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NRC generic criteria



Title: NRC generic criteria

The NRC has set criteria that cannot be reasonably met when natural levels of a radionuclide are near the cleanup goals.  My company manages three remedial sites where naturally occurring uranium (in equilibrium with progeny) are show to run 1,000 pCi/g or higher.

The proper analogy here is to imagine throwing a stone into a calm pond of water.  We can measure the height of the crest of the waves caused by the stone.  But if you are in the North Sea when the thirty-footers are breaking over the bow, do we really care what effect that stone will have?  (Actually, to keep the comparison of magnitudes as apples to apples, it would be 140-footers breaking over the bow!)

There are several trade associations that have been reviewing and commenting on the enormous cleanup costs that these regulations will drive, including the Uranium Environmental Subcommittee of the National Mining Association and the Fuel Cycle Facilities Forum.