The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on Friday submitted a long list of concerns about a proposed Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule interpretation that could make it easier to ship “very low-level” radioactive waste to landfills.
“The NRC’s proposed interpretive rule could create administrative, enforcement, and compliance challenges for both regulators and the regulated community,” the state agency said in comments filed with the federal regulator. “The TCEQ strongly encourages the NRC to abandon this interpretive rule, engage stakeholders, including states and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and conduct a full rulemaking on VLLW.”
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is the state regulator for Waste Control Specialists, one of three U.S. companies to operate licensed disposal facilities for low-level radioactive waste. The Dallas-based company has also opposed the rule interpretation, which has drawn strong criticism from advocacy groups and questions from industry. Today is the last day for comments to be filed on the matter.
Very low-level waste is the unofficial term for the least radioactive form of Class A low-level radioactive waste, which is the least hazardous among the three classes of the material. Existing rules authorize the NRC to approve disposal via land burial at hazardous waste and municipal landfills, on a case-by-case basis. The rule interpretation would enable landfills to apply for an agency exemption to accept VLLW on an ongoing basis, without needing approval for each shipment. Participating landfills would have to meet certain restrictions, including a cumulative dose limit under 25 millirem from all disposals per year.
Among the concerns raised by the TCEQ: Unlicensed facilities might not have adequate gear and training even as they receive very low-level waste; generators could skirt Department of Transportation directives regarding packing, signage, and manifests for low-level waste; and state regulators could be forced to establish new rules, documentation, and public participation requirements for intake of VLLW at solid-waste disposal operations.
