The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today will hold its last public meeting on 10 CFR Part 61 low-level waste regulatory issues before staff return to the Commissioners for further feedback on the ongoing site specific assessment rulemaking. Unlike the other public meetings held earlier this year, the meeting—which will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel in Rockville, Md.—will be split into three categories for stakeholder discussions: time of compliance/foreseeable future, waste acceptance criteria, and public policy. In a January memo that redirected the ongoing rulemaking, NRC Commissioners gave staff 18 months to expand the rule’s scope and gather stakeholder feedback on four issues
- A two-tiered period of compliance;
- Developing a site-specific waste acceptance criteria;
- Setting a compatibility level with Agreement States; and
- Updating dose methodologies.
However, over the last few months, issues such as the period of institutional control and a handful of chronically over-estimated isotopes have also been a focus of stakeholder discussion, with stakeholders calling for the rule to include a few more issues, obviating the need for a total overhaul of Part 61—something currently scheduled to begin in 2014.