[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50704-50705]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-17399]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. PROJ0734, PROJ0735, PROJ0736, POOM-32]


Notice of Availability of NUREG-1854, NRC Staff Guidance for 
Activities Related to U.S. Department of Energy Waste Determinations, 
Draft Final Report for Interim Use

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft Final Report for Interim Use.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing draft 
final NRC staff guidance for activities related to U.S. Department of 
Energy (DOE) waste determinations (NUREG-1854), for interim use. NUREG-
1854 provides guidance to the NRC staff in evaluating non-high-level 
waste determinations developed by DOE for the Savannah River Site, 
Idaho National Laboratory, Hanford, and West Valley for certain wastes 
that are a result of the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. NUREG-1854 
provides elements the NRC staff should review to fulfill its 
responsibilities under the Ronald Reagan Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2005 (NDAA), which is to consult with DOE on its waste 
determinations and to monitor DOE disposal actions to assess compliance 
with the performance objectives in 10 CFR part 61, subpart C. NUREG-
1854 does not set forth regulatory requirements for NRC or for DOE, and 
compliance with NUREG-1854 is not required.

ADDRESSES: NUREG-1854 is available for inspection and copying for a fee 
at the Commission's Public Document Room, U.S. NRC's Headquarters 
Building, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and 
electronically from the ADAMS Public Library component on the NRC Web 
Site, http://www.nrc.gov (the Electronic Reading Room) [ML072360184]. 
For those without access to the Internet, paper copies of any 
electronic documents may be obtained for a fee by contacting the NRC's 
Public Document Room at 301-415-4737 or toll free at 1-800-397-4209.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Fuller, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T8-F5, Washington, DC 20555, Phone 
Number: (301) 415-0520, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In October 2004, the Ronald W. Reagan 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (NDAA) was 
enacted. Section 3116 of the NDAA gave the NRC new responsibilities 
with respect to DOE waste management activities for certain 
``incidental'' waste resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear 
fuel within the States of South Carolina and Idaho. These 
responsibilities include consultation with DOE on DOE's determination 
whether the waste is not high-level waste (HLW), as well as monitoring 
DOE's disposal actions for these wastes. The concept behind incidental 
waste is that some material, resulting from the reprocessing of spent 
nuclear fuel, does not need to be disposed of as HLW in a geologic 
repository because the residual radioactive contamination, if properly 
controlled, is sufficiently low that it does not represent a hazard to 
public health and safety. Consequently, incidental waste is not 
considered to be HLW, but instead is low-level waste. DOE uses 
technical analyses that are documented in a waste determination to 
evaluate whether waste is incidental or HLW. A waste determination 
provides DOE's analysis as to whether the waste

[[Page 50705]]

will meet the applicable incidental waste criteria.
    Prior to passage of the NDAA, DOE would periodically request NRC to 
provide technical advice for specific waste determinations. The staff 
reviewed DOE's waste determinations to assess whether they had sound 
technical assumptions, analysis, and conclusions with regard to meeting 
the applicable incidental waste criteria. Because the enactment of the 
NDAA is expected to increase the number of waste determinations 
submitted to the NRC for review, the NRC has decided to develop NUREG-
1854, NRC Staff Guidance for Activities Related to U.S. Department of 
Energy Waste Determinations, Draft Final Report for Interim Use. The 
NUREG provides guidance to NRC staff on how to conduct a technical 
review of a waste determination, as well as how to conduct monitoring 
activities under the NDAA, and will help ensure consistency across 
different reviews and different reviewers. Because the technical 
aspects of the NRC's waste determination reviews are expected to be 
similar for all four sites, regardless of whether the site is covered 
by the NDAA, the NRC has decided that this NUREG will address reviews 
for the Savannah River Site, Idaho National Laboratory, Hanford, and 
West Valley.

    Dated at Rockville, MD this 28th day of August, 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Larry W. Camper,
Director, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
 [FR Doc. E7-17399 Filed 8-31-07; 8:45 am]
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