The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is giving stakeholders an additional 60 days to comment on a draft regulatory basis that could lay the groundwork for an update to regulations on disposal of Greater-Than-Class C low-level radioactive waste.
The comment period had been scheduled to close on Sept. 20. But the agency, in a Federal Register notice published Friday, extended the date to Nov. 19 following requests from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and other parties.
Under existing regulations, Greater-Than-Class C waste currently must be disposed of in a geologic repository unless the NRC approves a specific request for alternative disposal. Today, the United States does not have a repository for this waste type and the agency has never received an application for another means of disposal.
The July 22 draft regulatory basis addressed the GTCC waste types that could be safely placed in a near-surface facility for permanent disposal and the regulatory updates that would be necessary for that to happen.
Agency staff determined that 15 of 17 GTCC waste streams identified by the Department of Energy could be suitable for near-surface disposal – within 30 meters of the surface – largely under existing licensing requirements for land disposal of radioactive waste. Within the 15 waste streams, 14 could be regulated by agreement states to the NRC, staff said.
In the draft document, staff cited three avenues for addressing the regulatory situation, without recommending any one: keeping the existing rules; issuing a new guidance, which would not update current regulations but could help parties file future applications for disposal by means other than a geologic repository; and a full rulemaking to develop regulations specifically for placing GTCC waste in a low-level radioactive waste facility.
Comments can be submitted at the federal rulemaking website, regulations.gov, Docket ID NRC-2017-0081; by email to rulemaking.comments@nrc.gov; by fax to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 301-415-1101; by mail to Secretary, U.S. Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN.: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff; or in person to NRC headquarters at 11555 Rockville Pike in Rockville, Md.
