[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10810-10811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4404]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 61

[NRC-2011-0043]


Public Workshop to Discuss Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Public Workshop and Request for Comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), in coordination 
with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), plans to conduct a workshop 
to discuss possible approaches to revising the regulatory framework for 
the management of commercial low-level radioactive waste (LLW). The 
purpose of this workshop is to gather information from a broad spectrum 
of stakeholders concerning the NRC's proposed options for a 
comprehensive revision to NRC's and DOE's waste regulations and to 
discuss possible options.

DATES: The workshop will be on March 4, 2011, in Phoenix, Arizona. To 
participate online, see Section II of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of this notice. Comments on the issues and questions presented 
in Section III of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice 
are due March 30, 2011.

ADDRESSES: The public workshop will be held on March 4, 2011, from 8:30 
a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix Hotel, 122 North Second 
Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004. The NRC will accept public comments at the 
public workshop. You may also submit comments by any one of the 
following methods. Please include Docket ID NRC-2011-0043 in the 
subject line of your comments. Comments submitted in writing or in 
electronic form will be posted on the NRC Web site and on the Federal 
rulemaking Web site, http://www.regulations.gov. Because your comments 
will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact information, 
the NRC cautions you against including any information in your 
submission that you do not want to be publicly disclosed.
    The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments 
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those 
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any 
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not 
include any information in their comments that they do not want 
publicly disclosed.
    Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-2011-0043. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Ms. Carol Gallagher, telephone: 301-492-
3668, e-mail: [email protected].
    Mail comments to: Ms. Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements and 
Directives Branch (RADB), Division of Administrative Services, Office 
of Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC. 20555-0001, or by fax to RADB at 301-492-
3446.
    You can access publicly available documents related to this notice 
using the following methods:
    NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): The public may examine and have 
copied for a fee, publicly available documents at the NRC's PDR, Room 
O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852-2738.
    NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): 
Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are 
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this page, the public can gain 
entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's public 
documents. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems 
in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's PDR 
reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to 
[email protected].
    Federal rulemaking Web site: Public comments and supporting 
materials related to this notice can be found at http://www.regulations.gov by searching on Docket ID: NRC-2011-0043.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael P. Lee, Ph.D., Office of 
Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 
301-415-6887; e-mail: [email protected]; Donald B. Lowman, Office of 
Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 
301-415-5452; e-mail: [email protected]; or Antoinette Walker-
Smith, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental 
Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6390; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Commission's licensing requirements for the disposal of LLW in 
near-surface [approximately the uppermost 30 meters (100 feet)] 
facilities reside in part 61. These regulations were published in the 
Federal Register on December 27, 1982 (47 FR 57446). The rule applies 
to any near-surface LLW disposal technology, including shallow-land 
burial, engineered land disposal methods such as below-ground vaults, 
earth-mounded concrete bunkers, and augered holes. The regulations 
emphasize an integrated systems approach to the disposal of commercial 
LLW, including site selection, disposal facility design and operation, 
minimum waste form requirements, and disposal facility closure. To 
lessen the burden on society over the long periods of time contemplated 
for the control of the radioactive material, and thus lessen reliance 
on institutional controls, part 61 emphasizes passive rather than 
active systems to limit and retard releases to the environment.
    Development of the part 61 regulation in the early 1980s was based 
on several assumptions as to the types of wastes likely to go into a 
commercial LLW disposal facility. To better understand what the likely 
inventory of wastes available for disposal might be, the NRC conducted 
a survey of existing LLW generators. The survey, documented in Chapter 
3 of NUREG-0782--the Draft part 61 Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS)--revealed that there were about 36 distinct commercial waste 
streams consisting of about 24 radionuclides of potential regulatory 
interest. The specific waste streams in question were representative of 
the types of commercial LLW being generated at the time. Waste streams 
associated with DOE's nuclear defense complex were not considered as 
part of the survey, since disposal of those wastes, at that time, was 
to be conducted at the DOE-operated sites. Over the last several years 
there have been a number of developments that have called into question 
some of the key assumptions

[[Page 10811]]

made in connection with the earlier part 61 DEIS, including:
     The emergence of potential LLW streams that were not 
considered in the original part 61 rulemaking, including large 
quantities of depleted uranium, and possibly incidental wastes 
associated with the commercial reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel; and
     DOE's increasing use of commercial facilities for the 
disposal of defense-related LLW streams; and
     Extensive international operational experience in the 
management of LLW and intermediate-level radioactive wastes that did 
not exist at the time part 61 was promulgated.
    The developments described above will need to be considered if the 
staff undertakes a revision of part 61. Waste from the Nation's defense 
programs has been managed by DOE and is not subject to part 61. 
Instead, DOE has used DOE Order 435.1 to specify the disposal 
requirements for this waste. The current version of this Order has been 
in place for about 11 years and applies to management of radioactive 
waste within the DOE complex. Like part 61, Order 435.1 places a heavy 
emphasis on performance assessment as part of its radioactive waste 
management decision-making. DOE recently started a comprehensive 
revision of Order 435.1, which it plans to complete sometime in 2011. 
The staff plans to consider any modifications to Order 435.1 as part of 
a comprehensive revision to part 61.
    In SRM-M100617B (ADAMS ML1018203015), the Commission directed the 
staff to outline its approach to initiate activities in connection with 
a possible revision to part 61 that is risk-informed, performance-
based. However, before the start of any rulemaking process, the staff 
recommended that it engage stakeholders and solicit their views on 
whether there should be amendments to the current part 61 and if so, 
what the nature of those amendments should be. This approach is 
consistent with NRC's openness policy and with the type of public 
outreach used by the staff to develop part 61.

II. NRC/DOE Joint Public Workshop

    The purpose of this workshop is to gather information from a broad 
spectrum of stakeholders concerning the NRC's proposed options for a 
comprehensive revision to NRC's and DOE's waste regulations. They 
include: (1) Risk-inform the current part 61 waste classification 
framework, (2) comprehensive revision to part 61, (3) site-specific 
waste acceptance criteria, (4) international alignment, and (5) 
supersede direction given in Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM)-08-
0147. This workshop will be conducted jointly with DOE who is also 
considering revisions to its Management Directive DOE Order 435.1 
(Radioactive Waste Management).
    The joint public workshop will be organized in two sessions (one 
for each agency), followed by a joint ``Panel Discussion'' Session. 
Session I will address DOE Order 435.1. Session I will also include an 
opportunity for stakeholder feedback and comments. Session II will 
address the NRC staff's proposed options for any potential rulemaking 
actions with respect to revision of 10 CFR part 61 (Licensing 
Requirements for Land Disposal of Radioactive Waste) as discussed in 
the NRC Commission Paper SECY-10-0165. This SECY paper is available on 
the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/secys/2010/. Session II will also include background 
presentations on SECY-10-0165 by NRC staff. Following Session II, there 
will be a joint DOE/NRC Panel Discussion to explain the agencies' 
respective positions, future plans, and specific views regarding the 
LLW management framework. The panel will also address public and 
stakeholder suggestions and comments.
    The public workshop will be held on March 4, 2011, from 8:30 a.m. 
to 5:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix Hotel, 122 North Second 
Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85004. Pre-registration for this meeting is 
not necessary. Members of the public choosing to participate in this 
meeting remotely can do so in one of two ways--online, via Webex, or 
via a telephone (audio) connection. Instructions for remote 
participation in this meeting are described below.

To join the online meeting (including mobile devices)

    1. Go to https://pec.webex.com/pec/j.php?ED=7975058&UID=32785548&PW=NNzA2ZGNlOGYx&RT=MiM1.
    2. If requested, enter your name and e-mail address.
    3. If a password is required, enter the meeting password: Energy
    4. Click ``Join''.
    To view in other time zones or languages, please click the link: 
https://pec.webex.com/pec/j.php?ED=7975058&UID=32785548&PW=NNzA2ZGNlOGYx&ORT=MiM1.

To join the audio conference only

    To receive a call back, provide your phone number when you join the 
meeting, or call the number below and enter the access code.
    Call-in toll-free number (U.S./Canada): 1-877-669-3239 .
    Call-in toll number (U.S./Canada): +1-408-600-3600 Toll-free 
dialing restrictions: http://www.webex.com/pdf/tollfree_restrictions.pdf; Access code: 858 991 753
    The agenda for the public meeting will be noticed no fewer than ten 
(10) days prior to the meeting on the NRC's electronic public workshop 
schedule at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm.

III. Questions Related to 10 CFR Part 61, ``Low-Level Radioactive Waste 
Management''

    NRC staff is seeking stakeholder input to the following three 
questions that will be discussed at the public workshop:
    (1) Should the staff revise the existing 10 CFR part 61?
    (2) What recommendations do you have for specific changes to the 
current rule?
    (3) What are your suggestions for possible new approaches to 
commercial LLW management?
    NRC plans to consider stakeholder views in the development of a 
revised draft of part 61. The staff expects to issue a Commission Paper 
summarizing stakeholder views along with a recommendation for any 
future part 61 rulemaking in calendar year 2012. Written comments may 
be sent to the address listed in the ADDRESSES section. Questions about 
participation in the public workshops should be directed to the points 
of contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of February 2011.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrew Persinko,
Deputy Director, Environmental Protection and Performance Assessment 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011-4404 Filed 2-25-11; 8:45 am]
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