Regulation of new depleted uranium uses.
This report evaluates how the existing U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulatory structure and pending modifications would affect full deployment into radiologically uncontrolled areas of certain new depleted uranium (DU) uses being studied as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's DU uses research and development program. Such new DU uses include as catalysts (for destroying volatile organic compounds in off-gases from industrial processes and for hydrodesulfurization [HDS] of petroleum fuels), semiconductors (for fabricating integrated circuits, solar cells, or thermoelectric devices, especially if such articles are expected to have service in hostile environments), and electrodes (for service in solid oxide fuel cells, in photoelectrochemical cells used to produce hydrogen, and in batteries). The report describes each new DU use and provides a detailed analysis of whether any existing NRC licensing exemption or general license would be available to users of products and devices manufactured to deploy the new use. Although one existing licensing exemption was found to be possibly available for catalysts used for HDS of petroleum fuels and one general license was found to be possibly available for catalysts, semiconductors, and electrodes used in hydrogen production or batteries, existing regulations would require most users of products and devices deploying new DU uses to obtain specific source material licenses from the NRC or an Agreement State. This situation would not be improved by pending regulatory modifications. Thus, deployment of new DU uses may be limited because persons having no previous experience with NRC or Agreement State regulations may be hesitant to incur the costs and inconvenience of regulatory compliance, unless using a DU-containing product or device offers a substantial economic benefit over nonradioactive alternatives. Accordingly, estimating the risk of deploying new DU-containing products and devices in certain radiologically uncontrolled areas is recommended. If the estimated risks of such deployment are found to be acceptable, then it may be possible to justify adding new exemptions or general licenses to the NRC regulations.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31-109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 808432
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/EAD/TM/02-5; TRN: US0301965
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 22 Jan 2003
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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