[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 239 (Wednesday, December 14, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-30696]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: December 14, 1994]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Generic Dose Assessment for Disposal of Incinerator Ash in a
Landfill; Notice of Availability
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability of generic dose assessment for disposal
of incinerator ash in a landfill.
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SUMMARY: The NRC is noticing the availability and soliciting comments
on a Generic Dose Assessment for Disposal of Incinerator Ash in a
Landfill. NRC has assessed potential doses associated with disposal of
incinerator ash containing low concentrations of radioactive material
in sanitary landfills. The NRC intends to use this assessment as the
technical basis for developing guidance that would be applied in
authorizing disposal of incinerator ash generated by licensed
radioactive materials facilities.
DATES: Written comments on the Generic Dose Assessment received by
February 13, 1995 will be considered in determining whether revisions
to the dose assessment are appropriate and in developing regulatory
guidance based on the dose assessment. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but NRC is able to
assure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the Generic Dose Assessment should be
sent to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001. ATTN: Docketing and Services Branch. Hand deliver comments
to 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:45 a.m.
and 4:15 p.m., on Federal workdays.
Copies of the Generic Dose Assessment may be obtained by contacting
Janette Copeland, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T7F27,
Washington, DC 20555-0001. Phone (301) 415-6617; Fax (301) 415-5397.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Boby Eid, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T7F27, Washington, DC 20555-
0001. Phone (301) 415-5811.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended,
and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 assign to the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission the responsibility for licensing and regulating
commercial nuclear facilities. Over the past several decades, NRC has
allowed licensees to dispose of incinerator ash containing low
concentrations of radioactive materials in sanitary landfills. In the
absence of specific criteria for determining acceptable concentrations
of radionuclides in the ash, NRC applied the liquid effluent
concentration values from Appendix B of 10 CFR Part 20. In this
application, NRC assumed that the unit microCurie per milliliter of
liquid was approximately equivalent to microCurie per gram of
incinerator ash.
Public concerns about disposal of slightly radioactive wastes in
unlicensed disposal facilities prompted the NRC staff to assess
potential doses to the members of the public that may be associated
with disposal of the incinerator ash. NRC staff initiated this generic
dose assessment to determine whether continued application of the
effluent concentration values in Appendix B of Part 20 ensure that the
public doses from ash disposal remain a small fraction of the public
dose limit in Sec. 20.1301(a). Action has been delayed on several tens
of license renewal and amendment requests pending completion of the
assessment.
NRC staff recently documented the results of the assessment in a
draft report entitled ``Generic Dose Assessment for Disposal of
Incinerator Ash in a Landfill.'' Based on the assessment, the staff
concluded that continued disposal of incinerator ash at the Appendix B
levels should be acceptable for most radionuclides, provided the sum of
the fractions of the concentration of each radionuclide and its
respective value in Appendix B does not exceed unity. For ash
containing the radionuclides C-14, Cl-36, Tl-204, Ag-108m, Al-26, Tc-
99, Nb-94, H-3, or I-129, the assessment shows the concentrations in
the ash should generally be less than one-tenth of the Appendix B
values. However, higher concentrations may be acceptable if site-
specific radiological analysis demonstrates that ash with higher
concentrations will not result in doses that are a significant fraction
of the public dose limit in 10 CFR 20.1301. In addition, the assessment
indicates that disposal of ash containing P-32, S-35, Tc-99m, Fe-59, or
Ca-45 in solid waste landfills should only by authorized on the basis
of site-specific analysis.
Based on these conclusions, NRC is developing guidance on
acceptable approaches for demonstrating compliance with 10 CFR 20.2002
for disposal of incinerator ash containing low concentrations of
radioactive material as ordinary municipal waste.
NRC will review the written comments provided in response to this
notice in considering whether to revise the dose assessment and in
developing the guidance based on the dose assessment.
Dated on Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December 1994.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John H. Austin,
Chief, Low-Level Waste and Decommissioning Projects Branch, Division of
Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 94-30696 Filed 12-13-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M