1. Management and Disposition of Greater-Than-Class C and Transuranic Waste
October 23, 2015
LLW Forum Meeting Chicago, IL
Melanie Wong,
Senior Project Manager
LLW Branch
Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

2. Purpose
To summarize the NRC staff’s evaluation on the jurisdictional authority of an Agreement State to license and regulate GTCC and transuranic waste disposal

3. GTCC and Transuranic Waste Disposal
DOE’s EIS on GTCC LLW and GTCC-Like Waste
State of Texas’ Inquiry
SRM’s Direction

4. Legislative History Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (AEA)
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980 (1980 LLW Policy Act)
Amendments Act of 1985

5. Regulatory Framework 10 CFR § 61.55(a)(2)(iv) More stringent methods
Default disposal in Part 60 or 63 geologic disposal
Commission approves alternative

6. LLW and Transuranic Waste
Class A
Class B
Class C
GTCC

7. What is LLW? 1980 LLW Policy Act
“radioactive waste not classified as high-level radioactive waste, transuranic waste, spent nuclear fuel, or byproduct material…”

8. What is LLW? (cont’d) 10 CFR Part 61
Purpose and scope does not exclude transuranic waste but definition does
Table 1 includes concentrations for transuranic nuclides

9. What is LLW? (cont’d)
Amendments Act “radioactive material that: (i) is not high-level radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, or byproduct material…and (ii) the [NRC]…classifies as [LLW]”

10. What is Transuranic Waste?
Price-Anderson Amendments Act “material contaminated with elements that have an atomic number > 92…concentrations > 10 [nCi/gm], or…as the [NRC] may prescribe”

11. Transuranic Nuclides Disposal
Alpha emitting transuranic nuclides with half-life greater than 5 years and a concentration less than 100 nCi/gm

12. Option 1: NRC License NRC conducts the following:
License application review
Site-specific technical requirement development
EIS preparation
Rulemaking

13. Option 2: Texas License
Texas submits proposal for the Commission consideration
Texas develops technical criteria (assisted by NRC)
NRC conducts rulemaking

14. Option 3: No-Action
Commission declines to extend the licensing scheme to allow near-surface disposal of GTCC and transuranic waste
Industry continues to rely on safe storage of GTCC and transuranic waste

15. Staff Recommendation Option 2 with rulemaking
Establishes clear-cut Federal and State licensing pathways for disposal of GTCC and transuranic waste
Offers additional efficiency

16. Summary
Complex legislative and regulatory history on GTCC and transuranic waste disposal
Inconsistent definitions of LLW and transuranic waste
The staff recommends allowing the State of Texas to license and regulate the disposal of GTCC waste and NRC staff would pursue a rulemaking to address transuranic waste disposal in Part 61
SRM’s Direction