The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects to give stakeholders more time to provide input on its draft regulatory basis for a potential rulemaking on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) low-level radioactive waste.
“No extension yet, but one is likely,” agency spokesman David McIntyre said by email Tuesday.
On Aug. 29, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) asked for at least 60 additional days for public comment beyond the current Sept. 20 deadline.
“This extension is necessary in order to provide all stakeholders sufficient opportunity to not only review the Draft Regulatory Basis and associated documents, but also review and consider the input from Texas stakeholders and other interested parties when the transcripts from the August 22, 2019 NRC webinar and the August 27, 2019 public meeting are publicly available,” TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker wrote in a letter to NRC Secretary of the Commission Annette Vietti-Cook.
The U.S. Energy Department is legally responsible for disposal of GTCC waste and GTCC-like waste, a growing stockpile eventually expected to accumulate to 12,000 cubic meters. In a 2016 environmental impact statement, the agency said its preferred methods for disposal are the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico and/or generic commercial facilities. In another environmental report last year, DOE narrowed that preference down to Waste Control Specialists’ Federal Waste Facility in Andrews County, Texas.
Federal regulations now require that GTCC waste be buried in a geologic repository unless the NRC approves a specific application for another means of disposal. In the draft regulatory basis issued in July, NRC staff said most of the waste could be safely disposed of in a near-surface facility. It offered three options for the commission to address the issue: not changing the existing regulatory framework; providing new guidance, which would keep the current rules in place but might provide useful data and direction for a disposal application; and conducting a rulemaking that would establish regulations specifically for placing GTCC waste in a low-level radioactive waste facility.
