Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects in late spring to issue a draft regulatory basis for disposal of Greater-Than-Class C low-level radioactive waste.
The finalized version of the document would evaluate whether there is justification to conduct a rulemaking to update federal regulations for disposal of the material.
The public would have the opportunity to comment on the draft before it is completed. Further details on development of the document were not immediately available.
The potential rulemaking would be one of multiple steps needed to finally establish a permanent disposal site for GTCC and GTCC-like waste – sealed sources, scrap metal, and other materials produced during nuclear operations such as reactor decommissioning and held at government and commercial generator sites around the nation.
Federal rules dating to 1989 require GTCC waste to be disposed of in a geologic repository licensed by the NRC unless the agency signs off on another option.
The Department of Energy, which under federal law is charged with disposing of the waste, has identified its preferred approach as use of generic commercial facilities and/or the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. In an environmental assessment issued in October, DOE indicated it was considering disposal of the full anticipated inventory of GTCC and GTCC-like waste – expected to reach 12,000 cubic meters – at Waste Control Specialists’ Federal Waste Facility in Andrews County, Texas.
The department noted that the environmental assessment did not constitute a decision to direct the waste to Texas. There was no word Friday on when that record of decision might be issued.
Along with updated federal regulations, Texas environmental regulations would have to be revised to allow the waste to be shipped to Waste Control Specialists.
