U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Technical Assistance Request: Application of the Financial Assurance Requir ement in 10 CFR 30.35, 40.36, and 70.25 to Waste Brokers Located in Agreement States

HPPOS-309 PDR-9306240427

Title: Technical Assistance Request: Application of the

Financial Assurance Requirement in 10 CFR 30.35, 40.36, and

70.25 to Waste Brokers Located in Agreement States

See the memorandum from J. E. Glenn to R. R. Bellamy dated

September 31, 1990. This memo responds to a technical

assistance request (TAR), dated October 24, 1990, inquiring

about the applicability of the financial assurance

requirements of 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, and 70 to Radiac

Research Corporation and NDL Organization, Inc., waste

brokers in agreement states. The TAR was referred by NMSS

to the Division of Low-Level Waste Management and

Decommissioning (LLWM) who coordinated its response with

the Office of the General Counsel (OGC).

Radiac Research Corporation and NDL Organization, Inc.,

each have an NRC license which allows them to receive and

possess packaged solid waste byproduct, source, and special

nuclear material, and to transfer such packages to

authorized land burial facilities. The possession limits

listed in their licenses are such that financial assurance

would be required pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30, 40, and 70.

However, their licenses do not permit storage at any

location owned to controlled by the licensee in a

non-Agreement State. Both licensees also have an Agreement

State license from New York State which allows them to

store radioactive material at their facility in New York.

During routine operations, the licensee sends a truck to

customer facilities which picks up prepackaged waste and

then either returns to the licensee's Agreement State

facility or proceeds to the licensed burial site. Hence,

the licensee has no NRC licensed facilities other than

their trucks and these are returned to the to the Agreement

State for decontamination.

Upon consultation with OGC, it was determined by LLWM that

the Decommissioning Rule requirements apply to these waste

broker licensees. Implementation of the regulation occurs

when possession limit thresholds are met, not be storage or

transportation statues described in this situation. Since

the licensees' possession quantities of radioactive

materials exceeds 105 time the applicable quantities set

forth in Appendix C to 10 CFR Part 20, they are required to

provide pursuant to 10 CFR 30.35 (a), a decommissioning

funding plan for the eventual decontamination and disposal

of their trucks and facilities. Each decommissioning plan

pursuant to 10 CFR 30.35 (e) must provide a cost estimate

for decommissioning (the cost estimate may be greater or

lesser than the amounts of financial assurance prescribed

by paragraph (d) of 10 CFR 30.35), a selection of a

financial assurance method for assuring funds for

decommissioning, a copy of the method used to obtain the

dollar value that is reflected in the cost estimate, and a

means of adjusting the cost estimates and associated

funding levels periodically over the life of the

facilities. However, licensees are always entitled,

pursuant to 10 CFR 30.11 (a), to request an exemption to

the Decommissioning Rule requirements and such requests are

evaluated on the merits of each specific case.

It was also noted that the Decommissioning Rule is a matter

of compatibility with Agreement States.

The key points in LLWM's response to the TAR are as follows:

1. The financial assurance requirements apply to waste

brokers because of the quantities of licensed material they

are authorized to possess.

2. The waste brokers must submit a decommissioning

funding plan (DFP) for the eventual decontamination of

their trucks, equipment, and facilities.

3. The DFP, which may be for an amount greater or less

than that prescribed in 10 CFR 30.35 (d) (and equivalent

provisions of 10 CFR Parts 40 and 70), must contain all the

information specified in 10 CFR 30.35 (e).

4. The waste brokers may request, pursuant to 10 CFR

30.11, an exemption from there financial assurance

requirements.

5. The provisions of 10 CFR 30.35, 40.36, and 70.25

are a matter of compatibility with the Agreement States.

Regulatory references: 10 CFR 30.35, 10 CFR 40.36, 10 CFR

70.25

Subject codes: 5.8, 9.0, 12.2

Applicability: Byproduct, Source, and Special Nuclear

Materials