[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]
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