[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 63 (Thursday, April 3, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14663-14664]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05747]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2024-0210]


U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Plan for Monitoring Disposal 
Actions Taken by the U.S. Department of Energy at the Savannah River 
Site Saltstone Disposal Facility in Accordance With the Ronald W. 
Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, 
Revision 2

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of issuance; availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing the 
availability of ``U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Plan for 
Monitoring Disposal Actions Taken by the U.S. Department of Energy at 
the Savannah River Site Saltstone Disposal Facility in Accordance with 
the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2005, Revision 2.'' This monitoring plan describes how the NRC staff 
intends to complete its assessment of compliance with NRC's performance 
objectives for the Department of Energy (DOE) disposal actions at the 
Savannah River Site (SRS) Saltstone Disposal Facility (SDF).

DATES:  April 3, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0210 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0210. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Bridget Curran; 
telephone: 301-415-1003; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information 
Contact section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. For the convenience of the reader, 
instructions about obtaining materials referenced in this document are 
provided in the ``Availability of Documents'' section.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an 
appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harry Felsher, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6559; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Discussion

    The monitoring plan describes the NRC staff's planned activities in 
carrying out its responsibilities for monitoring the DOE disposal 
actions at the Savannah River Site (SRS) Saltstone Disposal Facility 
(SDF) in accordance with the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (NDAA). In 2005, the DOE 
provided the Draft Basis for Waste Determination for the SRS SDF to the 
NRC, as part of the DOE's consultation with the NRC required by NDAA 
Section 3116(a). After its review, the NRC issued a Technical 
Evaluation Report (TER) for the SRS SDF in December 2005. In the 2005 
TER, the NRC staff documented the results of its review and concluded 
that there was reasonable assurance that the applicable criteria of 
NDAA could be met by the DOE, provided certain assumptions made in the 
DOE analyses were verified via monitoring. Taking into consideration 
the assumptions, conclusions, and recommendations in both the 2005 NRC 
TER and the 2006 DOE Final Basis for Waste Determination for the SRS 
SDF, the Secretary of Energy issued the SRS SDF Waste Determination in 
January 2006 that stated SRS treated salt waste is not high-level waste 
and may be disposed of at the SRS SDF. After issuance of the 2006 
Secretary of Energy Waste Determination for the SRS SDF document, the 
NRC began monitoring the DOE disposal actions at the SRS SDF under NDAA 
Section 3116(b) in coordination with the NDAA-Covered State of South 
Carolina. In 2007, the NRC issued Revision 0 of the SRS SDF Monitoring 
Plan based on both the 2005 NRC TER and the 2006 DOE Final Basis for 
Waste Determination documents. In 2009, the DOE provided a revised SRS 
SDF Performance Assessment to the NRC. After its review of the revised 
DOE Performance Assessment, the NRC issued Revision 1 of the TER for 
the SRS SDF in April 2012. In the 2012 TER, the NRC staff documented 
the results of its review and concluded that it did not have reasonable 
assurance that salt waste disposal at the SDF met the Performance 
Objectives in part 61, subpart C, of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR), specifically 10 CFR 61.41 ``Protection of the 
General Population from Releases of Radioactivity.'' In 2013, the NRC 
issued Revision 1 of the SRS SDF Monitoring

[[Page 14664]]

Plan based on the 2012 NRC TER. In 2020, the DOE provided a revised SRS 
SDF Performance Assessment to the NRC. After its review, the NRC issued 
Revision 2 of the TER for the SRS SDF in April 2023. In the 2023 TER, 
the NRC staff documented its review and concluded that if the DOE 
Closure Cap design and implementation achieve the DOE expected 
performance, as described in the 2020 SDF Performance Assessment, then 
there was reasonable assurance that the DOE disposal actions at the SDF 
meet or will meet all the 10 CFR part 61, subpart C, Performance 
Objectives, including the 10 CFR 61.40 Performance Objective.
    In the issued monitoring plan, the NRC staff identified specific 
areas that it intends to monitor in assessing the DOE compliance with 
the 10 CFR part 61, subpart C Performance Objectives. The document 
describes what the NRC staff intends to do in each of those areas, as 
well as other activities that will be performed to allow a complete 
assessment of compliance with the 10 CFR part 61, subpart C, 
Performance Objectives. In finalizing the monitoring plan, the NRC 
staff considered comments and input from the NDAA-Covered State of 
South Carolina.

II. Availability of Documents

    The documents identified in the following table are available to 
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as 
indicated.

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                                                  ADAMS accession No./
             Document description                    internet link
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Ronald W. Reagan National Defense              https://www.congress.gov/
 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005.        108/plaws/publ375/PLAW-
                                                108publ375.pdf.
DOE Waste Determination for the Savannah       ML17136A069.
 River Site Saltstone Disposal Facility,
 dated January 2006.
NRC Technical Evaluation Report, Final         ML23024A099.
 Report, Revision 2, for the DOE Savannah
 River Site Saltstone Disposal Facility,
 dated April 2023.
Revised DOE Performance Assessment for the     ML20190A056.
 Savannah River Site Saltstone Disposal
 Facility, dated March 2020.
NRC Monitoring Plan, Revision 1, for the DOE   ML13100A113.
 Savannah River Site Saltstone Disposal
 Facility, dated September 2013.
NRC Technical Evaluation Report, Final         ML121170309.
 Report, Revision 1, for the DOE Savannah
 River Site Saltstone Disposal Facility,
 dated April 2012.
Revised DOE Performance Assessment for the     ML101590008.
 Savannah River Site Saltstone Disposal
 Facility, dated October 2009.
NRC Monitoring Plan, Revision 0, for the DOE   ML070730363.
 Savannah River Site Saltstone Disposal
 Facility, dated May 2007.
DOE Final Basis for Waste Determination for    ML102850319.
 the Savannah River Site Saltstone Disposal
 Facility, dated January 2006.
NRC Technical Evaluation Report, Revision 0,   ML053010225.
 for the DOE Savannah River Site Saltstone
 Disposal Facility, dated December 2005.
DOE Draft Basis for Waste Determination for    ML051020072.
 the Savannah River Site Saltstone Disposal
 Facility, dated February 2005.
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    Dated: March 31, 2025.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jane Marshall,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste 
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2025-05747 Filed 4-2-25; 8:45 am]
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