TCEQ UNVEILS MORE NUANCED DISPOSAL REGULATION FOR WCS

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality unveiled a more nuanced regulation governing disposal at Waste Control Specialists of incidental commingling as a result of radwaste processing. In a revised draft released late Friday, TCEQ laid out a tiered approach to incidentally commingled waste thresholds, separated by waste streams by volume, radioactivity, or weight. Waste from other sources may not exceed: lesser of either 0.05 μCi per gram or 10 percent of Class A LLRW limit for Dry Active Waste, Nuclear Utility Resin, and Nuclear Utility Filter waste, and 10 percent by volume and radioactivity for Class B and C LLRW which is either Nuclear Utility Resin or Nuclear Utility Filters. In prior drafts of TCEQ’s commingling rule, Texas and Vermont generators had a five percent threshold for incidental commingling, regardless of waste stream, weight, or activity, which many stakeholders said was overly restrictive. For waste streams not identified, the waste from other sources may not exceed 10 percent by volume, weight, radioactivity, or concentrations limits. TCEQ’s commission will vote on the commingling rule May 16.