Tag: Disused Sources Working Group (DSWG)

DSWG Releases Report re Source Disposition Options and Costs

Posted on by MidwestCompact

The Disused Sources Working Group (DSWG) of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum (LLW Forum) is pleased to announce the release of its report titled, “Disposition Options and Costs for Certain Radioactive Sealed Sources and Devices.”

The report is intended to serve as a companion document to educational materials released by the DSWG earlier this year including educational brochures for current and prospective licensees of radioactive sealed sources and devices.

The new report can be accessed via a link on the Resources Page of the DSWG website at http://www.disusedsources.org/resources/#disposition.

Overview  The DSWG report is intended to assist stakeholders in understanding the likely options and estimated costs related to the disposition of common radioactive sealed sources and devices.  These include industrial radiography devices, fixed industrial gauges, well logging and brachytherapy sources, portable gauges, teletherapy devices, and both self-contained and panoramic irradiators.  Common characteristics of these devices are summarized in Table 1 at the end of the document.

Readers are cautioned that the information contained in the report is intended as a guide only, providing general information about the most common types of sources and devices.  The identified costs are provided as estimates only based on current information and guidance and should not be relied upon as determinative of actual future disposal costs.

Companion Documents  The new DSWG report on disposition options and costs is intended to serve as a companion document to educational brochures for current and prospective licensees of radioactive sealed sources and devices that were developed and released earlier this year by the DSWG in conjunction with the E-34 Committee of the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD).   The brochures provide information regarding the ownership and use of radioactive sealed sources and devices including:

  • understanding the life-cycle costs including initial purchase price, regulatory license fees, financial assurance, operating expenses, security and end-of-life disposition;
  • consideration of the use of alternative technologies;
  • potential liabilities of using radioactive sealed sources or devices;
  • proper management and disposition of disused sources including information about the Source Collection & Threat Reduction (SCATR) Program — including a chart documenting the diminishing cost share — and the Off-Site Source Recovery Project (OSRP); and,
  • potential liabilities of storing disused sources.

Generic versions of the educational materials—which include fillable fields to incorporate individual office logos and contact information—are now available on the DSWG website to federal, state and industry stakeholders to modify and distribute as each deems appropriate.

Background  The LLW Forum is a non-profit organization of representatives appointed by Governors and compact commissions that seeks to facilitate state and compact implementation of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980 and its 1985 amendments, as well as to promote the objectives of regional low-level radioactive waste disposal compacts.

In September 2011, the LLW Forum formed the DSWG to develop recommendations from the states and compacts for improving the management and disposition of disused sources.

For additional information about the LLW Forum and DSWG, please contact LLW Forum Executive Director and DSWG Project Director Todd D. Lovinger, Esq at (754) 779-7551 or at LLWForumInc@aol.com.

LLW Forum Releases Report re Compact Import-Export Requirements

Posted on by MidwestCompact

The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Forum (LLW Forum) is pleased to announce the release of a report on Compact Import and Export Requirements.  The report, which was prepared by the Disused Sources Working Group (DSWG), includes links to each individual low-level radioactive waste compact’s websites, as well as links to any applicable policy statements and forms.  For those compacts that have export and/or import permit requirements, a brief explanation of the program is provided.  Any specific questions about a compact’s permit program should be addressed to the respective compact.  The contact information is available on the compact’s website.

The LLW Forum is a non-profit organization of representatives appointed by Governors and compact commissions that seeks to facilitate state and compact implementation of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980 and its 1985 amendments, as well as to promote the objectives of regional low-level radioactive waste disposal compacts.   In September 2011, the LLW Forum formed the DSWG to develop recommendations from the states and compacts for improving the management and disposition of disused sources.

For additional information about the LLW Forum and DSWG, please contact LLW Forum Executive Director and DSWG Project Director Todd D. Lovinger, Esq at (754) 779-7551 or at LLWForumInc@aol.com.

A copy of the report can be found on the LLW Forum website at http://llwforum.org/about/#compact.

Commissioner Proposes NRC Revisit Tracking of Category 3 Sources

Posted on by MidwestCompact

In a memo dated July 29, 2016, NRC Commissioner Baran proposes that U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff revisit the question of whether and how to track Category 3 sources.  In the memo, Commissioner Baran asserts that the “case for doing so is even stronger today than it was seven years ago.”

The memo concludes with the following proposed staff direction:

In light of [the Government Accountability Office’s] GAO’s findings and the years of operating experience with the [National Source Tracking System] NSTS, I propose that the NRC staff take a fresh look at the question of whether and how to track Category 3 sources. This re-evaluation can build on the efforts of the working groups established in response to the GAO investigation. I propose that, within six months of the Staff Requirements Memorandum resulting from this paper, the staff should submit a notation vote paper to the Commission that includes the following:

1)   An evaluation of the pros and cons of different methods of requiring transferors of Category 3 sources to verify the validity of a transferee’s license prior to the transfer; 


2)   An evaluation of the pros and cons of including Category 3 sources in the NSTS; and 


3)   Based on these evaluations, options for addressing the GAO recommendations.

In conducting these evaluations, the staff should assess the risks posed by the aggregation of Category 3 sources into Category 2 quantities and consider the current views of our Agreement States partners.

The memo, which has been posted to the Resources Page of the Disused Sources Working Group (DSWG) web site, is also publicly available via the “Recently Released Commission Documents for 2016” area of the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov under Accession No. ML16197A229.

For additional information, please see the Resources page of the DSWG web site at www.disusedsources.org