[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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