EPA-NRC Standards

[sandy_perle@email.fpl.com]

     It appears there was a meeting between the EPA and the NRC on November 
     6, 1995 for the purpose of achieving harmony between federal standards 
     related to radioactive material. The NRC staff summarized the 
     differences in a written report to the commission (SECY-95-249). I'll 
     attempt to obtain a copy of this later. The bottom line:
     
     1. NRC believes in single standards for all exposure pathways          
        combined. EPA believes in regulating pathway by pathway.
     
     2. NRC believes that a lifetime risk of [4 in 1,000] (equivalent to    
        the 100 mrem/year annual dose standard) is an appropriate risk      
        ceiling. EPA believes that lifetime risks higher than [1 in 10,000] 
        are unacceptable.
     
     The NRC staff felt the differences are so great that it might take 
     intervention by Congress or the president to resolve the fundamental 
     issues.
     
     From the Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards 
     (ISCORS) ... the NRC's "seemingly less stringent standards" achieve an 
     equivalent level of protection because the NRC uses very conservative 
     modeling.
     
     Biggest problem due to these differences lies in the development of 
     ground water standards for site cleanup. Currently, under the EPA's 
     rulings, licensees would have to meet EPA's standard for drinking 
     water.
     
     It's going to be interesting!
     
     
     Sandy Perle
     Supervisor Health Physics
     Florida Power and Light Company
     Nuclear Division
     
     (407) 694-4219 Office
     (407) 694-3706 Fax
     
     sandy_perle@email.fpl.com
     
     HomePage: http://www.lookup.com/homepages/54398/home.html