal impacts, such as public
  concern, be factored into the environmental
  evaluation?

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Specific Item for Discussion (A5)

• How should the impacts upon industries with
  special concerns about the presence of
  radioactivity in materials, such as film,
  electronic, and metal recycling be considered?

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Cost-BenefitSpecific Item for Discussion (B1)

• How should the costs of survey methods and
  appropriate instruments to measure very low
  levels of volumetrically contaminated material be
  incorporated into the rulemaking decisions?

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Specific Item for Discussion (B3)

• What are the major economic costs associated with
  landfill disposal of material released for
  unrestricted use?
• Would problems be encountered in this material
  going to a landfill?

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Specific Item for Discussion (B5)

• What is the potential for buildup of
  radioactivity in commerce as a result of
  continued release of solid material for
  unrestricted use over time?
• How should this buildup be estimated?

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ImplementationSpecific Item for Discussion (C1)

• What is the capability of surveying materials
  (for both surface and volumetric contamination)
  at the different alternative dose levels?
• What effect would this have on setting the
  standard?

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ImplementationSpecific Item for Discussion (C1)

• Should there be provisions for survey capability
  at the receiving facilities and what should be
  the nature of those provisions?
• How can surveys be designed to prevent releasing
  material in excess of permissible levels?

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ImplementationSpecific Item for Discussion (C1)

• Over what volume or mass of materials should
  surveys be performed in assessing compliance with
  release levels?
• Should materials of varying concentration levels
  be combined, and if so, how?

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ImplementationSpecific Item for Discussion (C3)

• How should criteria for release of solid material
  be incorporated into NRCs regulations?
• Should they be expressed as a dose criteria
  and/or as concentration values in different media
  based upon specified dose objectives and standard
  models for exposure?

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ImplementationSpecific Item for Discussion (D1e)

• Should the NRC simply adopt the standards
  recommended by other agencies rather than
  conducting its own analyses?

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Issue Number Three

• If NRC Decides to Develop a Proposed Rule
  Containing Criteria for Release of Solid
  Materials, Could Some Form of Restrictions on
  Future Use of Solid Materials be Considered as an
  Alternative?
• Alternative (1) Restrict the first use of solid
  material to certain authorized uses
• Alternative (2) Restrict release of solid
  material to permitted disposal

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Specific Items for Discussion (1-4)

• Should NRC consider restrictions on future use as
  an alternative to unrestricted use?
• If so, what types of restricted uses should be
  considered?
• What types of controls could restrict use to
  assure that the material would not be released
  for unrestricted use?
• How long would the use be restricted?

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Issue Number Four

• If NRC Decides to Develop a Proposed Rule, What
  Materials Should be covered?
• Alternative (1) Only a select group of solid
  materials, including certain metals (steel,
  aluminum, and cooper) and concrete and soil
• Alternative (2) A wider group of materials to
  also include sludge, sewage, wood, glass and
  others
• Alternative (3) Conduct rulemaking on the select
  group now and include other materials at a later
  time

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Specific Items for Discussion (1,3,5)

• Is it appropriate to proceed with a rulemaking
  for certain materials using the information
  developed for the materials in NUREG-1640?
• If yes, how should the release of other materials
  be handled?
• Should the NRC rulemaking be extended to cover
  materials that may be released from nuclear
  facilities operated by the DOE?

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Apparent NRC Preferences

• Proceed with Rulemaking
• Permit Release of Material for Unrestricted Use
  if the Potential Dose to the Public is Less Than
  a Specified Level
• Do not use Restrictions on the Release of the
  Material
• Initially Develop a Proposed Rule for Only the
  Select Group of Materials Considered in NUREG-1640