[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 105 (Monday, June 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31348-31349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-12720]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0116]


Reporting of H-3, C-14, Tc-99, and I-129 on the Uniform Waste 
Manifest

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft regulatory issue summary; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking public 
comment on the draft regulatory issue summary (RIS), which addresses 
the reporting of H-3, C-14, Tc-99, and I-129 on the uniform waste 
manifest. The purpose of this draft RIS is to identify instances where 
licensees may use indirect methods to determine the activity of these 
radionuclides reported on the uniform manifest when the radionuclide is 
present at a concentration less than the lower limit of detection 
(LLD).

DATES: Submit comments by July 2, 2014. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to ensure consideration only for comments received before this 
date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0116. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: 3WFN-06-A44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Don 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. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Additional background information and supporting documentation for 
this draft RIS can be found at: http://www.nrc.gov/waste/llw-disposal/llw-pa/llw-uwm.html.
    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0116 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access publicly-available information related to this document by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0116.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 
draft RIS, ``Reporting of H-3, C-14, Tc-99, and I-129 on the Uniform 
Waste Manifest,'' is available in ADAMS under accession number 
ML14098A283.

[[Page 31349]]

     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.

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0116 in the subject line of your 
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make 
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove 
identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to 
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    The NRC issues RISs to communicate with stakeholders on a broad 
range of matters. This may include communicating staff technical 
positions on matters that have not been communicated to, or are not 
broadly understood by, the nuclear industry.
    The NRC is issuing this draft RIS to inform addressees of the 
option to use indirect methods to determine the activity of H-3, C-14, 
Tc-99, and I-129 reported on the uniform waste manifest when the 
radionuclide is present at a concentration less than the lower limit of 
detection (LLD). Research indicates that the use of the LLD values as 
the standard concentration reported on the uniform waste manifest may 
be resulting in a significant over-estimation of the inventory of these 
four radionuclides in disposal facilities. Over-estimation of inventory 
could lead to premature loss of disposal system capacity (e.g., closure 
of disposal sites), whereas underestimation of inventory could lead to 
health and safety concerns.
    The NRC is requesting public comments on the draft RIS. The NRC 
staff will make a final determination regarding issuance of the RIS 
after it considers any public comments received in response to this 
request.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of May 2014.

    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. 2014-12720 Filed 5-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P