U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Licensing Status of Titanium Bearing Ores and Waste Products From Titanium Dioxide Manufacturing

HPPOS-202 PDR-9111210343

Title: Licensing Status of Titanium Bearing Ores and Waste

Products From Titanium Dioxide Manufacturing

See the letter from R. L. Fonner to G. V. Johnson (E.I. du

Pont de Nemours & Co.) dated November 2, 1984. 10 CFR Part

40.13 (c) does not authorize manufacturing of any of the

products listed in Paragraph (c), reinforcing the

historical view of the limited application of the exemption

to products only, and not to raw materials and waste, such

as waste products from titanium dioxide. HPPOS-029

contains a related topic.

NRC examined the question of exemption and licensing status

for titanium bearing ores and waste products resulting from

titanium dioxide manufacturing at a plant in Tennessee.

Some ores (monazite and xenotime-rare earth ores) and some

waste products (barium salts in scale in piping, and some

process wastewater) contain thorium and uranium in excess

of 0.05% by weight, but less than 0.25% by weight. It was

suggested that these materials were covered by 10 CFR 40.13

(c) (1) (vi) and should, therefore, be exempt from

licensing.

10 CFR 40.13 (c) (1) (vi) provides an exemption for

licensing for thorium contained in rare earth metals and

compounds, mixtures, and products containing not more than

0.25% by weight of thorium, uranium, or any combination of

thorium and uranium. This exemption was promulgated in

1961 upon the petition of American Potash and Chemical

Company to restore a status quo ante. American Potash was

then processing rare earth ores for thorium and rare earths

at its facility in West Chicago, Illinois. The exemption

of 10 CFR 40.13 (c) (1) (vi) can be traced to Schedule I of

10 CFR 40.60.

Schedule I was first promulgated in 1947 (12 FR 1855, March

20, 1947) in conjunction with a provision requiring

unlicensed persons in possession of 10 pounds of source

material ore, or 1 pound of refined source material, to

register with the Atomic Energy Commission. However,

products listed in Schedule I were exempted. This history

indicates that the exemption applies only to products, not

to raw materials or process wastes. Further, the

petitioner, American Potash and Chemical Company, always

proceeded under license with respect to ores exceeding

0.05% by weight thorium.

NRC emphasizes the fact that only products are involved in

the several exemptions in paragraph 40.13 (c). Under the

regulatory system of 10 CFR Part 40, unrefined and

unprocessed ores are exempt without limit on quantity and

quality pursuant to paragraph 40.13 (b). If source

material ore has been refined or processed (see 10 CFR 40.4

(k)) it is subject to licensing. 10 CFR 40.13 (c) (9)

states that paragraph 40.13 (c) does not authorize

manufacturing of any of the products listed in paragraph

(c), reinforcing the historical view of the limited

application of the exemption to products only, and not to

raw materials and waste.

Regulatory references: 10 CFR 40.13

Subject codes: 11.1, 11.6

Applicability: Source Material