[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 210 (Tuesday, October 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54620-54621]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23694]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2018-0155]


Instructions for Completing NRC's Uniform Low-Level Radioactive 
Waste Manifest

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft NUREG; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft NUREG, NUREG/BR-0204, Rev. 3, ``Instructions for 
Completing NRC's Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest.'' This 
document provides instructions to prepare NRC Form 540 (Uniform Low-
Level Radioactive Waste Manifest (Shipping Paper)), NRC Form 541 
(Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest (Container and Waste 
Description)), and NRC Form 542 (Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste 
Manifest (Manifest Index and Regional Compact Tabulation)). NRC Forms 
540 and 541 must be prepared for low-level radioactive waste intended 
for ultimate disposal at a licensed low-level radioactive waste land 
disposal facility. NRC Form 542 is required only if processors and 
collectors of low-level radioactive waste are shipping low-level 
radioactive waste attributed to others for disposal at a licensed low-
level radioactive waste land disposal facility.

DATES: Submit comments by December 31, 2018. Comments received after 
this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the 
Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received 
before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0155. Address 
questions about dockets IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
     Mail comments to: May Ma, Office of Administration, Mail 
Stop: TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lloyd Desotell, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-5969, email: 
[email protected]; or Karen Pinkston, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-3650, email: 
[email protected]; Both are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0155 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0155.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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]. NUREG/BR-0204, Rev. 3, ``Instructions 
for Completing NRC's Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest'' is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML18261A002. The NRC has 
prepared a draft regulatory analysis for this proposed guidance. The 
analysis examines the costs and benefits of the alternatives considered 
by the NRC. The NRC requests public comment on the draft regulatory 
analysis. The draft regulatory analysis can be found under ADAMS 
Accession No. ML18275A039. Comments on the draft analysis may be 
submitted to the NRC as indicated under Section I.B, ``Submitting 
Comments.''
     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-2018-0155 in your comment submission.
    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 into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    NUREG/BR-0204, Rev. 3, ``Instructions for Completing the NRC's 
Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest,'' provides guidance on 
completing NRC Forms 540, 541, and 542 (i.e., the NRC's Uniform Low-
Level Waste Manifest). The last revision to this NUREG/BR, Rev. 2, was 
published in July 1998. In SECY-13-0001, ``Staff Recommendations for 
Improving the Integration of the Ongoing 10 CFR part 61 Rulemaking 
Initiatives'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML12199A412), staff noted that 
stakeholders suggested that NUREG/BR-0204 needs to be rewritten and 
that assumptions concerning the reporting of certain hard-to-detect 
isotopes (i.e., H-3, C-14, Tc-99 and I-129) on the Uniform Waste 
Manifest should be revisited. To address these stakeholder comments, 
the NRC staff held two public workshops in March and June of 2013 to 
collect comments specifically on NUREG/BR-0204. Comments received on 
the NUREG/BR-0204, Rev. 2, as a result of these workshops can be found 
on the Federal Rulemaking website (www.regulations.gov) under Docket ID 
NRC-2013-0035. Many of the comments received focused on the reporting 
of the hard-to-detect isotopes

[[Page 54621]]

(i.e., H-3, C-14, Tc-99 and I-129) on the Uniform Low-Level Radioactive 
Waste Manifest.
    In 2013, the NRC staff also identified additional changes that may 
be needed for the Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest forms 
and associated guidance in NUREG/BR-0204 as a part of the ongoing part 
61 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Register (10 CFR) rulemaking 
(Docket ID NRC-2009-0257). The 10 CFR part 61 rulemaking, however, had 
not progressed far enough for the specific changes to the Uniform Low-
Level Radioactive Waste Manifest forms and NUREG/BR-0204 to be known 
with certainty.
    Therefore, staff developed Regulatory Information Summary (RIS-15-
002) to address stakeholder concerns regarding the reporting of hard-
to-detect radionuclides on the Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste 
Manifest. This RIS, titled ``Reporting of H-3, C-14, Tc-99, and I-129 
on the Uniform Waste Manifest'' (ADAMS Accession No. ML14272A217), 
informs 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 
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest when the radionuclide is present 
at a concentration less than the lower limit of detection (LLD). The 
request for comments on draft RIS was published on in the Federal 
Register on June 2, 2014 (79 FR 31348), and the final RIS was published 
on February 18, 2015.
    In September of 2017, the NRC received direction from the 
Commission on the part 61 rulemaking in SRM-SECY-16-0106 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML17251B147), and the NRC staff determined that there was 
enough certainty in the portions of the part 61 rulemaking that 
affected the Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest to issue a 
draft of the manifest forms and the instructions in NUREG/BR-0204 for 
comment. The NRC staff considered the comments received in 2013 when 
revising these documents. Major areas of revision include: Updated 
references to Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations to reflect 
the current DOT regulations, additional discussion on the reporting of 
inventories based on LLD values, the potential use of indirect methods 
to determine these inventories, including the use of indirect methods 
in waste classification, clarification of the certification statement 
on Form 540, and overall improvements to the clarity of NUREG/BR-0204.
    The NRC is requesting public comments on the draft revised Uniform 
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Manifest (NRC Forms 540, 541, and 542) and 
on the draft Rev. 3 to NUREG/BR-0204, and on the draft regulatory 
analysis. The NRC staff will consider any comments received in 
preparing the final version of Rev. 3 and the revised NRC Forms 540, 
541, and 542. In responding, commenters are encouraged to provide 
specific suggestions and the basis for suggestions offered. 
Specifically, the NRC staff requests comment on the following 
questions:
    1. Do the proposed revised Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste 
Manifest Forms 540, 541, and 542 request all of the information that is 
needed for the transport and disposal of low-level radioactive waste to 
be safely managed? Is there any additional information that should be 
collected?
    2. Is any additional guidance or clarification needed in the 
instructions for filling out the Uniform Low-Level Radioactive Waste 
Manifest Forms in NUREG/BR-0204?
    3. NRC Form 541 has lists of container description codes (note 1), 
waste descriptor codes (note 2), and sorption and solidification media 
(note 3) that have not been updated recently. Are there any items that 
should be added to these lists based on new technology or changes to 
industry practices? Are there any items on these lists that should be 
deleted because they are no longer in use or for any other reason? 
Should the items in the lists be combined in any way?

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of October, 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrea L. Kock,
Deputy Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and 
Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2018-23694 Filed 10-29-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P