The public comment period for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission rulemaking that would simplify the very low-level waste disposal process ended Wednesday with over 6,000 comments.
Announced in March, the interpretive rule would allow the waste to be disposed of at facilities without Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licenses. The NRC would grant “specific exemptions” overriding current requirements mandating the unlicensed facilities to receive approval with each shipment of the waste.
Very low-level waste (VLLW) is the informal term for the least radioactive form of Class A low-level waste, which is the least radioactive form of all four classes of nuclear waste. It includes material with naturally occurring radionuclides or other residual radioactivity, which is generally considered safe for disposal in landfills not specifically designed for radioactive wastes.
Some examples of VLLW include incinerator ash from research facilities, demolition debris (concrete, metal), soil, and other garbage from nuclear fuel facilities or decommissioning nuclear power plants, according to the NRC.
Typically licensed material is supposed to go to licensed facilities, under current NRC rules. This interpretive rule would serve as an exception to that policy.
Four commercial facilities are currently licensed to accept such waste: EnergySolutions sites in South Carolina and Utah, Waste Control Specialists’ operation in Texas, and US Ecology’s facility in the Energy Department’s Hanford Site in Washington state.
The comment period was scheduled to end April 20, but was extended twice in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
