[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 1, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25760-25761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-10433]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2011-0183]
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management and Volume Reduction
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Policy statement; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission)
is revising its 1981 Policy Statement on Low-Level Radioactive Waste
(LLRW) Volume Reduction (Policy Statement). This statement encouraged
licensees to take steps to reduce the amount of waste generated and to
reduce the volume of waste once generated. The purpose of this revised
statement is to recognize that progress in reducing waste volume has
been achieved since the 1981 Policy Statement was published, and to
acknowledge that factors other than volume reduction may be considered
by licensees to determine how best to manage their LLRW.
DATES: This Policy Statement is effective on May 1, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0183 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information for this policy statement.
You may access information and comment submissions related to this
policy statement, which the NRC possesses and are publicly available,
by the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0183. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald Lowman, Office of Federal and
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-
5452, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In 1981, the NRC published a Policy Statement (46 FR 51100; October
16, 1981) regarding the volume reduction of LLRW. The Policy Statement
addressed:
The need for a volume reduction policy; and
The need for waste generators to minimize the quantity of
waste produced.
For 30 years, this Policy Statement has conveyed the Commission's
expectations that generators of LLRW
[[Page 25761]]
should reduce the volume of waste shipped for disposal at licensed
commercial waste disposal facilities. The Commission uses policy
statements to communicate expectations about matters relating to
activities that are within NRC jurisdiction and of importance to the
Commission. Policy statements help to guide the activities of the NRC
staff and licensees. However, they are not regulations and are not
accorded the status of a regulation within the meaning of the
Administrative Procedure Act. The Agreement States, which are
responsible for overseeing their material licensees, cannot be required
to implement the elements of a policy statement because such
statements, unlike NRC regulations, are not a matter of compatibility.
Additionally, policy statements cannot be considered binding upon, or
enforceable against, NRC or Agreement State licensees or certificate
holders.
On April 7, 2010, the NRC staff issued SECY-10-0043, ``Blending of
Low-Level Radioactive Waste'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML090410531), and
referenced the Policy Statement in response to stakeholder comments
that large-scale blending might not be consistent with the Policy
Statement goal of achieving reduced waste volumes and might actually
increase waste volumes. Although the Commission disagreed that blending
would necessarily increase the volume of waste, it recognized the need
to clarify the Policy Statement to better explain the role of volume
reduction in the context of LLRW management. Therefore, the Commission
directed the staff to update the Policy Statement to recognize the
progress that has been achieved in waste reduction since 1981, and to
acknowledge that volume reduction continues to be important, and that
other risk-informed, performance-based approaches to managing waste are
also appropriate for managing LLRW safely.
A revised draft of the Policy Statement, ``Volume Reduction and
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management,'' was published in the Federal
Register for comment on August 15, 2011 (76 FR 50500), with the comment
period ending on October 14, 2011.
The NRC received written comments on the draft Policy Statement and
considered these comments when finalizing the Policy Statement. None of
the comments resulted in changes to the basic principles of the Policy
Statement and the changes made to the draft Policy Statement were
limited. Responses to these comments can be found in ADAMS (Accession
No. ML120090117).
II. Congressional Review Act
In accordance with the Congressional Review Act of 1996, the NRC
has determined that this action is not a major rule and has verified
this determination with the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
III. Policy Statement of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Low-
Level Radioactive Waste Management and Volume Reduction
Summary
In 1981, the Commission published a Policy Statement (46 FR 51100;
October 16, 1981) regarding the volume reduction of LLRW. In October
2010, the Commission directed the NRC staff to revise the Policy
Statement (ADAMS Accession No. ML102861764) including updating to
acknowledge that volume reduction continues to be important and adding
that risk-informed, performance-based approaches to managing waste are
also needed to safely manage LLRW.
Policy Statement
The focus of any LLRW management program should be public health
and safety. Such programs often include waste minimization efforts and
the Commission recognizes the substantial progress made by licensees in
reducing volumes of LLRW shipped for disposal since the publication of
the 1981 Policy Statement. The Congress, States, LLRW Compacts and
nuclear industry groups have also played a central part in this effort
by encouraging waste minimization and volume reduction practices.
Widespread use of these practices has resulted in a significant
reduction in the amount of LLRW generated by licensees and the volume
shipped for disposal. The Commission recognizes that the high cost of
LLRW disposal has also been a factor, along with limitations on LLRW
disposal access, which has resulted in increased use of volume
reduction and waste minimization techniques.
The Commission continues to believe that volume reduction is
important to the management of LLRW. A continued focus on volume
reduction will extend the operational lifetime of the existing
commercial LLRW disposal sites and will reduce the number of waste
shipments to disposal facilities. Therefore, the Commission encourages
licensees to continue to adopt procedures that will minimize the volume
of waste being transferred to disposal facilities.
The Commission also recognizes that volume reduction is only one
aspect of an effective LLRW management program. Although the Commission
continues to favor the disposal of LLRW over storage, it recognizes
that licensees may safely manage waste in a variety of ways, consistent
with NRC regulations and guidance. As part of ensuring public health
and safety, licensees should consider reductions in occupational
exposures and security in determining how best to manage LLRW. As part
of their LLRW management strategies, licensees may consider operational
efficiency and cost. Although the Commission continues to favor
disposal in a licensed disposal facility, licensees should consider
additional means available to manage waste in a manner that is secure
and protects public health and safety, such as (in no particular order
and thus not indicating any NRC preference):
Waste minimization;
Short-term storage and decay;
Long-term storage;
Use of the alternate disposal provision in Title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 20.2002, ``Method for obtaining
approval of proposed disposal procedures;'' and
Use of waste processing technologies.
The Commission understands that limited LLRW disposal access means
that many licensees will need to store at least some of their LLRW.
Agreement States and NRC licensees must continue to ensure that waste
is safely and securely managed. However, waste disposal is still
considered the safest and most secure long-term LLRW management
approach.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of April 2012.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2012-10433 Filed 4-30-12; 8:45 am]
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