MEDHP-SEC: Fed Register: ISCORS Report of radioactivity in Sewage Sludge and Ash

["Jacobus, John (NIH/OD/ORS)" <jacobusj@ors.od.nih.gov>]

Sorry for the length.



-- John

John P. Jacobus, MS, CHP

Division of Radiation Safety

Building 21, Room 238

Ph. -- 301-496-5774

FAX -- 301-496-3544

e-mail:  jjacobus@mail.nih.gov

         jacobusj@ors.od.nih.gov



Visit our new Web site at http://www.nih.gov/od/ors/ds/rsb/index.html



[Federal Register: November 26, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 228)]

[Notices]

[Page 66503-66504]

>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr26no03-143]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION





Availability and Solicitation of Public Comments on Interagency

Steering Committee on Radiation Standards' Reports on Radioactivity in

Sewage Sludge and Ash



AGENCIES: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency.



ACTION: Announce the issuance of three reports concerning radioactivity

in sewage sludge and ash, and request public comments.



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SUMMARY: This Federal Register notice announces the availability of

three reports, prepared by the Sewage Sludge Subcommittee of the

Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards (ISCORS),

addressing radioactivity in sewage sludge and ash. The first report,

``ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Radiological Survey

Results and

Analysis,'' summarizes the information on radioactivity found in

samples of sewage sludge and ash from 313 publicly owned treatment

works (POTWs). This report is being issued as a final document, since

it only presents data that has already been collected. The second

report, ``ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Modeling

to Assess Radiation Doses,'' assesses the potential levels of radiation

doses to people by modeling the transport of radioactivity from sludge

into the local environment. The report also provides a complete

description and justification of the dose assessment methodology. The

third report, ``ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge:

Recommendations on Management of Radioactive Materials in Sewage Sludge

and Ash at Publicly Owned Treatment Works,'' recommends further actions

that may be taken by a POTW operator when elevated levels of

radionuclides are detected.

    The purpose of ISCORS is to foster early resolution and

coordination of regulatory issues associated with radiation standards.

Agencies represented on ISCORS include the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the

U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S.

Department of Transportation, the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department

of Health and Human Services. The Office of Science and Technology

Policy, the Office of Management and Budget, and State representatives

may be observers at meetings. The objectives of ISCORS are to: (1)

Facilitate a consensus on allowable levels of radiation risk to the

public and workers; (2) promote consistent and scientifically sound

risk assessment and risk management approaches in setting and

implementing standards for occupational and public protection from

ionizing radiation; (3) promote completeness and coherence of Federal

standards for radiation protection; and (4) identify interagency

radiation protection issues and coordinate their resolution.

    There have been a number of well-publicized cases of radionuclides

discovered in sewage sludge and ash, and some of these have led to

expensive cleanup projects. These incidents made clear the need for a

comprehensive determination of the prevalence of radionuclides at

publicly owned treatment works sewage sludge and ash around the

country, and the level of potential threat posed to human health and

the environment by various levels of such materials.

    In response to this need, ISCORS formed a Sewage Sludge

Subcommittee (SSS) to coordinate, evaluate, and resolve issues

regarding radioactive materials in sewage sludge and ash. To estimate

the amounts of radionuclides that actually occur in sewage sludge and

ash, ISCORS' SSS performed a survey of radioactivity in sludge and ash

across the United States. The final report is entitled, ``ISCORS

Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Radiological Survey

Results and Analysis,'' and is available on the ISCORS Web site at

http://www.iscors.org

<http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log

=linklog&to=http://www.iscors.org>.

    Concurrently, the Dose Modeling Workgroup of the SSS undertook a

dose assessment to help assess the potential threat that these

materials may pose to human health. The draft report that we are making

available for public comment today, ``ISCORS Assessment of

Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Modeling to Assess Radiation Doses,''

describes the methodology and results of the dose modeling effort. The

general approach used in the report is a standard one that consists

essentially of two steps. First, seven general, fairly generic

scenarios (and some sub-scenarios) are constructed to represent typical

situations in which members of the public of POTW workers are likely to

be exposed to sludge. The selection of radionuclides for consideration

was based on the results of the ISCORS survey of sewage sludge and ash

at various POTWs, and includes manmade and naturally-occurring

isotopes. Second, assuming a unit specific activity of a radionuclide

in dry sludge, a widely accepted multi-pathway environmental transport

model (the RESRAD family of codes) is employed to obtain sludge

concentration-to-dose conversion factors.

    A third and final document, ``ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in

Sewage Sludge: Recommendations on Management of Radioactive Materials

in Sewage Sludge and Ash at Publicly Owned Treatment Works,'' is also

being issued for public comment today. This document is for use by POTW

operators in evaluating whether the presence of radioactive materials

in sewage sludge could pose a threat to the health and safety of POTW

workers or the general public. ISCORS concludes that the levels of

radioactive materials detected in sewage sludge and ash in the ISCORS

survey indicate that, at most POTWs, radiation exposure to workers or

to the general public is not likely to be a concern.

    Comments on either, ``ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage

Sludge: Modeling to Assess Radiation Doses,'' or ``ISCORS Assessment of

Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Recommendations on Management of

Radioactive Materials in Sewage Sludge and Ash at Publicly Owned

Treatment Works,'' should be sent to the EPA contact listed below by

February 6, 2004.

    Robert Bastian, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--4204M, 1200

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, Telephone: 202-564-0653,

e-mail: bastian.robert@epa.gov <mailto:bastian.robert@epa.gov>.

    Hard copies can also be obtained by calling or writing to Carol

Walls, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NMSS/DWM/EPAB, M.S. T-7J8,

Washington, DC 20555-0001, 301-415-8028, or caw@nrc.gov

<mailto:caw@nrc.gov>.



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Kennedy, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, NMSS/DWM, M.S. T-7J8, Washington, DC 20555, telephone

301-415-6668, fax 301-415-5397, e-mail jek1@nrc.gov <mailto:jek1@nrc.gov>.



    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of November, 2003.



    For The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

John T. Greeves,

Director, Division of Waste Management, Office of Nuclear Material

Safety and Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 03-29559 Filed 11-25-03; 8:45 am]



BILLING CODE 7590-01-P



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