§ 40.4 - Definitions.

§ 40.4 Definitions.

Act means the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (68 Stat. 919), including any amendments thereto;

Agreement State means any State with which the Atomic Energy Commission or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has entered into an effective agreement under subsection 274b. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

Alert means events may occur, are in progress, or have occurred that could lead to a release of radioactive material but that the release is not expected to require a response by offsite response organizations to protect persons offsite.

Byproduct Material means the tailings or wastes produced by the extraction or concentration of uranium or thorium from any ore processed primarily for its source material content, including discrete surface wastes resulting from uranium solution extraction processes. Underground ore bodies depleted by such solution extraction operations do not constitute “byproduct material” within this definition.

With the exception of “byproduct material” as defined in section 11e. of the Act, other terms defined in section 11 of the Act shall have the same meaning when used in the regulations in this part.

Commencement of construction means taking any action defined as “construction” or any other activity at the site of a facility subject to the regulations in this part that has a reasonable nexus to:

(1) Radiological health and safety; or

(2) Common defense and security.

Commission means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or its duly authorized representatives.

Construction means the installation of wells associated with radiological operations (e.g., production, injection, or monitoring well networks associated with in-situ recovery or other facilities), the installation of foundations, or in-place assembly, erection, fabrication, or testing for any structure, system, or component of a facility or activity subject to the regulations in this part that are related to radiological safety or security. The term “construction” does not include:

(1) Changes for temporary use of the land for public recreational purposes;

(2) Site exploration, including necessary borings to determine foundation conditions or other preconstruction monitoring to establish background information related to the suitability of the site, the environmental impacts of construction or operation, or the protection of environmental values;

(3) Preparation of the site for construction of the facility, including clearing of the site, grading, installation of drainage, erosion and other environmental mitigation measures, and construction of temporary roads and borrow areas;

(4) Erection of fences and other access control measures that are not related to the safe use of, or security of, radiological materials subject to this part;

(5) Excavation;

(6) Erection of support buildings (e.g., construction equipment storage sheds, warehouse and shop facilities, utilities, concrete mixing plants, docking and unloading facilities, and office buildings) for use in connection with the construction of the facility;

(7) Building of service facilities (e.g., paved roads, parking lots, railroad spurs, exterior utility and lighting systems, potable water systems, sanitary sewerage treatment facilities, and transmission lines);

(8) Procurement or fabrication of components or portions of the proposed facility occurring at other than the final, in-place location at the facility; or

(9) Taking any other action that has no reasonable nexus to:

(i) Radiological health and safety, or

(ii) Common defense and security.

Corporation means the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), or its successor, a Corporation that is authorized by statute to lease the gaseous diffusion enrichment plants in Paducah, Kentucky, and Piketon, Ohio, from the Department of Energy, or any person authorized to operate one or both of the gaseous diffusion plants, or other facilities, pursuant to a plan for the privatization of USEC that is approved by the President.

Decommission means to remove a facility or site safely from service and reduce residual radioactivity to a level that permits -

(1) Release of the property for unrestricted use and termination of the license; or

(2) Release of the property under restricted conditions and termination of the license.

Department and Department of Energy means the Department of Energy established by the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 91 Stat. 565, 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) to the extent that the Department, or its duly authorized representatives, exercises functions formerly vested in the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, its Chairman, members, officers and components and transferred to the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration and to the Administrator thereof pursuant to sections 104 (b), (c) and (d) of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-438, 88 Stat. 1233 at 1237, 42 U.S.C. 5814) and retransferred to the Secretary of Energy pursuant to section 301(a) of the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 91 Stat. 565 at 577-578, 42 U.S.C. 7151).

Depleted uranium means the source material uranium in which the isotope uranium-235 is less than 0.711 weight percent of the total uranium present. Depleted uranium does not include special nuclear material.

Effective kilogram means

(1) for the source material uranium in which the uranium isotope uranium-235 is greater than 0.005 (0.5 weight percent) of the total uranium present: 10,000 kilograms, and

(2) for any other source material: 20,000 kilograms.

Foreign obligations means the commitments entered into by the U.S. Government under Atomic Energy Act (AEA) section 123 agreements for cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy. Imports and exports of material or equipment pursuant to such agreements are subject to these commitments, which in some cases involve an exchange of information on imports, exports, retransfers with foreign governments, peaceful end-use assurances, and other conditions placed on the transfer of the material or equipment. The U.S. Government informs the licensee of obligations attached to material.

Government agency means any executive department, commission, independent establishment, corporation, wholly or partly owned by the United States of America which is an instrumentality of the United States, or any board, bureau, division, service, office, officer, authority, administration, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Government.

License, except where otherwise specified, means a license issued pursuant to the regulations in this part.

Persons means:

(1) Any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, Government agency other than the Commission or the Department of Energy except that the Department of Energy shall be considered a person within the meaning of the regulations in this part to the extent that its facilities and activities are subject to the licensing and related regulatory authority of the Commission pursuant to section 202 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 1244) and the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (92 Stat. 3021), any State or any political subdivision of, or any political entity within a State, any foreign government or nation or any subdivision of any such government or nation, or other entity; and

(2) any legal successor, representative, agent or agency of the foregoing.

Pharmacist means an individual registered by a state or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to compound and dispense drugs, prescriptions and poisons.

Physician means a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy licensed by a State or Territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to prescribe drugs in the practice of medicine.

Principal activities, as used in this part, means activities authorized by the license which are essential to achieving the purpose(s) for which the license was issued or amended. Storage during which no licensed material is accessed for use or disposal and activities incidental to decontamination or decommissioning are not principal activities.

Reconciliation means the process of evaluating and comparing licensee reports required under this part to the projected material balances generated by the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System. This process is considered complete when the licensee resolves any differences between the reported and projected balances, including those listed for foreign obligated materials.

Residual radioactive material means:

(1) Waste (which the Secretary of Energy determines to be radioactive) in the form of tailings resulting from the processing of ores for the extraction of uranium and other valuable constituents of the ores; and

(2) other waste (which the Secretary of Energy determines to be radioactive) at a processing site which relates to such processing, including any residual stock of unprocessed ores or low-grade materials. This term is used only with respect to materials at sites subject to remediation under title I of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978, as amended.

Site area emergency means events may occur, are in progress, or have occurred that could lead to a significant release of radioactive material and that could require a response by offsite response organizations to protect persons offsite.

Source Material means:

(1) Uranium or thorium, or any combination thereof, in any physical or chemical form or

(2) ores which contain by weight one-twentieth of one percent (0.05%) or more of:

(i) Uranium,

(ii) thorium or

(iii) any combination thereof. Source material does not include special nuclear material.

Special nuclear material means:

(1) Plutonium, uranium 233, uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and any other material which the Commission, pursuant to the provisions of section 51 of the Act, determines to be special nuclear material; or

(2) any material artificially enriched by any of the foregoing.

Transient shipment means a shipment of nuclear material, originating and terminating in foreign countries, on a vessel or aircraft that stops at a United States port.

United States, when used in a geographical sense, includes Puerto Rico and all territories and possessions of the United States.

Unrefined and unprocessed ore means ore in its natural form prior to any processing, such as grinding, roasting or beneficiating, or refining. Processing does not include sieving or encapsulation of ore or preparation of samples for laboratory analysis.

Uranium enrichment facility means:

(1) Any facility used for separating the isotopes of uranium or enriching uranium in the isotope 235, except laboratory scale facilities designed or used for experimental or analytical purposes only; or

(2) Any equipment or device, or important component part especially designed for such equipment or device, capable of separating the isotopes of uranium or enriching uranium in the isotope 235.

Uranium Milling means any activity that results in the production of byproduct material as defined in this part.

[26 FR 284, Jan. 14, 1961]

Editorial Note

Editorial Note:

For Federal Register citations affecting § 40.4, see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids section of the printed volume and at www.fdsysgovinfo.gov.