[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 69 (Monday, April 11, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-8546]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: April 11, 1994]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 61
[Docket No. PRM-61-2]
New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, Inc.; Denial of
Petition for Rulemaking
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Denial of petition for rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition
for rulemaking submitted by the New England Coalition on Nuclear
Pollution, Inc. (PRM-61-2). The petitioner requested that the NRC amend
its regulations regarding waste classification of low-level radioactive
waste (LLW) to restrict the number and types of waste streams which can
be disposed of in near-surface disposal facilities and prepare a
supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The NRC is denying
the petition because the ``new information'' as presented by the
petitioner is not sufficient to invalidate the existing classification
system or justify that NRC prepare a supplemental EIS.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the petition for rulemaking, the public comments
received, the petitioner's response to these comments, and the NRC's
letter to the petitioner are available for public inspection or copying
in the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street NW. (Lower Level),
Washington, DC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Haisfield, Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC
20555, Telephone: 301-492-3877 or Robert Hogg, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555, Telephone: 301-504-2579.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Petition
On July 23, 1992 (57 FR 32743), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
published a notice of receipt of a petition for rulemaking filed by the
New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, Inc. The petitioner
requested that the NRC amend 10 CFR part 61 concerning the
classification of low-level radioactive waste for near-surface disposal
to restrict the number and types of waste streams which may be disposed
of in these disposal facilities. The petitioner believes the requested
changes are necessary because of significant new information concerning
intrusion into LLW disposal facilities that was not available at the
time the original EIS was developed. Because of the new information,
the petitioner argues that the NRC must prepare a supplemental EIS
since the premises leading to the conclusions reached in the original
EIS have substantially changed.
The petition is based on three purported changes that the
petitioner believes have occurred since the rule was promulgated. The
petitioner asserts that these changes affect the basis used to
promulgate 10 CFR part 61.
1. The petitioner argues that the original EIS was based on a 500
mrem per year dose to ``inadvertent intruders.'' Revised guidance by
international organizations has reduced dose limits for individual
members of the public to 100 mrem per year and this new criterion has
been incorporated into 10 CFR part 20. The petitioner presumes that the
intruder and public dose limits are integrally linked. The petitioner
asserts that this revised dose limit should also be incorporated into
the waste classification system and that this would impact waste
streams allowed to be disposed of in LLW facilities.
2. The petitioner states that the three intrusion scenarios that
the NRC considered in the development of 10 CFR part 61 do not define a
broad enough spectrum of possible events. Of particular concern is that
the NRC used regulatory discretion, rather than scientific data, to
exclude deliberate intrusion. The petitioner states that recent studies
conducted at the behest of the State of Vermont show that, when
intrusion is deliberate, the ability of near-surface facilities to
properly provide isolation for all of the currently classified LLW
streams is questionable.
3. The petitioner states that because most currently planned LLW
facilities are using an engineered structure to isolate the waste, the
cost differential between shallow-land burial facilities, assumed in
the EIS, and a geologic repository (for high-level waste) has
significantly changed since promulgation of 10 CFR part 61. Because
cost considerations were a factor in the development of the waste
classification system, a supplemental EIS is needed.
Public Comments on the Petition
The notice of receipt of petition for rulemaking invited interested
persons to submit written comments concerning the petition. The NRC
received 14 comment letters. Three comment letters were received from
States (two from Vermont), three from private organizations, three from
associated industries (including one disposal site operator), three
from private individuals, one from a university, and one from the
Department of Energy. The comments generally focussed on the main
elements of the petition--revision of the 10 CFR part 61 waste
classification system and the petitioner's rationale for this change.
In addition, the Commission received responses from the petitioner on
many of the points raised by the commenters. The comments and responses
were reviewed and considered in the development of NRC's decision on
this petition. These comments and responses are available in the NRC
Public Document Room. Following is a summary of the significant
comments.
Four of the commenters supported this petition for rulemaking. They
supported the concept of changing the classification system to restrict
the more hazardous components of currently defined LLW, although not
necessarily in the same way as proposed in the petition.
One commenter stated that the definitions of LLW and high-level
radioactive waste should be changed to essentially require that waste
which presents a potential hazard after 100 years be defined as high-
level radioactive waste. Disposal of such newly defined high-level
radioactive waste would be the responsibility of the Federal
government.
A second commenter believes that the bases for developing the part
61 classification system are not conservative, and therefore, the
petition should be accepted to protect the public from disposal of
waste containing long-lived radionuclides.
A third commenter believes that restricting the longevity hazard
(long-lived radionuclides) would increase public acceptance of LLW
disposal facilities and eliminate program delays.
The fourth commenter, the Vermont Department of Public Service,
believes that the classification system should be revised to reclassify
non-fuel reactor components as greater than Class C. It is stated that
these components, in Vermont, produce 99 percent of the activity, while
comprising less than one-half of one percent of the volume. These
components are easily segregated, and can be stored in spent fuel
pools. The commenter believes the reclassification ``could assist the
State processes established by the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy
Amendments Act of 1985.''
The other ten commenters believe that granting the petition would
not only be unwarranted, as the petitioner has not made a justifiable
case for changing the waste classification system, but would also cause
significant and unnecessary problems for the disposal of LLW. Problems
cited include major uncertainty and delay while the NRC was developing
a new rule, the creation of ``orphan'' wastes that would not be
acceptable at LLW sites, and the inaccurate use of existing
information. For example, the petitioner refers to a study by Rogers
and Associates Engineering Corporation (RAE) prepared for the Vermont
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority. Several commenters, including
RAE and the Vermont Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority, commented
that the petitioner has incorrectly used the results of this study to
assess facility performance and that this study does not support the
petitioner's request.
The commenters argued that 10 CFR part 61, and supporting
documentation, provide a sound regulatory basis for protection of
public health and safety and that the petitioner has not provided any
new significant information to justify changing the current rules.
These commenters further argued that the petitioner is inappropriately
applying requirements in 10 CFR part 20 to potential intruder exposures
at a closed disposal site. They noted that Part 20 limits, and the
international recommendations upon which they are based, are regulatory
dose limits for routine exposures and are not uniquely pertinent to
accidents, inadvertent intrusion, or other hypothetical events.
Some commenters also took exception to the petitioner's goal of
protecting against willful, purposeful, or intentional intrusion
instead of the inadvertent intruder. They stated that to protect
against deliberate misuse of disposed waste would be unnecessarily
conservative and unwarranted. One commenter noted that mining
activities on a previously closed LLW disposal site (an activity
postulated by the petitioner) would constitute possession of source,
byproduct, or special nuclear material and would be regulated under the
statutory basis of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
Several commenters were concerned that a revised classification
system would generate an ``orphan'' class of waste. These wastes would
not be accepted at an LLW site and would have to be stored, pending
disposal at a high-level waste or other appropriate facility, resulting
in additional radiation exposure due to the extra handling and storage
required. These commenters stated that the current classification
system provides an adequate level of protection of public health and
safety.
Other commenters believe that revising the classification system
unnecessarily would be extremely disruptive until new regulations were
finalized.
Finally, several commenters did not see a need to develop a
supplemental EIS because in their view no significant new information
has been provided.
Reasons for Denial
The NRC is denying the petition for the following reasons:
1. The NRC believes that the petitioner is incorrect in asserting
that recommendations by international and national standards
organizations (the International Committee on Radiological Protection
(ICRP) and the National Council on Radiation Protection and
Measurements (NCRP)) on public dose limits applicable to licensee
operations should also be applied to hypothetical inadvertent intrusion
at a closed LLW facility. In fact, the ICRP1 distinguishes between
limits for the conduct of operations where exposures might be expected
and the approach to be taken for ``potential exposures,'' which are
hypothetical or postulated. The new 10 CFR Part 20 limit was adopted to
impose restrictions on the releases from currently operating licensed
facilities or on the ways that current licensees conduct operations. In
contrast to this, the LLW classification system specifically addressed
limiting potential exposures to an inadvertent intruder who might
hypothetically pursue activities at a closed LLW disposal facility
following loss of institutional control. Inadvertent intrusion is a
hypothetical exposure scenario evaluated in the EIS to support the
concentration limits for classifying radioactive wastes. It is a
separate and different evaluation from the evaluation performed under
Sec. 61.41 to demonstrate protection of the general population from
releases of radioactivity. The NRC's calculations, based on
conservative assumptions about intrusion activities, demonstrated that
if inadvertent intrusion were to occur, the one or few individuals
involved might receive radiation exposure of the order of 200 mrem,
well below 500 mrem per year goal selected as the dose rate limitation
guideline.
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\1\ Annals of the ICRP, ICRP Publication 60, ``1990
Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological
Protection,'' Volume 21, pages 25-49 and 70-77.
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In its final EIS, as noted by the petitioner, the NRC summarized
the rationale for retaining the 500 mrem limitation guideline as
follows:
NRC's selection of the 500 mrem limit was based on (1) public
opinion gained through the four regional workshops held on the
preliminary draft of Part 61; (2) its acceptance by national and
international standards organizations (e.g., ICRP) as an acceptable
exposure limit for members of the public; and (3) the results of
analyses presented in Chapter 4 of the draft EIS.2
\2\ Final Environmental Impact Statement on 10 CFR part 61
``Licensing Requirements for Land Disposal of Radioactive Waste,''
November 1992, NUREG-0945, Vol. 2, page B-41, (response to issue C-
4).
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However, a fuller explanation for having selected this dose
limitation guideline can be found in the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) on 10 CFR part 61 (NUREG-0782, Vol. 1)3. At that
time, three candidate values of different order of magnitude were under
consideration; 25 mrem per year, 500 mrem per year, and 5000 mrem per
year. While noting the similarity of the selected value to the then
current effective public dose limit in 10 CFR part 20, the DEIS went on
to explain the considerations for selection. Selection of the 25 mrem
per year value would likely have resulted in considerably more costs,
more changes in existing practices and greater reduction in disposal
efficiency than the other two candidates. This was cited as
``especially important considering the hypothetical nature of the
intrusion event.'' The 5000 mrem per year alternative was seen to
involve approximately the same costs and impacts as the 500 mrem per
year alternative. The higher value was considered to potentially result
in allowing disposal of larger quantities of long-lived isotopes, which
could result in moderately higher intruder hazards extending for long
time periods. Therefore, 500 mrem per year was selected as a general
dose rate limitation guideline for the inadvertent intruder.
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\3\ Copies of NUREGs may be purchased from the Superintendent of
Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P. O. Box 37082,
Washington, DC 20013-7082. Copies are also available from the
National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road,
Springfield, Va. 22161. A copy is also available for inspection and/
or copying at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW.
(Lower Level), Washington, DC.
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In the final EIS, the NRC noted that the EPA, in commenting on the
DEIS and the proposed 10 CFR part 61, stated that it was not
appropriate to include a dose limit for intrusion in the regulations
because the licensee would not be able to monitor or demonstrate
compliance with a dose limit related to an event which might occur
hundreds of years in the future. Consequently, the final rule for 10
CFR part 61 did not include a dose limit for inadvertent intrusion.
However, provisions, including waste classification, were included in
the final rule to reduce the likelihood and magnitude of exposures to
potential intruders.
Finally, as noted above, ICRP distinguishes between limits for the
conduct of operations where exposures might be expected and the
approach to be taken for ``potential exposures,'' which are
hypothetical or postulated. In the former case, the ICRP proposed
imposition of dose limits but in the latter case recommended that the
probability of postulated events or scenarios be considered along with
their consequences. The ICRP noted that the initial focus in
controlling the consequences of potential or postulated events should
be ``prevention,'' that is, by incorporating provisions to reduce the
probability of the postulated events which may lead to radiation
exposures. The existence of multiple controls in the final rule to
reduce the likelihood of exposures to postulated inadvertent intruders
at closed LLW sites was, and continues to be, wholly consistent with
the ICRP perspective. These multiple controls are specifically
identified or included in Secs. 61.7, 61.12, 61.14, 61.42, 61.52, and
61.59 and are intended to prevent inadvertent intrusion and to reduce
potential exposure if intrusion were to occur.
For these reasons, the NRC does not believe that the current ICRP
or NCRP recommendation that the public dose limit be 100 mrem per year
constitutes new information which would warrant modifying these
regulations. The NRC believes that the provisions of 10 CFR part 61
provide an acceptable level of protection to the public and the
inadvertent intruder.
2. The NRC believes that the petitioner has not provided adequate
information to justify considering ``deliberate'' intrusion scenarios.
The NRC believes that to protect against deliberate intrusion would be
unnecessarily conservative and unwarranted. The NRC regulations
currently include provisions to protect against intrusion by, for
example, requiring government land ownership, records, and the use of
markers. In order to deliberately intrude into the LLW site, an
individual will have to break the law and overlook the hazard. In the
development of 10 CFR part 61, the NRC stated, ``* * * it would appear
to be difficult to establish regulations designed to protect a future
individual who recognizes a hazard but then chooses to ignore the
hazard.''4
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\4\Draft Environmental Impact Statement on 10 CFR part 61
``Licensing Requirements for Land Disposal of Radioactive Waste,''
September 1981, NUREG-0782, Volume 2, page 4-3.
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The NRC also believes the likelihood of deliberate intrusion is
very small. Deliberate intruders would have to ignore the hazard
information on markers. The future value of LLW as a material cannot be
accurately assessed, but the NRC believes that its value would be
unlikely to warrant illegal actions that in themselves would be
hazardous, and would require a significant amount of time and effort.
If the value of LLW were to become significant, then it is likely that
responsible institutions would assess risks and would make rational
decisions regarding use or control of the site. Although the NRC is not
relying on institutional controls beyond 100 years, the NRC believes
that relevant records will be preserved, and remain accessible for
hundreds of years after closure. This would reduce the likelihood and
level of exposure of inadvertent or deliberate intrusion. For example,
if intrusion did not occur until 500 years after closure, the exposure
would be limited to a few mrem as calculated in the EIS. The NRC,
therefore, believes that its current treatment of intrusion continues
to reflect a rational and acceptable approach. The NRC current
regulations provide reasonable assurance of protection against an
inadvertent intruder. And while not directly protecting against the
deliberate intruder, the NRC believes that such an intrusion is
unlikely to happen, therefore, the risk is very small.
3. The NRC believes that the petitioner's request for a
supplemental EIS, due to increased costs of current disposal plans
(including engineered structures), is not valid for several reasons.
First, the NRC considered a range of different disposal options and
costs, including the use of engineered barriers and structures, in the
development of 10 CFR part 61. Shallow-land burial, as had been
practiced at commercial disposal sites, was considered as the base case
for analysis. Two improved shallow-land disposal alternatives were also
considered. The use of engineered barriers was anticipated and included
in cost impact analyses as the upper bound alternative. Second,
although the petitioner is correct in stating that LLW disposal costs
for new facilities have significantly increased since promulgation of
the rule, so have the expected costs for other potential methods of
waste disposal, including geologic disposal, referred to by the
petitioner. Third, as noted by one of the commenters, much of the
increased cost for new LLW disposal facilities is independent of the
disposal technology used. That is, the increased costs for site
characterization, licensing, public involvement, and administration for
all disposal sites would tend to minimize long-term cost differentials
between shallow-land burial with and without engineered structures. The
petitioner is erroneously asserting that costs were a prime
consideration in the selection of the waste classification system.
Although costs were considered in the EIS, the NRC principally looked
to identify and implement improvements in the disposal of LLW, such as
the development of the waste classification system, to help ensure
adequate protection of the public health and safety and the
environment. The costs of developing and constructing a facility were
not the prime consideration.
In addition to the three reasons above, the NRC has also
qualitatively considered the effect of imposing a classification system
as indicated in the petition. The benefit would be to reduce the
potential radiation exposure of a very small number of individuals
after the end of the institutional control period. A realistic estimate
of the benefit, as shown in the EIS, would be a 100 mrem reduction in
dose (from 200 mrem to 100 mrem per year) to one or a few individuals
per site, 100 years after closure. To maximize the benefit, the
intrusion would need to occur relatively shortly after the end of the
institutional control period, since the 100 mrem difference between the
existing classification system and that suggested by the petitioner
becomes smaller with time. As discussed earlier, as the time period
increases beyond 100 years to 500 years, potential exposures reduce to
only a few mrem for the existing classification system.
Not only are the perceived benefits exceedingly small, but if a
revised classification system were imposed, the NRC believes that it
would result in significant negative impacts. First, it would take
years to revise the waste classification regulations. During this time,
current efforts by the States and compact organizations to develop LLW
facilities could be severely impacted as they would not know what waste
would be acceptable in a LLW facility. Second, as provided in the Low-
Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985, States will
continue to be responsible to provide for disposal of waste that is
classified A, B, and C under the existing classification system in 10
CFR part 61. If a new classification system were developed that
resulted in some currently acceptable waste being unacceptable for a
LLW facility, either Congressional action would be necessary to change
the Act to make the Federal Government responsible for the waste or the
States would be forced to develop alternative methods to dispose of
this new class of waste. And third, additional operational exposures
could be expected to occur as specific waste would need to be
segregated, handled, treated, stored, and transported while awaiting
alternative disposal facilities.
In sum, no new significant information has been provided by the
petitioner that would call into question the basis for, or conclusion
of, the final EIS. On the other hand, in a qualitative analysis, it is
clear that granting the petition would result in significant negative
impacts relative to the small potential reduction in intruder
exposures. Therefore, a supplemental EIS is not needed.
For reasons cited in this document, the NRC denies the petition.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of March 1994.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James M. Taylor,
Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 94-8546 Filed 4-8-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
