The NRC approach to the radiological criteria for decommissioning

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:7131965

Cameron, F X; Cool, D A ^[1]

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1. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently completed a series of regional workshops as part of an enhanced participatory rulemaking to establish the radiological criteria for the cleanup and decommissioning of NRC-licensed facilities. The workshops were designed to obtain early advice and recommendations on the critical issues involved in such a rulemaking from a broad spectrum of affected interests, including state, local, and tribal governments and organizations, citizens groups, and industry, before the NRC staff develops a draft proposed rule for commission review. The workshops were very well received and have been viewed positively by all interests as an effective method for involving the public in the government decision-making process. The workshops provided the NRC staff with valuable information for developing the draft proposed rule. The focus of the workshop discussions was a rulemaking issues paper prepared by the NRC staff. The rulemaking issues paper presented four major regulatory approaches to site cleanup standards: risk goals, risk limits, best effort, and return to background. Each of these four approaches was discussed by workshop participants from a number of [open quotes]cross-cutting[close quotes] perspectives: protection of the public health, safety, and the environment; waste management implications; relationship to the existing NRC and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulatory framework; and cost and other implementation considerations. With the completion of the workshops, the NRC staff is now evaluating the workshop comments in preparation for the development of a draft proposed rule on site cleanup criteria for decommissioning NRC-licensed facilities. The staff is also preparing a generic environmental impact statement in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act to guide decision making on the draft proposed rule.

• OSTI ID: 7131965
• Report Number(s): CONF-931160--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 69
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Management
053000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Environmental Aspects
054000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Health & Safety
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
DECOMMISSIONING
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INFORMATION
MANAGEMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PUBLIC HEALTH
PUBLIC INFORMATION
RADIATION PROTECTION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
REGULATIONS
STANDARDS
US NRC
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT