Revision of the Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation - 12510
- U.S. NRC, Washington, DC, 20555-0001 (United States)
- Sandia National Laboratory (United States)
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulation governing low-level waste (LLW) disposal, 'Licensing Requirements for Land Disposal of Radioactive Waste', 10 CFR Part 61, establishes a waste classification system based on the concentration of specific radionuclides contained in the waste. The regulation also states, at 10 CFR 61.55(a)(8), that, 'the concentration of a radionuclide (in waste) may be averaged over the volume of the waste, or weight of the waste if the units are expressed as nanocuries per gram'. The NRC's Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation provides guidance on averaging radionuclide concentrations in waste under 10 CFR 61.55(a)(8) when classifying waste for disposal. In 2007, the NRC staff proposed to revise the Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation. The Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation is an NRC guidance document for averaging and classifying wastes under 10 CFR 61. The Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation is used by nuclear power plants (NPPs) licensees and sealed source users, among others. In addition, three of the four U.S. LLW disposal facility operators are required to honor the Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation as a licensing condition. In 2010, the Commission directed the staff to develop guidance regarding large scale blending of similar homogenous waste types, as described in SECY-10-0043 as part of its Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation revision. The Commission is improving the regulatory approach used in the Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation by moving towards a making it more risk-informed and performance-based approach, which is more consistent with the agency's regulatory policies. Among the improvements to the Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation are more risk-informed limits for the sizes of sealed sources for safe disposal. Using more realistic intruder exposure scenarios, the suggested limits for Class B and C waste disposal of sealed sources, particularly Cs-137 and Co-60, have been increased. These suggested changes, and others in the Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation, if adopted by Agreement States, have the potential to eliminate numerous orphan sources (i.e., sources that currently have no disposal pathway) that are now being stored. Permanent disposal of these sources, rather than temporary storage, will help reduce safety and security risks. The revised Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation has an alternative approach section which provides flexibility to generators and processors, while also ensuring that intruder protection will be maintained. Alternative approaches provide flexibility by allowing for consideration of likelihood of intrusion, the possibility of averaging over larger volumes and allowing for disposal of large activity sources. The revision has improved the organization of the Branch Technical Position on Concentration Averaging and Encapsulation, improved its clarity, better documented the bases for positions, and made the positions more risk informed while also maintaining protection for intruder as required by 10 CFR Part 61. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22293725
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-14-WM-12510; TRN: US14V1381115249
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2012: Waste Management 2012 conference on improving the future in waste management, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 26 Feb - 1 Mar 2012; Other Information: Country of input: France; 9 refs.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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