The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued an export license for UniTech Services Group to return up to 10,000 metric tons of radioactively contaminated material to Canada.
The export license dated April 30 covers “tools, metals and other solid materials contaminated with byproduct materials,” and was signed by David Skeen, deputy director for the NRC’s Office of International Programs. Total activity for all radioactive contaminants over the 10-year term of the license is capped at 650 terabecquerels.
Agency staff “determined that the application met the regulations, and with the consultation of the State Department and Canada, determined that there was no security reason to reject the license,” NRC spokesman David McIntyre said by email Thursday.
The Longmeadow, Mass.-based nuclear services company in 2016 initially applied for import and export licenses, to ship the material into the United States for decontamination and then return whatever material could not be decontaminated for disposal in Canada. Staff at the NRC, though, determined an import license was not required as bringing the material into the country would be covered by a general license for facilities authorized to manage radioactive materials.
Mike Fuller, UniTech’s manager of health physics and engineering, said this week he could not discuss specific Canadian clients that would ship material to the company, and the list of “ultimate foreign consignees” is fully redacted on the NRC license. Broadly, the waste generators would encompass Canadian nuclear power and fuel-cycle operations, Fuller told RadWaste Monitor.
That could involve anything from plate steel to scaffolding from a facility, he said. The NRC has characterized the waste as low-level “byproduct material in the form of radioactively contaminated solids, metallic oxides, and other chemical forms.”
Material that is decontaminated would be released for unrestricted use, which could range from from recycling to being deposited in a scrapyard.
UniTech does not necessarily expect to ship 10,000 metric tons of material back to Canada, but selected that amount “to give ourselves capacity so we could bid on projects,” Fuller said. Ten thousand metric tons is in line with licenses issued to the company’s peers, he added.
“We don’t want to get into a situation where we have something and we can’t decontaminate it and we don’t have an export license,” according to Fuller.
Imported contaminated material would go to UniTech decontamination facilities in Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Morris, Ill.; or Royersford, Pa. No material covered by the license has yet been returned to Canada.
There are a number of hypothetical circumstances in which UniTech might be unable to decontaminate certain material, such as an excessive radiation dose rate, Fuller said.
Antinuclear and environmental organizations, and at least one member of Congress, had expressed concerns about shipment of radioactive waste over long distances by road into and out of the United States. Earlier this spring, the NRC rejected a request from several groups for a hearing on the export license application. Terry Lodge, an attorney representing the organizations Beyond Nuclear and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, said Monday the groups would not appeal the NRC decision.
The commission at the time directed NRC staff to “expeditiously address” the license application. The final ruling came from staff, rather than the commission itself.
“The NRC cares very little that US highways will see hundreds of trucks carrying unmeasured radioactive waste from Canada, most of which will be burned or landfilled or recycled into consumer and industrial products that can pose health risks to the public and to workers,” Lodge said in a prepared statement. “There is now a “general” federal permit – not a permit at all, but instead, NRC general permission that allows anyone to bring radioactive junk and waste into our country so long as there is a paper commitment to some of it ultimately being exported back to Canada. What is coming in is radioactive waste from Canada’s nuclear industry, and it may contain astonishingly hot materials.”
UniTech uses a third-party trucking firm for shipments of radioactive waste. It requires the subcontractor to follow all federal regulations for such transports including using qualified drivers, inspecting vehicles before and after a trip, and ensuring loads are fully secured.
