Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum Establishes New Working Group

Posted on by MidwestCompact

Will Address NRC Activities, Initiatives and Rulemakings

During the spring 2018 meeting of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum (LLW Forum) in California, the organization’s Board of Directors passed a resolution to establish a new working group.

The purpose of the new working group is to review, consider and provide timely input and feedback from the states and low-level radioactive waste compact commissions on activities, initiatives and rulemakings of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The text of the resolution, as approved by vote of the LLW Forum Board of Directors, is as follows:

As the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has several significant activities, initiatives and rulemakings ongoing related to the management and disposition of low-level radioactive waste including, but not limited to:

  • completion of work on a final rule to amend Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Parts 20, “Standards for Protection Against Radiation,” and Part 61, “Licensing Requirements for Land Disposal of Radioactive Waste;”
  • outreach regarding proposed revisions to its guidance document for alternative disposal requests entitled, “Guidance for the Reviews of Proposed Disposal Procedures and Transfers of Radioactive Material Under 10 CFR 20.2002 and 10 CFR 40.13(a);”
  • preparation for a very low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) scoping study to identify possible options to improve and strengthen the NRC’s regulatory framework for the disposal of the anticipated large volumes of VLLW associated with the decommissioning of nuclear power plants and material sites, as well as waste that might be generated by alternative waste streams that may be created by operating reprocessing facilities or a radiological event;
  • publication of a draft regulatory basis for proposed new regulations on the decommissioning of commercial nuclear power reactors;

As various additional NRC activities, initiatives and rulemakings are planned upon the completion of the 10 CFR Part 61 rulemaking including, but not limited to:

  • drafting of proposed changes to 10 CFR Part 20 Appendix G and NUREG/BR-0204, which require that an NRC Uniform Waste Manifest (UWM) be prepared for waste intended for ultimate disposal at a licensed low-level radioactive waste land disposal facility;
  • consideration of a potential rulemaking on waste classification tables; and,
  • development of a regulatory basis for the disposal of Greater-than-Class C (GTCC) and transuranic waste through means other than a deep geologic disposal, including near surface disposal;

As the NRC is seeking and will continue to seek input from interested stakeholders on the above-referenced and initiatives and rulemakings and other activities related to the management and disposition of low-level radioactive waste;

As all currently operating low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities are regulated by the states in which they are located pursuant to agreements with the NRC;

As the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum (LLW Forum) is comprised of designated officials to represent the views and perspectives of states and low-level radioactive waste compact commissions on issues related to the management and disposition of low-level radioactive waste;

As the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980 and its 1985 amendments provides that the federal government will provide technical assistance to the states and low-level radioactive waste compact commissions;

As, during a March 2017 meeting, the then-Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) informed the LLW Forum that DOE would be reducing its funding to the LLW Forum in FY 2017 by 26% and that other federal agencies need to more equitably participate in future cost-sharing toward this program;

As, in March 2018, DOE notified the LLW Forum of an additional 50% cut in the remaining grant funding allocation for FY 2018;

As, at the fall 2011 LLW Forum meeting, the then-Director of NRC’s Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection in the Office of Federal & State Materials & Environmental Management Programs specifically requested that the states and low-level radioactive waste compact commissions provide greater input and feedback on NRC activities, initiatives and rulemakings;

As, through the LLW Forum, the states and low-level radioactive waste compact commissions have created working groups to develop and submit input on a variety of NRC activities, initiatives and rulemakings including, but not limited to, the Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation (CA BTP), 10 CFR Part 61 rulemaking, security and accountability of Category 3 radioactive sources and devices, and financial assurance regulations for radioactive byproduct material;

As, these LLW Forum-organized working groups have provided significant benefit and cost efficiencies to the NRC including having the states and low-level radioactive waste compacts resolve, where possible, conflicts and different perspectives prior to the submittal of input on NRC activities, initiatives and rulemakings;

Now Wherefore Be it Resolved that the LLW Forum hereby creates a working group that will review, consider and provide timely input and feedback from the states and low-level radioactive waste compact commissions on NRC activities, initiatives and rulemakings to the extent that financial resources are available;

Now Wherefore Be it Further Resolved that the LLW Forum will submit an unsolicited application for financial assistance to the NRC to fund the activities of the working group pursuant to NRC Management Directive 11.6, Financial Assistance Program, and in line with direction from the DOE for more equitable cost sharing and from NRC for increased comment from the states and low-level radioactive waste compact commissions on NRC activities, initiatives and rulemakings;

Now Wherefore Be it Further Resolved that the LLW Forum Chair, in consultation with the LLW Forum Executive Committee, will be empowered to designate state and compact representatives to participate on the working group;

Now Wherefore Be it Further Resolved that the working group may seek input from other stakeholders including, but not limited to, other federal agencies, waste disposal facility operators, brokers and processors, industry organizations, generators and users of radioactive materials.

 

The spring 2018 LLW Forum meeting was held at the Hyatt Regency Airport Hotel in San Francisco, California on April 16-17, 2018.

The Southwestern Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commission co-sponsored the meeting.

If you have questions or require additional information, please contact Todd D. Lovinger, Esq. — Executive Director of the LLW Forum and Project Director of the Disused Sources and Part 61 Working Groups (DSWG/P61WG) — at (754) 779-7551 or at LLWForumInc@aol.com.