DOE regulation by NRC

[Paul Lavely <lavelyp@uclink4.berkeley.edu>]

Al Tschaeche wrote that "the most cogent reason why DOE should not be regulated by the NRC is  because there is a huge difference between the DOE contractors and the  NRC licensees: The NRC licensees do not get their funding from the NRC. 

Is regulation of DOE researchers by the  NRC or an agreement state a new concept? No. Has this "non-DOE regulation been tried before? Yes. Has it worked? Yes. At UC Berkeley we have been "regulating" researchers who are DOE under a state license (not DOE) for 20+ years. These researchers receive DOE money and work for a DOE contractor (LBNL), but they fall under the University's state licensed (California) program. They are audited by State of California Department of Health Services (DHS). Problems (such as a lost source of package are investigated by UC and DHS not by DOE). Significant non-compliances are reported to DHS. Has it worked to have DOE research under a state license? Yes. Has there been an issue with DOE funded researchers not falling under 10CFR 835? No. Has there been an issue of DOE researchers falling under 10CFR20 and the state law? No.

Is there a commonly held belief that the requirement for sealed source leak testing should be different based on the source of funds? Should there be a difference based on DOE, NRC, or a state being the regulator? 

Is there a commonly held belief that the requirement for posting of radiation areas should be different based on the source of funds? Should there be a difference based on DOE, NRC, or a state being the regulator? 

Is there a commonly held belief that the requirement for adequate surveys be different based on the source of funds? Should there be a difference based on DOE, NRC, or a state being the regulator? 

Is there a commonly held belief that the way radioactive materials are received and checked for meeting shipping requirements be different based on the source of funds? Should there be a difference based on DOE, NRC, or a state being the regulator? 

Is there the opinion that the NRC is not qualified to review the compliance because they fall under 10CFR835 rather than 10CFR20? Are the differences between 10CFR835 and 10CFR20 so great and uniquely different?

At least some DOE contractors seem to be actively seeking to replace DOE with NRC regulation. In fact, our close by DOE facility (LBNL) staff are trying to move to regulation by NRC as fast as possible.

The regulation of DOE facilities by other than DOE (by NRC) will be a great advance in addressing the complaint we hear citizens raise that DOE "can not be trusted to enforce their own rules."

Al wrote "if the NRC found a violation and the contractor said it would take a million dollars to fix it, and if the DOE did not agree and didn't give the contractor the money, the fix could not be made unless the contractor used its own money to do it, an unlikely occurrence." On many occasions, I have heard DOE management and tiger team auditors say that "If the work can not be done safely - it can not be done at all." Isn't that the answer for the DOE contractor to the DOE - "We have been told (by the NRC) that we are not doing this work at the adequate level of safety and we either need money to fix the problem or we will not be able to do the work."

It seems that external regulation offers the DOE contractor an advantage in that they have a third party agency (NRC) telling them (and therefore the DOE) what requirements MUST be met. At present we have the worst of all worlds with no independent review and public opinion that some in DOE and some DOE contractors have been lying to the public. Does anyone believe that Brookhaven would be "worse off" if they had been under third party (NRC, EPA, state, etc.) review of their operation and releases?

Finally, if a DOE contractor does not believe that they can withstand the regulation of safety by a third party (such as the NRC) perhaps they should withdraw or for others not "contemplate being a DOE contractor."

Paul Lavely
Director of the Office of Radiation Safety
UC Berkeley
lavelyp@uclink4.berkeley.edu
(510) 643-7976



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