The Nuclear Energy Institute is asking a federal appeals court to undo the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s determination that it has full authority to regulate disposal of very low-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants, even in states that have taken on much of the agency’s oversight of radioactive materials.
At issue is Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2016-11, in which the NRC said it had erred in 1986 by finding it had no legal standing to review and approve requests for disposal of very low-level waste from nuclear power operations in those agreement states.
“NEI respectfully requests that this Court review and vacate the NRC’s renewed adherence and substantive alterations to RIS 2016-11 … and grant any relief that the Court may deem just and appropriate,” lawyers for the Washington, D.C.-based trade group for the nuclear industry wrote in a Nov. 15 petition for review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
If approved, the petition would presumably force the NRC to redirect authority for disposal of very low-level waste from nuclear power plants in agreement states back to those states.
An NRC spokesman said only that the agency “will file its response, if any, to the NEI motion in court.” Under a court schedule issued on Nov. 20, the respondents – in this case the NRC and the United States of America – have until Jan. 6 to submit motions contesting some or all of the petition.
There are 39 agreement states to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They take up authority for licensing and regulation of byproduct materials, source materials, and select amounts of special nuclear materials. That authority does not extend to oversight of nuclear power plants.
Very low-level waste is an informal designation for the least radioactive form of Class A radioactive waste. It primarily covers contaminated soils, debris, and structural materials from decommissioning of nuclear facilities.
