[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 139 (Monday, July 21, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39093-39095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-17753]
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 139 / Monday, July 21, 1997 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 39093]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Parts 20 and 40
RIN 3150-AD65
Radiological Criteria for License Termination: Uranium Recovery
Facilities
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Request for additional comment on uranium recovery facilities.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The NRC is requesting specific comment on radiological
criteria for license termination for uranium recovery facilities. This
action is intended to provide full consideration of the issues
associated with the decommissioning of these facilities and the
regulatory options for resolving these issues.
DATES: Submit comments by October 6, 1997. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practicable to do so, but the
Commission is able to assure consideration only for comments received
on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland, between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm on Federal workdays.
For information on submitting comments electronically, see the
discussion under Electronic Access in the Supplementary Information
section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph J. Holonich, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: (301) 415-7238, e-mail
JJH[email protected]; Duane Schmidt, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone: (301) 415-6919, e-mail DWS[email protected]; or Frank Cardile,
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: (301) 415-6185; e-
mail [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On August 22, 1994 (59 FR 43200), the NRC published a proposed rule
for comment in the Federal Register to amend 10 CFR part 20 of its
regulations ``Standards for Protection Against Radiation'' to include
radiological criteria for license termination (referred to here as the
``cleanup rule''). The proposed cleanup rule included criteria for
determining the adequacy of remediation of residual radioactivity
resulting from the possession or use of source, byproduct, and special
nuclear material. The scope of the proposed cleanup rule applied to the
decommissioning of facilities licensed under 10 CFR parts 30, 40, 50,
60, 61, 70, and 72. Specifically with regard to uranium mills, the
proposed cleanup rule stated that, for uranium mills, the criteria of
the rule would apply to the facility but not to the disposal of uranium
mill tailings or to soil cleanup. The proposed cleanup rule
(Sec. 20.1401(a)) referred to 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, where
criteria for disposal of mill tailings and soil cleanup of radium
already exist.
The public comment period for the proposed cleanup rule closed on
January 20, 1995. Comments received on the proposed rule were
summarized in NUREG/CR-6353. Comments on the criteria in the proposed
rule were received from over 100 organizations and individuals
representing a variety of interests. Viewpoints were expressed both in
support of and in disagreement with nearly every provision of the rule.
Specifically with regard to uranium mills, comments on the proposed
rule generally agreed with the exclusion for disposal of mill tailings
and soil cleanup. These commenters recommended that the rule also
exempt conventional thorium and uranium mill facilities and in situ
leach (ISL) (specifically uranium solution extraction) facilities from
the scope of coverage because they stated that the decommissioning of
these sites is covered by Appendix A to 10 CFR part 40 and 40 CFR part
192.
In responding to the comments on uranium mills during preparation
of the final cleanup rule, the Commission considered appropriate
regulatory options for addressing requirements for cleanup of soil,
buildings, and groundwater at uranium and thorium mills and ISLs
(collectively referred to as UR facilities) for unrestricted release of
the site other than the tailings disposal and reclamation which are
subject to the requirements of 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A.
In considering regulatory options for establishing radiological
criteria for license termination of UR facilities, it is important to
understand current regulations applicable to remediation of both
inactive tailings sites, including vicinity properties, and active
uranium and thorium mills. Under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation
Control Act (UMTRCA) of 1978, as amended, EPA has the authority to set
cleanup standards for uranium mills and, based on that authority,
issued regulations in 40 CFR part 192 which contain remediation
criteria for these facilities. NRC's regulations in 10 CFR part 40,
Appendix A, apply to the decommissioning of its licensed facilities and
conform to EPA's standards for uranium mills. At ISLs, the
decommissioning activities are similar to those at uranium mills and
consist mainly of the cleanup of byproduct material as defined in
Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
Thus, applicable cleanup standards already exist for soil cleanup
of radium in 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, Criterion 6(6). Radium is the
main contaminant at uranium mills in the large areas (20-400 hectares
(50 to 1000 acres)) where windblown contamination from the tailings
pile has occurred, and at ISLs (in holding ponds). These standards
require that the concentration of radium in those large areas not
exceed the background level by more than 0.19 Bq/gm (5 pCi/gm) in the
first 15 cm (6 inches) of soil, and 0.56 Bq/gm (15 pCi/gm) for every 15
cm (6 inches) below the first 15 cm (6 inches). However, in other mill
and ISL site areas proximate to locations where radium contamination
exists (e.g., under the mill building, in a yellow cake storage area,
under/around an ore pad, and at ISLs in soils where spray irrigation
has occurred as a means of disposal), uranium or thorium would be the
radionuclide of concern. Because 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, does not
codify cleanup criteria for soil contamination from radionuclides other
than radium, it cannot be used as a standard for uranium and thorium
cleanup, and existing NRC guidance documents are currently used to
develop appropriate cleanup levels for these and other radionuclides.
There is not a similar need to address codifying requirements for
groundwater at UR facilities because 10 CFR 40, Appendix A, as adopted
by NRC to conform to EPA regulations in 40 CFR 192, already specifies
groundwater cleanup standards applicable to tailings impoundments and
also specifies that standards at UR facilities for groundwater cleanup
from sources other than the tailings impoundment can be determined on a
site-specific basis.
Cleanup of radium to the concentration standards noted above would
generally result in doses higher than the 0.25 mSv/yr (25 mrem/yr)
unrestricted use dose criterion of the final cleanup rule. Calculations
done by
[[Page 39094]]
EPA in support of 40 CFR part 192 indicated that the dose from radium,
excluding radon, was approximately 0.6 mSv/yr (60 mrem/yr) (the final
cleanup rule notes that doses from radon would be controlled by cleanup
of radium which is the principal precursor to radon). In actual
practice, cleanup of uranium mill tailings results in radium levels
lower than the 10 CFR part 40 standards, and radium is usually removed
to background levels during cleanup of uranium and thorium to the
levels in existing NRC guidance documents.
As noted above, the Commission considered including criteria in the
final cleanup rule for radionuclides other than radium (primarily
uranium or thorium) that would be present in UR facility site areas
proximate to locations where radium contamination exists (e.g., under
the mill building, in a yellow cake storage area, under/around an ore
pad, and at ISLs in soils where spray irrigation has occurred as a
means of disposal). In this approach, the standard of the final cleanup
rule would apply to radionuclides other than radium, while the 10 CFR
40, Appendix A, standard would continue to apply to radium. However, as
discussed in the final cleanup rule, published in this issue of the
Federal Register, there are unique technical and regulatory
complexities associated with decommissioning of UR facilities which
could cause practical problems in applying the standards of the final
cleanup rule to UR facilities. In particular, under this approach,
application of the dose criterion of the final cleanup rule to the
areas noted above would result in a situation where the cleanup
standard of that small portion of the mill site would be much lower
than the standard for the large windblown tailings areas where radium
is the nuclide of concern. This would result in situations of differing
criteria being applied across similar areas. This problem would exist
for contamination in both soils and buildings.
Thus, in preparing the final cleanup rule, the Commission decided
to exclude UR facilities from the scope of the final rule to allow
further consideration of the issues involved. To allow for full
consideration by the Commission and affected parties of the issues
associated with decommissioning of UR facilities, the Commission
decided to publish this separate notice to specifically request
additional comment on decommissioning criteria for UR facilities (the
Commission did not reopen the comment period for any of the other
issues discussed in the rulemaking for the final cleanup rule). In
publishing the final cleanup rule, the Commission noted that, in the
interim while comments are being requested, the Commission will
continue its current practices for decommissioning UR facilities.
II. Discussion
As noted above, there is an existing standard for radium in soil at
UR facilities, however, it does not apply to radionuclides other than
radium at these facilities. A way to address this situation could be to
establish a criterion whereby the dose from all radionuclides at UR
facilities, including radium, is set at levels different from either
the final cleanup rule or the standards in 10 CFR part 40. This would
involve modifying the radium standards of 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A.
However, a difficulty with this approach is that the radium cleanup
standard of 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, conforms to EPA's cleanup
standard for uranium mills, and per UMTRCA, the authority to set such
cleanup standards for uranium mills rests with EPA.
An approach for setting decommissioning criteria for UR facilities,
which has been developed in response to the comments received on the
proposed rule, would be to codify a dose objective for radionuclides
other than radium in soil and buildings at UR sites consistent with the
radium cleanup standard already in place for those sites in 10 CFR part
40, Appendix A, and 40 CFR part 192. Under this approach, UR facilities
would use the dose from radium in existing 10 CFR part 40 as a
benchmark for the cleanup of radionuclides other than radium. Thus, in
this approach, the criterion for cleanup of radionuclides other than
radium from buildings and soils could be set such that it resulted in a
dose no greater than the dose resulting from cleanup of radium
contaminated soil to the standard specified in Criterion 6(6) of 10 CFR
part 40, Appendix A. Use of this approach would thus allow for
consistent criteria to be applied across site areas.
III. Request for Additional Comments on Regulatory Options
The Commission is reopening the public comment period specifically
to solicit additional comments on the specific standard that should be
used for cleanup of radionuclides at UR facilities. Commenters are
requested to provide input for addressing this issue, and specifically
on the approach discussed above involving the use of the 10 CFR part
40, Appendix A, radium standard as a benchmark for the cleanup of other
radionuclides. Based on the comments already received on the proposed
rule, described in Section I, and on additional comments received in
response to this request, the Commission will then be in a position to
prepare a final rule which reflects additional consideration by the NRC
and affected parties on the approach for setting a standard for UR
facilities.
IV. Electronic Access
Comments may be submitted electronically, in either ASCII text or
WordPerfect format (version 5.1 or later), by calling the NRC
Electronic Bulletin Board on FedWorld or connecting to the NRC
interactive rulemaking web site, ``Rulemaking Forum.'' The bulletin
board may be accessed using a personal computer, a modem, and one of
the commonly available communications software packages, or directly
via Internet.
If using a personal computer and modem, the NRC subsystem on
FedWorld can be accessed directly by dialing the toll free number: 1-
800-303-9672. Communication software parameters should be set as
follows: parity to none, data bits to 8, and stop bits to 1 (N,8,1).
Using ANSI or VT-100 terminal emulation, the NRC NUREGs and Reg Guides
for Comment subsystem can then be accessed by selecting the ``Rules
Menu'' option from the ``NRC Main Menu.'' For further information about
options available for NRC at FedWorld, consult the ``Help/Information
Center'' from the ``NRC Main Menu.'' Users will find the ``FedWorld
Online User's Guides'' particularly helpful. Many NRC subsystems and
databases also have a ``Help/Information Center'' option that is
tailored to the particular subsystem.
The NRC subsystem on FedWorld can also be accessed by a direct-dial
telephone number for the main FedWorld BBS, 703-321-3339, or by using
Telnet via Internet, fedworld.gov. If using 703-321-3339 to contact
FedWorld, the NRC subsystem will be accessed from the main FedWorld
menu by selecting the ``Regulatory, Government Administration and State
Systems,'' then selecting ``Regulatory Information Mall.'' At that
point, a menu will be displayed that has an option ``U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission'' that will take you to the NRC Online main menu.
The NRC Online area also can be accessed directly by typing ``/go nrc''
at a FedWorld command line. If you access NRC from FedWorld's main
menu, you may return to FedWorld by selecting the ``Return to
FedWorld'' option from the NRC Online Main Menu. However, if you access
NRC at FedWorld by using
[[Page 39095]]
NRC's toll-free number, you will have full access to all NRC systems
but you will not have access to the main FedWorld system.
If you contact FedWorld using Telnet, you will see the NRC area and
menus, including the Rules menu. Although you will be able to download
documents and leave messages, you will not be able to write comments or
upload files (comments). If you contact FedWorld using FTP, all files
can be accessed and downloaded but uploads are not allowed; all you
will see is a list of files without descriptions (normal Gopher look).
An index file listing all files within a subdirectory, with
descriptions, is included. There is a 15-minute time limit for FTP
access.
Although FedWorld can be accessed through the World Wide Web, like
FTP that mode only provides access for downloading files and does not
display the NRC Rules menu.
You may also access the NRC's interactive rulemaking web site
through the NRC home page (http://www.nrc.gov). This site provides the
same access as the FedWorld bulletin board, including the facility to
upload comments as files (any format), if your web browser supports
that function.
For more information on NRC bulletin boards call Mr. Arthur Davis,
Systems Integration and Development Branch, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555, telephone (301) 415-5780; e-mail
AXD[email protected]. For information about the interactive rulemaking site,
contact Ms. Carol Gallagher, (301) 415-6215; e-mail [email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 1st day of July, 1997.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John C. Hoyle,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 97-17753 Filed 7-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P