The NRC weighs public input on plant cleanup standards
In the wake of seven public [open quotes]work-shops[close quotes] held around the country over the past several months, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is preparing to develop radiological criteria for decommissioning nuclear power plants. The criteria will apply to plants that operate for their normal lifespan, those that shut down prematurely, as well as a range of other NRC-licensed facilities, including materials licensees, fuel reprocessing and fabrication plants, and independent spent fuel storage installations. The criteria have been years in the making, and their progress is being monitored closely by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which shares with the NRC the authority to regulate radiological hazards. Both agencies have made abortive attempts to promulgate standards in the past. The EPA's most recent proposal, dating from 1986, has yet to reach the final rule stage. The NCRC's 1990 policy statement, [open quotes]Below Regulatory Concern,[close quotes] was overturned by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, a setback that prompted the Commission's call for [open quotes]enhanced participatory rulemaking[close quotes]-a.k.a., public meetings-last December. In its Rulemaking Issues Paper, the NRC outlined for discussion four [open quotes]fundamental[close quotes] objectives as a basis for developing decommissioning criteria: (1) establishing limits above which the risks to the public are deemed [open quotes]unacceptable[close quotes]; (2) establishing [open quotes]goals[close quotes] below which the risks to the public are deemed [open quotes]trivial[close quotes]; (3) establishing criteria for what is achievable using the [open quotes]best available[close quotes] cleanup technology; and (4) removing all radioactivity attributable to plant activity. The NRC expects to publish a proposed rule and a draft generic environmental impact statement in April 1994; the final rule is scheduled for May 1995.
- OSTI ID:
- 6235360
- Journal Information:
- Public Utilities Fortnightly; (United States), Vol. 131:13; ISSN 0033-3808
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Summary of comments received from workshops on radiological criteria for decommissioning
Related Subjects
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
REACTOR DECOMMISSIONING
REGULATIONS
MEETINGS
PUBLIC OPINION
US NRC
NUCLEAR FUELS
RADIATION HAZARDS
REMEDIAL ACTION
US EPA
DECOMMISSIONING
ENERGY SOURCES
FUELS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
POWER PLANTS
REACTOR MATERIALS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
US ORGANIZATIONS
056000* - Nuclear Fuels- Legislation & Regulations- (1987-)
290600 - Energy Planning & Policy- Nuclear Energy