PR-75 Low-Level Waste Rule Withdrawn

[sandy_perle@email.fpl.com]

FYI

Sandy Perle
sandy_perle@email.fpl.com
--------------------------------------------------------


           United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
                     Office of Public Affairs
                       Washington, DC 20555
              Phone 301-415-8200   Fax 301-415-2234
                       Internet:opa@nrc.gov
     
     
No. 96-75                                   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                         (Thursday, May 30, 1996)
     
     
         NRC WITHDRAWS PROPOSED RULE ON AGENCY AUTHORITY
    OVER LOW-LEVEL WASTE AT REACTOR SITES IN AGREEMENT STATES
     
     
     The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has withdrawn a proposed
rule that would have reasserted NRC's jurisdiction over low-level 
radioactive wastes generated and disposed of at reactor sites in 
what are known as agreement states.
     
     The agency is taking this action after analyzing public
comments   most of which opposed the proposal   and after 
considering the relatively low hazards associated with on-site 
disposal of low-level radioactive waste.  NRC and comparable 
state regulations already require that such on-site waste 
disposal be authorized on a case-by-case basis.
     
     It was in 1988 that NRC proposed to reassert its authority
over low-level waste generated and disposed of at reactor sites 
within agreement state borders.  The proposed rule also would have 
clarified the jurisdiction over the disposal of non-critical waste 
quantities of special nuclear material at fuel cycle facilities.  
(Agreement states, which now number 29, are so named because they 
have agreements with NRC to regulate the uses of radioactive 
byproduct and source materials, including low-level radioactive 
wastes.  Special nuclear material includes plutonium and certain 
types of uranium which, by law, are federally regulated.)
     
     At the time, NRC once thought the move necessary for greater
assurance that such waste disposal did not present a health 
hazard and would not unnecessarily complicate or delay 
decommissioning.  But the NRC staff reconsidered the proposed 
action after reviewing the public comments.  It also has taken 
note of the fact that, since the rulemaking was first proposed 
nearly eight years ago, agreement state authorities in a number 
of instances have authorized on-site disposal of low-level wastes 
without any problems.
     
     
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