Information Notice No. 91-65: Emergency Access to Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
October 16, 1991
NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 91-65: EMERGENCY ACCESS TO LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE
WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES
Addressees
All NRC licensees.
Purpose
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information
notice to licensees who generate or who may potentially generate low-level
radioactive waste (LLW) for shipment to LLW disposal facilities. This
notification is intended to inform licensees of the strict requirements
governing implementation of the emergency access provision of the Low-Level
Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 (LLRWPAA), and to discourage
any consideration of reliance on emergency access as a means of LLW
disposal. This notification does not constitute a complete review of the
rules, regulations, and statutes referenced herein, and should not be
considered a substitute for these requirements No specific action or
written response is required.
Description of Circumstances
The LLRWPAA established a series of milestones, penalties, and incentives
for States or regional compacts to progress toward development of disposal
capacity by 1993. The Act contains an emergency access provision (Section
6) by which, "Any generator of low-level radioactive waste, or any Governor
... may request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission grant emergency
access to a regional disposal facility ... for specific low-level
radioactive waste." As a precondition to requesting an emergency access
determination from NRC, a LLW generator or governor must be denied access
to all existing LLW disposal facilities.
Congressional concern that a serious and immediate threat to the public
health and safety could result from denial of access to a LLW disposal
facility led to inclusion of the emergency access provision in the LLRWPAA.
On February 3, 1989, NRC published an emergency access rule (10 CFR Part 62)
that defines the criteria and procedures used for emergency access to
non-Federal and regional LLW disposal facilities. As the Commission stated
in issuing its regulations governing emergency access decisions, Congress
did not intend that Section 6 of the LLRWPAA be an alternative to the
pursuit of the development of new low-level waste disposal capacity. The
Commission remains strongly opposed to implementation of the emergency
access provisions as an alternative for those States not meeting the
milestones in the LLRWPAA and, accordingly, has no intent to implement these
provisions to address such situations. Emergency
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access is to be used only under very limited and rare circumstances.
Instances where such action is necessary to eliminate a serious and
immediate threat to the public health and safety or the common defense and
security and where there are no other mitigating alternatives available to
emergency access, would be unlikely. The emergency access provision
provides a mechanism for federal involvement only as a vehicle of last
resort. The rule sets strict requirements for granting emergency access,
and places the burden on the party requesting emergency access, to
demonstrate that the criteria in the rule have been met and that emergency
access is needed.
Denial of LLW disposal access for generators from the State of Michigan by
the three sited States with existing LLW disposal facilities on November 10,
1990, focused attention on the emergency access provision. Recent questions
about the licensing and operation of new LLW disposal facilities in
California and Nebraska have also raised concern about possible requests
for, and implementation of, emergency access determinations by NRC.
Discussion
An emergency access determination can be made only by NRC. Information that
NRC requires to reach a determination is to be provided by the LLW
generator, or governor, who has been denied access to all LLW disposal
facilities. Information to be submitted would include the need for access
to LLW disposal sites, the quantity and type of material requiring disposal,
impacts on health and safety or common defense and security if emergency
access were not granted, and consideration of available alternatives to
emergency access. The Commission will decide whether the requestor has
considered all factors in the evaluation of alternatives and the impacts of
these alternatives on public health and safety.
The requestor will be expected to: (1) demonstrate that all pertinent
alternatives have been considered; (2) provide a detailed analysis
comparing each of the alternatives considered; (3) demonstrate that
consideration has been given to combining alternatives in some way or in
some sequence either to avoid the need for emergency access, or to resolve
the threat, even on a temporary basis, until other arrangements can be made;
(4) evaluate the societal costs, technical and economic feasibility and
benefits to the public health and safety of the potential alternatives; and
(5) incorporate the results into the request.
Applicants for emergency access will have to provide clear and convincing
evidence that they have exhausted all other options for managing their LLW.
Alternatives which, at a minimum, a requestor must evaluate include:
(1) storage of LLW at the site of generation or at a storage facility;
(2) obtaining access to a disposal facility by voluntary agreement;
(3) purchasing disposal capacity available for assignment pursuant to the
Section 5(c)(4) of the LLRWPAA; and (4) ceasing activities that generate
LLW.
NRC staff has provided the following guidance to waste generators on how to
manage the accumulation of waste in the event of denial of access to waste
disposal facilities:
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1. Information Notice No. 90-09: Extended Interim Storage of Low-Level
Radioactive Waste by Fuel Cycle and
Materials Licensees.
2. Information Notice No. 89-13: Alternative Waste Management Procedures
in Case of Denial of Access to Low-Level
Waste Disposal Sites.(1)
3. Generic Letter 85-14: Commercial Storage at Power Reactors of
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Not Generated
by the Utility.
4. Generic Letter 81-38: Storage of Low-Level Radioactive Waste at
Power Reactors.
Upon receipt of a request for emergency access, NRC will publish a notice in
the Federal Register informing the public that Commission action on the
request is pending and coordination with potentially involved or impacted
States would begin. The LLRWPAA limits NRC to 45 days from the time a
request is received to determine whether emergency access will be granted.
Information submitted by the requestor will enable the Commission to
determine:
(a) whether a serious and immediate threat to the public health and
safety or the common defense and security might exist;
(b) whether alternatives exist that could mitigate the threat; and
(c) which non-Federal disposal facility or facilities should provide
the required disposal capacity.
If NRC determines that an alternative exists that ensures the public health
and safety, does not jeopardize the common defense and security, and is
technically and economically feasible, the request for emergency access will
be denied. Only if all alternatives prove to be unreasonable can NRC grant
access.
If emergency access is granted, the Commission will select a disposal
facility to receive the LLW based on waste characteristics and disposal site
compatibility, capacity limits determined by the LLRWPAA, licensing
criteria, and other related considerations. The disposal facility
determination would be coordinated with appropriate State authorities. A
LLW disposal facility will be selected to receive only those classes of
waste that it normally handles and disposes of pursuant to its license under
non-emergency access operating conditions. In addition, emergency access is
limited in time and amount. It cannot exceed 180 days, with the possibility
of one 180-day extension. If the serious threat ceases, access can be
terminated sooner. Further, in deciding
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(1) This information notice specifically addresses this concern and
outlines actions such as making license amendments to increase possession
limits, using volume reduction techniques, and using alternative management
and disposal techniques.
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which site to designate to receive the emergency access waste, the
Commission would exclude a disposal facility if the volume of emergency
access waste received by the facility exceeds 20 percent of the total volume
of LLW accepted for disposal during the previous calendar year.
The Commission does not anticipate any situation where the lack of access
would create a serious and immediate threat to the public health and safety.
Furthermore, it was the intent of Congress that the emergency access
provision neither be used to circumvent other provisions of the Act nor be
viewed by unsited States as an alternative to the development of new LLW
disposal capacity. The emergency access rule sets a very high threshold for
granting emergency access and should serve to encourage potential requestors
to seek other means for resolving difficulties created by denial of access
to LLW disposal facilities. It is difficult to envision, for example, any
set of circumstances under which a nuclear power plant could justify a
request for emergency access.
Licensees are encouraged to monitor the status of current siting and
disposal developments in their low-level radioactive waste compacts or
States to better foresee potential LLW management difficulties. Licensees
in States for which it appears milestones of the LLRWPAA will not be met
should prepare for the possibility of restrictions on disposal of
radioactive waste.
Questions about emergency access should be addressed to:
Paul Lohaus, Chief, Low-Level Waste Management Branch, Division of
Low-Level Waste Management and Decommissioning, 301 492-0553.
This information notice requires no specific action or written response. If
you have any questions about the information in this notice, please contact
the technical contact listed below.
Richard L. Bangart, Director
Division of Low-Level Waste Management
and Decommissioning
Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards
Technical contact: Richard H. Turtil, NMSS
(301) 492-3447
Attachments:
1. List of Recently Issued NMSS Information Notices
2. List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
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