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. 99-52 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Wednesday, March 17, 1999)

NRC ISSUES DRAFT GUIDANCE FOR REVIEWING FUTURE LICENSE APPLICATION

FOR HANFORD TANK WASTE REMEDIATION

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

has issued draft guidance for the NRC staff to review a possible future license application for

immobilizing highly radioactive waste in underground tanks at the Department of Energy (DOE)

reservation in Hanford, Washington.

DOE established a program, known as the Tank Waste Remediation System, in 1993

after entering into an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the

Washington State Department of Ecology for timely cleanup of the wastes, which result from

Cold War weapons production at the Hanford site. The cleanup system is designed to integrate

all aspects of the treatment and management of the high-level radioactive wastes located in

177 underground storage tanks at the site.

DOE has indicated that it plans to privatize the remediation. DOE plans call for a Tank

Waste Remediation System privatized facility to be designed and constructed on the Hanford

reservation, and owned and operated by a DOE contractor. Last August, DOE signed a

contract with BNFL, Inc., a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels, plc., to design, build and operate

a permanent facility to treat initially about 10 percent of the waste.

At the present time, NRC is assisting DOE in developing an effective regulatory program

for proposed licensing, with the possibility that NRC may assume regulatory authority in the

future. NRC and DOE interactions during this initial phase are governed by a memorandum of

understanding signed in January 1997. The NRC advisory work is covered by a specific

Congressional appropriation.

The recently released draft guidance, known as a “standard review plan,” provides

guidance for the evaluation of health, safety and environmental protection in a license

application. Its principal purpose is to ensure quality and uniformity of staff reviews of the

application and any later amendments to the license.

Copies of the “Standard Review Plan for the Review of a License Application for the

Tank Waste Remediation System Privatization (TWRS-P) Project -- Draft Report for Comment”

(NUREG-1702) are available by written request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Distribution Services, Washington, DC 20555-0001. It may also be reviewed at the NRC

Public Document Room , 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20555-0001. A copy is also

posted on the NRC’s Internet web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/NUREGS/indexnum.html.

Interested persons are invited to submit comments within 90 days after publication of a

Federal Register notice on this subject, which is expected shortly. Written comments should be
directed to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments may also be submitted electronically by selecting the

“comments” link on the above web site.

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